Is this a panic attack or something else?

[AprilM]

DH has had one panic attack (or what he thought was a panic attack at the time) about 6 years ago, other than that, he is not suffering from any major anxiety problems or other health problems. The other night, we sat down to watch a movie, and he said he had a strange feeling around his head, and that he felt confused and was having trouble catching his breath. To make a long story short, his symptoms began to escalate, and he feared he was having a heart attack because he felt tightness in his chest along with lightheadedness.

I took him to the hospital, but on the way, he started losing feeling in his arms, legs, and face, so we called 911 to meet us enroute to the E.R. While we were waiting for the ambulance, his fingers began to get stiff and he couldn't move them. He also started feeling tingling in his lips. THe ambulance arrived, gave him oxygen, and his symptoms started to go away. He still went to the hospital where they did an EKG and monitored him, and said everything looked normal. They diagnosed it as a panic attack with dehydration (because he just got over the stomach flu with lots of diarreah and had drank alot at his work Christmas party the night before)

Does this diagnosis sound right? His symptoms were pretty severe and scary, and last night he said he was feeling a tad lightheaded and shaky again, but nothing that warranted another trip to the ER.

Any advice or suggestions?

[StephandOwen]

This sounds similar to what dp has gone through. The last one that sent him over the edge is almost exactly how you describe. We were laying in bed watching a movie when all of a sudden he couldn't breathe. We have a blood pressure thing and his blood pressure just kept going higher and higher. He was freaking out, chest pain, couldn't move, etc. We called 911 and they took him to the hospital. They did all sorts of testing but in the end they said he was just having anxiety/panic issues. This had been escalating for a year or so with this episode being the tip of the iceburg. He went on anxiety meds and has been doing so much better in the last few months since he started. He was totally against meds, but he couldn't continue to live that way,

I wish you and your dh luck in figuring out what is going on and how to deal with it.

[AprilM]

Wow, yeah that sounds VERY similar to what happened here the other night. Glad to hear he is doing better with the medication!