| It was summer of 1997. I was driving to | | | | symptoms:o Dizzinesso Sweatingo Rapid heart beat, |
| Washington-Dulles airport outside of Washington D.C. | | | | pounding heart or palpitationso Visibly shakingo Lump in |
| to pick up a friend at the airport. While I was driving | | | | throat or choking sensationo Shortness of breatho |
| down the toll road, my chest started to POUND. I'd | | | | Chest paino Fear of losing control or going crazyo |
| never had this feeling or this pain before. I was 41 and I | | | | Numbness in extremitieso Lightheadedness |
| thought I was going to die of a heart attack right then | | | | You'll have to understand how my thought processes |
| and there. | | | | worked at that time. People with any sort of mental or |
| I happened to know that there was a hospital nearby | | | | nervous disorders had a big "L" on their forehead as |
| so I drove there while having this intense pain. It was | | | | far as I was concerned then. I certainly don't think that |
| the first time I had walked into a hospital since June of | | | | way now. I was really hoping and praying that this was |
| 1973 for back surgery. I walked into the emergency | | | | an isolated incident. This was NOT the case. |
| center thinking they would take me in immediately. | | | | I looked up everything I could about anxiety attacks |
| After walking into the ICU unit, they began to run | | | | and panic attacks. I tried lots of things, valerian root, |
| different tests on me. They checked my blood | | | | kava kava, magnets, subliminal tapes, hypnotic tapes, |
| pressure (normal), they did an EKG (normal) and | | | | with little help. I started riding a bike daily and that |
| checked my pulse (slightly elevated). While they were | | | | helped a LOT. I turned into a biking fanatic because I |
| running the tests, the emergency room physician kept | | | | believe it relieved me of stress, got me in better shape, |
| asking me if I was under a lot of stress. I kept replying | | | | made me lose weight and I started to take over |
| that I was not under any more stress than usual. I kept | | | | control of my life again. |
| wondering to myself why he kept asking me that | | | | Whatever helps you, anxiety attacks and panic |
| question. I also kept wondering why I was having all | | | | attacks do not have a "one size fits all" cure. It's no |
| this pain and yet, nothing was wrong with me! | | | | different than having bad vision and thinking you can |
| He told me I was having anxiety and was having a | | | | just put on any pair of glasses. Regardless of how |
| panic attack! What the hell is a panic attack! | | | | long you've had anxiety and panic attacks or the |
| Panic attacks can be diagnosed with any number of | | | | severity of them, there is hope! |