u/Express-Wallaby7093

I was seen yesterday at my local urgent care; I’ve been sick since Sunday. Getting sicker each day. Strep test and Covid tests were negative. Supposedly my ears and throat looked “a little red but otherwise fine”, which I don’t really believe considering having them look in my ears and throat I was crying from the severe pain.

What I’ve got going on: Moderate to severe sore throat (sharp razor like pain when swallowing), hoarse voice, moderate ear pain/plugged ears (that occasionally pop), moderate to severe congestion, blowing yellow mucus out of nose, nausea, body aches, fatigue, severe post nasal drip. Dry nonproductive cough almost nonstop. Swollen neck lymph nodes. No taste or smell, no appetite. Unable to sleep due to severity of symptoms.

OTC medication is not helping at all with symptoms or pain management. I have tried a few days of DayQuil and NyQuil; and then switched to ibuprofen, acetaminophen, delsym, mucinex, and saline spray. Feel miserable and would like some sort of relief. Nothing seems to help and I just feel worse each day somehow.

I’ve been in tears the past two nights over how miserable I am. I’m supposed to be going on a trip this week too and I don’t see how that can happen now and I’m really upset as I’ve been looking forward to it for almost a year now.

Please help me. I am miserable. I’m at a loss. I don’t know what to do. This is the sickest I’ve ever felt.

im just really spiraling and need some advice. for 3 months now, i’ve been having these symptoms daily after having a giant adrenaline dump/panic attack at work (at least that’s what i and first aid believe it was):

- occasional 1-2 second heart flutter feelings
- chest pains/aches- they move from spot to spot and they’re usually localized to one spot that I can point out- sometimes they’re a dull achy pressure and sometimes they’re like a weird zap/stab of pain
- dizziness/feeling floaty
- head and heart drop sensations
- fatigue
- brain fog
- achy muscles at night
- occasional air hunger (if i think about breathing too much)
- high heart rate when i stand up
- tummy issues
- nausea
- constipation/diarrhea
- less of an appetite
- occasional rib pain
- sometimes feeling really jittery and “wired” for no reason
- heartburn
- constantly worried I’m going to die or something is wrong with my heart or that I’ll never feel better again
- glob in throat feeling
- sometimes feeling trapped
- feeling really hot when I’m in a store or in public
- noticeable pounding heart sometimes, like it’s shaking my whole body with the beat
- occasional derealization/just feeling in a daze
- occasional hand or foot tingles
- insomnia
- migraines

i think that’s it.. when does it get better? i do feel like things have “escalated” some? they haven’t gotten worse, but it kind of feels more frequent. like i feel like i have more bad days than good. but i dont know if that’s just me feeding into it or not. i get so scared to go out in public or anything outside the house cuz im scared ill pass out or collapse. how do i get over this? im supposed to travel soon for a few weeks for concerts, haunted houses, visiting family, etc and im so scared something bad will happen on the plane or on the trip. i also JUST got fired from my job due to a workplace injury so i lost my insurance. im just at a loss right now. it’s all so scary and feels like it’s taken over my life. i haven’t had labs done yet, but last time i was at the doctor, my heart rate and blood pressure were fine and my heart sounded fine; which should reassure me, but it doesn’t. what can i do to reset my body and feel like me again? this is exhausting 😞

I’m so sick of feeling like I’ll never get better and I’m just so scared something is seriously wrong with me and it’s just a constant loop. But my watch always reads normal HRs and ECGs, my doctor said my blood pressure was good and my lungs and heart sounded good. Why am I still so worried I’ll never feel better? Why does standing and walking seem to trigger the anxiety? Is it really just cuz my heart rate goes up when moving and then I just spiral? It’s so exhausting. I just want to feel normal and not wake up everyday anxious or be concerned everyday something is wrong with me. As you can tell I am spiraling before work today cuz it’s been a long two months of feeling this. My first big panic attack was back in mid July. I’m so anxious every damn morning and just constantly on edge that im gonna have another big panic attack and I just don’t get why I can’t shake it. I can’t even go to work without spiraling. How do you all deal with this? It’s ruining my life it feels like. I feel like I can’t do anything. My chest will hurt or feel a flutter every day now and whenever I feel that, the spiral gets so much worse cuz I’m so scared my heart is giving out or something. It’s exhausting.

