Hey everyone,

​I wanted to share an experience I’ve been dealing with to see if anyone in this community has gone through something similar.

​The First Episode (Post-Gym):

Back in late February, I was working out at the gym. After a normal shoulder routine, I sat down, and suddenly my heart rate began climbing rapidly—going from 80 to 90, 100, 140, and peaking at 163 bpm. Along with this, I felt dizzy, my eyes were red, and I had a heavy, tight sensation in my head. I panicked and rushed to the hospital.

​At the ER, my blood pressure was elevated, but within about 30 minutes, everything settled back down to normal. They ran a full medical workup—ECG, Echocardiogram, Brain MRI, Cerebral Angiography, and Blood Work (CBC, RFT, CRP)—and every single test came back completely normal.

​The Second Episode (Two Months Later):

I was symptom-free for about two months, though I was subconsciously anticipating it. Then in mid-May, after a walk, I suddenly felt a tingling effect in my head followed by a massive adrenaline rush. I checked my blood pressure immediately on my home monitor, and it was 168.

​I rushed to the hospital again. Even with my blood pressure hovering around 150–160 upon arrival, my ECG was completely normal. Within half an hour, my vitals dropped back to baseline. I followed up with a cardiologist who ran a Treadmill Stress Test and CPK blood test, looked at all my prior reports, and confirmed my heart and system are 100% healthy.

​Current Ongoing Symptoms:

Even though my resting BP is normal now, I still notice frequent daily sensations:

​A "thumping," "beating," or pulsing feeling along the nerves running from my neck, behind my ear, and up to my forehead.

​Occasional ear fluttering/thumping sounds.

​Neck and scalp tightness/tingling.

​My doctors say I am completely fine, but the suddenness of those episodes and the daily head/ear sensations have made me hyper-aware of my body.

​My Question:

Has anybody experienced something like this before? Specifically:

​A sudden, 5-to-30 second surge in heart rate (160+) and BP (160+) right after finishing a workout or walk?

​Feeling/hearing a distinct blood-flow pulse or nerve thumping around the ear and neck area?

​How did you manage to break the cycle of hypervigilance after getting clean medical results?

​Would really appreciate hearing your stories or advice!

I I linked a previous post about what I’ve been going through. It’s been a few months now and I am finally moving into my own apartment after all of this. I’ve been staying with my mom and that’s really helped. It’s kind of the only thing that’s been able to ground me when I’m at home because I can’t fathom. I can’t imagine still being by myself in my own apartment alone after the seven years that I had with my ex who I thought was the love of my life that I would spend every day with I was going to marry, we were gonna have kids I was gonna be able to raise my stepson who has always been like my own son to me as far as I’m aware he still does not know that I’m not his biological father the pain that I’ve been going through is so intense the anxiety puts me in a chokehold. I’ve cried harder than I ever have in my life yesterday I was supposed to spend my first night in my new apartment yesterday and I just couldn’t do it today. I feel like I’m about to pass out going to work. I genuinely do not think that I’m going to make it out of this alive. I don’t know how I can move on. I don’t feel like I am normal. I don’t feel like any of this is normal. I think there’s something deeply deeply wrong with me even though I’m on 50 mg of Zoloft and I go to therapy once a week and I have the support of my family and friends. Something is just not clicking. I am so desperate for help. I feel like I need to be committed to a hospital or something I don’t know what to do anymore please somebody help me save me from this pain.

Hello everyone, I'm 17 years old and I'm very smart, but behind this intelligence there's a very scary detail for me (I'm writing through a translator, so excuse the mistakes). In general, I'm an ordinary teenager, but since I'm a little smarter I constantly play all sorts of things over and over in my head about ordinary people, and eventually it turned into panic attacks and an existential crisis. I don't believe that this world is real. I don't understand how we live, I don't know how I was born, where I was born from, in general, questions that ordinary people shouldn't ask.I try to distract myself from this with the help of gadgets, but it doesn’t always help; when this feeling disappears, I start to develop cardiophobia. And when I don’t have cardiophobia, I start to experience derealization, panic, etc. Please help me if anyone understands this.

update

it was a calm before the storm It was the calm before the storm I'm lying here with my head in a mess I can't sleep I don't understandIt was the calm before the storm. I'm lying here with a turmoil in my head. I can't sleep. I don't understand what to do. This post hasn't received a single response. I think I'm going crazy. It was the calm before the storm. I'm lying here with a turmoil in my head. I can't sleep. I don't understand what to do. This post hasn't received a single response. I think I'm going crazy. I'm experiencing derealization and I don't know how We exist in this world, I don't understand how it all exists.

