Panic ATACKS.

Hello :

I have panic atacks...it can be rleated with apnea ?

Thnks a Lot.

Luis.

It's possible, but it's best to talk to your doctor. I can only tell you of my experience. There is a well known link between depression and anxiety. In fact the drug they put me on last year when I was in a very dark place, Lexapro, is indicated for both anxiety and depression. I was having severe depression along with periodic panic attacks along with the sleeping problems that can be associated with depression. My doc told me that there is a spectrum of closely related depression and anxiety disorders that can come together or sometimes not. Once I was being treated for depression/anxiety, I started to sleep (seemingly) a lot better since I would not tend to lay awake most of the night worring about the various things that were bothering me at the time. But, even though I felt that I was sleeping more and better, I still felt tired all the time. That's when I began to suspect that my issues were more complicated than just depression i.e. sleep apnea which runs in my family. Now that I'm on CPAP I am starting to feel some major differences. I feel more rested, calm, happy etc. I am still on medication for depression / anxiety, but I am thinking that with better sleep, some of the physical things that were going on in my body are no longer there. I'm going to discuss going off of Lexapro with my doctor, this summer when I generally feel better anyway. If my depression comes back this fall which is when it is the most likely to happen unless some other major stressor comes into play, I'll just go back on the antidepressant. So, in my long winded way, I'm suggesting that there could be a link between panic attacks and OSA. Your body needs sleep and if you don't get it, wierd things can start to happen. But, don't diagnose yourself. Go get a sleep study done to see what is going on. Then you will know. For me it was kind of like peeling an onion to get to the various layers of malfunction that I had let accumulate over the years of swimming in de nile. P.S. I was in portugal last year on vacation. I just loved Porto, Lisboa etc. Great people in Portugal.

Tim

Im from Porto ...work in Lisbom.
Come again , i will do a TOUR for you !

Thsnka a lot.

galinha wrote:I have panic atacks...it can be rleated with apnea ?

Yes Luis, panic attacks can be related to apnea.

Here's a link in English and Portuguese (at least I think it's Portuguese).
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S00 ... ci_arttext

Regards,
Bill

Thanks for that link Nighthawkeye. Even though my panic attacks were not at night. I suspected there could be a link obviously from my post above, but to see it discussed like this....sort of brings it home. It was usually a feeling of not being able to catch my breath and get that really good deep breeath that you sometimes need. Terrible feeling, like I was going to suffocate. I bet ashma feels this way. I'm wondering if the daytime suffocating feeling is related to the apnea events I was having at night, but was unaware of. Gosh our bodies are complex machines.

Tim

Sleepless in St. Louis wrote:I'm wondering if the daytime suffocating feeling is related to the apnea events I was having at night, but was unaware of. Gosh our bodies are complex machines.

Just speaking from my own experience, my tendency towards hyperventilation seems to have changed since getting on xPAP. When I first started, I really couldn't use BiPAP of C-flex because of the tendency to hyperventilate, but now, having been on xPAP a few months, using BiPAP doesn't bother me at all. I'm pretty sure that physicians mix up hyperventilation and panic attacks because hyperventilation will sure enough cause a panic attack!

I've read that apnea divers actually shift their CO2 threshold with practice in order to accomplish lengthy dives without air. It just stands to reason that us normal folks would have their CO2 thresholds shifted because of nighttime apnea.

Just my $0.02 of course.

Regards,
Bill

**
You have discribed exactly how I feel sometimes with a almost choking feeling, definietly smothering and cannot breathe deep enought... Dr. can't seem to identify after EKG etx. Will be doing a stress this Fri...I too feel it is due to a panic/anxiety. Have been on Bipap for 2 mnths. Hoping this will lessen it. Some say give it 6-8 months. My heart also feels flutter-like . Did your? This sound like a hypochondriac but I'm not. I have always been so active its hard to accept..

I've read that apnea divers actually shift their CO2 threshold with practice in order to accomplish lengthy dives without air. It just stands to reason that us normal folks would have their CO2 thresholds shifted because of nighttime apnea.

Very, very interesing thoughy NHE. Given the AHI (untreated 65) that was measured during my sleep study, my body must have made a number of adjustments over the years I've been struggling with sleep problems to compensate for lack of sleep. Sometimes I think I survived on coffee and adreniline. My blood sugar was all messed up, my blood pressure, my personal relationships (cough, cough) just to name a few. These things are all starting to normalize again since CPAP. I was starting to wonder if I was bipolar before I thougth to get checked for sleep apnia. I feel like I have a lot of catching up to do in my life and the energy to do it.

I did not have heart palps that I know of. Most of my panicky feelings were breathing related.

Tim

I had a very minor heart arrythmia since childhood. In the last six years it began to bother me a great deal. After a couple of months of cpap therapy, I no longer feel the arrythmia.

needingu wrote:My heart also feels flutter-like . Did your?

I know that sensation. There are two heart rhythm anomalies called atrial fibrilation and atrial flutter. Atrial fibrillation is a fast chaotic arhythmic condition of the atrium which occurs while the ventricle continues pumping blood at a constant steady near-normal beat. Atrial flutter is a very fast steady beating of the atrium, again while the ventricle continues at a near-normal beat. These are not considered immediate life-threatening conditions but both carry long term consequences, stroke risk possibly being the most major.

Both atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter are associated with sleep apnea.

Regards,
Bill

When I had my first panic attack, my chest felt so tight I couldn't take a deep breath and my heart palpitated. Not knowing what it was I would "step out for some fresh air- and the air is mighty fresh here in Wyoming - but my symptoms got worse hourly and after 3 days I could not get the symptoms under control so I started walking around the block in the fresh air from our CNC machine shop and back........husband and I are both machinists and I got by day 3 where hands and feet were going numb and I could not function in shop at all .....finally talked to husband about it and we together talked to my Dr. who said it was "a full blown panic attach".

Came out of the blue from what seemed like nowhere - scary stuff.

Ellen wrote: . . . by day 3 where hands and feet were going numb and I could not function in shop at all .....finally talked to husband about it and we together talked to my Dr. who said it was "a full blown panic attach".

Perfect description of what happens when one blows off all of one's CO2 during hyperventilation. The question seems to be what causes it . . . many things, probably, . . . but apnea shifting the CO2 threshold is my guess for most folks on this forum that have experienced it.

Just my $0.02 though. Physicians and other highly educated individuals who have never personally experienced the phenomenon may have other opinions of course.

Regards,
Bill

Anonymous wrote:

needingu wrote:My heart also feels flutter-like . Did your?

I know that sensation. There are two heart rhythm anomalies called atrial fibrilation and atrial flutter. Atrial fibrillation is a fast chaotic arrhythmic condition of the atrium which occurs while the ventricle continues pumping **
Is this the condition in which the heart can be stopped and started over??
I have heard of that. (Wow, Am I thinking to deep.. the RN in me.)

Here are a couple of links for additional info on A-fib and A-flutter.
http://www.medifocus.com/atrial-fibrillation.php?a=a
http://www.mayoclinic.org/atrial-flutter/

Regards,
Bill