"Panic attacks cause extreme anxiety or fear that lasts a few minutes or as long as an hour or more; the average panic attack lasts 20 to 30 minutes.
These sensations often come on unexpectedly, without an identified cause, though they can also develop in response to certain triggers. In general, a panic attack is not life-threatening, but experts suggest people who regularly experience them learn coping mechanisms and avoid triggers. For an episode to medically qualify as a panic attack, an individual must experience at least four of the numerous physical symptoms the event can produce."
---FACTY HEALTH, Updated Jan. 18, 2021
I will get back to the above definition in a minute.
September 3, just a little over two weeks ago, was an ordinary day. If there was anything extraordinary at all, it was that my mind was preoccupied with whether to engage the services of a pool maintenance guy to remove and replace a motor pump that was squealing, loud enough for one kindly neighbor to ask if we had a malfunctioning equipment in our backyard. I knew it was the motor because I already ordered a new one which had arrived the day before and I had every intention to do it myself. Not for saving money but because it's a project, just another DIY challenge, a day's time in a retiree's "busy" schedule. And I've done it before, a while back - meaning at least a decade ago.
Meanwhile that morning I decided to clear some weedy vines away from a sago palm and flowering plants around it. I was reaching up with my right hand when one over protective wasp - a yellow jacket - took issue with my intrusion. It stung me on the arm just below my shoulder.
For some folks it is just painful. It was my fourth time and pain was the least of my worry. I'm super allergic to wasp venom that I have a prescription epi-pen at home at all times because a few years ago my face puffed up like a Michelin dough boy when on a second episode I was stung on the forehead. The third time, at 6:00 a.m. one morning a nest-building wasp that took exception to my early foray outside our own garage stung me on the back through my shirt. I drove myself to emergency when I realized the epi-pen I injected myself with was past its expiration date. But I survived.
This fourth time I decided not to use the epi-pen and went to emergency instead. Apparently there were many others ahead of me with far more serious emergencies that I had to wait for at least two hours. I left and went to my doctor's clinic. He was on vacation and I was a walk-in patient who obviously looked fine to the nurse who told me to wait. After an hour and a half of waiting I left, now believing I was probably okay except for the pink blister that was spreading from the original red pin prick. It became itchy but I was relieved that that was all it was. No anaphylactic shock for the epi-pen to be unleashed.
I felt fine the rest of the day and afternoon. After dinner we were watching the U.S. Tennis Open on TV. It was an exciting match but the young player we were rooting for was behind. She was trailing and losing momentum. Then I felt my heartbeat racing and I felt uneasy. I went to check my blood pressure with our home machine. It was 204/101, my heart rate was 100!
For the first time ever in my entire life I dialed 911. The first truck with two EMT personnel arrived in four minutes. A second team of three came shortly thereafter. They confirmed the elevated vitals - 197/98, HR 95. They hooked me up to a portable EKG machine and kept my blood pressure readings monitored minute by minute. To my relief they declared I did not have a heart attack, I did not have a stroke either. My speech was normal, my vision was OK, they told me as I was talking to them the whole time, and short of saying there was nothing wrong with me they did not recommend to take me to the hospital because at that point my vitals returned to normal. The lead EMT told me that it was not likely that my symptoms were from the wasp venom. They typically see in emergency calls that reactions are immediate and had not seen any kind of delayed onset of symptoms, specially after twelve hours. After thirty minutes since they arrived, they left. But not before I told them that, just out of senseless bravado as if to bolster for my benefit or to simply re-assure them that I was not having a heart attack or stroke, that I swim 1000 meters, non-stop in 24 minutes at the gym. My way of whistling something away. I can't help it. Or was I exhibiting denial where it was not asked or required. Unimpressed, their parting words were, "Just call us if it happens again".
A couple of days later I did remove and replace the new motor. DIY done!
September 14, approximately midnight, I woke up to go to the bathroom. Before going back to bed, after gurgling some water, I noticed blood on my saliva on the sink after spitting. I swished some water in my mouth and the blood was no longer present in my subsequent spit. At almost that precise moment I felt my heart rate racing again like the last episode. I went to the kitchen to check my blood pressure. Sure enough it was 169/107, HR 106. The time was 12:40 a.m. I had chills, some tingling in my arms and legs, and I felt light headed. With the house phone in my hand I went to unlock the front door in case I had to dial 911. I sat down on the sofa to check my blood pressure a few more times. At 12:56 it was 191/102, HR 97.