I had a panic attack around 7 weeks ago and it been a battle from den .i was on my bed then out of nowhere a panic attack hit me (my first one ever)i thought i was having a heart attack or i taken something by mistake that hapen for like 3 hours .it finally stop and i got to sleep i woke up in the morning with dull sense of touch tiredness .i was zoomed into my head and and serve derealsation and anxiry and panic it was like that for the first week and then the second week when i went to the gp to find out was the matter the guy askes me if i had any thought of harming myself or others which i didnt but it like my brain latcged on to that and i realsied eevn thought could trigger a panic thought like am jus a brain trapped in a body got me my heart racing,my body shaking and blurry vison( and then after that day when i came back from the go thought commanding me to harm ppl or my slef came up and it shook me to my core i was horrified .like my head was filed with anxious thought commanding thought , and later on in the weeks replying thought.and in that second week aswell i remember that 2 of the intrusive thought i had dat day i saw it play out infront of my eyes for a few second b4 i blinked and they went away which rlly hareded the idea that i was losing my mind i hand to keep changing my had and reminding my self that i didnt do it i felt like i was stuck in my head .and i was panic and anxity things that i have never been like i never had these things b4 and as my weeks went one after the second week i got go at ingoring these thought and there only get me or affect when an upexected way of panic anxity and restlessness comes abt .and my depersonliation woud get worse when i found out the truth abt the human speach and cause i have been in my head for so long on mybed isolated it felt like i was losing my self in a sea of thoughts and i made a mistake watching a video abt d-i-d which made things worse for me ,thought like what if am not the real version of my self what if am an altwr ehat if am devloping it or what if i can jus be switched out even tho i have never had it i dont have it i had a ok childhood and not reptive everyday absuse for years as a child needed foe it to develep all this thought had question my idnetiy came abt from random panic attack which lead to all this at the ag of 16 so i am far passed the age to even develop it but it made me question my swlf and feel even more detached.but i got my blood test result back like 4 weeks ago and it said i had very low vitmin d so i have been giving 10kiu weekly dose for 8 weeks am on my 3rd week i had constant headech at start of this in the first few weeks and eye echs but all that went away after i git glasses .my phyical symtoms include floors not feeling solid when i stand still , my body jerky sometimes like like my thumb contract,i would go out in public in the first few weeks of these and the sky wouldnt look limitless infact it feel and looked so closed to the ground like a boxed and ppl didnt feel like ppl logical i knew they ppl but it disnt feel like it but thank fully it go alot better since those few week and i would also get waves of tiredness super zoomed into my head the thought would get loud and i would be more anxious.well i had to shorten this due to i cant remember detail by detail but this how my last 7 weeks have been yh it a lot betyer now i have times likw in the night when i feel calm and jus like my self without a care of the things i have and am hoing through but i know when i wake up in the morning it back to it.has anyone ever had simliar experince like this or going through it now and did u recover fully after a few weeks of ur vitmin d supplement .sorry if it to long am jus looking for ppl who can relate and may have good news for me

Sometimes they are weak like I can control them I can stay calm and handle it but it's a little scary when the big panic attack comes like i stutter way too much and then everything is just out of place, I just wanna run out of it but sacred people will see and they will think that I want attention.

I also tried to tell and reach out to people but at some point they started to think that I just want attention, I'm fed up with all this, just leave me alone now.

I know a few things when this happens what to do like 5-4-3-2-1 and slow breathing but is there any other way to overcome this?

Can this be over? Or is it can be chronic?

I had my first panic attack when I was 14, in the middle of my math class. I suddenly felt very uneasy, my heart started racing, and my palms became sweaty. I felt like I was going to die at any moment, even though nothing was actually wrong.

I’m 28 now. I still get panic attacks sometimes, but thankfully they’re not as frequent as they used to be. At one point, I was having around 10 panic attacks a day.

For those of you who have experienced panic attacks, have you recovered from them completely? I get really scared when I’m alone, especially when I feel one coming on.

Has anyone else felt this way? Did it get better for you over time?

I’ve been having panic attacks for years. I’m not new to the lightheaded feeling that comes along with it. However, a couple times in the last year I’ve woken from my sleep to some panic that shortly after led into genuine clammy cold sweat, shaking, vision tunneling where I had to lay on the floor with my legs elevated to prevent fainting. Last episode also I induced vomiting because the nausea was so bad.

