Anxiety Attack or Head Rush?

[cherryvanilla]

Ok so one night I was sleeping, when suddenly I woke up and I heard someone say "oh my god" and I assumed my dog died "he didn't though, thank god) but I was so scared I stood up really fast while I was still half asleep and suddenly felt dizzy and my heartbeat got faster and my breaths had pauses in between. When I layed back down to try and fall asleep I closed my eyes and seconds later I saw different colored lights and other images I couldn't make out and it looked like everything was rewinding really quickly (im not sure if my eyes were still closed or not but that's all I saw) and my head hurt and I heard a rewinding noise in my ears and my heart was pounding faster than ever and I couldn't breath no matter what and then my hearing went away and I tried screaming for help but couldnt and all I thought to myself was "oh my god, I'm gonna die! I don't wanna die" then it finally stopped (all together it only lasted 30-45 seconds it seemed like) but I was pale and my herat beat finally slowed down and I could breath but I threw up afterwards. Will I be ok?

[Julie359]

It sounds as if you had a panic attack, everything you have said is classic of panic attack symptoms.... the racing, pounding heart, intense fear, vomiting, paleness, dizziness, visual disurbances etc.  Maybe you had somekind of night terror, normally these happen in children but can happen in adults.

It may be worth having a chat with your doc just to get a medical view of this, your doc may want to give you a check over, which wouldnt hurt to do, that way he/she can put your mind at rest that nothing medical is going on.

Hope your feeling better now.  Let us know what happens.

[RubyWitch]

You say that "one night I was sleeping........" How long ago was this actual event? Has it happened again? Had it ever happened before?

It sounds to me like you had a nightmare or possibly a night terror episode. Night terrors are frightening episodes during which a person screams, flails about and often sleepwalks. These episodes usually arise during non-REM phases of the sleep cycle.

When you suddenly jumped out of bed and felt dizzy and your heartbeat got faster, what you were experiencing is called orthostatic hypotension. When a person stands up suddenly, gravity causes some blood to pool in the veins of the legs and lower body. The pooling slightly reduces the amount of blood that returns to the heart and the amount of blood pumped by the heart. The body quickly responds: The heart beats faster, and the contractions are stronger.

When you layed back down in bed, you describe many strange symptoms. Many of them can be related to your blood pressure returning to normal and some can no doubt be related to anxiety caused by this experience. I'm pretty sure, but not positive, that throwing up was in response to this frightening event.

I would strongly urge that you print your post and show it to your parents. I don't think there is anything seriously wrong with you, but it would be better for your doctor to make that call. At 14, this could easily be related to hormones, but again, your doctor needs to determine that.
I'm sure you are scared this will happen again and that is yet another good reason to bring this to your doctors attention.
Peace
Greenlydia