The symptoms begin suddenly with chest pains, palpitations, feeling dizzy, faint or light-headed, sweating and trembling. You can also experience fast, shallow breathing and pins and needles. Although very unpleasant, attacks usually last for only a few minutes and cause no physical harm.

You can help avoid them by taking regular exercise. Studies show that jogging for 30 minutes, three times a week is as effective as psychotherapy for depression and will work just as well for panic attacks.

Avoid junk food and sugar and increase your intake of wholegrain cereals, vegetables, fruit, lean meats, low-fat dairy products and fish. You might also find it helpful to use essential oil of clary sage, which eases mental fatigue and depression and helps bring good sleep.
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If people are not straight away experiencing a panic attack, then at the total minimum people live with heightened levels of anxiety. The signs and symptoms of panic attacks can change widely from person to person, so it is very likely for somebody to suffer from them, unknowingly.

There is a certain link somewhere between your brain and your entire body in the case of a panic attack. What is encountered or felt on the physical is basically reflecting what is occurring in the body, stress reaction, and how that is interpreted by the mind. The mind then unknowingly encourages the body to produce more symptoms.

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As time went by, she started having the attacks more frequently. She would get sweaty palms, heart palpitations, nausea and dizziness, coupled with the overwhelming fear that something awful was about to happen.

“My mum put me through every medical test she could think of. They all came back negative. At one stage they thought I was bulimic,” she said. She was finally diagnosed by accident, when her mother came across a check list for panic disorder symptoms in a magazine. Oglesby had every one.

Afterwards, she began to go to a support group for depression and anxiety, but did not find this helpful — she was not depressed. She also saw a GP, who suggested a mild sedative. This helped but did not end the panic attacks.

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“Because symptoms of panic attacks can be confused with those of other medical problems related to the heart and gastrointestinal tract as well as neurological problems, a lack of knowledge about panic attacks can lead to unnecessary referrals and tests,” said Dr. Ellen Teng, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at BCM and clinical research psychologist at the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Researchers evaluated 95 surveys received from cardiologists, gastroenterologists and neurologists in the Houston area.  The survey questions included information about those most at risk for panic attacks and treatment options.

The physicians answered only half of the survey questions about panic attacks correctly.  There was no difference in knowledge among the three specialty groups.

While 94 percent recognized medication as a way to treat panic and anxiety symptoms, only about 30 percent recognized cognitive behavioral therapy to educate patients about panic attacks and their symptoms and give them tools to deal with the problem as the treatment of choice.

“Medication does treat the short-term aspects of panic attacks such as shortness of breath and a racing heart, but cognitive behavioral therapy treats panic disorder in the long-term,” said Teng.

Only slightly more than half of the physicians surveyed believed that psychologists could treat panic attacks directly and effectively through this technique.

Teng called for increased awareness of panic disorder among physicians. Teng also recommends providing resources and literature for physicians to make appropriate referrals to psychologists.   

Common symptoms of a panic attack include heart pounding, shortness of breath, light headedness and trembling.  Panic disorder develops when several panic attacks occur out of the blue.  Patients then worry about what the attack means and when the next one will take place, which may cause them to avoid certain places or events.

If a panic attack does occur for the first time, Teng recommends seeing a physician to rule out the risk of heart disease or another serious problem. 

Others who took part in this research include Drs. Angelic D. Chaison, Sara D. Bailey, Joseph D. Hamilton and Nancy Jo Dunn, all of BCM and the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center. 

Funding for this work came from the South Central Mental Illness, Research, Education and Clinical Centers, a part of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.  

The study can be found at http://www.springerlink.com/content/q5718wm131242433/fulltext.pdf * **

Source:United States Department of Veterans Affairs