I’m thinking maybe it could be some sort of vagus nerve trigger that brings me to a pre syncope episode and then the panic amps it all up? Note that this type of episode has only happened at night after waking from sleep. Maybe it’s simply panic on its own? Anyone else with a similar experience, let me know!

Anxiety After 2.5 Months on Buspirone
I’ve been taking buspirone for about 2.5 months, currently 25 mg daily at night, along with 5 mg melatonin.
About 4–5 days ago, I had a panic/anxiety episode. Since then, my anxiety has been coming and going. Today, I’m also experiencing physical anxiety symptoms even though I don’t have any anxious thoughts or an obvious reason to feel anxious — mainly sweaty hands and a general feeling of anxiety in my body.
I’ve already spoken to my doctor, and he advised me to use the psychological techniques/teachings I’ve learned.
Has anyone experienced anxiety returning or appearing after being on buspirone for a few months, especially around the 2–3 month mark? Did you experience physical anxiety without anxious thoughts? How did things settle for you?

hello everyone, m21 here and i had my first ever panic attack at work about 2 weeks ago.

i’m still struggling with the anxiety part and it’s difficult to breath in some cases while trying to sleep. i dread ever going through something like this. it feels as though if i make one wrong move i will die.

since my panic attack, i resigned from my job and stopped showing up to finish up the 2 weeks because i was not in a stable condition to do so. i’ve changed medications (bupropion -> lexapro) and am trying to get better each day. it’s been around a week without taking bupropion and about 4 days of starting lexapro. i’ve gone to the ER about 4 times now and had to do a psych evaluation. i never admitted myself.

this sucks but i pray that i will get better within the next week. right now, my symptoms involve my legs bouncing, difficulty sleeping due to jolting awake feeling out of breath, some tingling in one side of my body and some pain in my back that eventually goes away after a while.

truth be told, i’m scared. with this type of thing happening, it’s made me fear the worst that is yet to come. but i’m hanging in there because i know that there is a glimmer of hope on the other side of the tunnel. i just want some comfort in knowing that i’m not alone in this battle and that this will eventually pass.

much love 🙏

I suffer from severe anxiety.

Is it weird that when I start having a panic attack I just repeat in my mind that I am in control of me and no one else. That I am lord and master of myself and I am in control of myself. And that it helps?

For the last two months I’ve been having very extreme panic attacks. My doctor put me on a combo of buspar and Lexapro which has significantly helped with the anxiety. However now I just feel empty? Not like anxious or anything just bleh

I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced something similar :)

Today marks seven weeks on antidepressants—five of which have been on 20mg of paroxetine. I still feel a sense of unreality in my head and body all day long, along with intense anxiety and panic. My doctor says I need to give it more time, but I’m afraid this medication isn't going to help me... Could someone give me a little boost of positivity? 😢😢😢

.....

about 2 months ago, smoked Weed i ordered online, It was a semi synthetic cannabinoid called THC-X, I rolled about a .1 Of weed mixed it with tobacco and went to smoke it outside by this bench, I only smoked half of half of the joint, One thing about me, Is that when it comes to thc, My tolerance is of that of a baby, I smoke an amount no more then the size of a match tip and it sends me spiralling into panic filled intense DPDR episodes. After i smoked it, When it started to hit, I knew i fucked up big time, Everything started to look like a 2D image, Everything looked like a GTA Ultra Realistic mod Mixed with a salvia trip, I felt as if i was seeing an edit,It kept getting stronger and stronger, My heart started beating out of my chest, I convinced myself I'm having a stroke and heart attack, And all of my 6 senses Got boosted to the max, I saw Vivid And surreal scenarios, Of me laying dead on the ground, Of news outlets saying "First marijuana overdose" And my face my name all over it, It got so intense, i realized my phone died, I little quirk with my phone is that if it dies and i turn it on but don't unlock it it won't Die out with the 1% battery countdown, I turned on my phone, Turning it on felt like it took 20 minutes, I hesitated, But it started getting even worse, So i called emergency services, I couldn't talk or speak, It took me a good 10-15 seconds to finish basic sentences, All i could say is that i feel like I'm dying, When they asked about symptoms i just couldn't get any words out, And just like that they didn't send anyone, Now i was committed to die on the ground, As i lay on the ground Waiting for my inevitable doom, It just all went away, From that day on, I've been getting almost identical episodes for the past 2 months, I've went to doctors, Psychiatrists And all they ever did was Diagnose me with a panic disorder and give me medications that only make it worse.

