Panic Attack -- What Is This Really?

[EmmyJN]

Hello, everyone. I am a 16 year old girl. I hope you can help me out.

Last night, I had thi weird attack... I don't know what it was. I went to bed around 8:30pm because I wasn't feeling good. Around 9pm, I felt like I was really hot. I started to toss and turn. My bodys was trembling and twitching periodically.Then my heart started to race and I started crying. The crying wouldn't stop, no matter what I did. I trid deep breathing and watching TV but I coudn't calm down. I went to get my mom, and it took her an hour to calm me down.

I felt like my mind was spinning. It was like I was caught in this loop of anxiety and I couldn't stop thinking about it. My mom had to come in and put on a movie. She gave me juice and sat there talking to me as a distraction. I didn't get to sleep until 1am.

Today, I was still shaking, and I noticed my jaw contantly trembling. It was 80 degrees outside and my school doesn't have AC, so I wasn't cold.

I do see a neurologist right now for pain in my arm left over from a surgery to remove a benign tumor. But for a while, I've had the twitching and shaking, and I've considered bringing this up to my neurologist.

Apart from the arm pain, I have:
- Liver disorder
- Electrolyte embalance
- PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome)
- Faitings/black-out spells
- Gluten intolerance (never investigated for Celiacs or Crohns)
- Chronic diarrhea
- Headaches

Lately, I've been noticing more dizziness and a feeling of being disconnected. I've got "holes" in my memory the way I did when I used to have black-outs. People say they tell me things, but I don't remember ever being told these things. It's getting in the way of my school work and my life. It's distracting.

If anyone knows what could be wrong, please tell me.

Thanks!

~ Em

[EmmyJN]

I've never heard of this medication before, but I am certainly interested in trying it! Do you know if it has any weird interactions with provera, gabapentin or amitriptyline? These are my three big medications right now.

I have heard about some problems with the Lyme test. I knew a girl who got two false-negatives and had severely declined before she actually got her diagnosis. I will certainly talk to people in the Lyme board for an opinion.

Do you know where I could go for a specialist in this area? I live in Waukesha (WI) and my current doctors are all at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, Milwaukee and a local Pro-Health Clinic in Pewaukee, so I would like to stay around this area.  

[FurballsMom]

I never had good success with Hyocyamine.  It is used for cramps in the colon, so it is also used for IBS.  The one that helps me more is very sedating, so I definitely don't use it until I have to.  It is called Bentyl (Dicyclomine).  If you are having severe cramping or diarrhea, this might be a useful option for you.  Just don't use it in the day time unless or until you have to because it really is very sedating.

By the way, I have learned that Lyme doesn't always start with a tick bite.  You can find out more on mercola.com.  The tricky part with Lyme disease is that it can be hard to get a diagnosis.  The Western Blot test isn't always the best test to use to determine Lyme disease.  I don't remember which one was the best test, but you can ask about it in the Lyme forum.  It often takes a Lyme Literate Doctor to get the best help.  A lot of doctors don't know enough about Lyme disease.  A general practitioner doesn't usually know enough about Lyme disease, so if the doctor uses the Western Blot test and gets a negative test result but you're still having symptoms, the doctor may assume it's something else entirely.  What I do know is that the Western Blot test often gives a lot of false negatives.

[EmmyJN]

Interesting... No, I've never been checked for Lyme before. These symptoms started in 5th grade and I didn't play in areas that would have ticks (at least, not to my knowledge).

Last summer, though, was bad for ticks. A friend of mine and myself found some on our pants but we watched the areas and didn't see any of the dermal symptoms of the start of Lyme. Still, I don't think it would hurt to check. I'm all for doing tests if it means knocking something out and widdling down to what it really could be.

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll check it out.

[Ricobord]

It wouldn't explain all your symptoms, but have you been checked out for Lyme Disease?  You're in a hyper-endemic Lyme area, and it could explain many of your symptoms.  Check out the symptom list on this document and talk to your parents if you think it's a possibility. You could ask your regular doctor to order blood tests.

http://www.ilads.org/lyme_disease/B_guidelines_12_17_08.pdf

[EmmyJN]

I'm going to talk to my neurologist about this for sure. It seems that lately things have been going downhill. I originally started in neuro in 5th grade for fainting spells, dizziness, and an electrolyte problem. We got that under control, and I was discharged. I am back in neuro because of chronic pain associated with a surgery I had on my arm to remove a benign tumor.

The weird thing is that since the tumor was removed, I've noticed this roller-coaster. I get headaches, dizzy, I shake, a sweat, and I have these weird anxiety attacks. The shaking and the worrying are what I'm most concerned about. As I said in my post, it's like my mind is in a loop. For example, say I'm talking with someone and they react oddly to something in our conversation. Even if they didn't really act weird, or nothing "really" happened, I'm going to think about that "awkward" moment all day. It's going to bug me and eat at me until either something worse happens or it comes up that they didn't share my feelings. It's very annoying.

