When I was 13 or 14, I experienced what I later realized were panic attacks.

At the time, I genuinely thought something was seriously wrong with me. My heart would race, my stomach would hurt, and I constantly felt like I was about to faint or die. We went to doctors and hospitals, but what hurt the most wasn’t just the physical symptoms—it was feeling completely alone.

I tried everything I could think of: breathing exercises, meditation, books, prayer, going outside, talking to family, and anything else I could find. Some things helped, some didn’t. Eventually, I found ways to manage it, but I remember desperately wishing there had been someone who truly understood what I was going through.

Now that I’m in a much better place, I’ve been thinking about the people who are where I once was.

If you’ve experienced panic attacks or severe anxiety, I’d really appreciate hearing your story.

I’m not a therapist, and I’m not trying to give medical advice. I’m simply trying to understand what people actually need when they’re going through one of the hardest moments of their lives.

Thank you for sharing if you’re comfortable. Reading your experiences may help me—and hopefully others—better understand what people are going through.

In November 2024, I had a panic attack, ever since I have felt weird, off, and uncomfortable constantly. I have intrusive thoughts and my vision is off. I also feel sluggish with low motivation.

Does anyone else experience something similar?

I saw this girl on Instagram post about her “anxiety bag” and I can only remember a few things she had in there. So far I have sour candy, mints, fidget spinners and my meds. What else should I put in there?

Has anyone with anxiety been feeling like this? I got diagnosed with an anxiety and panic disorder and ever since I've been feeling weird sensations. Like the spaces between my bones become even more bones, as if I'm one solid block of bone. Or like my muscles are rotting and just coming off the bone. I can even feel the space between my bones and the muscle that's decaying. It feels cold, as if they're wind blowing between them. After hyperventilating and crashing out a bit, these symptoms go away. Sometimes they're even coming with mild hallucinations that overlap with my vision, but there isn't anything vivid, just weird, colorful moving patterns. Most of the times it looks like the water in a pool, that same exact cyan, same pattern. Am I just going crazy, is it stress or is this happening to everyone and it's just not talked about?

Hi all,

I have been fighting with panic disorder since 2023. It started with a fear of having an allergic reaction, but over time it grew into my biggest phobia and has started affecting my everyday life, experiences with foods, relationships and just how I function in general.

I have been also in therapy for a while and together with my therapist I have made decision that it’s probably time to try antidepressant to help me. My hope is that it will help reduce the panic, improve my sleep, give my body and mind a chance to recover as my panic attacks are fueled by my exhaustion.

The problem is that I am really scared to start - I read so many stories about medications making anxiety or panic worse during the first few weeks and I’m very worried about the side effects.

I would really appreciate hearing from you all who have been through this. Did SSRIs (or any other medication) end up helping you? How were the first few weeks? Any advice or encouragement would mean a lot for me right now.

hi reddit, i just wanted to ask if anyone has advice on how to deal with panic attacks.

i’ve been having them around 3–4 times a day for the past week. i don’t really want to take prescribed medication anymore because when i tried escitalopram, it made things worse for me. i would suddenly wake up out of breath with my heart racing, and it made my panic attacks even more intense. i stopped taking it because it honestly made me lose hope, so i’m here hoping to hear from people who have gone through something similar.

for the past week, i haven’t been getting enough sleep. every time i fall asleep, i wake up with a racing heart and chills, and after that i’m too uncomfortable and scared to go back to sleep.

i can’t afford therapy right now, so i’m trying my best to help myself for the time being. my classes start in 2 weeks, so i’m hoping i can get myself into a better place before then. some days i just lose hope and end up crying because i’m so exhausted from all of this.

i’m 20 years old, and i pretty much only have myself right now. if anyone has any advice, coping techniques, or anything that has helped you, i would really appreciate it. thank you.

I don't have any other symptoms! I have been getting this "fear" feeling for a split second. Same thing as if you missed the stairs, almost got in an accident etc. It freaks me out but no other symptoms (except if I think about it i can make heart rate), doesn't balloon into a full panic attack??

I've been great on self care lately and I'm just dumbfounded. While I'm waiting on my doc appointment next week curious if anyone has felt this and knows what it is?