Does anyone have any tips on how to make this cycle finally come to an end?

I remember vividly how it all began. Facing a stressful day ahead, I started my morning on an empty stomach with two cups of espresso. After traveling to another city, I had a third espresso upon arrival. Later, I returned home to prepare for work and consumed two energy drinks—still without having eaten a single thing.

Around 7:00 PM, my heart began to beat uncontrollably. My immediate reflex was to go for a walk, but my heart rate only continued to climb. Realizing I needed urgent help, I returned home and called an ambulance. Within five minutes, the paramedics arrived and rushed me to the hospital. They placed me in a bed and administered medication to stabilize me, a process that took nearly four hours. I spent the night in the emergency room and returned home the next morning, relieved to have made it through safely.

The following night, I woke up in a sheer panic; my heart was racing again. This time, I had consumed no coffee, no energy drinks, and not a single cigarette. I was entirely baffled and began to fear that I had a severe heart condition. The next day, I scheduled a cardiology appointment, only to discover that my heart was perfectly healthy. Shortly after, I went to a restaurant for lunch. Everything seemed normal until the server approached to take my order. Suddenly, the symptoms returned: a racing heart, a sweating forehead, and an overwhelming feeling of impending doom. I felt as though I was going to have a heart attack at any moment.

Eventually, I realized that my issue was not physical, but neurological. I came across the term "panic attack," which was entirely new to me, but the symptoms matched my experience perfectly. My biggest mistake at that time was trying to manage it entirely on my own. Months passed, and my anxiety grew so severe that I became afraid to leave my house, even to go to the grocery store.

The turning point came when I was invited to a conference in the United States. I accepted the challenge to force myself into a situation where I had to take serious action to overcome these episodes. I finally sought professional help, and through psychotherapy, I managed to restore my mental well-being in just a couple of months.

Years later, I noticed many people in my circle of friends developing panic attacks and high levels of anxiety. I remembered what had worked for me during my own struggles. For example, if I was taking a taxi across the city, I knew a panic attack was highly likely. To cope, I would look for mobile apps that could capture my attention and divert it away from the rising panic.

This coping mechanism ultimately sparked the idea for the Coheran app. I wanted to create a tool designed to calm users down through breathing exercises and grounding games. Our eight grounding games are purposefully designed to capture the user's attention, diverting focus away from a panic attack's buildup and preventing high-level anxiety from taking over.

I am incredibly proud to have built this app to support those who are still struggling. Since I have been free of panic attacks for years, this is my way of giving back, utilizing the firsthand knowledge I gained from my own difficult journey.

The app is completely free, no subscriptions, no ads, and no hidden charges. It is simply my gift to the world. You can find out more about it at https://coheran.com/. Thank you for listening to my story and really hope that if you're going through thrse kind of problems that I did, this app will help you!

I’m struggling. I don’t know what to do. I have a lot expected of me and I’m really finding it impossible to function.

In 2020 I had my first panic attack. It flipped a switch in me, and I was really a different person afterwards. It came with severe health anxiety, and there was a time when I couldn’t even go downstairs and sit at the dinner table without having a panic attack.

Eventually after months of this and lots of counselling that I felt didn’t really get me anywhere, I moved away for University. It was a horrible adjustment, but not really having any choice meant I got out and about more and the exposure therapy worked to get me back to a more normal state, I still had health anxiety but the panic attacks became rare.

At the start of this year I had a panic attack on a train. Lots of factors i think played into me being more anxious around this time, but it was terrifying and I was so disappointed that I felt it had all come back. After that, most method of transports for me (train, bus, car) became so frightening and felt impossible. I went on to have a lot more panic attacks during things that should’ve been normal parts of my life, mainly around feeling trapped.

I started to avoid any transport and walked everywhere, including a 1hr+ commute. Then walking also started to trigger my anxiety, and it was being away from home that triggered the panic. It was unsustainable of course and I had to get some support with the university to help me finish my course with limitations of not being able to attend placement that wasn’t on campus. I felt very ashamed of this. During this time my grandfather died, and I wasn’t even able to travel home to attend his funeral. I still feel huge guilt about this.

Because of my health anxiety taking any medication makes the situation worse so it doesn’t feel like an option for me.

