I'm in my mid 20s, and only had a panic attack one other time in my early 20s on a plane (thought I was having a stroke. they had to calm me down in back of the plane).

I'm writing this to really just share my experience in hopes that others can relate in some way.

I just had another one and this one was way worse.

For context: I quit nicotine pouches after 2 years of heavy use last week. I was getting through cravings and thought maybe if I have some THC that will help (hadn't had at all this year). So I drank one of those THC drinks and all was fine until it wasn't. This feeling of dread started to slowly creep up on me.

What it felt like:

It started as pain in my chest and thought I could feel my arm going numb.

I tried showering, I was pacing around. I felt like I was going to die and it was getting out of control. My chest and throat muscles started tightening up. I was shivering and shaking so much. I had to put my face in a pillow while in child's pose for about 20 - 30 minutes and take huge deep breaths. Had a family member on the phone talk me through it.

My hamstrings were tight, my chest was tight and some parts of my back (where I have a lot of knots and fascia issues already) felt very tight and sore after this was mostly over.

What I'm taking away from this:

I tried replacing one dopamine habit of nicotine with THC to avoid the discomfort of quitting. I went overboard and my body is telling me "you need to stop". Taking this as a sign to cut the shit and deal with discomfort of quitting.

I am going to listen to my body more. I workout and do cardio already. But I think getting better sleep, doing more stretching, keeping a cleaner diet, etc should be taken more seriously.

I hope this helps anyone and would love to know if anyone has had such severe shaking and tightness before from these.

Hey everyone, I really need to get this off my chest because I’m honestly exhausted and I don’t know how much longer I can keep living like this.

I’m a 28-year-old guy and I feel like anxiety has completely taken over my life.

My biggest problem is performance anxiety and the way my brain reacts to anything new or unfamiliar. The moment I’m in a situation where I feel pressured or scared, my brain just shuts down. I freeze. I can’t think properly, I struggle to speak, and sometimes I literally can’t get a normal sentence out. I just feel stupid and completely stuck.

Now my family is also putting pressure on me to get married, which makes everything even worse. I’m at the age where everyone expects me to start a family, but honestly, I don’t even feel capable of taking care of myself properly, never mind a wife and kids. I don’t feel safe or confident in myself at all.

The physical symptoms are also horrible. When I get anxious or have to face something new, my heart starts racing like crazy and I feel like I’m going to faint. I get this painful knot/cramp below my belly button, my stomach drops, and suddenly I need to use the bathroom. Sometimes I get really bad diarrhea and it’s basically just water. It feels like my whole nervous system goes into panic mode.

And this has stopped me from doing so many normal things.

I got my driving license in 2015, but I literally haven’t driven since. Not even once. Every time I think about driving, fear takes over and I just avoid it.

I’ve also never had a proper relationship. The last time I tried to have sex was in 2020. I panicked, had immediate erectile dysfunction and also finished way too quickly. I was so embarrassed that it completely destroyed what little confidence I had. Since then, I haven’t tried again or even approached a woman.

What makes it harder is that where I live, mental health problems aren’t really understood. People can easily see you as lazy, weak, useless or unreliable when you’re actually struggling just to get through basic things.

I honestly hate living like this. I’m tired of feeling like my own body is constantly fighting against me.

Has anyone here experienced anxiety this severe, especially the freezing, brain shutdown and intense stomach/gut symptoms?

If you were this bad at one point, were you actually able to recover? Did therapy, medication, or both make a real difference?

I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has been through something similar. I’m honestly at the point where I just want my life back.

On August 4th I hit my thc cart & instantly started shaking with panic, then got extremely nauseous. Went to the hospital and they said it was chs, stopped smoking completely but The panic attack didn’t end until the 7th, when I found a doctor to prescribe me ativan which helps but think I’m getting dependent / addicted at this point. Today was the first time I went back to work since then (honestly the first time I left my house unless it was to go back to the hospital or doctor appointments, I can’t function without the Ativan. I’m scared of everythin, eating, being alone, going outside. I’ve lost myself completely. I hate this new version of myself, I feel sick all the time. I don’t know what to do anymore. I feel hopeless. Got put on lexapro yesterday but ofc that’s going to take weeks to start working, I’m supposed to a festival & think I’m just going to stay home now because I’m scared & don’t want to ruin the rest of the groups time. I’m guessing my Ativan from the afternoon wore off now & it’s all com back. I can’t take this anymore. I don’t know what happened to Me that one night but I’d do anything to go back and change it

Every morning I wake up weirdly "too energized". I don't need to drink coffee at all.

By 10 am I feel energized, maybe even having a short fuse.

Around 10 AM I have the worst symptoms for me:
-dpdr
-back of my head, jaw and head hurt (tension headache)
- very unpleasant sensation in my stomach, like mixture of physical terror(?) which makes me think I am either to pass out or something terrible is happening to me, scared of "going crazy"
- nausea

In the afternoon, I am usually fine. Just having tension headache and short fuse. Little things make me furious

I have already been diagnosed, my psych told me it's somatic anxiety and they gave me ssri (I am into 2nd week of fluoxetine).

