anxiety or panic attacks

[evie121259]

i have these auras. i guess they are auras. but i would go to sleep and wake up at any time and would not know why i am. could not focus for a while with a headache.  this would go for about a week or two and i know from past experiences, a major attack was coming.  i would take a valium .25mg during the day if i was feeling anxious. not every day but some. but during this time. i would still wake up feeling the same way.  well last nite, during the nite, i woke up, not knowing where i was.  went to the bathroom and it hit me.  i did not feel in my body.  this might sound strange but this is the only way to describe it.  then the panic/anxiety hit.  full force.  i still did not feel in my body, but i felt a extreme knowing that i was going to die right then and there.  although this has happen before.  i knew this was it.  I was shakey, even though the feeling was inside. i felt beside myself.  what i do is talk to myself and to me that this will be over soon.  even though i felt like this was it.  my head was another episode.  my head felt like it was going to explode.  i would get a cold washcloth and go over my face and neck and talk to myself that this is going to go away.  i feel my heart pounding a thousand miles a minute.  it is the most horribile experience i can explain. but when it happens my mind tells me that this is it!!!!!  Am I alone?

[Paxiled]

You are describing a migraine headache.  For most people it starts with the aura you describe, then proceeds to an awful headache.  There are natural treatments for this and medication as well.  They often occur following a bout of anxiety, because they are caused by constriction of the blood vessels in the extremities and then a lot of blood flowing to the head as the vessels open.  Meditation has been known to prevent them; it worked for me pretty much.  Regular exercise helps as well.  Both keep circulation at a more even keel even when one is anxious.  I'd see a headache specialist and see if the diagnosis is migraines, though I wouldn't necessarily use what they prescribe it it is migraines.

[Gulfstream2]

What you've experienced was a panic attack, no doubt about it.

In that state of panic, you can feel doomed, at the end of your rope, a terrible sense of dread and that sense of not being there. Many others have experienced what you have described and it is certainly an alarming experience, but completely harmless. Panic episodes are mental events, but they carry over lots of unpleasant physical symptoms.

So no, you are most definately not alone. However, you should seek out some psychiatric help about this so you can back on track and put an end to these episodes.