Category: panic attack symptoms

Attending college is a fun and exciting time for students. For many it’s not only a time to learn about the things that interest you the most, but it’s also a time where you learn a lot about yourself. However, college students also must cope with a wide range of stresses and challenges – largely because so much in their lives is changing. Old relationships…

Even though your physician has reassured you over and over again that you are in good physical health The Panic Symptom Checklist Do you wake up in the morning with heart pounding and shortness of breath and wonder, why am I feeling this way? Do you get lightheaded before you leave to go out and worry that you might faint at the wheel? Do you…

*Emergency Room Panic Attacks When you are awakened at 2:00am with your heart thumping “out of your chest” and you are gasping for what you believe could be your last breath, naturally you call 911 and race to the ER.  A complete battery of tests indicates nothing is wrong medically and the Doctor asks you whether you are under stress.  This makes no sense!  Your…

The Natural Progression of Underdiagnosed Panic Disorder * Susan, a 29 year old married nurse, was shopping in a nearby mall when all of a sudden, “Out of the Blue” She felt woozy. The dizzy spell and heat waves swept over her and she feared she would “faint on the spot.” When her lips, suddenly, turned numb and a tingling sensation spread over her arms…

*If you are like most of my patients, that first panic attack struck “Out of the Blue” for no apparent reason.  This sudden unexplained surge of physical feelings like weakness, shallow breathing, heart racing and rubbery legs can be very terrifying.  The experience of panic attack symptoms “Out of the Blue” immediately makes you think something terrible is happening…either a severe physical reaction or loss…

*After the first attack strike, panic disorder patients become sensitized to natural normal bodily sensations of adrenaline.  See the list of common sensitized bodily symptoms below; A List of the Top Ten Sensitized Bodily Sensations 1)      Heart pounding 2)      Shortness of breath 3)      Lightheadedness 4)      Weakness 5)      Rubbery legs 6)      Numbness and tingling in the hands and feet 7)      Dry mouth 8)      Lump…

* If you are like many Americans you are preparing to visit your family during the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday.  According to AAA, last year 33.2 million Americans traveled by car to their Thanksgiving destination.  We are filled with feelings of excitement and anticipation, as we think of reuniting with family and friends during the holiday.  However, if you are like many of my panic attack patients,…

Every morning, even before you put one foot on the floor, that wave of lightheadedness and shallow breathing strikes again. The nagging, annoying shallow breathing and spacey feelings seem to linger on and off, all day.  You are desperately yearning for a break. You look forward to sleep as your only escape from the dreaded feelings. Even when you wake up in the middle of…

Your Panic Profile and the Three Factor Model Factor One: Your Physical feelings “Out of the Blue” Suddenly “Out of the Blue” you get hit with a wave of heart pounding, dizziness, shortness of breath, weakness and rubbery legs, there not-there feeling, disorientation, head pressure, chest pressure, blurred vision, hot and cold flashes, numbness and tingling in the hands and feet, a lump in the…

The following is part of a training session, I administered last Thursday to one of my panic attack sufferers. The Three Types of Panic Experiences:  Type One: The Major Emergency Room (ER) Panic Attacks Major panic attacks hit you suddenly, without apparent reason, “Out of the Blue.”  Here, there is a sudden surge of multiple bodily sensations that seem to escalate rapidly including; heart racing,…

If you are like over 5000 of my panic disorder patients, then your first panic attack struck you “Out of the Blue” with no apparent reason. An unexpected onslaught of intense heart pounding, shallow breathing, head pressure, weakness, hot/cold flashes and rubbery legs can be so frightening that you are convinced you are dying or losing your mind. Immediate medical attention is often the first…

Don’t Let Panic Rust Set In It was almost a year ago that *Linda had successfully completed panicLINK.  She had been feeling so well, that the panicLINK DVD, CDs, Workbooks and Guidebook were collecting dust.  She had even misplaced some her key handouts on the 6 Take Control Training Steps. The holidays were rapidly approaching.  As usual, she was overextending herself to family and friends….

As a panic disorder specialist, I take an active responsibility in helping my patients feel confident that their physical complaints have no organic etiology.  My day is filled with my patient’s reporting symptoms of heart palpitations, shortness of breath, chest pressure, rubbery legs, lightheaded feelings, inner trembling, numbness and tingling in the extremities, lump in the throat, knot in the stomach and head pressure, to…

1.       Stop False Catastrophic Thinking  When a sudden surge of shortness of breath, weakness and rubbery legs, numbness and tingling in your hand and feet, dizziness and woozy feeling, heart thumping and inner trembling, heat waves and sweats create havoc in your body, don’t add False Catastrophic Thinking.  Don’t fuel the panic attack symptoms with enemy thoughts of stroke, heart attack, brain tumor, die, I…

Tom’s* Story: Shortness of Breath; Am I am Gasping for My Last Breath of Air? At 10:00PM last Saturday night, Tom, a 27 year old construction worker, and a group of his friends were watching a long awaited boxing match on pay per view TV. Tom was rooting for his favorite boxer, a former middle weight champion and underdog.  The boxer was battling for his…