18 replies to this topic

[cooter]

I need some feedback folks! First of all I have a long history of anxiety/panic attacks. Can't really tell the differances in the two because, for one thing, they both have the same symptoms in many way's. In the other, when your body submits to these attack's you don't give a sh*t which one it is! ha. I ended up at the emergancy room 2 weeks ago thinking I was having a heart attack. Went thru EKG, Xrays, blood test, etc. They kept me there overnight to check my enzines every 6 hours. Everything turned out negative and sent home. My wife suggested I might of had a severe panic attack. All the attacks I've had in the past wasn't nearly as bad as this one. If it wasn't for the wicked pain in the left side of chest and down the entire left arm I would'nt have gone. My first question is; Can a panic attack cause your heart to have angina episodes? Secondly, when I was at the VA hosp. 2 years ago talking to a councelor about a pre-op, I started to have some sort of an attack coming on and ended up in the emergency room there. The Dr. wrote down it was possibly a reaction to a new med I was on (blood pressure booster). I've always wondered if it was another attack. Would that help as extra evidence for a claim?

[john999]

What does your psychiatrist say? What do you take for anxiety? Anxiety attacks can look and feel like a heart attack.

[cooter]

John
Don't have a psych yet, although one is in the near future. I been on xanax since "91" and they been good for me. Over the years I've had a ton of little attacks and half as many big ones to a point where I can hardly breathe and gasping for air. But this last one made me think I was about to meet my maker. It was a perty bad one to make my whole left side hurt. The heart Dr said the test showed no heart attack, so that makes the wife and I think it was just a really bad anxiety/panic attack.

[jachay]

My husband had panic attacks for years and thought it was another heart attack coming. We spent alot of time in ER's and even ICU....then a doctor at the hunting camp told him he was having a panic attack and his PC physician concurred and started medication.

He prevents the PAs with the meds x3 and is so much better now. It was rough on him for a long time.

If you think your anxiety is SC, you should file a claim.

He rarely has PAs now but takes meds 3Xs a day to prevent them.

I need some feedback folks! First of all I have a long history of anxiety/panic attacks. Can't really tell the differances in the two because, for one thing, they both have the same symptoms in many way's. In the other, when your body submits to these attack's you don't give a sh*t which one it is! ha. I ended up at the emergancy room 2 weeks ago thinking I was having a heart attack. Went thru EKG, Xrays, blood test, etc. They kept me there overnight to check my enzines every 6 hours. Everything turned out negative and sent home. My wife suggested I might of had a severe panic attack. All the attacks I've had in the past wasn't nearly as bad as this one. If it wasn't for the wicked pain in the left side of chest and down the entire left arm I would'nt have gone. My first question is; Can a panic attack cause your heart to have angina episodes? Secondly, when I was at the VA hosp. 2 years ago talking to a councelor about a pre-op, I started to have some sort of an attack coming on and ended up in the emergency room there. The Dr. wrote down it was possibly a reaction to a new med I was on (blood pressure booster). I've always wondered if it was another attack. Would that help as extra evidence for a claim?

[cooter]

I'm happy to hear your husband has it under control! What meds is he taking for it? My Dr has me on xanax but they make me sleepy all the time. I had a bad parachute jump about a month before I got out of the army and been having them since. So, since it's not on my SMR it's going to be tough getting it SC.

[john999]

Cooter

I think you could get it SC'ed. You were jumping out of airplanes, and I guess you have your jump badge. I would tell the shrink about the incident. Paxil and xanax are good for panic. Paxil is good for long term treatment of panic. It increses the serotonin in your brain which makes you feel good and stops your mind from focusing on unproductive thoughts. You know when you start to think "what if I have panic attack now?" somehow Paxil and its cousins stop that obsessive thought pattern.

[cooter]

Sounds like your perty much up on this subject John. Do you have the same problem? I hope not, it sucks!!! I'm taking your advice and going to talk to the psych about the paxil. Yea, I earned my wings at Ft. Benning, Ga. and the VA knows about the jump that SC'd me 60%. But I got out a month after the incident so the attacks aren't in my SMR. Getting the nexus is going to be tough. I think. Any luck I ever get is bad luck.ha

[Pete53]

Classic panic attacks. I have them also and made my fair share of ambulance rides. Not only I thought I was having a heart attack but so did all the medical people.


I take xanax and celexa for my panic. My xanax prescription is for 4 A DAY BUT i USUALLY TAKE ONE BEFORE i GO TO SLEEP AND ONE WHEN i WAKE UP AND THAN THE OTHER 2 AS NEEDED. Sorry for caps but I am not going to fix it.

My advice to you is to try and get some help for the panic and see someone as soon as you can/

I have tools that help me deal with panic. Lucky for me my first attack happened on June 9th when I was in the Army. Course if I had not been in the Army I may not have ever had a panic attack.

Try and keep stress to as low a level as possible. Stress is an incubator for [panic attacks

[cooter]

Classic panic attacks. I have them also and made my fair share of ambulance rides. Not only I thought I was having a heart attack but so did all the medical people.

When I was at the emergency room the Dr on call said he was 80% sure I had a heart attack, even tho test results where Negative. My question is how can you tell if it's anxiety or panic? Some Dr's tell me it was anxiety, while other one's tell me panic attack. What would be the main differance?

