I had a panic attack this morning. I don’t make a habit of them, this was only my second ever. The first one happened a few years ago when I had been given amitriptyline to try and reduce the pain I was in. The first day after I had taken it, I ended up in a complete panic, hyperventilating, scared and twitchy. I didn’t know what the hell was going on and so I called 999 to ask. They sent me an ambulance, and a wonderful paramedic who spent an hour holding my hand and calming me down while they took me to hospital. I’m slightly ashamed of tying up those services for a mere panic attack, but like I say I had no idea what was going on and I simply called for help from the only place I could think of.
Today’s attack then. I had gone to bed early so that I could sleep before Portal 2 was released early this morning. Amazingly, I had actually slept, although two hours after going to bed. I woke up with my normal selection of pain and inability to move much, took my painkillers and waited to feel better. While I waited I looked at twitter, and I quickly noticed that I was very irritable and confrontational. I took offence at several messages that weren’t even aimed at me, had a rant and started an argument.
And then as I decided to get away from the internet before I lost all my friends, I felt my mood dropping . A bit like when I hit the low points of depression but even more sudden than that. Then I was crying. The hyperventilating started. Feelings of despair mixed with sheer panic. Why? I have no idea. All I wanted to do before that was wait for the painkillers to work and then play Portal 2. What I had actually done was annoy lots of people then fall apart mentally.
Fortunately my wife came home at that point and a thirty minute hug managed to calm me down. She read out the messages that my friends on twitter had sent me (I had mentioned that my mood was dropping before I became frozen by the panic) and told them that I was all right. Finally I was stable enough for her to go and make me a cup of tea.
That was all a couple of hours ago. Now, I’m exhausted, shaken, in pain because the stress aggravated everything, and still irritable. I’m ranting here because quite honestly, it helps even if no one reads it. If you’ve got this far, thank you for sticking with it.
A kind friend sent me this while I was panicking, it helped. http://www.mindfields.org.uk/blog/?p=174
I read your comments on twitter but only as I was catching up so not in time to send you any support when you needed it. I’m glad you are feeling a bit more stable now despite the pain and reaction and wanted just to let you know you are not alone and that many of us wish you well. Your wife sounds an absolute star, you are blessed :). Rant away, if it helps it’s worth it x
panic attacks are terrifying things. I’ve seen them in others and they scared me a lot more than epileptic seizures and broken bones *HUG* Sorry I wasn’t on-line at the time dude. In a bid to add a sense of joyfulness. just think of all the calories burned off by the twitching and trembling. *HUG*
It sounds completely terrifying. Glad you got the medical & emotional support you needed. Hope you can have some quiet time to recover.
Several months ago I started having anxiety attacks again, I think brought on by stress due to a very close friend being very ill. I can empathise over how awful (what an understatement) they are. My wonderful biology teacher talked me through one once and advised me to purely focus on my breathing. It takes a while and it can be difficult at first but they’re certainly shorter than they used to be.
*HUGS* and love and solidarity.