I have never suffered with my mental health in the past. 2 days ago I was on holiday in Benidorm with friends and the night after a heavy night of drinking, I had what I think was a panic attack. We were walking to the restaurant and an overwhelming feeling came over me, I was sweaty, dizzy and couldn't feel my hands! I had visions of me passing out and an ambulance coming in the middle of busy night life. We sat down to eat, I was shaking but too embarrassed to say anything to my friends and had to make my excuses that I was too hungover and literally ran back to the hotel and locked myself in my room. Since then I haven't stopped googling, you tubing and reading up about panic and anxiety attacks and I am petrified it is going to happen again. The crazy thing is that I wasn't anxious about anything, it just came out of the blue! Does this sound like a panic attack and does anyone know or can relate to why it would happen like this for no reason at all?! What would be my next step i.e do I need to see my GP? Thanks in advance xxx
Hey Hun.
I'd say in many cases that can be thought of a panic attack. Not to alarm you, many people experience panic/anxiety attacks in different ways.
But there are ways to get through them without making yourself anxious about panic attacks which can trigger the actual attack.
Do you know any self help techniques for anxiety attacks?
As for the GP, I'd say it's entirely up to you. If you feel you need to visit the doctor then go ahead, he may be able to give you advice how to handle them. But as its your first I wouldn't worry too too much, yes they are horrible and are physically and mentally draining and sadly (through my expierence) there is no "cure" BUT as I said there are way to handle them and be more in control when they come on.x
Hello,
It definitely sounds like a mild panic attack. Alcohol always makes mine worse! I have days if just being shakey and tense after a drink or two.
Given its your first, I wouldn't worry to much.
One major tip, don't Google your symptoms. You will convince yourself something serious is wrong. The thing with anxiety is that the physical symptoms are so real and scary they often resemble something sinister, yet anxiety is often driven by a thought process. The brain is a powerful tool and is capable of manifesting these physical symptoms.
If you google your symptoms and say you spot you have a higher rate rate, you'll focus on your heart rate and fuel it so sure enough your heart rate will rise / palpitations will start - panic trigger.
It's trying to break the vicious circle that is hard. I would speak to your doctor about therapies available to try and help you understand what is happening and techniques to control the panic feeling.
Hopefully you can do something preventive while early on as anxiety is a massive hindrance!
Suprisingly there are few people that get through life without at least 1 panic attack & the situation you describe is not uncommon. Recovering after a heavy night drinking sets you up for all the physical symptoms & your in an unfamiliar environment. Its not really out of the blue, you experience all sorts of odd physical symptoms and all sorts of automatic systems that are designed to keep you safe kick in. You pay more attention to them on the basis they might mean you are seriously ill, one you think that your anxiety shoots up and makes everything worse. People I know describe this feeling after a heavy night as a "toxic sweat". I would treat this as a one off event but if you still have these night you might need to prepare yourself a bit better, eat before going out, avoid speed drinking & increase non alcoholic fluid intake. The odd rest from drinking also helps you want to avoid a repeat particularly in the short term, the more you have the greater the risk of it becoming more established, but I wouldn't worry (if you excuse the obvious fault in that statement) about 1, even though they are horrible.