Are these symptoms just "in my head" panic attacks, or am i dying?

[ciqala]

I know how real panic attacks can feel. I've had a past of panic attacks, whereas i was convinced i was having a heart attack and dying until i passed out and woke up completely fine. What i am experiencing now feels different. But i dont know much about anxiety.

I thought my anxiety was gone.

But I had some serious heart symptoms, went in for tests, heart monitor - but the tests came back fine.
The only thing wrong was that my blood pressure was low.

I also had horrible health issues like weakness, odd fainting spells that rose my heart rate up till it felt like it was going to burst (never effected my breathing like asthma would) and i would get the cliched ringing in your ears before you faint, vision would turn black (i am convinced this is because of many health issues as i have poor health, always dehydrated, abusing laxatives, not eating right due to eating disorder). So i get faint on a regular basis when my health is bad. This could be because of low blood pressure obviously. And because i work out too much.

But the heart symptoms happen usually when i am engaged in cardio. Feels exactly like something tightening my heart, my arms become numb, mimics the beginning of a heart attack. I always keep working out through it. Makes me too weak, unable to breathe to the point i have to collapse. Takes an hour or so to get my heart rate back down. Could this be a panic attack? Don't ask why i keep working out to make it worse - i have a weird voice in the back of my mind egging me on to do it, i have pride knowing that i still kick *** in sports even though i am near death.

My doctor seems to think its just a panic attact. Won't run anymore tests.

Could it be possible that the adrenalin i receive while doing extreme activities could induce a panic attack? I just don't get it. Nothing is on my mind during those times except extreme concentration and sport thoughts, like competing, i get excited and thrilled sometimes pissed at the oponent and my partner. This is nothing like anxiety thoughts or fear! So how can it induce anxiety?
Some may think badminton is a low active sport, but the way I play it, I am an avid competitive athlete, and i get a better cardio workout than anything else. It is also the only work out routine I do that i completely enjoy. I do other things that i find boring, but Badminton is something i look forward to reward myself, its fun, it calms me, distracts me, and i would think would be the least thing that causes me stress.

For example my Muay Thai Kickboxing is so stressful I am contemplating on whether to quit or not. This hardly ever happens there! I get other severe anxiety and stress symptoms from Muay thai, but the heart symptom or panic attack usually happens randomly elsewhere. I hate Muay Thai so much sometimes, I push myself to extremes so its not fun at all, and the tests for belts freak me out to extremes. But I enjoy the fighting so much, so its hard for me to quit. I can't find Muay Thai anywhere else in my community, and if i go to another martial art i will NEVER be happy with that style. But i havent been for awhile, i dont want to go back, i keep avoiding it because even the thought of going back makes me feel sick.

Could panic attacks be entwined with physical activity? Is that possible? I know the harder I work myself the heart things happen more (and i push it to extremes) i work out more than a professional athlete, for 24 hours straight sometimes, without ever taking care of myself (like drinking water) most times.  For an example, on the usual days the heart thing happens, i work out for three hours at the gym, swim ten laps, soak in the hottub, go in the suana, get completely dehydrated, then bike around town for the rest of the day, go to an hour class of muay thai, then go to badminton for three hours, it ends at ten at night. I dont eat anything during the day at those times cuz i am so busy. i usually eat at night. i also cant work out with food in my stomach or i get cramps.
I am also dehydrated most of the time. Makes it worse with my laxative abuse and purging.
i am a weird eating disordered person - i have the importance in my mind of being very STRONG with muscle so i can endure all the things i do, but at the same time i still struggle with my past of anorexia and bulimia.

I'm not convinced this is a panic attack. There are too many real physical things that could be causing this. But my doctor is convinced it is nothing serious.

[ciqala]

I am going to search out medical symptoms of dehydration. Perhaps THAT is the reason all these unexplained things are happening to me. But I never heard of things that feel like heart palpitations from being dehydrated.

[ciqala]

Oh I see. So it is just your mind subconsciously thinking that fast heart beats remind it of a panic attack and therefore that is how the panic attack is induced? Or is it the body that is reminded of the attack?
I could see that even competitive feelings, adrenalin and thrill could play a part in reminding the body or mind of a panic attack.  
I guess the fast heart rate is a classic panic symptom, but wouldn't you think every time people with history of panic attacks worked out, it would cause a panic attack then?

It just seems odd that it happens at odd times, sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't.

But then again can you really predict a panic attack?

I am not used to having so many so I don't know much about it. In the past, i remember the first time I got a panic attack was from overwhelmed feelings and mostly rage and helplessness, but at other times when i felt such things it would never happen. Sometimes it happened for no reason at all, or a reason i could not explain.

I guess it is possible. Is there any way i can find out for sure? Like is there a way to tell if your having panic attacks for sure during the event it happens?

Yeah it came back negative for sure, but in no means am I a healthy person in general especially with my history of eating disorders and sometimes i get addicted to physical activity. I guess that is what makes me worry it might be physical, because i have the possibility of bad things happening to my body.

No, they never even mentioned a stress test. You mean a cardiac stress test? I don't mean to sound stupid here, but I don't even know the purpose of it. I looked it up online, and it seems to be for identifying blood flow, blood pressure, and fitness levels for mainly people with heart disease while they run a treadmill, so how does it identify that you are stressed? For sure I should try this.

I know i have no limitations in my physical fitness though. I know my endurance is higher than most, especially in cardio. My strength is very high as well. So maybe it is panic attacks.

But on the other hand, As I said, i have very low blood pressure (at least at the time they took my blood). But that can be explained. I work out too much without stocking back up on my electrolytes, salts and h20. i'm scared of getting water intoxication again, so i don't drink large amounts of water when im dehydrated unless i know there are salts in it.
I am paying for getting so dehydrated now. I tore muscles easier being so dehydrated, and now i cant work out for a few weeks, trying to recover from low blood pressure and dehydration and a torn groin muscle. The weird heart things haven't been happening since. Low blood pressure just made me very weak, fatigue, and like i was going to faint every two seconds. I think i'm recovering from it though, because it seems to be getting better.
.
But... can low blood pressure have anything to do with my weird heart symptom?
I don't know.

If it is a panic attack, then how do i prevent it? (i'm not quitting my sports)

[MrGreen]

You ever imagine that you could have related one to the other. You do sport. So the heart will beat faster. The pulse will rise. As it does with all sports. But you could see these things as classic panic symptoms. So instead of the mind thinking ' it is only the sport that has me this way ', it is thinking ' no, these are panic symptoms '. Panic is much like energy built up within us. Some people exercise to get rid of it. Bit of a burn off of all that energy. I just think that subconsciously you might be linking one to the other. I mean, they have done all these tests on you. Came back negative. That shows you are a healthy person. Did they do a stress test? Have you do a bit of exercise for them and see what reaction it has on the body. Just to see if it is only stress. But that's just my opinion on it. Others may differ.