Does anyone else have this?
I have the usual day to day anxiety that is always with me, playing in the background. I seem to feel uneasy and have light symptoms constantly, every day, on a very mild level. I call this my "anxiety". Sometimes, that mild, day to day anxiety builds up, and I will have an hour or more of really intense anxiety, where I get so agitated and worried, I pace the floors, feel overwhelmed, get very nervous, and I work through it. Sometimes it takes a nap, or a warm bath to level me back out, but it usually boils back down. I guess I call this my "anxiety attack".
THEN, I have to worst of all. What I call my "panic attack". These are usually short. They really only last about 10-25 minutes (even though it feels like an eternity) Sometimes they come out of nowhere like a bomb. Sometimes they build up gradually through the day, and I fight them off with all I have, but then they get me in the end. They have bad derealization symptoms, where I start to feel "funny" or "off". I feel confused and terrified. Then I will get strange symptoms (numb limbs, wierd vision, awful mind stress). The WORST panic attacks for me are the ones I get when I wake up with them. This usually happens if something wakes me up about 20 minutes after I fall asleep. Then the derealization is unbearable. I feel very confused in my surroundings and I feel like I am losing my mind. I usually cry and totally panic, feel like I need to call 911, etc etc, and then I eventually snap out of it.
So, are my "anxiety attacks" and "panic attacks" actually both panic attacks? Does anyone else have a pattern like this?
AP
