The FastDay Forum

Hello all - has anyone out in the lovely 5:2 community ever suffered from a one-off panic or anxiety attack? I mean in the singular sense, and not as an ongoing condition, as I am trying to find out if indeed this can happen as a one-off. At age 31, approximately 2 weeks after my weddding and whilst on a relaxing homeymoon, i suffered from what i can only describe as some kind of panic attack. I have never suffered from anything like this before, and have never experienced chronic depression (an occassional bout of the blues as I battled with body image in my 20s - not any more thanks 5:2!) so without seeking professional help I am struggling to understand what happened. I'm hoping somebody will recognise these symptoms and help put my mind at ease!

I woke in the middle of the night feeling very hot and short of breath. I wasn't gasping for breath, just felt like when i was taking a breath it wasn't filling me up if that makes sense? My heart was racing and whilst i have never experienced palpitations before, i immediately recognised my racing heart!

At the time, we were staying on the 47th floor of a hotel and the air conditioning had cut out so it was very humid. I had an overwhelming fear that something bad was happening and kept thinking i was going to lose control of myself and jump off the balcony (!) I absolutely knew in my mind that i wouldn't want to do that, i just kept thinking about it happening and getting myself even more worked up! I also couldn't sit still, my boyf was trying to calm me by stroking my arm but i was really struggling to regulate my breathing. I tried some breathing techniques but the more attention i paid to my breathing the more worked up i felt.

I eventually calmed down (i think this was over the space of about 20-30 mins) and fell into a very light sleep. We both felt exhausted the next day and decided to spend the morning by the pool instead. However after about an hour, the feeling of breathlessness and panic came on again! I recognised the feeling straight away and started to panic again. My boyf thought it might have been to do with the altitude (pool on the 50th floor!) combined with the heat and humidity so we went straight downstairs into the cool air conditioned ground floor.

Over the next few hours the feeling kept coming on, then subsiding, then coming on again. After the 4th time that morning i got quite upset as i was thinking about possible health problems which i think didnt help the overall feeling, as well as the fact that later that night we were due on a 14 hour flight home! and what if i had an "attack" whilst on the plane?

Sorry for this long winded post. I just really want to put this out there to hear if anyone else has experienced anything similar. Internet searches draw reference to panic and axiety attacks but as i have never had this probelm before, would it suddenly come on? and will they happen again? Why did it happen for the first time whilst on a relaxing stress free holiday? It has been 3 weeks since we came home and i have not had an "attack" since. I also travelled home on the plane with no issues.

Thanks in advance for your help, and if you have got this far - thanks for reading!!

MJ

[Moogie]

Hi Mazzi & sorry to hear about the anxiety you suffered on holiday. It does sound like some kind of panic attack, although I don't know great deal about them.

Had you been particularly stressed or very busy prior to your holiday? I do find that stress can sometimes manifest itself quite strangely once you're taken out of the stressful situation. Like everything that's been troubling you is suddenly gone and you've nothing to stress over so your mind just goes a bit doohlahlie and doesn't quite know how to cope with the lack of stress. All the anxieties and worries seem to seep out in a bizarre way. Could it be something like that?

Another thought that comes to mind is some kind of asthma - the feeling that your lungs aren't filling properly and subsequent anxiety that ensues is all too familiar. Perhaps the elevation and change of temperature could have been a trigger for it.

Hi Mazzimaz, I think you should check with your doctor to rule out physical causes: heart attacks, for instance, can have weird symptoms.

I used to have palpitations: the cause turned out to be overuse of hair regrowth products! Took a couple of years for me to figure that out by myself. So you might also ask yourself if you've started doing/taking anything that's different. Doctors don't often know the possible side effects of various OTC meds, so you may have to do your own research.

Best of luck, Marybeth

It might have been something "simple" like the stress around the wedding finally died down. Stress can cause the most horrible physical (and mental) onsets, racing heart and feeling you are going to loose it is very common as well as feeling like something horrible will happen. Just ask how I know LOL. Hope you never will get another one

I think the unaccustomed humidity, especially with the air con not working, may have exacerbated your attack. Check yourself out at the docs and when you get the all-clear, which I am sure you will, jut put it behind you. You now know that unpleasant though it is at the time that it will and does pass.
On a more light hearted note what was your boyfriend doing in bed with you so soon after the wedding - on your honeymoon in fact - you VERY naughty girl!!

You've just gone though a massive stressful change in your life. Sometimes the body over-responds after the event. I also went through a bad health patch after my wedding (a painful knot of muscles on my back, ended up in PT and taking valium and muscle relaxers!). It all sorted itself out and has never happened again! Just take care of yourself and try to relax as much as possible.