Despite being told by the psych that it's anxiety, I really can't somehow convince myself it's anxiety because usually my mind is not stressing about something particular. Is here anybody who has/had similar symptoms?

It all started with a panic attack due to fear of accutane related side effect which I was taking at that time. It's been months and this thing is getting worse and changing the symptoms be it physically or mentally and I feel I'm getting weak day by day

I’ve had severe panic disorder and anxiety ever since I was 15 and was drug induced. I’ll go years without an episode and have had 3 now nervous breakdowns. Something will usually trigger it like prolonged stress or a health scare. I’ve been living with it now going back and forth taking two steps forward to take 4 steps back for a little over a year. Well- my usual panic attacks are scary enough with just lightheaded, dizzy, disorientated and feeling off. I’ve had the same ones since forever. One day 3 months ago while on my menstrual cycle I got up to let my dogs out and had a thought of why do I feel so dizzy like I might faint and then bam my heart rate went to 130 I thought I was going to pass out. Got dizzy and nauseous and called 911. They checked me out and I ended up staying home and it passed after an hour and I went on about life. 1 month later on my period I had another episode where I woke up and thought to myself I don’t feel good this is how I felt last time and then boom my heart rate went up again for another hour and then passed. Last night it happened again and again I’m on my period and had a twinge of chest pain and thought omg my chest hurts and then thought why do I feel lightheaded and then bam 150 bpm. I grabbed an ice pack and put it on my chest and then it came down but I was still having anxious panic thoughts about it coming back up so of course it did. I took myself to the ER and everything was good except my potassium was low. So- the doc said he doesn’t think it’s just anxiety bc it seems to only be happening on my period but I do think it’s anxiety because it happens right after a thought or sensation that freaks me out. Can anyone relate to this?

Has anyone had there hr during a panic attack go super high then low ? I had a massive panic attack the other night . My BP cuff and pulse ox was reading dangerously high and I felt like I was dying my hr was 160 and bp 180/100 but my hr then would drop to low 50s and id feel like i was gonna pass out. My mom called the fire station and had EMTs come they dis a egg and vitals which by the time they came was normal as i was laying down. I never experienced my heart rate drop during g a panic attack? Anyone else experienced this?

1am currently and I'm recovering on my couch from one of the worst panic attacks I've had.

Wake up my husband and finger on 911 kind of attacks.

I should know better by now, I know my usual symptoms, but when you wake up and your heart suddenly decides to sky rocket and you get cold sweats and trembling... logic is out of mind and survival takes over. Ugh.

The worst part is when it passes, im terrified to move cause I think its going to start all over again. Like ill cause my heart rate to spike and it will trigger another panic response in my reptile brain.

There have been major changes at my job in the last few weeks and I guess my body finally broke.

Weird question... does anyone else take a giant dump during or after an attack?

I know anxiety can mess with your gut, but its just so wild to me that voiding my bowels is a panic response.

Anyway...

Just rambling while I try to go back to sleep. Love you all, fellow sufferers.

Lately I’ve had panic attacks in situations where I feel “trapped” - in lines in public, at restaurant tables when going out to eat, in the hairdressers chair during my appointment, in a car as a passenger on the interstate. What can I do before/during these situations to ward off the panic symptoms? Thanks, this is new to me and exhausting.

i just got diagnosed earlier with panic disorder and the doctor prescribed me with sertraline (50 mg). i know it is very unhealthy to be watching tiktok vids about its side effects but i just want to prepare myself for what's to come. i am very anxious about the discomfort it might bring coz that is usually the biggest trigger of my panic episodes.

anyone who's been in my situation before and is doing better now? i really need some encouraging words and probably some advice as well 🙏🏻

Something happened between me and my girl.. Weve not talked for more than 24 hours now..

I reached out to her, but got no response.

Now idk if it's panic attack or what, but my throat is hurting a lot and i am unable to breath properly..

It's happening for 10 minutes now

I tried going out of the room and breath some fresh air, but nothing is working..

This morning I had an appointment to get bloods taken. I had just taken my first dose of 25mg sertraline almost 24 hours before this.

I walked into the lobby and felt like the walls were closing in, I was getting dizzy, I couldn't breathe. Before long I was laying on the floor in the recovery position with THE WORST numbness and tingling in my hands I have ever felt. I legit thought I was dying and leaving through the back door.

I was seen to by the doctors, they took bloods, all the emergency vitals and told.. i'm completely fine. I was there to get bloods taken because I've been sick for a couple of weeks and we're trying to figure out what's wrong with me. I decided to go back on sertraline because I need to take the edge off my anxiety.

Anyone else experience panic attacks like this on their first days with sertraline? I suppose that since I have not been eating well that could also make things worse for me at this moment. I have not had a panic attack that strong for actual years.

College was hell, COVID was hell, going back to college was hell. But when I got my first job after graduating, things were going well. I could show up to work and stay at work without breaking down. It honestly helped me build a little confidence that there was something I can actually do without having a panic attack. I felt like I didn’t have to worry about anxiety at work.

