Panic attacks - waking up in panic & vision loss
I don’t really know what I’m looking for with this post maybe similar experiences / advice.
I’ve experienced panic attacks over the years that have come and gone, never reached out to doctors.
I would consider myself a slightly anxious person in some scenarios but majority of the time does not impact me. I am currently solo travelling for 2 months so being alone/ exploring new places is exciting for me. I probably am suppressing some stress on the way but on a day to day basis I feel good.
I’ve noticed a theme with my panic attacks and they usually occur once every 4 months. I can tell when I’m ‘due’ one because my neck and back will become painful and tense.
My previous panic attack occurred on a plane, I fell asleep and woke up in panic, with no apparent reason. I couldn’t regulate my breathing and my body was jolting which I could not control. I managed to calm down after about 30 minutes but it was scary so luckily I was with a friend. I have never had the jolting before and my worst fear is having one on the plane so I was stressed before hand.
Then more recently I was on a bus and woke up in the same state - heart racing, painful tight chest and the worst one was my loss of vision. I’ve never had this symptom before and I’m not sure if it’s soemthing I should be more concerned about. It took a few hours to return back to normal and definitely made the attack alot worse. I was alone but luckily the people around me were super helpful and chatted to me until my heart rate decreased.
These attacks worry me because I can hardly see them coming as I just wake up with the symptoms. Is this a frequent occurance for people?
Sorry for long post not good at summarising