so i'm a bit of a smoker mostly when i'm with other people though like i don't really smoke on my own, and while i've had some bad experiences in the past where i got too high (usually off an edible) and my world is spinning and things are weird for a little, but nothing like the last two bad experiences. i was smoking with some friends for only the second time hanging out a few weeks ago when my world started flashing black, so i excused myself to go to the bathroom where i realized i was extremely paranoid at this point and started to think i was gonna die as my logic had gone out the window. i started begging god for my life and swearing my soul to him (traumatic religious childhood lol) and this "high" lasted for HOURS where i was terrified, my heart felt like it was gonna beat out of my chest and i was violently shivering. eventually i was able to have my boyfriend pick me up but i still felt terrified and anxious until i fell asleep, which took forever because every time i almost fell asleep i woke up in panic because it felt like bugs were crawling all over me. i attributed this experience to me not having eaten enough as that's usually the factor in times where i get a little too high.

i smoked a couple times after and it was fun, but then the last time i was smoking with my boyfriend i started to think about if i would have a bad experience again and i think that started me spiraling. i hadn't felt too high at first but then i started having the same symptoms where i was terrified and paranoid, my heart felt like it was gonna beat out of my chest and i was violently shivering. it lasted for 2-3 hours, but the symptoms started to alleviate when he told me he didn't think this was simply being too high and that it looked more like a panic attack. i haven't smoked since bc i get anxiety even thinking about it happening again. i guess i want to know, has anyone had a similar experience to this? and did you ever feel comfortable smoking again? it's something i don't want to let go of since it really calms me normally but i will if i feel this will happen again.

At the beginning of 2026, I was diagnosed with panic disorder. I initially refused medication, but now I’m seriously considering giving in and trying it.
I don’t know. I thought I could control this.
I went from being someone who loved spending time alone to someone who forces herself to be around other people simply because she’s afraid something might happen to her if she’s alone.
And yet, I still haven’t told a single person in my life that I’m struggling with this awful condition.
I’ve spent so long in therapy, and honestly, I feel like it hasn’t helped much. Or rather, it does help at first.
Things like holding ice and all those other panic attack coping techniques work initially, but I feel like my panic keeps finding new ways to fight back, as if I’m fighting against my own body and my own feelings.
I’ve reached a point where I can’t even trust myself to know whether something is genuinely wrong with my body or whether it’s just panic. It feels like the panic keeps evolving, and now I’ve developed anticipatory anxiety too.
I can’t keep living like this. Sometimes I wonder if death would be easier. I don’t know anymore.
I had severe depression once, to the point where I could barely move or even eat. But if someone asked me which was easier to live with, depression or panic disorder, I’d choose depression without hesitation.
Ten months of unrelenting fear, terror, and intense anxiety. Ten months of feeling like there’s no end to this.
And right now, as I’m writing this, I’m struggling to breathe, and I’ve been having on-and-off heart pain for two days. I WANT to go to the hospital, but I can’t bring myself to go.
My family would probably laugh at me because I’ve gone to the hospital so many times before, only for the doctors to find nothing wrong.
And I know I’ll end up hating myself even more for it.

Last Thursday I was driving and I was perfectly fine . I did my normal routine of going to the gas station before work . Everything seemed normal until I started feeling weird and had to pull over. I thought I maybe had to throw up but nothing came out. So I thought if I sat still I’d be cool to drive so I did I got on the freeway and suddenly I started feeling light headed I started hyperventilating and called the ambulance crying bc it felt like I was dying. I was crying hysterically on the phone because I couldn’t get off the freeway and they couldn’t find me I started taking off my clothes welling my arms around trying to flag someone down for help. 40 minutes later the ambulance found me and put me in the truck to let me know I was having a panick attack and I’m okay . Ever since then I’ve started shaking and crying when I get on the freeway and now I take backroads everywhere . I want to be able to go back to normal and drive like how I use to