I’m so sick of feeling like I’ll never get better and I’m just so scared something is seriously wrong with me and it’s just a constant loop. But my watch always reads normal HRs and ECGs, my doctor said my blood pressure was good and my lungs and heart sounded good. Why am I still so worried I’ll never feel better? Why does standing and walking seem to trigger the anxiety? Is it really just cuz my heart rate goes up when moving and then I just spiral? It’s so exhausting. I just want to feel normal and not wake up everyday anxious or be concerned everyday something is wrong with me. As you can tell I am spiraling before work today cuz it’s been a long two months of feeling this. My first big panic attack was back in mid July. I’m so anxious every damn morning and just constantly on edge that im gonna have another big panic attack and I just don’t get why I can’t shake it. I can’t even go to work without spiraling. How do you all deal with this? It’s ruining my life it feels like. I feel like I can’t do anything.

I think im having another panic attack today. If you look back at my previous posts, you can see my first big episode, or what I believe to be, was about a month and a half ago. Ever since, I’ve had little flare ups here and there. Today, I think I had another one, and my health anxiety is tweaking out over it.

I was fine all morning and early afternoon. During my lunch, I burped and felt a slight chest flutter. After my lunch, I felt fine, then suddenly not. I got really anxious feeling. I got a slight dull ache in the upper part of my left breast, about an inch or two below the collar bone, basically the very top of my breast. Then, I started feeling a bit hot and dizzy and nauseous and got the shits. I then suddenly started thinking “omg what if I pass out” and a bunch of awful what ifs that made my fear of dying and health anxiety sky rocket. However I got all of that calmed down rather quickly; it’s been about an hour now since all of that started. Now, I just have the chest pain off and on. When it happens, it’s only for a few seconds, and it’s not terrible, just enough to be like oh, that’s uncomfy. I have a bit of heartburn and nausea. I also feel just a bit tense in my chest as a whole. i feel like I have some slight air hunger or shortness of breath, but I can breathe just fine. I know it’s not medical grade, but my watch hasn’t shown an abnormal ECG at all, or a significantly high heart rate, my usual higher heart rate (around 100-120). But now im just spiraling that there’s something terribly wrong with me. It’s been effecting a lot in my life recently. I know I should go to the doctor but I don’t have time. I’m also terrified of the doctor. Growing up, never found anything wrong with me, but it’s been a few years since a physical and any lab work was done. I’m just really tired now too and frustrated with myself and my body for feeling like this. I’m really worried something is wrong but all of my friends who have panic attacks say that’s what this sounds like. Idk I just need reassurance or someone to talk to.

I think im having another panic attack today. If you look back at my previous posts, you can see my first big episode, or what I believe to be, was about a month and a half ago. Ever since, I’ve had little flare ups here and there. Today, I think I had another one, and my health anxiety is tweaking out over it.

I was fine all morning and early afternoon. During my lunch, I burped and felt a slight chest flutter. After my lunch, I felt fine, then suddenly not. I got really anxious feeling. I got a slight dull ache in the upper part of my left breast, about an inch or two below the collar bone, basically the very top of my breast. Then, I started feeling a bit hot and dizzy and nauseous and got the shits. I then suddenly started thinking “omg what if I pass out” and a bunch of awful what ifs that made my fear of dying and health anxiety sky rocket. However I got all of that calmed down rather quickly; it’s been about an hour now since all of that started. Now, I just have the chest pain off and on. When it happens, it’s only for a few seconds, and it’s not terrible, just enough to be like oh, that’s uncomfy. I have a bit of heartburn and nausea. I also feel just a bit tense in my chest as a whole. i feel like I have some slight air hunger or shortness of breath, but I can breathe just fine. I know it’s not medical grade, but my watch hasn’t shown an abnormal ECG at all, or a significantly high heart rate, my usual higher heart rate (around 100-120). But now im just spiraling that there’s something terribly wrong with me. It’s been effecting a lot in my life recently. I know I should go to the doctor but I don’t have time. I’m also terrified of the doctor. Growing up, never found anything wrong with me, but it’s been a few years since a physical and any lab work was done. I’m just really tired now too and frustrated with myself and my body for feeling like this. I’m really worried something is wrong but all of my friends who have panic attacks say that’s what this sounds like. Idk I just need reassurance or someone to talk to.