With hands trembling I did a Google search on my phone and typed, "elevated blood pressure, heart rate racing, chills and perspiring".
I read they were four of ten symptoms of a Panic attack! What?!
¿Que me entre el pánico? A Spanish caballero might say; or if it were from the nonchalant Frenchman, in two words, "Moi paniquer?
I'm the cool and collected guy, unfazed under fire, I had no fear during job interviews and I had my share of numerous presentations to small and large groups of colleagues and department heads. I was never bothered by nerves and not once panicked. Once, an orthopedic doctor had to insert a 2-inch long pin through my fractured right thumb (woodworking accident, who hasn't). I asked if I can watch while he was doing it. He obliged and had a video monitor set up so I can see what was going on as I was lying down on the operating table. I watched from the time the pin was at its full length to the moment it was way deeply into my thumb, no longer visible. When he took it off three months later, I was sitting down in his office when he took it out with only local anesthesia using an instrument that if it were at my workshop it would have looked like one of my long-nose pliers. I watched the whole time. So, panic attack? No! Remember, I drove myself to emergency three times before. Root canal and tooth implants (had a share of them) didn't trigger panic either. "Moi paniquer?
By 1:30 a.m. my blood pressure was 140/92. HR 69. By 6:00 a.m. it was 126/84, HR 62. My resting heart rate is typically under 60.
In other words, just like that, everything went normal again. No ill effects whatsoever. So, what about the blood in my spit. I completely forgot but recalled only later that the night before while eating corn chips I had one with a sharp corner pierce the roof of my mouth as I bit down. Don't deny it, it happened to you too, hasn't it? I felt the pain but ignored it. The blood that early morning was from that little puncture that must have coagulated and disturbed that early morning by the gurgled water in my mouth. In fact, I was able to feel with my tongue where the wound was.
Now back to the first two paragraphs above. Yes, more reading and I am now convinced I did experience two panic attacks. Often, I read, that people on average may experience two episodes of panic attacks in their lifetime under ordinary circumstances. Often out of the blue, so to speak. Soldiers in combat and first responders under stress experience the same symptoms every time as integral to the body's fight or flight response along with sudden surge of adrenalin.
Apparently, for ordinary people under seemingly ordinary conditions, the panic attack can be triggered for no apparent reason. It is as if the brain acts autonomously though not consciously apparent to the person. Was it subconsciously on my part triggered first by the motor I was worrying about, re-installing it on my own, then followed by the wasp sting and my exasperation with the waiting I did at two clinics? Was it the blood on the sink that was the culprit the second time around?
I can't explain it. Was it my brain acting on its own? Below is the list of symptoms of panic attack.
1.) Hyperventilation 2.) Dizziness 3.) Tunnel Vision 4.) Chest Pain 5.) Nausea 6.) Hot and Cold Flashes 7.) Sweating 8.) Paresthesia (tingling sensation) 9.) Fight or Flight Response 10.) De-realization
(4.) Chest pain is often mistaken for a heart attack
8.) Paresthesia is a distorted perception or dissociation from the external world or what is going on presently. There is also a prickling sensation of the skin.
(9.) Fight or flight response is what causes increased heart rate and blood pressure, together with adrenalin, which causes some people to possess more than usual strength or speed, albeit temporarily.
Fear of dying is often felt in a surreal way. I prayed while it was happening during that second episode but I did not wake my wife. I was deeply concerned for her - this is the part where feeling like or fear of dying is also a symptom - that if I were to go before her, she may not cope well.
So, should we be worried? I meant for this to be a cautionary message to the reader because for some, one or two panic attacks may cause a debilitating effect that can cascade into a lifetime of concern or worry about future onsets. The worry for future panic attacks has become the trigger instead of only from rare circumstances that normally precede it. Until I had experienced it and read about it, I had no clue what a panic attack is.
That is not to say that we ignore real symptoms of the more serious ailments like a heart attack or stroke. That is also to say that predisposition to or prior indicators of heart and blood pressure conditions should never be ignored. It is merely to be mindful that panic can be useful if managed properly. The extreme opposite of panic response can of course be bad. Total nonchalance or extreme absence of personal concern or a sustained lack of worry or reasonable apprehension can be just as bad or worse than panic.
Or, if we can, take the edge off a bit with:
My friend Jose suffers from panic attacks. He was recently involved in a car accident.
I don't wanna sound racist, but His panic attacks are getting worse.
I had to give up using the work carpool as I got panic attacks every time we drove through a tunnel.
I have carpool tunnel syndrome.
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