Wow thank you so much everyone!

Moogie - thanks for your reply! Apart from the wedding planning (which i guess did come to a head a week before the wedding) the one other notable stressful situation was that i had a particularly bad reaction to my injections for honeymoon. I stupidly went for three injections on the monday after my hen weekend (whoops - overindulgement on booze and food!), 2 weeks before the wedding, which casued me to pass out and fall (!) off the bed in the Drs surgery. I have never fainted before! I felt iffy for days afterwards - but then so did my now hubby.
I had read about the anxiety taking hold after a stressful situation has passed but to be honest, whilst wedding planning and dealing with the injections was busy i have found myself in much more stressful situations in the past with no reaction like this.It is funny you mentioned the asthma as this also did cross my mind. We were in a casino the night i had the attack and everyone was smoking - something that as a non smoker in the UK i am not used to! My dad suffers from asthma that is triggered when in a smokey environment. I guess this was just only a few hours after we were in the casino.

Marybeth - the medication thing also prompted some internet searching. I was taking some meds related to my monthly cycle (will say no more lol) and i did consider my attack as a side effect, although not listed. This is something that played on my mind at the time and i immediately stopped taking them.

Dhana - LOL! can't believe i called him my boyf! Wow, it really does take some getting used to

Thanks everyone. I think i will go and visit the Drs to get peace of mind on any health issues, just to help put it behind me. Thanks! x

Check with your doctor
Could be thyroid.i had an over active thyroid and the first symptom was heart palpitations and then I used to feel anxiety especially at night.i also felt hot. .could also be a reaction to medication.

[Betsysgr8]

Agree about seeing your doctor, rule out heart probs, thyroid etc. I agree with @Sarahg about the over-active thyroid, I had exact same symptoms with mine. Now, I get the occasional panic attack and I just recently discovered it was actually heartburn! The internal body is very odd on how it transmits pain signals and how we interpret those signals. It could also have been the smokey casino, the heat and humidity or a delayed stress reaction or a combination of all above.

[Moogie]

I had read about the anxiety taking hold after a stressful situation has passed but to be honest, whilst wedding planning and dealing with the injections was busy i have found myself in much more stressful situations in the past with no reaction like this.It is funny you mentioned the asthma as this also did cross my mind. We were in a casino the night i had the attack and everyone was smoking - something that as a non smoker in the UK i am not used to! My dad suffers from asthma that is triggered when in a smokey environment. I guess this was just only a few hours after we were in the casino.

Smoke sets of my asthma too, it's not an uncommon thing and you may find you have a tendency towards asthma which has never been diagnosed because you've not been exposed to your triggers!

As for the stress, while you're actually in the situation you just kind of keep going, the stress hormones see to that until you hit a peak where you just sort of topple over into a gibbering wreck or if the stress suddenly is over (as it is with a wedding) it really can hit you afterwards. Maybe some kind of physiological adjustment to the sudden lack of/drop in noradrenaline? Never really went very far into brain chemistry in my A-level psychology classes


...and yes, I should have mentioned in my earlier post that seeing a doc is a good idea if you're concerned.

[carorees]

I agree with all the above, but wanted to add that I had a panic attack at the Eden project in the tropical dome. Apparently it's quite common for the high heat and humidity to affect people this way.

neurosymptoms.org is a very good website. Stress leads to panic leads to stress and a vicious cycle, if you can break the cycle hopefully you can stop the panic attacks.

[Moogie]

I agree with all the above, but wanted to add that I had a panic attack at the Eden project in the tropical dome. Apparently it's quite common for the high heat and humidity to affect people this way.

Actually, now you say that it reminds me - we went camping a few years ago (despite my protestations!) and Rich's tent felt so enclosed. It was humid there too under canvas for the first time ass an adult and I had a bit of a panic (also for the first time as an adult) - asthma kicked in, was trembling, heart racing and crying uncontrollably like some giant she-baby. I assumed it was the confined space as I was the same when caving at school, but could have been humidity too. Don't recall the cave being humid but it was damp in the air, which doesn't help the breathing.

I have had a single panic attack in my life and I've also had a few bad cases of palpitations and not being able to breathe on very humid and hot nights, after having very much to eat and drink.
Still, checking with your GP is the best thing to do, just to rule out whatever physical problem might be causing this.

Thanks again everyone, feel very reassured and also i maybe should have mentioned the 7 course taster meal we had eaten earlier that night!