Panic Attacks At Dusk..anything I Can Do?

[Deleted member 37605]

Hi, I am looking for some advice.

Ok so here's a quick summary of my story. In early September, I had my "trauma". It was late at night/very early morning around 5am. It wasn't dark so much as it was the transitional period between night and day. I awoke from a deep sleep. I heard a scratching noise. I walked around my apartment and up against the window I saw a prowler. I screamed. I hyper ventilated. I called my Landlord. He came over to check things out. Then he left. I turned on the lights and I went back to sleep.

About 2 week later, I developed my condition. I started looking out my dining room window and noticing it was getting dark. Then bam, my first panic attack. My head rushed to a state of hyper-vigilance. I was very light headed. I couldn't concentrate. It felt like my brain was electrified.

I had repeated panic attacks over the course of the following month or so. I had panic attacks during the day. It really felt like 24/7 state of hyper-vigilance and disassociation. Some moments were worse than others but the general pattern was to be at my worse during the early evening.

Luckily I managed to find a way to stop the panic attacks. I changed my diet and exercise habits and started taking supplements which may have helped. Though I stopped having nightly panic attacks, I still got a kind of energy rush in the evening combined with an extreme feeling of dread and fear.

I have spoken to two psychologists that couldn't help. Their advice was stupid simple like "buy an alarm" or "get a dog".

I read a book on overcoming panic and anxiety. The author recommended to "diffuse, accept, run towards and engage". In other words, he said to accept the anxiety with an indifferent attitude. Even seek out it's source. Then distract yourself. I have tried this approach with evening walks ..to be outside every day during my worst symptoms.

My symptoms had come down a lot. I was feeling overall, not bad during the past 3 days, even at times I felt almost 100% normal.

But tonight, when the sun came down, I got a huge rush of "electricity" again followed by a terrible headache. It was a huge setback.

Any ideas what I can do?

 

[EveHarrington]

Have you been diagnosed with PTSD by psychiatric professionals?

I've read your posts and I think it points to ASD not PTSD.

Simply seeing a prowler doesn't meet criterion A of PTSD I believe.

 

[Powder]

I don't think you can have PTSD, but you can have Panic Disorder or Generalized Anxiety Disorder, which has the features you mentioned. Please go to a Psychiatrist for diagnosis of what you actually do have. From there, that person will refer you for therapy and do medication management if you choose to try that. Usually, there are SSRIs they will try to see if you have Panic Attacks. Some of those work for that.

I do always caution young 20's and adolescents in general to avoid SSRI's if at all possible due to some worsening side effects. Talk to your Dr. about risks with any medication.

Good luck locating the source of these panic attacks. That sounds very upsetting, and I hope you get to the bottom of it soon and can rest.

 

[Deleted member 37605]

Have you been diagnosed with PTSD by psychiatric professionals? Simply seeing a prowler doesn't meet criterion A of PTSD I believe.

That's a good question. I don't have a great answer. I have spoken to 2 Psychologists and they diagnosed me with PTSD. However, I could tell very quickly that neither was an expert in this field. They just seemed like a sympathetic ear.

My symptoms first appeared 1 or 2 days after the incident but the symptoms were very different. I was simply light headed and tired. I didn't think I was affected at all by anxiety. I thought I had anemia due to loss of red blood cells from an unrelated medical condition.

The symptoms disappeared after a few days and I spent the next week 100% normal (to the best of my recollection). But then the following week, I was light headed and dizzy again. So I decided it was time to see my GP. He ran some tests. I was extremely anxious awaiting the test results but I can't remember any physical symptoms.

I know somewhere around this time I had my first panic attack and then an outburst of physical symptoms, including pains in my knee, chills, tingling, a light headed sensation, chest tightness and probably a few others. This would be sometime in mid to late September. My symptoms and Panic attacks hit the high point in early to Mid october. They have declined a lot since then. Right now, I have stopped having panic attacks and I generally only feel "pins and needles" in my head, followed by headaches and a bit of light headedness at times throughout the day.

I wish there was an easy answer to know if I have PTSD or ASD. Can changes to a brain from PTSD show up on an MRI or CT scan?

What do you think?

Thanks for the help btw.

 

[Deleted member 37605]

I don't think you can have PTSD, but you can have Panic Disorder or Generalized Anxiety Disorder, which has the features you mentioned.

The level of anxiety I feel, I don't think it can be GAD. It has calmed down a lot, but at my high point, it really felt like I was going crazy, my brain was on FIRE. I disassociated very badly. My anxiety felt like a 10 on a 10 point scale.

It may be panic disorder. However, this did follow a highly stressful incident. I have always had some anxiety issues but never any physical symptoms or panic attacks. I may be having panic attacks now in the sense that I get a very sharp stress reaction mostly in my head, I feel hyper-vigilant with a tingling feeling in my head. Then it calms down and I get left with a headache and some ear ringing.