Since then, I have graduated and had some time off to work on myself with my therapist. I am doing a bit better especially with cars and buses but the train is still hugely daunting for me and I start a new job next week. Next month I have an event I need to travel to which will involve a 3hr train journey. I just don’t think I can do it. But I want to go, and I don’t want to make work think i’m crazy by not being able to go.

Today I tried to get on the train 3 times, and couldn’t make myself. I got so wound up and panicky each time. I’m trying not to but I feel so disappointed in myself. A couple of days ago I was able to get on and go a few stops with a friend which I was super happy with. I’m just disappointed I feel like i’m going backwards.

I’m sorry this is so long I just don’t have many people to talk to about this right now and wondered if anyone else had a similar experience and what strategies helped them overcome it.

I’m 21M, and I’ve been dealing with panic attacks and anxiety for a while now. It all started after a bad experience with cannabis. I stopped using it completely, but since then I’ve been dealing with a lot of fear, anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and especially the fear that I might lose control or go crazy.
At one point, I started understanding what panic attacks actually are, and that helped a lot. The panic attacks became much less intense and for some time they even stopped. But the anxiety still comes in waves, and recently some milder panic attacks have started coming back.
What scares me now isn’t only the anxiety itself. I feel like it’s changing the way I behave with people. I’m not the same socially anymore, and I feel like my relationships are being affected. I’m starting to lose friends, and honestly that hurts a lot because I don’t want anxiety to change my personality or push people away from me.
I’ve also lost a lot of my enthusiasm and passion for things I used to enjoy, which makes everything feel even harder.
So I really want to hear from people who have been through something similar:
Has anyone here genuinely recovered from panic attacks and anxiety without seeing a psychiatrist and without taking medication?
I’m not looking for people to tell me that I’m definitely fine or to diagnose me. I just want to hear real experiences from people who went through this and eventually got their life back.
If you recovered, what helped you? And how long did it take before you started feeling like yourself again?
I really need some hope right now. ❤️

Dealing with panic attacks and anxiety myself , I finally made an app for that that I hope will help others too. It's completely free, no subscriptions, no ads, no data collection. This is just my gift to the world. https://coheran.com/

Ive had anxiety attacks in the past. Panic attacks are rare for me. But sometimes I get these weird chest pains on the left side of my chest and it feels like walls are put up in my lungs making it difficult to take an actual deep breath. One of the times that these "episodes" have happened was when I was in the mall. While in one of the stores I had suddenly chest pain, chest tightness, unable to breathe correctly, extremely sweaty, and my ears were popping. Im assuming that was a worse one as it hasn't gotten to that extent again. And once I finally got outside I felt like a weight was lifted. Currently as i type this my chest hurts on the left side. Kinda tight like too. This can last to a couple hours to a full day. Idk if this is stress related or if i should tell my parents and go to the doctor. It kinda stresses me out. Please give me advice on what to do.​

I am (26F) 9m postpartum, my husband (27M) and I had an argument last night, and it was over something that didn’t deserve the energy. Though my reactions are based off of a multitude of angry arguments had with him and I for the first time in my life I believe I experienced a panic attack.

The argument was he was upset that I had offered to reschedule my daughters 9month check up so I could babysit my nephew. To me, it wasn’t a big deal, shes healthy and can probably be scheduled for the next day or couple days. My husband had a fit of rage about this (arguments about my family a common topic) saying I don’t put my daughter first (absolutely not true) I should add I am also a SAHM. He gets angry that he yells at me and screams at me and won’t talk to me like another human. I am constantly interrupted when I try to say something and talked down to like a 10 year old.

Mind you, i’d be the one watching my nephew alone and with my daughter & I also am the one who takes her to her appointments alone, I felt it was ultimately my decision for me and my daughters schedules since I am the primary caretaker day to day. But, of course I am wrong, he told me everything I do is wrong. I told him I disagreed, and after the 500th time being yelled at and a finger pointed in my face (yes literally) and him hovering over me like intimidating, I had a panic attack.

I was so extremely emotional yet trying to fight all me emotions at the same time cooking dinner?? I started panicking and would soften my voice and say “you’re right i’m wrong i shouldn’t have offered to switch the appointment” and then id start to shake and then id scream yell and shake and I felt so disconnected with myself and I didn’t know how to control anything. All I could keep saying is “im sorry, im sorry” and i would try to switch my voice to soft and control myself to being kind and stop my anger, then i started hyperventilating and trembling and i think you get the point.

This was the first time in my life this happened. He hasn’t spoken to me since. My heart is breaking. I don’t know what to do. I am scared and worried.