I think im having another panic attack today. If you look back at my previous posts, you can see my first big episode, or what I believe to be, was about a month and a half ago. Ever since, I’ve had little flare ups here and there. Today, I think I had another one, and my health anxiety is tweaking out over it.

I was fine all morning and early afternoon. During my lunch, I burped and felt a slight chest flutter. After my lunch, I felt fine, then suddenly not. I got really anxious feeling. I got a slight dull ache in the upper part of my left breast, about an inch or two below the collar bone, basically the very top of my breast. Then, I started feeling a bit hot and dizzy and nauseous and got the shits. I then suddenly started thinking “omg what if I pass out” and a bunch of awful what ifs that made my fear of dying and health anxiety sky rocket. However I got all of that calmed down rather quickly; it’s been about an hour now since all of that started. Now, I just have the chest pain off and on. When it happens, it’s only for a few seconds, and it’s not terrible, just enough to be like oh, that’s uncomfy. I have a bit of heartburn and nausea. I also feel just a bit tense in my chest as a whole. i feel like I have some slight air hunger or shortness of breath, but I can breathe just fine. I know it’s not medical grade, but my watch hasn’t shown an abnormal ECG at all, or a significantly high heart rate, my usual higher heart rate (around 100-120). But now im just spiraling that there’s something terribly wrong with me. It’s been effecting a lot in my life recently. I know I should go to the doctor but I don’t have time. I’m also terrified of the doctor. Growing up, never found anything wrong with me, but it’s been a few years since a physical and any lab work was done. I’m just really tired now too and frustrated with myself and my body for feeling like this. I’m really worried something is wrong but all of my friends who have panic attacks say that’s what this sounds like. Idk I just need reassurance or someone to talk to.

pretty sure i had another minor panic attack today, and now im spiraling and freaked out. i was fine and then my lower chest like under my breast area (so i guess like bottom of my ribs? kind of like where the underwire of a bra sits) started aching and burning and felt a bit tight and uncomfy. then i suddenly got all hot and dizzy and tingly (never passed out or even needed to sit, just walked through the dizzy faint feeling cuz i didn’t wanna be a bother to my group lol) and my heart rate sky rocked and it was awful. and i kept having heat flashes. idk if it was anxiety from being around a bunch of people or something, or heat sensitivity, or both cuz we were at a baseball game and walking around down in the tunnels to the field (we won field access) but now my health anxiety is tweaking tf out and has been all day. i just feel tired and off now like not off bad but like off with anxiety and a bit achy and sick feeling and every time i think about it I feel like a quick second or two of a twinge of chest pain or something weird in my body and then I spiral just like the last attack (but not nearly as bad) but being stuck in a loop that it’s gonna happen again. this sucks. 😞 im sure im probably fine cuz the day got better but i cant calm myself down cuz it felt so scary and weird and felt different than the last one and i just want someone to tell me its probably nothing bad cuz of course when i google it it basically tells me its serious and im dying especially cuz this is the second or third time in a month or so that this has happened

Well not sure I’ll make it tonight due to some medical and personal issues. If the strokes sing someday tonight, can someone please take a video and post it here for me? Stay safe with the heat and air!

Sorry I’m posting a lot here. I’ve just never been through this before except when I was a little kid and ended up in the hospital over it. How long do “aftershocks” happen after a big panic attack?

