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I am trying to figure out if what I am going through is normal. I am thinking that it is probably some kind of panic or anxiety attack.

It started when I had something upsetting happen totally unrelated to the death of my friend. Everything went okay with that situation but things seemed to get worse as the evening went on. Yesterday I felt like I had tunnel vision all day, shaky, and detached. I have been restless, anxious, and feeling like I am sleep deprived when I have actually been sleeping. Last night I had very bizarre nightmares that were very upsetting and frustrating and I am going through the day feeling odd. I have taken my blood pressure and it is low normal, cause I actually thought maybe my blood pressure had shot up or something. My heart rate is up though, close to 90 bpm. I have the sensation of panic. That's the only way I know how to describe it. Which is one of the reasons why I think this is a panic/anxiety attack. Has any one else experienced this under the stress of a loss?

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Hi Cat,

What you're going through sounds very uncomfortable. It's a good thing you know how to take your blood pressure and heart rate. I haven't had this happen, but it might be a good idea to just let your parents or doctor know. I'm sure it's nothing, but better safe than sorry. Stress can do a multiple of things to us. Let us know how you're doing.

Your friend, Karen :wub:;)

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Cat,

I've suffered from panic attacks for years and it does sound like that's what you're having. I struggled for years with them until I finally started taking an anti-depressant. Talk to your doctor about it, so you won't have to suffer through them. They are very scary and your doctor will decide what's best for you. Good luck.

Hugs,

Shell

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I started having panic attacks soon after my mom died. i thought i would die from them. my legs would shaking, i would pace, nauseas, could not sleep and unable to sit still. i finally started meds after 6mos of these things. please get some help for them from therapy meds or whatever you need. lori

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Cat,

It may help you to understand the probable biochemical mechanism of this. (Disclaimer: input from a knowledgeable layman, but nonetheless, not a doctor. But that's why I can explain it to you, I'm not constrained by a 7 minute appointment slot. Also, because I had to research this extensively for Linda.)

Your autonomic nervous system (ANS) controls all involuntary activities in your body -- heart pumping, much of your breathing, peristaltic action in your intestines, secretions from your glands, that kind of thing. The ANS is divided into two logical sections, the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. One up-regulates, the other down-regulates (don't ask me which does which; I can never remember and it's not important for purposes of this discussion anyway). The point is, the sympathetic and parasympathetic must be in balance. When they are not, you get your heart arrhythmias, palpitations, perhaps digestive upset, etc. Where the anxiety comes in is very interesting. This is not, as most people seem to suppose, a primarily psychological matter, even though psychological stress can trigger it and amplify it, and the anxiety attacks end up *producing* psychological stress.

The ANS also controls your "fight or flight" response. It is that automatic "get the hell out of here" response to real or perceived danger. It is supposed to be a short term response that includes an adrenaline rush to provide the strength and "push" to get you out of immediate danger; after that your rational self can kick back in and assess the situation from there.

Certain events in your body can also trigger this response. One of them is heart arrhythmias. Another is thought by some to be a complicated dance between your pancreas, gall bladder and the valve that empties your stomach into your small intestine, which gets farkled up and causes gall to be dumped INTO your stomach, with resulting reflux (which you may or may not notice symptoms of, depending on how high it goes) which stimulates your esophagus and, indirectly, your vagus nerve which lies alongside it. Your vagus nerve also regulates your whole ANS. Your vagus nerve is also usually the culprit in fainting because it can shut down your small blood vessels (attempting to divert blood to your core, a sort of last-ditch biological protective response).

As you can see, the ANS is another one of those things that when it works you will never know it's there but when it starts to get messed up it gets your attention RIGHT NOW. Sort of like how you never think about breathing until you can't. The ANS controls a lot of stuff and it can get messed up in all sorts of unpleasantly interesting ways. And this whole area is a frontier of medicine; not that well understood by your corner doctor.

The panic attacks are a result either of a disregulated ANS (known as "dysautonomia") randomly triggering parts of the fight-or-flight response, or are themselves part of a fight or flight response being erroneously triggered by disruptions in the ANS. That's why some anti-depressant meds can be helpful. It isn't that you're depressed (thought that might coincidentally be true) but by tweaking certain neurotransmitters the whole ANS can be calmed down. Although, it's not an exact science by any means.

Anxiety attacks are just half-hearted panic attacks. Pun partially intended.

Circumstantially, at least, sustained stress (like a lengthy grieving process) can destabilize the ANS and get it into various bad feedback loops (or, if you prefer, vicious circles). It depends on how vulnerable you are, based on your unique genetics and biochemical makeup, your nutritional picture, etc. But the same mechanism that produces post-traumatic stress syndrome can perpetuate a nasty cycle of dysautonomia. Traumatic events completely bypass your rational mind and can get your ANS "fight or flight" switch stuck at the "on" position.

My wife found substantial relief from anxiety / panic attacks using the drug Ativan (generic Lorazepam). Something like that might knock you out of the "vicious circle" and stop the reinforcement of the response. I would advise you to get something sooner rather than later, especially if the trend is that it's getting worse.

In my unprofessional opinion you should do what Linda did and take as little of this drug as will do the job, symptomatically speaking, regardless of what the doctor prescribes. It has amazingly few side effects, as these things go, but it is a benzodiazepine which is technically a low level narcotic and some people have trouble getting back off of it. The pills are fairly easy to subdivide so that you can experiment. Linda's doctor advised minimal dosing like this but I suspect he's the exception in his attention to detail and tailoring of things to individual needs.

If you tend to be sensitive to drugs and/or to certain foods, the above conservative advice applies triply.

So ... been there, done that, got the T-shirt and there is the benefit of my experience, for what it's worth. Good luck.

--Bob

I am trying to figure out if what I am going through is normal. I am thinking that it is probably some kind of panic or anxiety attack.

It started when I had something upsetting happen totally unrelated to the death of my friend. Everything went okay with that situation but things seemed to get worse as the evening went on. Yesterday I felt like I had tunnel vision all day, shaky, and detached. I have been restless, anxious, and feeling like I am sleep deprived when I have actually been sleeping. Last night I had very bizarre nightmares that were very upsetting and frustrating and I am going through the day feeling odd. I have taken my blood pressure and it is low normal, cause I actually thought maybe my blood pressure had shot up or something. My heart rate is up though, close to 90 bpm. I have the sensation of panic. That's the only way I know how to describe it. Which is one of the reasons why I think this is a panic/anxiety attack. Has any one else experienced this under the stress of a loss?

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