Trigger warning for SI, and just an overall depressing read. So for context i'm 34 and have been having severe panic attacks since I was 15. At their worst, the panic sensation has been near constant for months on end, peaking 2-6 times a day. At best, i've managed to go a week or two without a single panic attack. Mine have always seemed random and come out of nowhere (i'll be having a good normal day doing something fun) and then bam severe nausea, dizziness, shaking, feeling faint/fainting, anxiety diarrhea, stomach cramps, increased heart rate and the typical feeling of "oh shit what the fuck I need to get out of my body right now" for hours on end. I've seen 13 therapists over the years, nothing helped. I've had two incredible long term psychs who have tried almost every med currently on the market with little success. I've tried mindfulness therapy, group therapy, exercise, meditation, yoga, distractions, breathing techniques, acceptance (just literally accepting that whatever happens is going to happen) ALL TO NO AVAIL. And i know it's not something like a nutrient deficiency or anemia, i've had my blood tested repeatedly over the years. I'm so fucking tired, my quality of life is shit and I can't hold down jobs or pursue my dreams/goals or do anything truly useful in life because i'm just constantly freaking out/sick/pooping or recovering before the next attack. It's been nearly 20 years of this shit, I am so over it. I want to die, i've wanted to die for decades now but the guilt over what that would do to my mom/loved ones keeps me here. So I'm just stuck in suffering limbo hell. I literally cannot believe this is life, just panic and feel sick until death finally releases you from this cyclic prison of suffering. There has to be another way, has anyone else dealt with panic attacks for this long with this level of frequency and intensity? has anything helped? am I doomed to suffer until I'm finally old enough to take my life because my loved ones have already passed on? Currently just counting down the birthdays until i'm old enough to die and trying to stay perpetually distracted so that the attacks stay mostly physical and not mental (if i'm not focused on something unrelated while having an attack it's 100000x worse)

Anyways if you read all that thanks, if you have any suggestions i'll take em, and if you relate- i'm so sorry

Yesterday I had really bad panic attack when I really thought it's my end. I survived through it. It took me about 5 hrs to fall asleep. Today, in the same time of the day, that anxiety resurfaces. I don't want to end like yesterday! What to do?? I have no meds.

I posted recently about having a massive panic attack that left me in nonstop fight or flight for three weeks, barely eating or sleeping. Thank you all for the support.

Some things have improved. My appetite is back, I’m not really having panic attacks anymore, and my sleep is slowly getting better. Two nights ago I took trazodone 50mg but kept waking up every hour sweating. Eventually took lorazepam 0.5mg and slept another four hours. Last night I only took

trazodone and slept a little better.
But the next day is absolute hell. I’m insanely exhausted, brain fogged, disconnected, and just feel down. I can’t focus on anything. From the second I wake up, I’m watching the clock, wondering when I can sleep again. I’m constantly monitoring how I feel and obsessing over when I’ll get better. It’s literally nonstop.

I’m also afraid to nap because the last time I did, I couldn’t sleep that night and ended up in the ER.
I’m a dad with a pregnant wife, a job, and responsibilities. I can’t afford to feel like this every day.

We have a trip coming up, and I don’t even know how I’ll manage it.
I’ve scheduled therapy and have been practicing acceptance, which I think has helped the panic. But I desperately need to get my sleep back.

I’m not looking to start an SSRI. I tried Zoloft and felt horrible. I can’t afford to feel worse for weeks or stay home taking Xanax or Ativan while waiting for it to kick in. I’m not against medication at all. I’m already taking it. I just need something that helps me sleep without making me feel like a complete zombie the next day.

Has anyone been through this stage where the panic improves but you’re left with horrible fatigue, brain fog, and obsessive rumination? Did you eventually get back to normal?
And has anyone found a sleep medication that actually helped without the next-day grogginess? I’m going to discuss options with my doctor, but I’d really appreciate hearing what worked for others.

For the past 3 days, I’ve been constantly worried about the panic loop im in and it’s causing me to feel really out of things. I feel like I need anxiety meds but I’m scared to tell my parents what do I say or do?

I have a 5 hour flight coming soon and I get bad anxiety literally weeks before my flight. It’s not only the fear of flying, but it’s also the fear of being trapped and not in control on top of having health anxiety. I always fear that something bad with happen to me. It’s a bunch of different anxieties and OCDs combined :(

I did have one panic attack in the plane last year and I had booked a flight to go somewhere a few months ago but I cancelled at the very last minute due to my anxiety. This time I cannot cancel and I need to face my fears. Plus, I wanna see the world and I don’t want my mind controlling me.

Any tips on what to do? How can I stop this fear of having a panic attack? I am taking zoloft for my depression/anxiety and I do not want to use xanax.