It’s been 6 days since my attack, what I think was an attack. You can see a whole play by play in my other posts. I still just have the stupid underlying fear something is wrong even though I know I wouldn’t have improved at all. Like each day I’m a little less floaty feeling and have a few less fluttery feelings/twinges of pain in my chest, but I still get worn out easy and feel shaky being up and doing stuff, and when I go to the store I still have like a “oh shit am I gonna drop?” moment. But like I know if something was wrong I probably would’ve collapsed by now and wouldn’t be able to do anything and would’ve had no improvement at all. It’s just so frustrating it’s been a week and I still don’t feel back to normal. I’m scared I’ll never get better or that my heart is failing me and I’m going to die. I don’t get why I can’t shake it. My HR is fine on my watch. But every time I feel a flutter or feel floaty, I freak out cuz it’s still happening.

I just can’t tell if I should be concerned about the feeling. I’ve never really felt this before so it’s making my brain freak out. I can do things here and there, but I get exhausted and still have some spells in stores and such. I just feel stuck and worried I’ll never feel better. I’m trying to remind myself if something was seriously wrong I wouldn’t have improved at all and my HR and ECG readings on my watch would be abnormal and they’re not but every time i get a quick heart flutter or quick twinge of pain in my chest or the floaty feeling again, I’m scared somethings super wrong with my heart and I’m dying.

Sorry I’m posting a lot here. I’ve just never been through this before except when I was a little kid and ended up in the hospital over it. How long do “aftershocks” happen after a big panic attack?

It’s been 6 days since my attack, what I think was an attack. You can see a whole play by play in my other posts. I still just have the stupid underlying fear something is wrong even though I know I wouldn’t have improved at all. Like each day I’m a little less floaty feeling and have a few less fluttery feelings/twinges of pain in my chest, but I still get worn out easy and feel shaky being up and doing stuff, and when I go to the store I still have like a “oh shit am I gonna drop?” moment. But like I know if something was wrong I probably would’ve collapsed by now and wouldn’t be able to do anything and would’ve had no improvement at all. It’s just so frustrating it’s been a week and I still don’t feel back to normal. I’m scared I’ll never get better or that my heart is failing me and I’m going to die. I don’t get why I can’t shake it. My HR is fine on my watch. But every time I feel a flutter or feel floaty, I freak out cuz it’s still happening.

I just can’t tell if I should be concerned about the feeling. I’ve never really felt this before so it’s making my brain freak out. I can do things here and there, but I get exhausted and still have some spells in stores and such. I just feel stuck and worried I’ll never feel better. I’m trying to remind myself if something was seriously wrong I wouldn’t have improved at all and my HR and ECG readings on my watch would be abnormal and they’re not but every time i get a quick heart flutter or quick twinge of pain in my chest or the floaty feeling again, I’m scared somethings super wrong with my heart and I’m dying.

I think I had a really bad panic attack Friday night at work. Fair warning, this is going to be a long post. I just want to feel less alone and less scared.

Friday at work at around 5pm, I had a terrible panic attack out of the blue. I’ve had a rough week of stomach illness, anxiety because of personal issues and work issues, and yesterday was my first big time panic attack. I think. Here’s a timeline of my day Friday.

9:30am- woke up with a migraine, so I took Excedrin migraine on an empty stomach. I am sensitive to caffeine, so that was a dumb idea.
10-11am- I was sick from the caffeine with needing the toilet a lot. 💩
12:30pm- I finally ate a little something, a grilled ham and cheese sandwich.
I went to work at 1pm. I felt fine most of the day, had the classic post migraine/Excedrin tummy ache and jitters I tend to get. I felt a little warm off and on, but I get that from caffeine sometimes too.
4:30pm- I had a spicy falafel pocket from Starbucks and have of a lemonade refresher, caffeine free.
4:45pm- terrible panic attack hits out of no where. My manager used to be a nurse and told me I seemed like I was stuck in a panic attack/adrenaline loop. Here are all of the symptoms I felt:

