Did I have my first panic attack?

Since Jan 2009 I have had episodic aphasia, difficulty walking and generalized weakness. My son has seen the episodes a few times and he asked me if I wanted a paramedic and I moaned yes but he thought I was saying no. I always go back to sleep and wake up feeling normal.

A couple of weeks ago I awoke from a nap and I was having trouble walking but my speech was okay. I thought it surely would progress to aphasia and told my son to call 911. The medics got lost when dispatch would not relay my directions to the medics. It took over 45 minutes to arrive; it should have taken 15 minutes.

Besides trouble walking when I awoke I had palpitations, dizziness, dyspnea and nausea. Then I developed lots of anxiety waiting for the medics to arrive and got totally frustrated when the dispatch operator wouldn't listen to me. So when the ambulance arrived they asked me if I had ever had a panic attack. I understand why they would think that with my cluster of symptoms but I nearly always have some level of dyspnea with my asthma, I am often dizzy and think it is a med side effect. I have nausea and other GI problems often so the only thing new was the palpitations. I was not concerned about the palpitations and that was not why I called 911.

Instead of my s/s progressing to aphasia my symptoms all resolved by the time I got to the ED except for the anxiety but it was not out of control anxious but more of pissy, frustrated level anxiety. So naturally the ED doc said she thought stress was the cause of my s/s. So maybe...? Maybe not...?

We all know that folks with mental illness do not have health problems besides their mental illness. <sarcasm>

The thing that made think it was not a panic attack is that when my BF would abuse me and hold guns point blank to my head and chest I never did panic. I always stayed calm and kept thinking to myself, how can I get out of this alive. Even after I shot and killed him and my life was upside down I did not panic. Depressed, confused and dysfunctional yes but no panic. So why would I have a panic attack ten years following the abuse/death? Yes I have stressors now but I am alive and ten years ago I did not think I would live to raise my son.

Panic attack - yes/no?

I have recorded a message on my digital recorder asking for a medic for when I am aphasic again and I sleep with the recorder and phone in my bed. The only person who saw me aphasic other than my son was my psychiatrist. He admitted me for evaluation last month and my first morning there I could not speak when he woke me. He was with me for less than two minutes and left. I asked him the following day if he had recognized my impairment and he said no he thought I was just sleepy and didn't want to talk. Freaking great. I get the chance for a doc to evaluate me and he is clueless.

((((((((( Yoda )))))))))

From what you are describing, (I'm not a doctor but I play one all the time, it's fun) it is neurological (?) Anyway, it is NOT a panic attack all the way through everything. That doesn't mean some of it isn't anxiety. Just because you didn't get panicy during those other things (you probably didn't panic because you saw the absolute need to remain calm to save your life and you did) doesn't mean you aren't doing it now.

I think you ARE experiencing medical issues. What they are is for the doctors to figure out. Ticks me off when they do these things. ER docs are especially bad cuz if you go in and there is not something OBVIOUS then they figure you can wait until you see your PCP.

I went in to the ER in an ambulance, my left toes pointing outward. They were rough with me until the xray. Four fractures in my femur. SUDDENLY it was an emergency!

These sound like TIA's or mini-strokes. You need to get them investigated now! You could have a full-blown stroke. It's likely, the treatment will be some blood thinners. Just my humble non-professional opinion.

Let us know how it turns out.

While panic attacks can mimic many things, it is always a good idea to be checked out by a medical doctor to rule out any physical possibilities before approaching it as anxiety. There could be a valid medical reason for what is happening. Make sure you get it checked out, and mention the feeling of anxiety with it.

Good luck!

It angers me so, and I have that right......For how you were treated

And it's dang true if we have ANY type of medication that we lack in our chemical imbalance brain - THEY treat us lower than.
The GREATEST part of this is that WE KNOW IT AND ARE WORKING WITH IT ---- They don't even KNOW they've got problems as we ALL do... sorry for them - one day, or not.... Karma shall reach them

Freaking Great are perfect words.... This society is so caught in money, greed, self absorbancy - narrasitic.
There day will come around, and the behavior they showed others will be his karam.

As for having a Panity Attack (after all these years)....
Triggers come even if we don't know that have affected our brain, and before we know what's happening our BODY takes over.

Memories do last forever. They can not be blocked. They will serve ONLY for the SURVIVAL of you. We can only hold them in for so long. And once we think it has passed 'forever' now and again they will pop back up.

Panic attacks combined with your ailments makes it feel like a heart attack. I have been there, scarey and heck.

Please know Dear Yoda - That you have come upon a good place here.

Alot of times, people don't know what to say, but their love is with you and it is sincere.
As many have said - If we could only reach through this computer to hug and hold one another.

Yoday - I am glad, though I'm sure it was hard, to post and share this - But I am so very glad you did.
Your brain put it out here to share and at the same time allowed a bit of release of the pain you have that is so deep.

