I've been diagnosed with an atypical panic disorder. I have no history of panic attacks, no history of anxiety or depression, and generally experience low levels of stress; I am a calm under pressure sort. About 6 months ago, I woke up with a strange tingling sensation that ran across my entire chest, and a tightness in my chest. After hours of trying to ignore it and go back to sleep, I started having intermittent nausea and tingling down my arms. I have no doubt the concern about having a heart attack led me to panic a little. At the ER they found no sign of heart issues and diagnosed me with atypical gerd and sent me home. A week later, it happened again. Knowing it wasn't my heart, I tried to meditate and ignore the feelings but they persisted. When I woke up in the morning they were still there, so I saw my primary care. She diagnosed me with atypical gerd, atypical panic attack, depression (no history), and told me that I must have been hyperventilating, despite the fact that the tingling persisted while I was holding measured, steady conversations with her and my husband. She prescribed strong anti-anxiety meds and told me to take them for 6 months. I fired her and threw the script in the trash. My new doctor has checked my hormone levels (normal) and had me wear a heart monitor (some ectopic rhythm) but hasn't found any other reason for my continued symptoms. She's stumped and now leaning towards the panic diagnosis. I now experience several hot flashes a day. I get the tingling pretty much every day off and on, but less intense, and for the past 24 hours my tongue and lips have felt slightly numb. I swear to god, I am not hyperventilating. I can live with all of these symptoms, though I'd appreciate it if they didn't wake me up. There is nothing stressful going on in my life. I have fulfilling friendships, lovely kids, a supportive husband, and no money trouble. I'm not depressed, and this only bothers me because I just don't get it. How does one suddenly get panic attack symptoms without any panic and no history? I should stress that at no point during these episodes is my heart racing, nor am I thinking about stressful or worrying things. I'd love everyone's thoughts.
This same thing happened to me 3 years ago, I’m a very positive person , I don’t stress about things I’m a very happy go lucky person , and one day in the middle of the night I woke up with a panic attack I felt weak and hot, I stood up to go outside for fresh air and I felt my legs were like jelly and I thought I would faint, didn’t have a nightmare at all, it happened again and again, then suddenly stopped.
A year later it started again to the point it was constantly happening and led me to depression, I thought I had lost my mind!
I had to go on antidepressants and haven’t been able to come off as of yet, however I have reduced my dose , and they have helped me get back to normality thank god.
I’m interested to understand how this can come about too?
Latiffa - Sorry to hear you're going through some of this as well! It's hard to believe this stuff just starts happening out of the blue. While doctor's may yet to have found the cause, I can't wrap my head around the idea that an otherwise fine person suddenly starts having these symptoms for no reason. Have you tried a diet change? There is some good data (peer-reviewed research) to suggest a potential connection between anxiety and the gut. I have been trying to eat less processed food and increase my fruits and vegetables. I can't tell if it's helping because my symptoms are generally more mild these days. I wish I could just figure out what it is my body is trying to tell me, or what it thinks I ought to be anxious about. I can't imagine how making my lips tingle for 4 days is useful, biologically speaking!