Will panic attacks physically harm me?

[Anashnh]

Two weeks have past and i feel as if my life is in a turmoil. i'm a full time college student and have no health insurance. Who knew this would happen to me? I like to think of myself as pretty healthy; i work out and lift weights 3 times a week and did take some sports supplements for a while until my doctor told me not to take them anymore. This was because i had a severe panic attack. One night i came home after work, and sat down for a few minutes to watch tv. all of a sudden i felt like i was frequently losing air from my lungs and starting feeling a racing heart. my heart rate shot through the roof and i was freaking out!i felt light headedness and a loss of perception. i felt like i was going to have a heart attack or die. i felt very dizzy and like i was going to lose my mind. i couldnt make out what it was. well i figured out that its panic attack after doing alot of research and being diagnosed with Anxiety by my doctor. ever since, ive been getting these minor attacks, maybe during school or after i come home. ive only had two major attacks where i thought iwas going to loose it. during this week ive been feeling weird from time to time, maybe a little light headedness and dizziness during the day. today i started feeling a burning sensation on my left arm...and later during the evening i had a minor panic attack that lasted maybe for 20 minutes. I used to smoke but its been 1 week and a half since my last smoke. im giving all i can to help myself out of this. whats going on? is this harming my organs? how bad is it? im pretty desperate at this point and would appreciate anyones help. thank you.

[goodeys]

Well done for giving up smoking, I doubt very much that you will feel much better for giving up at the moment though as if you were addicted then your body will be withdrawing from the nictotine which could add to your anxiety and make you feel sensations that you hadn't whilst you were smoking. Having said all of that, there is never a good time to give up smoking (always an excuse not to) and you are through the worst of it now. The benefits far outweigh the negatives in the longrun so that's what you need to bear in mind. So remember that you are withdrawing when you are feeling panicy and this may help if you tell yourself that this is adding to it and it won;t last forever.

Panic attacks will not harm your internal organs or any part of your body. It just feels like you are going to die but that isn;t the reality and from what we know it causes no long lasting damage. Maybe if you suffered a constant panic attack all day every day for a few years then I would imagine that would have a bad affect on your body but that is never likely to happen.

I'm in the UK so don't fully understand the US insurance system but if you keep on having high levels of anxiety then I would suggest that you get yourself some insurance, go back to your GP and discuss the situation with them. They could then perhaps refer you for therapy and/or put you on some meds.

Good luck and remember, panic won't kill you.

[kalmkidd]

NO THEY WILL NOT. please read my latest journal entry.