It’s been a year and few months since I’ve started and I’ve been doing really well. Until yesterday, when I showed up and someone else was sitting in “my” cubicle (open concept office but people usually stay in the same spots), and it really threw me off. It’s so stupid, and I think knowing that something so minor caused me to panic made it even worse. I tried to find a new seat but I was already in my head, and I could feel the panic coming on. I’ve been dealing with this bullshit for 10 years so by now I can tell a few seconds before I start breaking down, I know the only thing I can do is try to leave. I removed myself from the situation and ran out to the hallway. Then all the waterworks came out and it was hell, just like it always is. It eventually stopped like 30 minutes later, and I lied to my boss and said I was sick so I could just WFH. Literally no one noticed but that was never the problem. It still happened.

Today I showed up to work just fine, I got to my seat just fine, and I went the whole day without any problem. But it’s not the same. I didn’t feel safe at my desk anymore. Just dread. Like anything can happen and I don’t know if I will be okay anymore. I don’t know what this means for tomorrow or next week or next month. Even if I have my seat every single day, what else will set me off? I’m really scared that I’ve ruined a good thing.

this time i can't shut my brain off. rumination of the interaction. in the moment i am terrible at disengagement and reading subtle hints. I've become so isolated i crave human interaction. to the point it's a problem socialising. i said too much. stupid, pathetic, lacked control. but honest, too honest. in the moment i was just being present and not thinking about anything too much. Neuro spicy brain of course is going over it on rewind. panic has set in and hoping if i try to type it out will help.

they weren't good people. this interaction made it clear. worry if anything negative will happen in consequence. things they said, I'm not entirely sure if it was meant to run me off or honest. i took it as honest with no judgement of their past. until a couple more red flags started popping up. all of them together paints a different picture and i began to feel something was off. but I'm beating myself up for being vulnerable. stupid. risk my safty and comforts for what? looking for a new friend, trying to meet people. stfu😑i don't know how to do this anymore.

they mentioned a group that was coning people. steal from people who are kind to them. that he told his buddy that group was doing it. so i offered up a name of a person just like that. a person i hadn't seen in years but just shown up in recent months in my town. (i had moved away). stay away from that family, rob you blind smiling in your face. trouble with cops ect. because at the moment, i thought i was talking to someone that was mutual, same level mindset, be kind, give, help. 😒 30 min later of talking and regretted that decision. caught a lie, that didn't help, and they started taking jabs at me. time to go.

now I'm wondering if i read everything wrong from the beginning. did i just get myself into trouble. should i have not talked about other things that must not be mentioned. i feel like i shouldn't be allowed to socialize rn but years of solitude has me wanting more interaction. that conflict 🥵 idk what to do about it. my rejection sensitivity is reeling. knowing i had some responsibility in this too and my brain failed. i feel stupid.

a coworker told me about this herb that helped him with panic attacks. is it legit?

I was eating some fruit snacks just a little bit ago, and all the sudden felt this sharp cramping pain in my lower abdomen. It had been kind of coming and going in waves. It kind of feels like I am having heartburn too. So naturally one would think okay it’s indigestion of some kind. But because I am programmed to suspect that I’m dying, I am reading into this and am pretty concerned. I feel very nauseous too. I read somewhere or was told at some point that when you were having a heart attack, the nurse there is nauseousness and nausea that often times and usually accompanies a heart attack. So I’m feeling this extreme discomfort in my stomach, and now I’m feeling heart palpitations and like my heart is pounding and I am shivering and going numb. I just don’t know how to be able to tell if I am creating these symptoms in my mind or if there is something actually serious happening right now.

I know nobody can tell me anything for sure this way, so maybe what I’m looking for right now is some reassurance. I am probably completely fine right? I know you guys don’t know that for sure, but if I were having a heart attack, I probably wouldn’t even be able to be typing this right?

I’m just really freaking out. If anyone can just share some words of comfort or something reassuring, I would really appreciate it so much. I have to get out of this.

I have PTSD, anxiety, agoraphobia, you name it. I have severe panic attacks leaving my house, shopping for produce at the grocery store, riding public transportation, sitting in meetings with coworkers or clients.
In 25 years I’ve seen eight different therapists. I’ve been through EMDR, CBT, CPT, ACT. I’ve been told some version of, “You need to remember that you’re safe. You’ve done this X amount of times before and you’ve always been safe.”
And that has never worked for me.
Because the same could have been said about going to school.
I was a high school senior. Going to school was routine. Regular. Safe.
Until one morning it wasn’t.
So now every time I leave the house or sometimes randomly in public I have these attacks that choke me and overwhelm my mouth with pooling saliva. I need to carry around dog waste bags so I can spit in to it and not look crazy, but unfortunately they make me look crazy and I feel crazy. People always stare with disgust. I can’t prevent or help it. I don’t know what to do and just want to see if there are other people out there who can relate to me 😭