Yoda - We are here as much as we can be.
As for your past.... You had to protect yourself
And you did...
You are a STRONG surviver....
So proud to have come across your path.
Thank you - True Love and Caring - Starlite

((((Yoda)))) - I hear you and everyone else loud and clear on this. I can only say that you should not ignore the heart palpitations. I have experienced the very same symptoms time and again throughout my life - I also have asthma and I have a heart murmur, and when I am stressed my heart murmur really kicks into high gear - feels like my heart is galloping. Because the blood is not flowing properly through the heart and there is some backwash, this can affect how the blood is being oxygenated; therefore, blood being delivered throughout your body is not carrying sufficient oxygen which results in numerous physiological and neurological effects - hypoxia, dyspnea, numbness and tingling in extremeities and face, difficulty articulating, loss of coordination, near stupor, blurred vision, decreased mental function - the list goes on and on. It is not always a "one or the other" thing - sometimes a panic attack can trigger the palpitations and subsequent other symptoms, sometimes an asthma attack can feel like a panic attack and set things off, sometimes physical stressors can set off the murmur and everything else and it feels like a panic attack, sometimes even my corticosteroid inhalers used to treat my asthma can set off my heart murmur/palpitations and the rest of the symptoms. The point being, you really need to see your medical doctor and have your heart (full cardiac stress test) and general health fully evaluated before anyone treating you makes assumptions about anything. Just because we are depressed, etc., does not mean that we can't develop all too real medical conditions and diseases. Please take care of yourself - you are really going to have to advocate for yourself on this until someone listens to you.

Thanks for the advice and support folks. In December 2007 I felt like I was going to pass out about 45 minutes after I had drank a high sugar content drink. When I got to the ED my BP was 70/39 and it stayed low for at least three hours. The ED doc told me he was going to do a CAT scan of my heart because he thought I might have clots in my heart; I don't know if he meant clots inside the chambers or clots in the coronary arteries - I was too sick to even ask. Anyway they admitted me and did a couple of 12 lead EKGs, put me on a telemetry unit, did MB isoenzymes, an ultrasound, a thallium stress test and a treadmill stress test and sent me home with a Holter monitor. Everything on my heart tested out normal except for the initial hypotension. My ejection fraction was 55% so I'm good there. I seldom now get palpitations or mild chest pressure and I always check my BP and pulse. Trazadone always gave me mild chest pressure so we stopped that. Unless I have more typical s/s of heart ischemia I won't go to the ED which may/may not be in my best interest. A few months ago I had really terrible indigestion and nausea. Being a cardiac nurse I knew that those symptoms alone could mean I was having an inferior wall MI but I kept checking my pulse and decided to stay home and treat it with antacids unless my heart rate dropped which it didn't.

I have had an anxiety disorder for many years but never to my knowledge have had a panic attack. In 1990 I was divorcing my abusive husband and developed paresthesia on my left side face and my left arm/hand. I talked to a neurologist friend and mentioned I thought it might be stress related and he said we would look for other causes and stress would be the last thing we consider. I liked his attitude. My tests were okay so it might have been stress.

When I called the medics recently I certainly was not having a panic attack when it started. The dispatch operator said they would be there in about five minutes which is what I expected from where they are stationed so my son helped me to the porch because I am so embarrassed about the clutter in my house I don't like people in. But they didn't show. So I told my son to call again and ask where they were. As in literally where they were because I thought they surely must be lost. Then I learned they were responding from another area which partly explained the delay. But coming from the city they still should have been there in fifteen minutes but dispatch did not relay my directions so the medics took the scenic route. That was when my anxiety started climbing. I was sitting on the porch with my dog in my face and cats climbing all over me wanting attention and I was thinking well it is a d*** good thing I am not critical for I would surely be dead before they get here. I was more pissed than I was scared. When they finally arrived my BP was 100/65 and my 12 lead EKG looked fine. No dysrhymias or anything. My O2 sat was 93% with me on nasal cannula. Could have been better but still nothing to get upset over. As I said my neuro status got better instead or progressing to aphasia as I thought it might so they disregarded my neuro history and said I was having a panic attack.

I have seen my family doc and my psychiatrist this year about the aphasia and lower body weakness. My MRI was normal and my shrink said my EEG was pretty much normal, whatever that means. At my last appt with my shrink I asked if there was a fMRI in town and he said yes. I asked if maybe we should do that or a doppler study of my carotid arteries of MRA of carotids or something else. He said we could spend all day chasing our tail and never know what caused it. Hmmmmph. Maybe so but if he were the one that couldn't speak I think he would be more interested in knowing why. I really really would like a neuro consult but I have to have a doc to give me a referral. And of course they think it's just ole crazy Yoda back again so I am disregarded.

In June when I saw my family doc I asked if I could have a glucose monitor. He thought I already had one I guess since my shrink had prescribed my metformin. Seven weeks later and still no monitor and I got a message from his office that my glucoses were normal so I was not a diabetic and didn't qualify for a monitor. ummmm well do you think that maybe the reason my glucoses are now normal is because I have been taking metformin for over two years and avoiding carbs? So I guess I should ditch the meds and have six candy bars for dinner?!??

Where have all the smart people gone?

</rant>

I don't know, (((Yoda))) - but if you spot them, let me know - I'm looking for them, too!!

I would say no.... you are not suffering from true panic attacks. You might be getting overly anxious about what is happening to you... called "anxiety". In your case I would say it is normal... what is not normal is the tiredness, loss of focus, dizziness, etc. You should find a another DR... to recheck what might be the underling problem, because what you describe. Wish you well friend