[cooter]

Classic panic attacks. I have them also and made my fair share of ambulance rides. Not only I thought I was having a heart attack but so did all the medical people.


I take xanax and celexa for my panic. My xanax prescription is for 4 A DAY BUT i USUALLY TAKE ONE BEFORE i GO TO SLEEP AND ONE WHEN i WAKE UP AND THAN THE OTHER 2 AS NEEDED. Sorry for caps but I am not going to fix it.

My advice to you is to try and get some help for the panic and see someone as soon as you can/

I have tools that help me deal with panic. Lucky for me my first attack happened on June 9th when I was in the Army. Course if I had not been in the Army I may not have ever had a panic attack.

Try and keep stress to as low a level as possible. Stress is an incubator for [panic attacks

Don't the meds make you sleepy all the time?

[cooter]

If anyone has any friendly advice on what would be good based evidence for a claim on anxiety/panic disorder I'm all ears!!

[john999]

Get a shrink to say that your panic attacks are symptom of some accepted service connected condition.

[jachay]

He takes Xanax too......lose dosage, and does fine. (He was diagnosed with PTSD by the VA in 2007 but denied SC.) With medication and counseling, plus knowledge of the effects of traumatic stress, he handles it well. He had a tough 15 years though.

Good luck with your endeavors with the VA.
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I'm happy to hear your husband has it under control! What meds is he taking for it? My Dr has me on xanax but they make me sleepy all the time. I had a bad parachute jump about a month before I got out of the army and been having them since. So, since it's not on my SMR it's going to be tough getting it SC.

[cooter]

Get a shrink to say that your panic attacks are symptom of some accepted service connected condition.

To be totaly honest I started having them shortly after the jump incident. But I never realized that it could of brought it on. Actually, I never thought about it untill I started reading what the symptoms and effects where for Vets with PTSD. Then I thought, wait a minute, that one jump could have effected me mentally. Who knows. When I was a young man I used to think if a person has/had a mental problem, then they must of been born with it. I never realized what a horrible experiance could actually effect someones mind. Wow, what a wakeup call that was for me! Well anyway John, thanks for the comeback and I am scheduled to see a shrink this week sometime, just waiting for the referal to call me. So I difinately will bring it up.

[cooter]

jachay

Not knowing your husband's militery background is their a possibility he can resubmit his PTSD? Anything at all he could relate it to in service. etc, combat, accident, witnessing somebody else getting hurt or killed, maybe a family member dying. PTSD is some heavy crap to deal with. You may have to wait some years to get it approved/disaproved, but you'll never gain anywhere if you stop trying. jmo. Oh by the way, do you pronounce your name as jackie? I never seen it written that way is why I am asking.

[jachay]

Thank you for your suggestion. My husband is satisfied that his night terrors, PA, and strange behavior was caused by PTSD and is ok with it now. He had a difficult time before he knew what was wrong. I doubt that he will consider filing a claim again.

No, jachay is a combination of my first and middle names.....thus, no capital letter....
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jachay

Not knowing your husband's militery background is their a possibility he can resubmit his PTSD? Anything at all he could relate it to in service. etc, combat, accident, witnessing somebody else getting hurt or killed, maybe a family member dying. PTSD is some heavy crap to deal with. You may have to wait some years to get it approved/disaproved, but you'll never gain anywhere if you stop trying. jmo. Oh by the way, do you pronounce your name as jackie? I never seen it written that way is why I am asking.

[RonP]

YES, a panic or anxiety attack can mimic a heart attack and angina, in addition it mimics what is called a death seizure, it is as if you cannot move a Muscle for 20 minutes or so. I take Nitro for Angina, I take ALPRAZOLAM 500MCG 1 tablet when I go to sleep. The best is you feel an attack coming on, take 1 Clonazepam / 2mg/ by rivotril. I take 2 of these 2 sleep and the other mentioned. Now, side effects, when you first wake up, your brain is not working, it is still asleep, take a strong cup of coffee before you try to do anything. If you need to pee, sit on the toilet do not stand, get up slowly as it will effect your balance till the coffee is in your system. Do not drive for at least 60 minutes after the coffee.

I no longer drive, but when I drove that seemed to work. I am 62 now and just cant drive any more. This combination of drugs will allow me to only sleep 3.5 hours, and then I will nod off during the day. If you have a job, this wont work for you.
I live in the Philippines.

ThatDoughBoy

My husband had panic attacks for years and thought it was another heart attack coming. We spent alot of time in ER's and even ICU....then a doctor at the hunting camp told him he was having a panic attack and his PC physician concurred and started medication.

He prevents the PAs with the meds x3 and is so much better now. It was rough on him for a long time.

If you think your anxiety is SC, you should file a claim.

He rarely has PAs now but takes meds 3Xs a day to prevent them.

[cooter]

What the h*ll, I never heard of death seizures! Are you pulling my leg RonP! That definately doesn't sound good.ha. Do you get them often? Is that a symptom of panic attacks or something by itself? What causes the onset? I have to admit, that one took me by surprise!

[68mustang]

What the h*ll, I never heard of death seizures! Are you pulling my leg RonP! That definately doesn't sound good.ha. Do you get them often? Is that a symptom of panic attacks or something by itself? What causes the onset? I have to admit, that one took me by surprise!

I know that if drank too much caffeine whether it be coffee or soft drinks sometimes it would cause me to have an onset of anxiety.
68mustang