Trauma – PTSD

Question:

> Hi Davide,

Hi Doug, thanks for your reply… > What you described could very well be a panic attack.  The fear, loss > of control, sense of unreality, and sweating are on the list of panic > disorder symptoms.  About the only thing you mentioned that I’ve never > seen before is the yellow fog description, but that could easily be > explained as a part of the unreality sensation.  Maybe you ought to > see your doctor and go over your symptoms with him just to rule out > any possible physical problem.  By the way, I listed the features and > symptoms for panic attacks below.

I’ve seen that all the symptoms fit well in a panic attack. BTW, I wasn’t so afraid to lose control (or to die) as they say it’s tipical of PA. There wasn’t rapid heartbeat, but instead low blood pressure. It was like an extreme reaction of fear, where blood ha gone away from the extremity, hence the cold sensation at arms, legs, and also the brain was lacking oxygen, so the losing of consciousness and the foggy vision. They said me I was very pale, almost white, and I was suprised to see how much they were afraid when looking my face. Maybe they thought I was near to die. I have to admit that soon after the episode, I was feeling better than before, like if the brain flushed away all that big amount of fear and anxiety. Sometime I think what was the function of all this reaction in the animal world. Maybe if you are near a predator, this reaction could make your enemy think that you’re actually dead and it will go away !!! Sometimes it can work. It’s not one time that I hear people that survived in war battles, because they were lying frozen among other dead bodies. What a topics, please forgive me. > ————————————————————————–

——————— – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> As defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental > Disorders – Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), the essential feature of PD is > the experience of recurrent, unexpected panic attacks.  A panic attack > is defined as a discrete period of intense fear or discomfort that > develops abruptly and reaches a peak within 10 minutes and is > accompanied by at least 4 of the following 13 somatic and cognitive > symptoms: > shortness of breath > dizziness > palpitations > trembling > sweating > feeling of choking > nausea/abdominal distress > depersonalization > paresthesias (numbness/tingling) > flushes/chills > chest pain > fear of dying > fear of going crazy or fear of doing something uncontrolled. > This is just my opinion, but if someone has sp and has situational > panic attacks, s/he may also get a couple of symptoms that aren’t on > this list like freezing up of the vocal cords so that talking becomes > extremely difficult or nearly impossible.  To be frank, I haven’t had > a full blown pa in a while, but when I used to get them frequently, > the sensations got so jumbled together that it’s hard to recall > exactly what all I experienced before and during the attack.

That should have been a not nice esperience. > I don’t > know about anyone else here who gets pa’s, but I’ve never been able to > sit down immediately after an attack and analyzed just what all > happened to me.  My mind was always way too messed up after a pa to > logically go thru sensations leading up to and during the attack.

It was not my case…. I never "lost my mind", thought to be mad, ect.. I wasn’t feeling bad after, maybe even with a refresh sensation, like if for a while I have been able to put ouside of me all that fear and discomfort that I hide inside. In fact I saw the nurse and the doc much worried for me (they saw mw white like a piece of paper), and it was nice to have them realised how I feel inside, and that for a while they worried with me. Davide – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Nothing mattered except getting over it asap. > Good luck. > Doug

Response:

On Tue, 10 Apr 2001 04:29:47 +0200, "Davide" <ba…@galactica.it> wrote: – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->Last week I had to go to the dentist. Because I has like an infection in my >mouth, and for one day and a half I have felt so much pain like I never did. >Well the morning of the second days I jumped to the dentist. >He visited me and prescribed antibiotics and pain-killers, and said to put >ice on the face. >Well, when I was about to leave the room, I had moment like I had lost >consciousness. I never lost it but I was near to. >What happend is that I was walking to the door, and I began to see the >things foggy, like if there was a yellow fog, for some seconds. I was very >weak and scared. Then I realized my mind was near to go. I sat down to the >floor, and called someone. The nurse arrived, and after the doctor. I was >lying on the floor, and I was cold like a piece of ice. I was sweating >everywhere, and of course I was feeling very weak. >Slowly I felt the blood was returning to flow in the arms and legs. Always >slowly the sweat went away, and I returned warm. They were all nice to me. >I have to say that I was 24 hours off from food, a night where I hardly >slept, and the dentist scares me to death. I was afraid to have something >bad in my mouth because the pain was so big. >In addition I was off from meds since some days. >Now the question is: Is this a panic attack ? >It’s not the first time I have this experience. It had happened maybe 4 or 5 >times in my life and it was a long time I hadn’t it. They are all similar >since they become with foggy vision (and this "yellow" color in my vision). >I can remerber clearly all the times I had it in my life. >Once I was about 14 and I was in a church. I was standing up and somebody >caught me since I was falling on the floor like a tree. >Is not an important thing whether it’s a panick attack or not, but it would >be nice to know. >Anyone had such things ? >Davide