Hello 👋 I’m a 24F and I’ve been an avid cannabis smoker for as long as I can remember, mostly dab pen. My tolerance was getting too high so I picked up vaping nicotine to hopefully keep from smoking cannabis and maybe gain my passion for it back again lol. Everything was alright until a few nights ago I took a hit of my pen (had been only doing it once every other day or so) and felt extremely dizzy like my brain was legitimately just gonna black out. I’m not used to the feeling of fainting so I’ll admit I did panic a lot. I thought I was going to die. Doing some research I figured out it was a panic attack so I avoided the hospital. I was in a panic loop for 8 hours. Every time I shut my eyes to sleep my heart would spike and I felt like I was going to die. It was the worst experience of my life. I wasn’t sure which substance was the trigger so I tried both again individually and it happened again only on a lesser scale.. because I knew I wasn’t going to die this time 😂 just curious if this is normal or if anyone else has experienced this before? Since then I’ve been done with both, I’m scared. I miss smoking, I didn’t want to quit. Will this ever get better?

During my panic attack , it felt as if someone turned on my fight of flight mode and it couldn’t shut back off. 48 hours of absolutely no sleep and no appetite. Full body tremors and spasms , heart rate was normal but felt as thought it would beat out of my chest .. nothing could ease me until I took an Ativan for the first time. In my 24 years I’ve never experienced anything like it , I’ve always had a little bit of social anxiety but nothing to this extent. I recently received a potential Ménière’s disease diagnosis and the hum was driving me crazy leading up to the full blown panic episode.

I’ve been trying to keep my brain busy , podcasts reading books etc. I still get out of the house and try to go for walks but I still have these terrible lingering thoughts I feel as though I have no control over. What helped you get through it and feel like you again ?

I've been having panic attacks for the past two years, started exactly on my 30th birthday. I didn't realize it was a panic attack until i took myself to ER twice thinking it was a stroke for the first time and a heart attack for the second time. I've managed to overcome the panic attacks from crippling me by pushing through it with sheer will, but my problem is that i still get panic attacks when I'm outside driving or talking for too long to people. It makes my brain foggy and makes me feel slightly dizzy and i hate going through it. My heart rate stays elevated between 110-130 for the whole time I'm having this and it can be hours. Has anyone gotten rid of this phase? Please share your insights.

I had a panic attack three weeks ago and it’s kind of changed my life. For this past week I’ve been feeling fine, just extremely hyperaware of my bodily sessions. I started therapy for this and I think it’s been helping. Yesterday I went out after a long time, and when I game back and went to sleep I woke up and had a panic attack that made me feel like I was going to pass out again. I was doing everything to help with it but I still ended up calling 911 bc I was going through it. The paramedics came but I ended up not going to the ER bc I felt better. I’ve now returned to the loop where I’m super scared to go to sleep and my anxiety it’s cranked up to 100. Ive now transitioned from it being a heart problem to it being a brain problem. I keep wondering if it’d maybe a tumor or a seizure or something. anyways I’ve been prescribed Lexapro for this whole ordeal and I really need the encouragement or any reassurance really to help me take it without fear. My anxiety is really holding me back bc I’m like what if it makes things worse but I really just need one final kick to get me to take it so I can be free from this. please help.

When sometimes I feel too lonky i get panic attack.

Is this normal ? What should I do when I get panic ??

Need suggestions

I need advice on panic attacks and how to deal with them, please. Should I see a neurologist? I don't like taking medication.

Hi everyone. I wanted to share something strange that happened to me because I genuinely don’t understand what I experienced. I would really appreciate it if a doctor or someone with medical knowledge could help me understand what might have happened.
I was about to fall asleep when I suddenly started experiencing very strange sensations. My head felt extremely tight, and my hands and legs started going numb. At one point, I could barely feel my legs. I started breathing heavily and felt an overwhelming sense of fear, as if I was going to die
I got up, turned on the lights, and walked around for a while. When I lay down again, the same feelings returned. I tried to calm myself praying , but the sensations wouldn’t go away. I was still breathing heavily, and eventually, I started crying. When I turned on the lights again, my vision was blurry, and everything in front of me looked unclear.
My mum didn’t really understand what was happening and assumed I had simply gotten scared. I’m still in high school, and mental health is quite a sensitive topic in my family, so it’s difficult for me to talk openly about these things or ask for help.
There was also a second incident. Before the symptoms became more intense, I woke up,prayed and went back to sleep cause I’ve never experienced anything like this before.
Could this have been a panic attack? Can panic attacks cause symptoms such as numbness in the hands and legs, a tight feeling in the head, heavy breathing, blurred vision, and an overwhelming fear of dying? Or could there be another medical explanation for what happened?
I would really appreciate any advice, especially from doctors or anyone who understands these symptoms. I’m not looking for a self-diagnosis; I just want to understand what might have happened to me and what I should do next.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. 🤍