Anxiety attacks vs. panic attacks

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-15-2006
Anxiety attacks vs. panic attacks
4
Tue, 03-28-2006 - 6:46am

I decided to ask this question after reading the thread about the anxiety and phobias workbook where Heather discussed her experience with anxiety attacks.

I have knowingly, in the past, suffered from panic attacks. I was able to (mostly) overcome them through therapy. These attacks were classic - chills, sweats, racing heart, nausea, feeling of impending doom, etc. They usually lasted between 5 and 10 minutes. That was one thing I always held in my mind, that the attack would soon be over.

About three weeks ago I had the experience that sent me to the doc and put me on the path I'm currently on. One afternoon, out of the blue, my anxiety started to rise. No a sudden spike, just a slow gradual rise that no amount of deep breathing or distraction seemed to be able to counteract. The most accurate way to describe it would be a panic attack that would not stop. It scared me terribly, and that's what took me to the doctor the next day. When I showed up (16 hours after it had started) my pulse was 130 and my BP was 140/90...up from a normal of 90 and 100/70. The doctor looked shocked when I told him how long I'd been in this state. He told me that this wasn't a panic attack, as by definition they only last a few minutes. The Xanax he prescribed me was really the only thing that let my body calm down.

My question is this - was what I experienced an anxiety attack? Is there a difference between the two? The terms seem to be used together so much. I'm just hoping that some folks with more experience in anxiety treatment will be able to help mee understand what happened to me :)

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-28-2003
Tue, 03-28-2006 - 8:14am

Wow, what a scary experience!

Jennifer

"Oh, that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evi

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-15-2006
Tue, 03-28-2006 - 8:32am

The doc checked my thyroid and everything and then said that he just thought it was an acute anxiety response, and that maybe the depression was affecting the way my body reacted. I never had an attack like this until after I became depressed.

Oddly enough, since I became depressed, I haven't had any actual panic attacks...just these longer anxiety ones. Maybe that doc has a point :)

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-11-2004
Tue, 03-28-2006 - 11:11am
FWIW, my panic attacks are generally limited. Maybe 20 minutes tops. Anxiety, though scary, isn't as intense & can last for days. However, in spite of what you might read or be told, on two occasions I have been in a panic state that lasted weeks. Once
 

 


 



iVillage Member
Registered: 03-22-2003
Tue, 03-28-2006 - 4:30pm

Meg, I just posted under the Anxiety & Phobia workbook thread, the symptoms as described in the book :)


Sheri Ann

Sheri Ann