- sudden light, faint feeling. I’ve had fainting spells before: I didn’t have the classic tunnel vision/tunnel hearing, I just felt like I was going to collapse.
- nausea in waves where I was gagging
- needing to cough to clear my airways cuz I felt trapped
- the throat closing feeling off and on, like it was hard to swallow saliva if I focused too hard on it
- I felt very trapped in my body
- I told my manager a good way to describe it was “my body feels really anxious and panicky but my brain doesn’t”
- overwhelming fear I was going to pass out
- I felt a bit tingly off and on throughout my entire body
- the slightest ache in my sternum; I tend to feel that a lot when im anxious (and then I spiral that my heart is giving out and im going to die which makes me more anxious)
- I could still speak and think very coherently
- some heartburn (how it always feels for me, nothing different; i do have GERD)
- severe chills, shaking, goosebumps
- waves of hands feeling clammy and me overall feeling overheated
- i felt faint, but not in the ways I’ve fainted before. I had an overwhelming fear of going unconscious
- I didn’t feel out of breath, but I sounded like it for a bit when I was talking.
- I was speaking very slow and calm but very coherent
- jittery all over like when im super anxious or on caffeine
- a stomach ache and off and on diarrhea
- my brain felt like it was racing but I didn’t know with what? I just felt trapped in myself.
- fluctuating heartbeat from 85-135

I was sent home from work. I was able to walk out of the mall I work in and sit in the car fine, and calm down a bit. It went from like a 7-8 panic level, to like a 5-6 once I got home with my partner. I was able to drink some pedialyte, take a bubble bath, and have 4 chicken nuggets. I did feel very weak and nauseous last night and still kind of anxious and jittery. The best way I can describe the feeling is kind of how your body feels if you have a bad stomach bug and can’t keep any nutrients in and you just feel shaky and weak and worn out.

Yesterday, the anxiety still came in waves. I kept having flashbacks to how awful and scary and alone I felt. I was still pretty nauseous in waves. No appetite really. I did force myself to eat a bit. My chest felt achy like I’ve been tensing too long; which I spent hours shivering and gagging. And a bit of the anxious chest feeling I tend to get, it doesn’t feel like my heart is going crazy, but my health anxiety was scared somethings extremely wrong. I was still a bit jittery off and on especially when I have too much caffeine or get too anxious. The heart rate still fluctuated but not as extreme (like 75-85ish. I was very tired. I felt a bit weak as well since I didn’t eat much Friday and didn’t eaten a ton Saturday until later in the day I felt more like eating. I was scared to sleep Friday night into Saturday because I was really scared of it happening again. I’m still really scared of another episode hitting. And if I start thinking about it then I feel my heart beating hard if that makes sense like im hyper aware of everything I feel. I can calm myself down with meditation videos and such, but then suddenly it ramps up again. I was talking to a friend who’s a nurse, and she a. Advised me to stop checking my HR and ECG constantly on my Apple Watch (my HR has been completely fine, I have been getting some poor readings on ECG but I know they’re not perfect) and b. That it’s probably just a terrible panic attack and my body is trying to recover and it feels awful because I’ve never felt it before.

Has anyone had this? How long did it last? How do you fight it? It’s just scary cuz I’ve never had one this bad and I have bad health anxiety so im scared somethings really wrong with me, but I also really don’t want to (and can’t afford) going to be seen. I did call out of work again today to rest. What should I eat? Drink? Do to calm myself? I just feel hyper aware of everything in my body and it makes me feel like symptoms are going to get worse/are worse than they actually are and my anxiety spikes. I would appreciate any and all advice. I have generalized anxiety, I’m a 28 year old female who’s relatively healthy. I have never had any heart scares and the last time I had blood work, although it was a few years back, everything was normal and doctors have never really had any concerns for me besides generalized anxiety. I had cyclic vomiting syndrome and GERD (still have that) growing up too, so I have bad emetophobia. I get chronic migraines. I suspect I maybe have POTS because I tend to have one or two fainting spells from overheating a year, though doctors have not come to a conclusion. Sorry, I just wanted to give you all a background. I know you’re not medical professionals but I’d appreciate any tips and any ways to feel less alone.

