Panic Disorder is defined by the medical profession as "feelings of terror that strike suddenly and repeatedly with no warning." This is so very true. But it doesn't completely define what a panic attack is like, or what they can cause. The picture of the lady in the web above is a fantastic picture to explain a panic attack. It's like you are closed in with no way out. Let me tell you what I go through.

I start to feel "weird". I get shaky. Like I'm nervous. I get dizzy. Just a little at first. My skin gets clammy and cold. My heart starts to race very fast. I feel some chest pain, as if it were a heart attack. I feel like everything around starts to spin. People are staring at me (even though they really aren't). I've been told my coloring goes ghost white like all the blood has drained from me. I feel like everything around me isn't real. I feel like the world is closing in on me, like I'm going to smother to death. I have a hard time breathing. And my legs get very weak. 

Now that's just an ordinary everyday attack for me. Then there is what I call the "Mega Attack". I feel all the above, BUT then it escalates. The world starts to spin very fast. Everything around me looses all color. My head becomes very heavy. To heavy to hold up. My entire body becomes drained and I loose control of it. Then I faint.

I will say here, though, that MOST people who have panic attacks do NOT faint. As a matter of fact, I don't know of anyone else that does. If you are one of them, please email me. I'd like to know I'm not alone. The doctors have also told me that fainting is very very rare. Guess I get to be one of the lucky ones.

Panic Disorder is not a "crazy persons" disease. Millions of people in this world have it. Some don't even know they have it. They consider it anxieties until it gets out of hand.

Panic Disorder can cause many other problems for a person who suffers with it though. As I do. One of the other problems that can surface is Agoraphobia. Panic attacks can cause a huge fear in doing many things. It will destroy your life if you let it. But rest assure, there is treatment out there to help with the attacks. Many different medications and relaxation techniques. One of my therapists said to me one time "Do you really think that people can tell you are having an attack?" The answer to this question is no, unless you go running wildly out of the building. Then of course they are going to look at you. There is also a flip side to this question too. And the answer would be yes. The people closest to you can tell sometimes. If they know you better than you know you, yes they can tell. But if they are supportive, they don't make a big deal out of it.

One thing I have found to work is to get my mind off the attack. If I am in a store and an attack happens, I go to the closest thing to me and concentrate on that instead. I have been known to actually ask myself questions, out loud, about the product...ok, that may get some strange looks, but you know what? I don't care. I will never see these people again and if I did, I wouldn't recognize them, and chances are they wouldn't recognize me. Having someone with you is a great distraction also. You can just start up a conversation about anything. Sometimes my kids think mom has lost it with the questions. lol  But that's ok too. If you are in a car, crank that radio up. Blast and sing to the tune. Put yourself in the music. During the summer, turning the air on high and blasting it in your face may help also. 

I used to think that people could tell I was having an attack. I was scared to death that I would faint in the store (I fainted for the first time in a hospital. Of all places to be! lol). I hate to draw attention to myself. And having strangers standing over me starring at me is about the worse thing that could happen to me. Or so I thought. Whenever I would faint, it would scare my family. Of course, now after 15 years of fainting, it doesn't bother them. The kids just look at me and say "Mom's fainted again". Then they go get a pillow and put under my head and sit with my until I come to.

Let me tell you this funny story:
My husband is allergic to codeine and he was giving some medication with codeine in it without him knowing. I had to take him to the hospital. Well, because of my first attack, hospitals and I do not get along at all. I was sitting in the emergency room with him and felt the attack coming. I had some medication with me and took some, hoping it would hold off the fainting. I fought that attack really hard. In the meantime, the nurse had come in and given my husband some medication to counteract the affects of the codeine so he wasn't feeling any pain at the time. They got him into a wheel chair to wheel him to x-ray, just to make sure there was nothing wrong with his stomach, and I got ready to go with him. That's when I felt it hit like a hammer. I sat on the gurney because I didn't want to hit my head on that hard floor and I fainted right over on the gurney. The nurse called for help and my husband said (now keep in mind that even though I've fainted and my body just won't move and my eyes are shut I can still hear everything perfectly) "oh she does that all the time, leave her there, she will come to in a minute." He loves me doesn't he? lol And of course, a nurse and doctor came running in. When I came to, I looked up and saw the doctor and I said "Man I HATE when I do that!" He just laughed. I told him about the panic attack and that I took some Xanax, but I guess I didn't get it in time. And everything was fine. By the time my husband came back I was back sitting in the chair and I gave him heck for the statement he made. lol So you see, panic attacks aren't something to worry about. They happen.

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