Just started having panic attacks

I think I had my first painc attack last three days ago. I was meeting with someone at work and almost blacked out. I caught myself on thier desk and felt dizzy and my chest tightened. I've always carried a lot of stress but never experienced anything like that before so naturally I was scared to death. I went to the urgent care thinking it may be my heart and the hooked me up to the ekg and took blood and the works and everything came back normal.
I wasn't planning on posting yet but just as I was reading throug the forum it happened again in fact it's still going on right now so forgive me if I don't make much sense.
My main confusion is that for the first time in a long time I really don't have anything major to be stress about. Over the last year and a half I got a divorce, married a wornderful girl (who wasn't working) which lead to major financial stress. My wife just go a good job a couple weeks ago so you'd think my stress level would go down. I spoke to my friend about this and he said the same thing happened to his brother. He went through a stressful time and started having panic attacks after he got his life back on track. They think it was some delayed stress thing where you start to relax and everything you've been bottling up starts coming out or something like that. I was just wondering if anyone could relate to this or experienced similar situations.
Thanks in advance.

Maybe your subconcious still dwelling on past events?

Is good that you're picking up on it right away before it becomes a "disorder" get into reading about it now to avoid it.

There are some people that just experience a couple of panic attacks in their life. I hope that you are one of them.

My strong recommendation is:-

Don't go hanging out in too many or really any forums site on anxiety... it will make you feel more anxious, and may develop into a disorder.

If it keeps happening, get your hands on some material to get a full understanding of anxiety and panic.

It becomes much harder to be afraid of it, when you know how it grows and persists.

In the mean time, since it wouldnt appear to be a disorder... Perhaps invest in some type of relaxation.

whether it be yoga, meditation, massage... etc...

All the best Joe

hi!!
yes i had panic attack, similar to you would be ...too much stress in past so this is coming out after stress situacion...yes key is to relax no matter what is happening,do lot of outdoor workout ,main thing is to relax thing is it may stay for a time but don`t worry things you gone through ....probably lot of people would be in hospital .

Hi Dizzy Joe,

Welcome to the forum, and let me assure you that what you felt was quite normal for a panic attack. They do tend to come out of the blue, and can scare you half to death.

The good news is, that there's a lot of low-cost, effective coping techniques in dealing with any future ones (if indeed there will be another). Go to your local bookstore, and find a good book on panic attacks. One of the best things that helped me cope when I was having them is to do deep-breathing exercises (detailed in just about every anxiety book). The fact that your medical tests all came back normal is a plus---now you know it is just a panic attack you are dealing with, and while they are frightening, they are not life-threatening. Another way I learned to deal with it was to rate my anxiety on a scale of 1-10, and usually midway into the attack it would be close up there to 10, but again, there's good news, because most attacks dissipate in about 15-20 minutes. So, you would continually monitor your anxiety level, see that it was decreasing, and know that it wouldn't last much longer. This was very effective for me for a very long time.

They can arise from anywhere---there's lots of parts of the brain that scientists don't understand yet. I think it's good that you're looking for some help, nip it in the bud so to speak.

Good luck to you, and let us know how it turns out.

Thanks for all of the support. I saw my regular Dr. and he put me on Lexapro for a limited time to help with the anxiety. I think it's working but they make me feel kind of high so I'm deciding on which is worse.

It's much easier now that I know what I'm dealing with, I am still getting mild attacks but nothing like the first two where I almost blacked out thank goodness.

Another bummer is that I stopped drinking coffee in the morning since that really seemed to raise my anxiety levels which is a small price to pay...I guess.

Thanks again and best of luck to everyone else out there suffering from this.

Joe (aka Dizzy Joe)

You could be writing my story, its just about the same with me word for word. I stoped drinking coffee because it was setting me off. I have had minor attacks for about 10 years, but I thought it was because of all the drugs I did when I was younger, but I have always just kind of blown them off. I went on a cruise 2 weeks ago and was in the cayman islands, i got into a taxi\minivan and they packed us in like sardines, I was in the back, I screamed to let me out, I thought I was gonna lose it, I got out, walked around a bit and felt like I was gonna pass out. The doctor has me on lexapro (4 days) I hope it puts and end to this because I feel like I am loseing my mind!

Dear Joe & Shum,

I've heard about Lexapro being used for anxiety, and am glad it is providing you with some short-term anxiety relief. It does tend to make one feel high, as it is a major psychiatric drug used in several disorders.

All of the psychiatric meds have some side-effects and really, I think anxiety can be cured without drugs. But, I do advocate their temporary use to relieve anxiety while you learn to deal with attacks and learn coping skills and techniques.

Joe, did your Doctor refer you to a therapist or counselor where you could do some CBT? Or, are you willing to go the self-help route with books and tapes?

Shum, I agree with you....coffee or any type of caffeine, or even the decongestant Sudafed, is a no-no for people with anxiety. I'm sorry that you had a major attack after forgoing the coffee and all, and hope that the Lexapro also helps you temporarily.

Keep us posted on how you're doing.

Wishing you the best,
Swingy