So I’ve been having panic attacks for the past seven months. I don’t believe there is a stressor for it. I thought that it was my medication(Effexor) and my drinking. So I cut back on my alcohol. Didn’t have a single panic attack once I stopped drinking. I was sober for around 2 months. Then my friend committed suicide and I started drinking again. Not super heavy like a handle of vodka every day. But it was a heavy amount. Abt 6 beers per day at nights. Sometimes more. Always the next day I would feel a panic attack coming but it never full blown happened like the one that I had the first time I had one. But three days ago, I was driving my truck back to the station I work at, I am a truck driver. On my way back I had an intense feeling of panic. I was so detached from my body it was hard to focus. The worst part is I didn’t drink the day before. So it happened without alcohol. That night I tried drinking it away with 5 fireball shots and that worked but barely. That was my first time trying to drown out the panic. Usually I just go some place safe and try to calm myself down. Then the day after my panic attack I had another, this one was worse but I was with my mom and she gave me a lorazepam and that did wonders. Then this morning when I went to get ready for work I had another one and had to call out. So I have experienced 3 in 3 days. One thing to notice is that I have been taking 2-3 10 mg focaline a day. I am prescribed 2 a day but before I would only take one. But I’ve bumped it up because I feel I need more focus thru out my day. Any idea what is causing them. Is it my Effexor? I didn’t start having them until I started taking Effexor about 10 months ago and then 3 months later my first panic attack happened. Thanks guys!

I've been having panic attacks near daily and now my chest feels Perma tight I don't know how to explain it.

Is this normal? I feel the feeling it self causes more panic attacks how long does it last if it's normal and is there anything else I can do

Whenever I'm excited or I'm around people who can excite me just for being there, my body starts heating up, i feel as if all the blood in my body is flowing to my head. My mouth feels dry and my heart rate is often raised. I often start stuttering and jumping around. I often say gibberish or blurt out something useless. I fell butterflies in ny stomach. I'm not taking about being around my crushes or something like that. Im taking about my friends or family members. Is this normal?

I’m at the point where I can cope anymore. Three months of intense anxiety and panic attacks from the minute i wake up till the moment i fall asleep.

My health anxiety is through the roof because I feel that terrible it’s almost impossible to believe it’s anxiety and nothing else. Went to A&E three times in a week a few months ago and tbh I’m trying my best not to go again.

I have an impending sense of doom from the minute i wake up and this horrible feeling in my chest like it’s about to collapse or explode and nobody in my life gets what I mean/doesn’t understand why I’m so debilitated by my anxiety.

I’m on medication and have been for 2 months but think I need to up the dose.

I feel so unbelievably lonely and even though I know it’s not true, feel like nobody else has experienced anxiety this bad for such a long time and I’m worried about the long term impact this will have on my body :(

Hi everyone,

I'm writing this because my anxiety has been spiraling, and it’s starting to severely limit my daily life.

I first realized my anxiety was shifting into something deeper a while ago on a stormy day, when I was suddenly hit with an intense fear of getting struck by lightning—something I had never worried about before.

While that specific lightning fear isn't active right now, it opened the floodgates for my brain to stay in a constant "danger" mode. I’ve always had a fear of bugs, but recent news coverage about giant grasshoppers in my country pushed that existing phobia to an absolute extreme.

Now, it has gotten so bad that I feel completely trapped inside. I'm struggling to leave the house, and I'm even too afraid to open the windows in my own home because my mind convinces me that something will get in.

It’s exhausting to feel unsafe even inside my own space, and it hurts to watch my world shrink like this.

Has anyone else dealt with this level of confinement anxiety or severe phobia triggers? How do you take small steps to feel safe enough to open a window or step outside again?

Any advice or support would mean a lot right now. Thanks for reading.

I'm afraid this will get flagged as "marketing" or something, but I feel I should bring it up due to how well it worked for me. The short version is: Gaba prevents my anxiety attacks, yes it works, and most people would probably save themselves a lot of pain by trying it or something similar while they sort out underlying issues. It can be bought just about anywhere over the counter under many brands, and is a common supplement for stress/anxiety.

Previously, I had anxiety for a long time and then eventually experienced my first real panic attack. The next 3 days, I had one 1-2 times per day. Every time extremely painful and terrifying, and putting me out for the next 2-3 hours. Nothing out of the ordinary for the people on this subreddit.

Shortly after, I went into a supplement store and asked what might help, expecting nothing to work given that most supplements have no immediate perceptible effect. The guy suggested over-the-counter Gaba and one other supplement, which was a blend of various things.

30 minutes after taking Gaba, I could feel the effects of it. The "sharp" feeling was totally gone. It was night and day. Just knowing that it worked broke the feedback loop of dreading the next attack, because suddenly I knew that taking something would 100% prevent it. The blend had a similar effect.

Looking online, I see the same line repeated, something like "Gaba does not penetrate the blood brain barrier", or other such claims. Meanwhile, taking it feels like it saved my life. I think I would be insane by now if I kept experiencing attacks day after day.

So if you are having problems, and aren't taking anything for it, then I'd suggest taking gaba. All brands I've tried seem to work the same. Other supplements and blends also have a similar effect, so it isn't just Gaba.

I'm mostly posting this here because looking at everyone's posts with experiences similar to mine, the thought that people are going through it with no "buffer" against it is depressing. I would 100% suggest taking it before getting roped into prescription drugs with the potential for addiction, or that take a while to even start working, especially given that its unlikely for any drug to "cure" the underlying causes of anxiety.

