Hi Panic Man,
This sounds awful! You must be really scared! To answer your question, yes, what you describe sounds very much like a panic attack! Mine usually have some physical component, and when they first started I was convinced I was having a heart attack. I remember one night many years ago when I called the emergency services because my breathing was really jumpy, I was feeling faint and my pulse was way too slow. I was sure I had some cardiac disorder. They just told me to stop wasting their time, and I felt more helpless than before. I felt I was going to die, I had called for help but nobody was listening to me. At other times I had chest pains or restricted breathing, all kinds of things really, and the symptoms kept changing, so you couldn't get used to them.
The thing is, these symptoms are real, there's no point pretending they are not there, but THEY ARE NOT DANGEROUS. You may not believe me because they feel so life threatening, but I've been there, many times in the past 20 years, and I'm still alive! Your body sometimes does go twitch and sting and tense and outch, it just does, and it can last for days, but you are going to survive.
My advice to you is: Please please go and get some help NOW, see a therapist, read up on panic attacks, tell you friends and family about it. Finding this site is a great beginning! Just don't let it go chronic, the longer you leave it the harder it will be to get it under control!
And don't be afraid, you will survive! Honest!
Marianne
