I've been diagnosed with anxiety for about 4 months now it's really weird because it's like it hit me all of a sudden for no reason... one day I was driving home and I all of a sudden felt like I couldn't breathe and thought I was going to pass out I mean it was an awful feeling, I was sooo scared! But I wasn't stressed about anything and I didn't feel antsy. But after I had this spell it was hard for me to smoke like I couldn't take 2 drags off a cigarette...? Now somedays I can smoke a whole cigarette and somedays I can't smoke at all. It's weird..

I also never feel anxious, I just can never breathe, dizzy, etc. I wonder if when I had that spell driving home it scared me so bad that I just can't get it out of my mind and think/worry about it all the time...?

Haha, well maybe thye cigarette thing is a blessing in disguise! *cue anti-smoking commercial here* ;). Its very common for anxiety to just hit out of the blue like that and for the person to become fixated on the symptoms they felt at the time. For you, you think about your breathing etc because that is what stands out most for you. My sudden on-set of bad anxiety happened while I had the stomach flu, so I tend to focus on my stomach and nausea etc.
To help you out, you might want to try some relaxtion techniques, especially some that focus on breathing. Maybe try some yoga or meditation to try and shift your mind away from the worry.

you should quit smoking, it will heighten stress. take care.

I had my first attack about three months ago. It happened out of the blue.
I was sitting in the car, waiting for the kids to finish school and i had a sudden hot flush, my heart was pounding and i was shaking. I too didn't think i was under any great stress at the time. I have had symptoms and attacks on and off ever since then.:jester:

I am actually a nonsmoker and if I feel like I am going to have an anxiety attack I will smoke and it will make it go away. When I used to get them they would usually be set off but something but now I sometimes get them randomly, at random times for no reason at all. Weird.

I have very sweaty hands, dizziness, giddiness, shakes, difficulty breathing, headaches, tired, scared of dying and going crazy.
Is this anxiety???

I agree with one of the previous posts and think you should look at the inability to smoke as a blessing in disguise...

Just my $0.02... :-)

I have had attacks on and off since 1991, I had been getting prank phone calls and had to change my phone number numerous times, it turned out that it was my first cousin and his niece... well, it turned out they knew my boyfriend was coming into a settlement for $52,000.00 and they wanted it, they called on christmas night around 9:30 pm, I was recovering from surgery, so when I got the harassing call, (I had caller ID) and found out it was coming from their house, I called back and told them to stop doing this to us. I hung up and minutes later someone was pounding on my doors & windows, we went to the door and opened it, my boyfriend stepped in front of me and all hell broke loose, the police were called and they arrested my boyfriend. That was the beginning of the end. I was put on medication, my boyfriend was put on 3 yrs. probation and they tried suing us for "damages" and the amount they were asking for settling? $52,000!!! We got through that with much aggravation and stress, we moved away and everything was fine until June 12th, 2006. I lost my job because of too many absences, due to illness, my boyfriend's social Security checks were dropped from $650 a month down to $175 a month, they stopped payment on my unemployment pending an investigation as to why I was fired, henceforth, panic/anxiety attacks poured out of me. Anything and everything can cause an attack... sorry this is so long but I just had to let you all know that we have no control over the attacks, thinking positive and ignoring it sometimes does not help, even the meds sometimes do not work:dizzy: my boyfriend's sister emailed me and said I bring this on myself, that caused a panic attack, that made me think I was faking and I could control everything that came my way.
I have counseling sessions coming up in a week, and I hope they can help me.
Remember, we are few in 2.4 million people whe suffer from this, we are not alone, and it is as real as bulimia or agoraphobia. Peace, Love, Light, Kosmo