Please, help! panick attack? - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Message Board

Robin2007 · 05-24-2007, 02:18 PM

Last night I was sitting on the couch and I started to get a tiny bit of uncomfortable pain (doesnt hurt just uncomfortable) on the right side of my chest. It has been there since 8 last night and is still there (it's 4:15 pm). When I got this pain I started having a panic attack but more intense then I have ever had. My heart started racing and I got really cold and I was shaking uncontrollably. My legs and arms feel tingly and weak. I've had panick attacks before but never as severe as this, does anybody have experience with panick attacks like this? Or have you ever gotten chest pain during a panick attack? I have a phobia of death so I keep thinking I'm dying or have cancer or something.

ChanceFL · 05-24-2007, 03:35 PM

Robin, I have experience with panic attacks and I can tell you that I have felt like I was dying. One day in school a few months ago, I was called on by my professor and my heart started to beat like crazy, I was shaking, I felt like I couldn't breathe, and I was unable to shake that feeling for about two days. That was the worst attack I have ever had and I have had plenty. So I think your attack is normal.

Here is my opinion about the chest pain-I also have a fear of death, so I think that when you felt that pain you automatically feared the worst and it escalated into a panic attack. Also, chest pain is usually associated with panic attacks. As a matter of fact, it is usually one of the first symptoms listed in the description of panic attacks. I have gone to the emergency room before because of chest pain only to be told it was anxiety, so I think that your pain is probably anxiety related and because you fear death, you became even more anxious over it which is why you experienced such a horrible attack. Do you have any anti-anxiety medication? I take mine when I have a bad attack and it really lessens the anxiety.

Hope I helped to ease your mind a little.

vicky88 · 06-28-2007, 10:18 PM

Robin I just want to get in touch with you because I read one of your posts regarding phobias. I have the same phobia that you have, since last year I've developed this intense fear of dying which didn't bother me at all before and when I see really old people, I get bothered because I would think - are they scared to die? I wasn't like this before. I used to deal with old people very well and didn't think about death when I see them. Do you still have these phobias? If yes, how do you deal with it and if you've overcome them, how were you able to overcome them? I really need your help! Thanks!

Robin2007 · 06-29-2007, 03:24 PM

I still have them and I don't really have a way of dealing with them besides my rituals. I try to tell myself that I am going to be alright and that I should just stop thinking about everything. The only way I really deal with it now is make sure I do all I can while I am alive and I try to remember all the good times I have had so that I don't feel the pain of dying early (I am only 17.) I try to make sure that when I go to bed I am in a good position so that if I die people will be able to remove me easily and I sleep in the living room so that if I die I'm not left in my bedroom for days before somebody finds me. I am also afraid of older people, it's interesting you mention them, I don't wonder if they are scared of death but I am afraid of them because they are so close to death and for some reason I feel like just being near them makes a bit of death run off on me. It's all irrational thinking but I can't stop it. I suggest therapy (I can't get therapy until I'm on my own and making money to pay for it.) I think therapy can really help in situations like yours and mine and if you have already started it or are in a position where you could engage in it I highly recommend it. The only thing that gets me by is living moment by moment and every day I wake up I start again living only for that day. I'm sorry if I haven't been much help but I hope you realize there are so many people with this and you are not alone at all! We can get through this, I know you will have the strength to move forward.

vicky88 · 07-03-2007, 04:04 PM

thanks robin for your support. I still choose to believe that I will get over this and I'll be back to my old self again, happy and enjoying life. I'm just curious, what rituals do you do? You're so young, only 17, you shouldn't think that you're going to die at an early age. Are you a catholic? I think praying helps. I'm going to a therapist now for cbt and I'm taking medications also. How about you? Hope to hear from you and let me know how you're doing.