what causes panic and anxiety attacks

I seem to suffer from panic attacks, i feel all hot and cold don't want to be alone and I think of the worsed things that can happen my grandfather who died before I was born was blind, I keep thinking I am going blind, have floaters in my eyes.
cheers Teresa G

[cj29]

Health anxiety can cause all sorts of symptoms.  For example I can see floaters in my eyes if I stand up quickly, turn my head, etc.  The 'symptoms' that we suffer from when we are anxious are magnified in our minds when we worry in my experience.  For example, my anxiety had stemmed from heart health even though every test and advice from the doc stated I was healthy.  Believing the doctors is sometimes hard to do when we are convinced something is wrong.

Have you had it checked out by your doc?  Chances are it is totally fine and it will be time to confront your anxiety/panic.  How long have you been suffering from this?  Keep us posted!

[prudent35]

thankyou for your reply. Yes I  had tests on my eyes and yes I do have floaters and was assured that floaters are not dangerous, I never heard of them before, I had drops instilled in eyes made my vision blurred, anything with the eyes I panic, the thought of not seeing scares me.
Anxiety is awful iam not anxious everyday when I am not busy i tend to think of my eyes and what if? it's really annoying me. The eye doctor told me no eye disease and to wear glasses for reading.
Maybe since the beginging of 08 I notice i panic and stress re eyes, If i wake up and my eyes are abit blurred I panic, this is strange is'nt it

[lynn57]

I don't think it's strange.  I think it wouldn't hurt to talk with a psychiatrist about this fear.  Perhaps you could find out from your doc if the blindness you grampa had is genetic.  I'm sure it is not.  You obviously suffer from anxiety and have focused(no pun intended) on your eyes.  Most of us have physical symptoms or worries.  Sometimes they even change when we accept that one symptom is unfounded.  I don't even know what causes my panic attacks and that ***** too.  If I were to have a physical ailment, I would just blame it on the anxiety prob.  Good luck.

[goodeys]

Hi ya,

I too have floaters in my eyes, quite a few of the little buggers. Apparently had them for ages before I spotted them, the only reason I spotted them really was because at the time I had convinced myself that I had a brain tumour and this to me was evidence that my fears were true. Floaters are generally harmless, I think that it is basically debris in the vitreous fluid that floaters harmlessly around, when you look at a black surface like a whote wall or up at the sky you can normally notice them more. Nothing to be scared of and you have to believe this if that is what the optician has told you. You will continue to panic and catastrophise if you think about this constantly, you just need to believe and accept that they are there.

The drops that you have sound like the ones that they put in your eye to dialate your pupil, again these are harmless and the reason it changes your vision at the time is because when the pupils are dialated it lets more light into your eye. Again, not harmful and it has nothing to do with going blind, it is a reaction caused by the drops. The optician probably put them in so that they could check the back of your eye to make sure that all is well and healthy. I'm gettinga  dose of the drops myself today, must remember to take sunglasses!


Is it just your eyes that cause you to panic or do you suffer from anxiety from other things too?

X