What am I diagnosed with?

[Anna8260]

Context:

About 2 weeks ago I had my very first panic attack. Because of school stress and a huge lack of sleep, my grades were slipping and I wasn't very happy about it. In my mom's car that day, I got so mad at myself and my teachers that I started to scream like crazy. The next thing I knew is that I was getting a weird sensation; I felt as if liquid was flowing inside my head (it may be the blood flowing, or something to do with my ears) and it felt numb and the inside of my ears was very warm. I got so scared, I thought I was going to die so I started shaking. We drove fast to the clinic and it turned out that it was a panic attack and that I was going through a depression. The doctor suggested that I should stop school for rest of the semester and that's what I did. The weird liquid flowing with small headaches (sometimes in the left area, sometimes in the right) would come and go a couple of times that day. The following days, the liquid flowing was gone, but I had a big headache in the back of the right part of my head (I felt as if that part was being tighten) that never went away but I think that had something to do with my bad posture. Anyways, the pain started decreasing day by day and everything went back to normal until 3 days ago when I got mad again. The same weird sensation came back, but didn't last much and now I have the same headache but it is less painful than last time.

Question:

So I was wondering, is this a migraine I am experiencing or is it something else? I know it's a real headache because I feel it at all times and try to forget about it. Maybe it can help to know that I had an otitis last year and even now I feel like I have too much pressure in my ears and that my nose is stuffy. When I swallow I feel my ears are getting more pressure and it can hurt a little at times. I know it might sound silly, but my biggest fear is that I have a fragile vein that's about to explode in my head (because of the weird flowing liquid sensation and headache each time I get mad) that will kill me or make me handicapped for the rest of my life. I know that I could’ve posted this on the depression section but I am deeply concerned with my headache problems because they scare me the most. Please tell what you think I am diagnosed with. Btw, I am only 18 years old.

Thank you!

[ggreg]

Dear Anna,
I can comment on your panic attack because I have panic disorder.  Fear builds up in a person, can be from all sorts of things, and for you, it was just plain being overwhelmed with school, and that scary situation comes out in a panic attack.  When you have one, your heart will begin to race, and you begin to breathe shallowly, and this is what made you start shaking.  The sensation in your head is when the body tightens up in reaction to the fear, all this tension lands in your shoulders and neck, and it pushes the blood through the vessels really hard, and you can literally feel it pulsing around in your brain.  The headache you had came from muscles bunching up in the shoulders and neck.

Now, as for your stuffy nose, otitis, and pressure in your ears, that's probably from clogged up sinuses, which can make your head hurt and all the rest of the head symptoms, so that's how come they're doing a scan of your sinuses.  Anytime you feel stuffy, use a plain saline spray to help sinuses stay clear.  If you are taking a prescribed medicine to dry them out, talk to the doc who is giving them to you, could be that stuff is pushing your heart rate up too much.

Next time, tho, that you feel that panic coming on, do some deep breathing techniques.  It's the exact opposite of what you want to do, but it slows the heart and thus knocks back the panic.  Breathe in real deep and blow it out, then breathe regular for a couple breaths, then resume, do ten of these deep breaths.  Your panic will diminish quickly.  Anytime you get angry, your muscles are going to tighten, so it would be helpful to perhaps visit a professional massage therapist, have a couple sessions to work out all the knots in your neck and shoulders, and you'll feel more relaxed.  Also, anger is best released as an ongoing thing, by getting into regular physical activity, like even long walks on campus will help.

When you go back to school, there are a three things to keep in mind.  One is that you can always stop school anytime you want to, so no need to put pressure on yourself when you feel trapped... just knowing you can pull away, even for a day's rest, will help you cope with the rigors of college.  Two is to not take as many courses; intead take the minimum to be full-time, and make one of them an elective if possible, those required courses in the freshman and sophomore year are HARD.  Third is to make it a habit that after the day's classes are over, head straight over to the library, find you a comfortable cubby or place to sit, and do your homework right then and there, you'll get used to it not being in your own environment, and you'll get everything done, releases you for the rest of the day from schoolwork pressure.

It might help you to know that your concern about a fragile vein bursting in your head is so unlikely because of your age!  Yup, lots of us older folks would give our right arm to know what we know now, but be young in the body.  See, withering veins that will burst, that comes from age and poor health, it's a cumulative effect that lets that happen.  So, not to worry on that front.  Besides, now that you maybe understand more about what happens when a person has a panic attack, it should make you feel more comfortable with your bodily reaction to it.  

So, stand in your fear, calm down and don't push too hard at every little thing, and once you get thru all the tough courses, you'll enjoy your college days.  Hey, I dropped out my first year, couldn't handle the pressure, too!  And I've got a genius cousin, unbelievably smart, and he had to drop out for a while.  So, lots of folks feel the pressure of life geting to be a tad too much, and, well, they freak out or shut down... or they learn to deal with it and not get too worked up about things.  And you know that blues singer John Mayer, well, he's got panic disorder, and look at how successful he is.  It's just an illness, that's all, and ain't because of any failure or whatever.  So, God speed.
GG

[Anna8260]

I forgot to say that I am scheduled for a sinus and art. temporomandibular scan next week and that about 2 years ago I took a head scan (because I had headaches back then too) and it showed a possibility of migraine.