Hi Davide, What you described could very well be a panic attack.  The fear, loss of control, sense of unreality, and sweating are on the list of panic disorder symptoms.  About the only thing you mentioned that I’ve never seen before is the yellow fog description, but that could easily be explained as a part of the unreality sensation.  Maybe you ought to see your doctor and go over your symptoms with him just to rule out any possible physical problem.  By the way, I listed the features and symptoms for panic attacks below. ————————————————————————— ——————– As defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), the essential feature of PD is the experience of recurrent, unexpected panic attacks.  A panic attack is defined as a discrete period of intense fear or discomfort that develops abruptly and reaches a peak within 10 minutes and is accompanied by at least 4 of the following 13 somatic and cognitive symptoms: shortness of breath dizziness palpitations trembling sweating feeling of choking nausea/abdominal distress depersonalization paresthesias (numbness/tingling) flushes/chills chest pain fear of dying fear of going crazy or fear of doing something uncontrolled. This is just my opinion, but if someone has sp and has situational panic attacks, s/he may also get a couple of symptoms that aren’t on this list like freezing up of the vocal cords so that talking becomes extremely difficult or nearly impossible.  To be frank, I haven’t had a full blown pa in a while, but when I used to get them frequently, the sensations got so jumbled together that it’s hard to recall exactly what all I experienced before and during the attack.  I don’t know about anyone else here who gets pa’s, but I’ve never been able to sit down immediately after an attack and analyzed just what all happened to me.  My mind was always way too messed up after a pa to logically go thru sensations leading up to and during the attack.   Nothing mattered except getting over it asap. Good luck. Doug

Response:

Last week I had to go to the dentist. Because I has like an infection in my mouth, and for one day and a half I have felt so much pain like I never did. Well the morning of the second days I jumped to the dentist. He visited me and prescribed antibiotics and pain-killers, and said to put ice on the face. Well, when I was about to leave the room, I had moment like I had lost consciousness. I never lost it but I was near to. What happend is that I was walking to the door, and I began to see the things foggy, like if there was a yellow fog, for some seconds. I was very weak and scared. Then I realized my mind was near to go. I sat down to the floor, and called someone. The nurse arrived, and after the doctor. I was lying on the floor, and I was cold like a piece of ice. I was sweating everywhere, and of course I was feeling very weak. Slowly I felt the blood was returning to flow in the arms and legs. Always slowly the sweat went away, and I returned warm. They were all nice to me. I have to say that I was 24 hours off from food, a night where I hardly slept, and the dentist scares me to death. I was afraid to have something bad in my mouth because the pain was so big. In addition I was off from meds since some days. Now the question is: Is this a panic attack ? It’s not the first time I have this experience. It had happened maybe 4 or 5 times in my life and it was a long time I hadn’t it. They are all similar since they become with foggy vision (and this "yellow" color in my vision). I can remerber clearly all the times I had it in my life. Once I was about 14 and I was in a church. I was standing up and somebody caught me since I was falling on the floor like a tree. Is not an important thing whether it’s a panick attack or not, but it would be nice to know. Anyone had such things ? Davide

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->From: "Davide" ba…@galactica.it >Last week I had to go to the dentist. Because I has like an infection in my >mouth, and for one day and a half I have felt so much pain like I never did. >Well the morning of the second days I jumped to the dentist. >He visited me and prescribed antibiotics and pain-killers, and said to put >ice on the face. >Well, when I was about to leave the room, I had moment like I had lost >consciousness. I never lost it but I was near to. >What happend is that I was walking to the door, and I began to see the >things foggy, like if there was a yellow fog, for some seconds. I was very >weak and scared. Then I realized my mind was near to go. I sat down to the >floor, and called someone. The nurse arrived, and after the doctor. I was >lying on the floor, and I was cold like a piece of ice. I was sweating >everywhere, and of course I was feeling very weak. >Slowly I felt the blood was returning to flow in the arms and legs. Always >slowly the sweat went away, and I returned warm. They were all nice to me. >I have to say that I was 24 hours off from food, a night where I hardly >slept, and the dentist scares me to death. I was afraid to have something >bad in my mouth because the pain was so big. >In addition I was off from meds since some days. >Now the question is: Is this a panic attack ? >It’s not the first time I have this experience. It had happened maybe 4 or 5 >times in my life and it was a long time I hadn’t it. They are all similar >since they become with foggy vision (and this "yellow" color in my vision). >I can remerber clearly all the times I had it in my life. >Once I was about 14 and I was in a church. I was standing up and somebody >caught me since I was falling on the floor like a tree. >Is not an important thing whether it’s a panick attack or not, but it would >be nice to know. >Anyone had such things ? >Davide

That doesn’t sound like a panic attack to me.  In a panic attack you’re supposed to have lots of fear, not get foggy vision and fall to the ground. Sounds kind of like a seizure, but I don’t know. Tooth pain sucks.  I had my wisdom teeth pulled and a root canal last year. The pain before the operation was far worse than the root canal.  I was happy to get rid of the offending teeth. Grachman, The

Response:

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