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Symptoms
By Mayo Clinic staffPanic attack symptoms can make your heart pound and cause you to feel short of breath, dizzy, nauseated and flushed. Because panic attack symptoms can resemble life-threatening conditions, it's important to seek an accurate diagnosis and treatment.
Panic attacks typically include a few or many of these symptoms:
- A sense of impending doom or death
- Rapid heart rate
- Sweating
- Trembling
- Shortness of breath
- Hyperventilation
- Chills
- Hot flashes
- Nausea
- Abdominal cramping
- Chest pain
- Headache
- Dizziness
- Faintness
- Tightness in your throat
- Trouble swallowing
Panic attacks typically begin suddenly, without warning. They can strike at almost any time — when you're driving the school car pool, at the mall, sound asleep or in the middle of a business meeting. Panic attacks have many variations, but symptoms usually peak within 10 minutes and last about half an hour. You may feel fatigued and worn out after a panic attack subsides.
One of the worst things about panic attacks is the intense fear that you'll have another panic attack. If you have had four or more panic attacks and have spent a month or more in constant fear of another attack, you may have a condition called panic disorder, a type of chronic anxiety disorder.
With panic disorder, you may fear having a panic attack so much that you avoid situations where they may occur. You may even be unable to leave your home (agoraphobia), because no place feels safe.
When to see a doctor
If you have any panic attack symptoms, seek medical help as soon as possible. Panic attacks are hard to manage on your own, and they may get worse without treatment. And because panic attack symptoms can also resemble other serious health problems, such as a heart attack, it's important to get evaluated by your health care provider if you aren't sure what's causing your symptoms.
- Panic attack. In: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV-TR. 4th ed. Arlington, Va.: American Psychiatric Association; 2000. http://www.psychiatryonline.com. Accessed Jan. 14, 2010.
- Hollander E, et al. In: Hales RE, et al., eds. The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Psychiatry. 5th ed. Arlington, Va.: American Psychiatric Association; 2008. Accessed Jan. 14, 2010.
- Ciechanowski P, et al. Overview of panic disorder. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 14, 2010.
- Panic disorder. National Institute of Mental Health. http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/anxiety-disorders/panic-disorder.shtml. Accessed Jan. 14, 2010.
- Davies RD. Panic attacks and panic disorder. In: Jacobson JL, et al. Psychiatric Secrets. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Hanley & Belfus, Inc.; 2001. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/178504199-14/0/1167/34.html?tocnode=49274996&fromURL=34.html#4-u1.0-B1-56053-418-4..50017-0_289. Accessed Jan. 14, 2010.
- Answers to your questions about panic disorder. American Psychological Association. http://www.apa.org/topics/anxiety/panic-disorder.aspx. Accessed Jan. 14, 2010.
- American Psychiatric Association Practice Guidelines for the Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders. Arlington, Va.: American Psychiatric Association. http://www.psychiatryonline.com/pracGuide/pracGuideTopic_9.aspx. Accessed Jan. 14, 2010.
- Kinrys G, et al. Natural remedies for anxiety disorders: Potential use and clinical applications. Depression and Anxiety. 2009;26:259.
- Saeed SA, et al. Herbal and dietary supplements for treatment of anxiety disorders. American Family Physician. 2007;76:549.
- Hall-Flavin, DK (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Jan. 16, 2010.
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