By the way, I am 43 years old. So I am hardly a twenty something anymore (I wish)

 

[Ronin]

The level of anxiety I feel, I don't think it can be GAD.

Hi,
It's not about that, though. The level of anxiety you feel has nothing to do with what condition you're suffering with.

Think of it as pain: Whether you're having a toothache, a headache, or a broken leg pain, are three very different things. Now, you may be having a headache because there's something wrong with your teeth, but it still doesn't mean you'd treat that first, you'd treat what you actually have. How much pain you're in doesn't determine what it's from.

Mental health is like that. What your symptoms come from are different things, what they point to is another.

This has nothing to do with level of anxiety or age, but what's happening and why.

 

[Powder]

Actually, everyone I know who has Panic Disorder are much worse off than I am with a lifetime of PTSD. I would rather have PTSD than Panic Disorder or Generalized Anxiety if that is what life is like. Their anxieties get set off by daily small anxiety producing things, such as what happened to you, or being trapped in an elevator, or flying in an airplane.

Lately, I've become aware of how PTSD is in the media and people think they know what it is. But they don't. And some other disorders actually involve more generalized anxiety than PTSD does.

I am willing to do lots of things that my friends with other anxiety disorders simply cannot do, including fly, go on cross-country road trips, go to poor countries and walk around in very poor neighborhoods, eat the food in many places, move house, get a new job, go on the waterslides at waterparks, go on any fast ride, etc. I'm not saying all PTSD sufferers are like me and can handle doing stuff like this, but my point is that my relatives, friends, coworkers, and students cannot do these things that I take for granted in life; and, a lately, it's helped me feel less sorry for myself and opened my eyes to the fact that PTSD is not the worst thing you can have.

Your posts make it sound like you think that PTSD is having panic attacks, and actually, that is not one of the clinical or diagnostic features. Many have anxiety, but only as pertains to triggers or avoiding memory, often unconscious, of a trauma. What you are reporting you are fully aware of why it upsets you, and this is not always the case for PTSD, but it is for general anxiety and most disorders.

I am not frightened by these things, nor do things cause me anxiety, unless they relate specifically to very life-threatening traumas I survived that involved severe pain and near death.

I don't think seeing a prowler is that scary nor likely to produce anxiety in someone unless they already have a disorder of some kind. So I'm saying, you should really try to find out what it is so you are not likely to keep suffering because things happen.

 

[EveHarrington]

ASD can develop into PTSD over time. There are no sure fire brain scans that are used to diagnose PTSD. (Yet.)

How long after the incident did you see those professionals?

It's quite normal to have anxiety symptoms when something like that happens. Most of the time people see improvement and symptoms go away after a few weeks to a few months. It's good that you're seeking help because you most definitely don't want this to get worse.

 

[Powder]

Getting a dog is a good idea if you love dogs and want the commitment and cost and time dedication. They actually do a lot for anxiety and PTSD in particular in many cases.

Getting a weekly massage or doing daily yoga and deep breathing and relaxation helps.

Have you tried buying some aromatherapy oils or putting a new scent in your home? Smells help over-ride your brain's freaking out. Cold water helps. I keep it by my bed for these cases. Helps me shut it down and get back to sleep.

 

[Deleted member 37605]

ASD can develop into PTSD over time. There are no sure fire brain scans that are used to diagnose PTSD. (Yet.)

How long after the incident did you see those professionals?

I started to see a professional in mid October. Roughly 6 weeks following the incident.

 

[Muted]

My understanding, is that they can see brain differences and ptsd in cat scans. I watched a news video (my psychiatrist showed me) about that and emdr. They actually scientifically can show the difference emdr makes. I truly think emdr could help you very much from this.

 

[Deleted member 37605]

Actually, everyone I know who has Panic Disorder are much worse off than I am with a lifetime of PTSD. I would rather have PTSD than Panic Disorder or Generalized Anxiety if that is what life is like...Your posts make it sound like you think that PTSD is having panic attacks, and actually, that is not one of the clinical or diagnostic features. Many have anxiety, but only as pertains to triggers or avoiding memory, often unconscious, of a trauma. What you are reporting you are fully aware of why it upsets you, and this is not always the case for PTSD, but it is for general anxiety and most disorders.

Ok then I have questions..

Don't most people with PTSD have anxiety related symptoms throughout the day? or does it ONLY come from reminders of the incident? From what I read people with PTSD are generally hyper-vigilant throughout the day and anxiety and Panic disorders are very common with PTSD and very intense.

If I have a panic disorder, why am I "freaking out" mainly at night. My anxiety levels throughout the day seem to mirror this incident. I wake up with anxiety, I am more anxious at dusk. I am fearful of the dark and tend to crave brightly lit rooms and spaces. It seems like I am reliving the incident. Though I admit I don't have flashbacks about the incident.