How do you know if you are having a panic attack?
July 2nd, 2010
Susan M asked:
After four hours on a flight to Europe, my husband told me that he was concerned because his face and hands were numb. After I told the flight attendant, she gave him oxygen which seemed to calm him down and help him relax. As soon as the oxygen ran out, his numbness and shallow breathing returned. I also noticed that he was sweating and he had to go to the bathroom all of a sudden several times.
After four hours on a flight to Europe, my husband told me that he was concerned because his face and hands were numb. After I told the flight attendant, she gave him oxygen which seemed to calm him down and help him relax. As soon as the oxygen ran out, his numbness and shallow breathing returned. I also noticed that he was sweating and he had to go to the bathroom all of a sudden several times.
My husband loves to travel and has been on planes his whole life. He has always felt a little sick to his stomach while flying but that has never stopped him from flying all over the world. After looking online, it seems that he has some type of anxiety related to flying. When he gets home he will be going to a doctor, but in the meantime we are flying home next week. Does anybody have any help or suggestions for how to help him if he begins to notice the same symptoms on the flight home? Thank you!
Robbie
Categories: Other - Diseases | Tags: Numbness, Planes, Several Times
Sarah
Is he claustrophobic? If so, that might be the cause of the panic attack. For me, taking deep breaths, closing my eyes, and relaxing my entire body, from head to foot, makes me calm down and feel like I’m in a larger area than I am. This works anywhere that I have enough room to breathe. The doctor will be able to help more; your husband’s medical file is there, along with any previous instance of any condition.
Carrie
Panic attacks are sudden, discrete periods of intense anxiety, mounting physiological arousal, fear, stomach problems (spastic colon) and discomfort that are associated with a variety of somatic and cognitive symptoms. The onset of these episodes is typically abrupt, and may have no obvious triggers. Although these episodes may appear random, they are a subset of an evolutionary response commonly referred to as fight or flight that occur out of context. This response floods the body with hormones, particularly epinephrine (adrenaline), that aid in defending itself from harm. Experiencing a panic attack is said to be one of the most intensely frightening, upsetting and uncomfortable experiences of a person’s life.
According to the American Psychological Association the symptoms of a panic attack commonly last approximately thirty minutes. However, panic attacks can be as short as 15 minutes, while sometimes panic attacks may form a cyclic series of episodes, lasting for an extended period, sometimes hours. Often those afflicted will experience significant anticipatory anxiety and limited symptom attacks in between attacks, in situations where attacks have previously occurred, and in situations where they feel “trapped”. That is, where escape would be obvious and/or embarrassing.
Panic attacks also affect people differently. Experienced sufferers may be able to completely “ride out” a panic attack with little to no obvious symptoms or external manifestations. Others, notably first-time sufferers, may even call for emergency services; many who experience a panic attack for the first time fear they are having a heart attack or a nervous breakdown
Rosa
sounds like he is having a panic attack
Rene
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