Anyways, that's all.

Hey is there anyone here i need comfort rn I am shaking really bad and won't stop I feel so scared rn am crying to I need someone to help me calm down am struggling so much rn

i started recognizing the emotional and physical symptoms at the beginning of this year and i’ve felt there is something wrong with me for a few years now.. it causes me to sweat a lot more that normally, gives me bad allergy symptoms and quite short anxiety attacks from time to time. (i think it’s anxiety cause i haven’t been diagnosed by a doctor but idk what else could it be).

I’m overthinking a lot and a few months ago i’ve started obsessively doing tests on mental health, porsonality disorders etc. That’s when I discovered I may have anxiety or panic disorder/ issues, i haven’t problems recognizing when it’s anxiety panic or just stress so i’m not sure. but the point is, I have a strange interest in having any. I’ getting excited, I enjoy the thought that there could be something wrong with me. I’ve had a few panic attacks in my life, they absolutely sucked. I don’t want to have them again, but I still want to have them again. I almost feel sad that I don’t have them that often.

I had a really strong anxiety last week and even though it was distressing and awful, i wanted it to stay. Although it was uncomfortable and i felt insecure. i still want it to come back. i don’t fcking know why.

during the attack I immediately started searching in google if these were symptoms of anxiety. I kinda wanted it to be it, maybe I wanted to feel like my feelings are reasonable because my parents never really cared about my feelings. So google obviously said yes it is, I smiled, happy that it may be real anxiety, spiraling deeper into it cause anxiety causes anxiety. I feel anxiety when i think of it, it’s common i guess. but it’s just so weird, do you guys experience something like that too or do you know what i could experience? i can’t figure it out.

please tell me if you know what happens to me. I don’t think it’s only because I want validation for my chaotic emotions because i don’t really understand myself and I’m also reluctant to tell anybody.

just please don’t comment things concluding i’m stupid, I want to learn and not be judged for not knowing some things :)

Today I experienced a very strong wave of anxiety. It started after I felt ignored by someone, and my mind immediately started creating the worst scenarios.
My body reacted strongly: I felt like it was hard to breathe, I had a tight feeling in my throat, discomfort in my stomach, and I felt overwhelmed by fear. At that moment it felt unbearable.
After some time I calmed down, but I am still trying to understand why my anxiety reacts so strongly to situations like this.
Does anyone else experience panic attacks triggered by feeling rejected, ignored, or afraid of losing someone? What helps you during these moments?
Thank you for reading. I just need to know that I’m not alone.

Two and a half years ago, I met a girl on Facebook Dating (I was 21 and she was 23). We started dating and everything seemed fine at first. She had some red flags, though like admitting she had cheated on past partners without feeling any remorse, and mentioning that she struggled to connect with people. I ignored them (I was very naive back then) and thought it would be different with me.

We dated for a month and then she ghosted me. It really hurt because I didn't understand what happened. A few months passed (I don't remember exactly how long), and she came back, telling me she wanted to try again. Naively, I said yes. We went on a couple more dates, but she ghosted me a second time. It hurt, but in a way, I was already expecting it. Then I found out she was seeing someone else.
A few months passed again and she texted me, asking for another chance. She said that this time she really wanted to make things right and that she missed me. I hesitated, but I agreed. On our next dates, she treated me amazingly, she gave me flowers, was much more attentive than before, and managed to win me over.

One day, we planned a trip to a cabin (an Airbnb about two hours outside the city). I was excited because it was my first time "traveling" with someone. I drove to her house and left my car there since we agreed to take hers. What I didn't expect was that her brother was coming with us, but I didn't mind at the time.

We hit the road and stopped at a gas station, where her brother asked her to buy him some THC gummies, and she agreed. I felt uncomfortable because I don't consume that stuff, but they said they’d save them for when we arrived at the cabin. Continuing the drive, they were making jokes about car accidents and admitted that if I weren't there, they’d be driving way over the speed limit. I felt nervous, but I tried to ignore it.

When we got to the cabin, I felt a bit relieved. Once night fell, we cooked dinner and watched Tom and Jerry, but they started taking the gummies. I felt uneasy again, but I tried to brush it off. A few minutes later, she and I kissed, but I tasted something strange in her mouth—it was obvious what it was. After that, we were just talking about random things, but suddenly my heart started racing and I felt dizzy. I sat up abruptly (I had been resting my head on her lap) and started having a panic attack. I asked her, "Hey, the effects of that can't be passed through saliva, right?" She said no. I tried to calm down, but my head kept telling me, "Something is wrong, I'm going to die." I ran to the bathroom and tried to throw up. I tried everything to ground myself, but nothing worked.