I'm worried about this "decline" I'm having. I don't want a relapse in this electrolyte and fainting condition, of course. I busted my left knee and left hip once each because I fell down the steps at school during a black out. I've injured my ankels multiple times because I try to catch myself when I'm fainting and I twist wrong.

I see neuro on the 3rd of April. I plan on bringing this up.

Thanks for the suggestion!

~ Em

[tjj3761]

Hi,

I feel that you should have your mother either contact your neurologist or possibly even your primary care physician about your panic attack, especially since you have an underlying neurological condition.

Panic attacks can occur with underlying health issues and your physician can give you medication such as Ativan, Xanax, etc. which helps relieve anxiety.  

I, too, have had panic attacks and they can be very scary.  

I hope you feel better and please contact your physician.

terri

[EmmyJN]

I was on Hyoscyamine a little while ago, but now I am on low-dose amtitriptyline for pain because the hyoscyamine wasn't working for me.

I'm on a special diet right now for the PCOS, but I'm considering cutting out even more of the fats and increasing my exercise. The episode still baffles me, but my mom and I both think it could have something to do with pent-up energy.

I'm on Provera for the PCOS and I'm worried that could have played a role. In some women, it can cause mood swings and things of that nature, but I was told that was very rare.

The anemia I've considered, but to my knowledge no doctor has tested for it. I see my GI in June, but I'm thinking about calling him earlier to see if he can set up a blood draw for me so I can tested. I've been thinking for a while, some of this stuff has to be connected. I know there are people out there who just have a million random conditions, but a good portion all popped up at the same time, so there has to be a common thread. It's down to that, or I'm going crazy.

Thanks for your help!

~Em

[ggreg]

EMMY, I have panic disorder, so I know what it is like, and as far as I can tell from the way you describe it, you did not have a panic attack.  Panic attacks are similar to what you had, except it has this doom and gloom aspect, where you think the world is coming to an end and you may die.  It is extremely intense, very scary, you come to a standstill with fear, and yet you cannot escape.  Deep breathing is helpful for when an attack is coming on, as is medication, and it takes a lot of behavioral psych therapy to get past it.  

However, you are dealing with so many health issues that it's no wonder you got so upset, that you don't feel good and you get sick like this.  I think for the near future, you need some better help with your diarrhea situation, because that will drain you of all nutrients and dehydrate you.  I had constant diarrhea one time, no doc could figure out what was wrong.  But I did.  I found out that a new tranquilizer medication was making me have diarrhea, so as soon as I changed it, I was fortunate, I got better.  For you, could be something else causing yours.  But in the meantime, I was given a prescription medicine Hyoscyamine, really helped a lot with the diarrhea.  I had it every day, half-dozen times every morning, for six months.  I was exhausted and drained, as you can imagine.

Since you are gluten-intolerant, could also be other foods may be bothering you, and with the right doctor, they can hopefully first make sure it's not a disorder with your bowel itself, and if not, they may can suggest a few more foods to stop eating to see if you get better, and also they can review side effects of any medicines you're taking and adjust as needed.  I found when I had diarrhea, eating blueberries with my oat cereal helped a lot!  I also drank extra water and twice a week I took a complex multivitamin and mineral supplement.  

My understanding about PCOS is limited, except avoiding sugar is a good idea, somehow insulin levels can get out of whack in connection with it.  This also might mean your weight, if it's too high, is figuring into this.  To lose weight, drinking lots of water, exercising regularly to where you break a sweat, increasing proteins and vegies, and cutting back most fats and sugars and some carbs, is the way to go, which counting calories will help that along also.  You should only diet for about two weeks at a time, and then eat normally one weekend, then pick it back up, and quit at the end of a month until you think you can get your willpower back again to resume.  By stopping and starting, you'll tend to maintain most of your weight losses.

See, I think what happened to you is you are already having problems with your electrolytes, the diarrhea is draining you, your sugars may be out of whack, and when you put all that together, you're probably anemic.  To find out if you are anemic, your doc can order a simple blood draw, and if you are, he can offer treatment to change that.  If you are anemic, it can make a person pass out, too.  As for your loss of periods of time, not recalling things, this is similar to passing out, from being at a low functioning level.  On top of it all, I believe you got you a little cold or stomach virus, and in your weakened state, you just could not bear all this stress and worry you're experiencing from all your health issues, and you wound up quite sick and miserable.  

When you have episodes like this again, or if you feel too tired or overwhelmed, hon, just take a day off to rest, eat some warm soups, soft foods that are easy to digest (like mashed potatoes, applesauce), milk if you like it and cereals.  You should be on an anti-diarrhea type medicine, and you should be taking a multivit/min supplement twice a week, drinking plenty of extra water daily, and trying to do some easy exercise when you don't feel well like a walk around outside, or if you have energy try to do something that will break a sweat.  You should probably see a gastroenterologist.  And as for your anxiety, while I've told you what probably brought it on, you could consider some counseling to get you through this rough patch until a doctor can get all your illnessses a little better under control than they are right now.

I hope you get better soon and I hate it that you're going thru all this.  Let us know.  GG