I feel like right now my hardest thing is my logical brain and anxious brain are fighting. Logically, I know I’m safe and it’s gonna pass. Logically I know if it was anything serious, it would continue to get worse and not improve and go in waves. But my anxious brain is like “nope! It’s gonna happen again! You’re actually dying! There’s something seriously wrong and you don’t know it!” It’s exhausting and scary and no fun at all. Every time I think I’ve talked myself out of it, it creeps back in thanks to anxiety. My chest just feels “off” still which is giving the “my heart is messed up and I’m going to die” fear. But also I know my chest and abs HURT from tensing, gagging, holding my breath cuz of air hunger and trying to calm down last night, etc etc. again.. logically can explain it all but the anxious thoughts are louder. It’s exhausting. I want to go do normal things like go to the store for a treat, and go to work tomorrow, but im scared any energy exerted is going to make my body collapse and give up. This is a terrible feeling. Never experienced it before. I made some rice and now I’m just relaxing. I told my boyfriend I feel a bit better (I could be up and cook for a few, even though my abs hurt but I didn’t feel immediately winded when I got up even though I still feel a bit worn out now sitting down) and now that I’ve had like double the food that I had yesterday (which wasn’t much), im not feeling as weak and shaky. I know the panicky/anxious part is probably going to linger and I just gotta do my best to not be like “yeah it’s gonna happen again at work tomorrow, im gonna die, etc” and try to not dwell on what happened and how scary it was and just be patient with myself. Hopefully this means im finally coming down. Thank you all for making me feel less alone. It’s still scary, I’m still very worked up. But hopefully these are signs I’ll be ok. Just hate how every time I think I feel better my brains like hmmmm do you tho? What if it happens again? What if you’re dying? I just keep getting a slight chest anxious pain too and my brain starts spiraling. It’s been a long 2 days.

Right now, I still get the occasional chest twinge. My HR still goes up when I stand up. I’ve been able to eat and sleep comfortably for the most part. Still have some nausea, dizziness, a headache now. My chest doesn’t feel as twingy as yesterday. I kind of feel disconnected from myself too and just fatigued. I missed work again today and im trying to not get worked up about that. I just have never felt this before and it sucks. I’m scared something’s terribly wrong or I’ll never feel back to normal again or it’ll happen again, I haven’t had a panic attack like moment since yesterday morning though. Thank you for listening.

I think I had a really bad panic attack last night. Fair warning, this is going to be a long post. I just want to feel less alone and less scared.

Yesterday at work at around 5pm, I had a terrible panic attack out of the blue. I’ve had a rough week of stomach illness, anxiety because of personal issues and work issues, and yesterday was my first big time panic attack. I think. Here’s a timeline of my day yesterday.

9:30am- woke up with a migraine, so I took Excedrin migraine on an empty stomach. I am sensitive to caffeine, so that was a dumb idea.
10-11am- I was sick from the caffeine with needing the toilet a lot. 💩
12:30pm- I finally ate a little something, a grilled ham and cheese sandwich.
I went to work at 1pm. I felt fine most of the day, had the classic post migraine/Excedrin tummy ache and jitters I tend to get. I felt a little warm off and on, but I get that from caffeine sometimes too.
4:30pm- I had a spicy falafel pocket from Starbucks and have of a lemonade refresher, caffeine free.
4:45pm- terrible panic attack hits out of no where. My manager used to be a nurse and told me I seemed like I was stuck in a panic attack/adrenaline loop. Here are all of the symptoms I felt:

- sudden light, faint feeling. I’ve had fainting spells before: I didn’t have the classic tunnel vision/tunnel hearing, I just felt like I was going to collapse.
- nausea in waves where I was gagging
- needing to cough to clear my airways cuz I felt trapped
- the throat closing feeling off and on, like it was hard to swallow saliva if I focused too hard on it
- I felt very trapped in my body
- I told my manager a good way to describe it was “my body feels really anxious and panicky but my brain doesn’t”
- overwhelming fear I was going to pass out
- I felt a bit tingly off and on throughout my entire body
- the slightest ache in my sternum; I tend to feel that a lot when im anxious (and then I spiral that my heart is giving out and im going to die which makes me more anxious)
- I could still speak and think very coherently
- some heartburn (how it always feels for me, nothing different; i do have GERD)
- severe chills, shaking, goosebumps
- waves of hands feeling clammy and me overall feeling overheated
- I felt faint, but not in the ways I’ve fainted before. I had an overwhelming fear of going unconscious
- I didn’t feel out of breath, but I sounded like it for a bit when I was talking.
- I was speaking very slow and calm but very coherent
- jittery all over like when im super anxious or on caffeine
- a stomach ache and off and on diarrhea
- my brain felt like it was racing but I didn’t know with what? I just felt trapped in myself.
- fluctuating heartbeat from 85-135