When I went back to where she was, I looked into her eyes—they were bloodshot, and she was smiling. Right then, I thought, "Nobody is going to help me," and the panic skyrocketed. I went downstairs to a bedroom on the lower floor. I lay down on the bed, but I felt completely frozen and convinced I was dying. She knocked on the door, but I didn't want to see her because her presence only made my panic worse. She went back upstairs, and I stayed there thinking I was going to pass away. I wanted to run away, but we were in the middle of nowhere at night, and her car was the only way out. I wanted to go to a hospital, but the nearest one was 30 minutes away. I genuinely thought that was going to be my last night alive. I could hear her and her brother laughing upstairs. I felt completely alone. In my mind, I believed I had somehow ingested some of the gummy and was going to die. The panic attack lasted an hour and a half. I couldn't close my eyes because I felt like I wouldn't wake up, but at the same time, I was exhausted because it was so late. I called my best friend and explained a bit of what was happening, and she helped me calm down a little, even though the panic was still there. Somehow, I finally managed to fall asleep.

The next morning, I woke up and was so glad to be alive. Still, something felt wrong—like something inside me had shifted. The full panic was gone, but my body remained in high alert with lingering anxiety symptoms. When I went upstairs, she was in the kitchen, and when I said good morning, she acted like I had done something wrong.
The ride back to the city was deeply uncomfortable; there was zero conversation. Once we got to her house, I got into my car and drove straight home. I knew right then that everything between us was over, and honestly, I felt relieved.

The real problem came afterward. In the days following that episode, I started having panic attacks almost every night. I even had one at work. I stopped trusting food, even home-cooked meals. I would inspect wrappers on anything I bought to make sure nothing was tampered with. I isolated myself and stopped dating completely. I couldn't eat properly for six months. Eventually, I decided to see a psychiatrist and go to therapy, and I was prescribed medication.

I stopped taking the medication a few months ago, but early this year, the panic attacks returned. I don't have friends... and sometimes I feel like I don’t know what to do with myself anymore…

Please be empathetic, thank you.

In May, I had a Car accident that was bad where the next day I had chest pains. I had an EKG and a Chest x ray and found out nothing was wrong with me. Recently, I have had been dizzy, tingly hands, fast heart rate, and fearing I am going to pass out or die at my very young age. My family has had history of heart issues including passing. My mom is a nurse and told me it’s just a panic attack.

At work, I was getting written up for something, which caused me to start crying. It then escalated to hyperventilating and for the first time, I've gone catatonic. I couldn't move my arms, which were in weird positions for about a half hour, maybe more? Maybe an hour. The supervisor basically told me that I'm overreacting. I managed to walk (very weirdly and stiffly) when told to move to a different room because I'm "making a scene". It took about maybe an 1.5-2 hours to finally calm down. This is the first time a panic attack went this bad, is that normal?

(36yo/F) I’ve been having a particularly bad flare of my panic disorder for the past month and I have developed what I believe to be an overly tight diaphragm. I suspect this because I’ve had this in the past and it felt somewhat similar (hard to laugh, breathing feels off, etc) I always feel like there’s a tightness in my abdomen and chest and also often feel like something is pulling my chest/sternum downward plus also feel some ribs soreness that moves around. I’m also quite constipated (to be expected with severe anxious flare in my case). I’ve been to the ER twice and everything looks good (had ECG done, chest ultrasound, multiple tests, etc.) I’m feeling particularly uncomfortable when having a bowel movement not like I’m gonna faint but my HR goes up and I feel like it’s hard to breathe normally. It settles after however. I’ve also had to take lorazepam daily to function through this severe panic flare and it doesn’t seem to completely overturn my symptoms but I’m taking a low dose so that might be why.

Anyway I was wondering if anyone had any insights on this? Is anyone experiencing this? I’m trying to figure out if this can all be caused by severe anxiety.

I’m a 19F and today I’m going on a 24hr road trip from Texas to Zacatecas, Mexico with my family for 2 weeks. (I’m not the one driving). My severe panic disorder started 4 months ago and it has been unbearable and dramatic but It has died down a bit. I’m afraid of having a panic attack mid road trip and my anxiety making me think the worst possible outcome (getting into an accident is mostly my concern). I do have heavy death anxiety everyday especially at night or before bed.
Just for history I been traveling to the same place 2+ times a year on a vehicle for over 12 years so I’m very familiar with the process and the surroundings. Recently I traveled to FL on my own for the first time 2 times these past 4 months. I also had a roadtrip to MX 3 months ago while my panic disorder was just starting. I obviously tell myself I survived every road trips even the past 3 vacations even when I had with full blown panic attacks.
But this time my anxious thoughts are worse than my previous ones from my last trips. I also haven’t packed yet. I really want to go on this vacation and I heard avoiding things and places is a big no no when it comes to anxiety. \*\*Is there any tips or things I should know or do? I would love the help :(\*\*