I was sent home from work. I was able to walk out of the mall I work in and sit in the car fine, and calm down a bit. It went from like a 7-8 panic level, to like a 5-6 once I got home with my partner. I was able to drink some pedialyte, take a bubble bath, and have 4 chicken nuggets. I did feel very weak and nauseous last night and still kind of anxious and jittery. The best way I can describe the feeling is kind of how your body feels if you have a bad stomach bug and can’t keep any nutrients in and you just feel shaky and weak and worn out.

Now, the anxiety still comes in waves. I keep having flashbacks to how awful and scary and alone I felt. I’m still pretty nauseous in waves. No appetite really. I did force myself to eat a bit this morning. My chest feels achy like I’ve been tensing too long; which I spent hours shivering and gagging. And a bit of the anxious chest feeling I tend to get, it doesn’t feel like my heart is going crazy, but my health anxiety is scared somethings extremely wrong. I’m still a bit jittery off and on especially when I have too much caffeine or get too anxious. The heart rate still fluctuates but not as extreme (like 75-85ish. I’m also very tired now. I feel a bit weak as well since I didn’t eat much yesterday and haven’t eaten a ton today. I was scared to sleep last night because I was really scared of it happening again. I’m still really scared of another episode hitting. And if I start thinking about it then I feel my heart beating hard if that makes sense like im hyper aware of everything I feel. I can calm myself down with meditation videos and such, but then suddenly it ramps up again. I was talking to a friend who’s a nurse, and she a. Advised me to stop checking my HR and ECG constantly on my Apple Watch (my HR has been completely fine, I have been getting some poor readings on ECG but I know they’re not perfect) and b. That it’s probably just a terrible panic attack and my body is trying to recover and it feels awful because I’ve never felt it before.

Has anyone had this? How long did it last? How do you fight it? It’s just scary cuz I’ve never had one this bad and I have bad health anxiety so im scared somethings really wrong with me, but I also really don’t want to (and can’t afford) going to be seen. I did call out of work again today to rest. What should I eat? Drink? Do to calm myself? I just feel hyper aware of everything in my body and it makes me feel like symptoms are going to get worse/are worse than they actually are and my anxiety spikes. I would appreciate any and all advice. I have generalized anxiety, I’m a 28 year old female who’s relatively healthy. I have never had any heart scares and the last time I had blood work, although it was a few years back, everything was normal and doctors have never really had any concerns for me besides generalized anxiety. I had cyclic vomiting syndrome and GERD (still have that) growing up too, so I have bad emetophobia. I get chronic migraines. I suspect I maybe have POTS because I tend to have one or two fainting spells from overheating a year, though doctors have not come to a conclusion. Sorry, I just wanted to give you all a background. I know you’re not medical professionals but I’d appreciate any tips and any ways to feel less alone.

Yesterday at work at around 5pm, I had a terrible panic attack out of the blue. I’ve had a rough week of stomach illness, anxiety because of personal issues and work issues, and yesterday was my first big time panic attack. I think. Here’s a timeline of my day yesterday.

9:30am- woke up with a migraine, so I took Excedrin migraine on an empty stomach. I am sensitive to caffeine, so that was a dumb idea.
10-11am- I was sick from the caffeine with needing the toilet a lot. 💩
12:30pm- I finally ate a little something, a grilled ham and cheese sandwich.
I went to work at 1pm. I felt fine most of the day, had the classic post migraine/Excedrin tummy ache and jitters I tend to get. I felt a little warm off and on, but I get that from caffeine sometimes too.
4:30pm- I had a spicy falafel pocket from Starbucks and have of a lemonade refresher, caffeine free.
4:45pm- terrible panic attack hits out of no where. My manager used to be a nurse and told me I seemed like I was stuck in a panic attack/adrenaline loop. Here are all of the symptoms I felt:

- sudden light, faint feeling. I’ve had fainting spells before: I didn’t have the classic tunnel vision/tunnel hearing, I just felt like I was going to collapse.
- nausea in waves where I was gagging
- needing to cough to clear my airways cuz I felt trapped
- the throat closing feeling off and on, like it was hard to swallow saliva if I focused too hard on it
- I felt very trapped in my body
- I told my manager a good way to describe it was “my body feels really anxious and panicky but my brain doesn’t”
- overwhelming fear I was going to pass out
- I felt a bit tingly off and on throughout my entire body
- the slightest ache in my sternum; I tend to feel that a lot when im anxious (and then I spiral that my heart is giving out and im going to die which makes me more anxious)
- I could still speak and think very coherently
- some heartburn (how it always feels for me, nothing different; i do have GERD)
- severe chills, shaking, goosebumps
- waves of hands feeling clammy and me overall feeling overheated
- I felt faint, but not in the ways I’ve fainted before. I had an overwhelming fear of going unconscious
- I didn’t feel out of breath, but I sounded like it for a bit when I was talking.
- I was speaking very slow and calm but very coherent
- jittery all over like when im super anxious or on caffeine
- a stomach ache and off and on diarrhea
- my brain felt like it was racing but I didn’t know with what? I just felt trapped in myself.
- fluctuating heartbeat from 85-135

I was sent home from work. I was able to walk out of the mall I work in and sit in the car fine, and calm down a bit. It went from like a 7-8 panic level, to like a 5-6 once I got home with my partner. I was able to drink some pedialyte, take a bubble bath, and have 4 chicken nuggets. I did feel very weak and nauseous last night and still kind of anxious and jittery. The best way I can describe the feeling is kind of how your body feels if you have a bad stomach bug and can’t keep any nutrients in and you just feel shaky and weak and worn out.

Now, the anxiety still comes in waves. I keep having flashbacks to how awful and scary and alone I felt. I’m still pretty nauseous in waves. No appetite really. I did force myself to eat a bit this morning. My chest feels achy like I’ve been tensing too long; which I spent hours shivering and gagging. And a bit of the anxious chest feeling I tend to get, it doesn’t feel like my heart is going crazy, but my health anxiety is scared somethings extremely wrong. I’m still a bit jittery off and on especially when I have too much caffeine or get too anxious. The heart rate still fluctuates but not as extreme (like 75-85ish. I’m also very tired now. I feel a bit weak as well since I didn’t eat much yesterday and haven’t eaten a ton today. I was scared to sleep last night because I was really scared of it happening again. I’m still really scared of another episode hitting. And if I start thinking about it then I feel my heart beating hard if that makes sense like im hyper aware of everything I feel. I can calm myself down with meditation videos and such, but then suddenly it ramps up again. I was talking to a friend who’s a nurse, and she a. Advised me to stop checking my HR and ECG constantly on my Apple Watch (my HR has been completely fine, I have been getting some poor readings on ECG but I know they’re not perfect) and b. That it’s probably just a terrible panic attack and my body is trying to recover and it feels awful because I’ve never felt it before.

Has anyone had this? How long did it last? How do you fight it? It’s just scary cuz I’ve never had one this bad and I have bad health anxiety so im scared somethings really wrong with me, but I also really don’t want to (and can’t afford) going to be seen. I did call out of work again today to rest. What should I eat? Drink? Do to calm myself? I just feel hyper aware of everything in my body and it makes me feel like symptoms are going to get worse/are worse than they actually are and my anxiety spikes. I would appreciate any and all advice. I have generalized anxiety, I’m a 28 year old female who’s relatively healthy. I have never had any heart scares and the last time I had blood work, although it was a few years back, everything was normal and doctors have never really had any concerns for me besides generalized anxiety. I had cyclic vomiting syndrome and GERD (still have that) growing up too, so I have bad emetophobia. I get chronic migraines. I suspect I maybe have POTS because I tend to have one or two fainting spells from overheating a year, though doctors have not come to a conclusion. Sorry, I just wanted to give you all a background. I know you’re not medical professionals but I’d appreciate any tips and any ways to feel less alone.