How do your panic attacks start?

Hi for years my panic attacks use to go from 0 to 100 in seconds .

But in the last year there slow and i can control them from reaching 100 , by saying to myself I'll be ok .

I have dissociation so this maybe stops the panic attacks from going full on , im not sure .

Can't really offer much advice other then distraction and try your hardest to change your negative thinking

out of nowhere and for no reason.  once you start letting go of the fact that you can't stop them or control them, then you're able to control them if that makes sense.  they were so bad at one point for me that i couldn't even stand up; would lay on my bed in agony.  would feel extremely dizzy...tense...felt like ants crawling under my skin.  the worst of it all is this impending sense of doom; it feels like your dying.  and that notion is there each and everytime you have one even though you know...it'll pass.  at least this is how it was for me.

initially i was put on paxil, which i took for 2 yrs, but in retrospect didn't need to.  i was given klonopin as well for situational flare-ups.  fortunately, the panic attacks disappeared, but then again, i did make lifestyle changes as well.  getting more sleep, reducing sugar intake, jogging, limited caffeine, etc...  i think of all, quality sleep was the most beneficial.  i was in my 20s partying and binge drinking constantly and averaging probably 4hrs a sleep or less daily while working 60hrs a week as well.

anyway, long story short and to my point...even to this day more than a decade later if i feel one coming on and most who've had a panic can relate; if you've never had a panic attack then you have no idea, is that i'm able to mentally will them away.

i'd had them so often that i'd stop fighting them.  trust me there were plenty of times where it was an inconvenience like during work meetings or at a movie or out to dinner.  i'd make some excuse up and step away the the bathroom and would suffer the 3-5...10 min hell that panic attacks are.  hopefully no longer for those that do suffer.

i guess what i'm getting at is i stopped fighting them.  i began accepting them to the point of curiosity.  if one would happen i would literally be curious how severe it would be and for how long.  yes i'd feel very weak afterwards and would be sweating as if i went on a longer jog than the shape i thought i was in.  it was this fearless and carefree attitude that literally ended them more or less.  worrying about them constantly...about when or if they'll happen contributes to an endless cycle.  i stopped caring and fearing and possibly evolved to that frame of mind naturally as if my body acknowledged i wasn't going to die.  i failed to mention my panic attacks would go from 0-100 in a blink...never gradual.  anyway, good luck with this and if they continue to happen...just keep a firm mind behind it all that yes it sucks and it's inconvenient, but it'll be over shortly.

Mine can be a mixture but they always start with me burning up, like I feel my face and hands are on fire I get so so hot then start to feel sick and that odd sensation starts. Sometimes I can talk myself out of it and distract myself but other times that doesn't work.

If I am on my own it's harder to talk myself out of it so I try a YouTube meditation straight away.

Hi. My anxiety can come on like slowly building up , loads of symptoms, negative thinking and heart racing , shaking, muscle tension, headaches, some of the worst. Also I can have a quick rush of anxiety, when out in public similar to Italias reply I would take myself off to bathroom and try to calm down , deep breaths etc, at worst I would have to make an excuse to leave. It's intrusive but over the years have got used to having an excuse ready for everything, not ideal , but its like a coping mechanism, I know a situation may arise and am now more aware. Hope you're reasured by replies that other people are the same and it is manageable , know it's scary when it rushes up on you but it passes, glad your asking fellow sufferers if this is normal, it helps knowing it is and your not alone??

My panic attacks never start in a "normal" way. In fact, some dare to say I may not even actually have the panic disorder I was diagnosed with, but I have all of the symptoms. Mine start with a burning/starving feeling in my stomach, as in, literally in my stomach. All I can focus.on when it starts is needing to eat as much as possible to fulfill my intense hunger, but before I can even come close to eating, my body feels weak, my heart rate shoots up to between 120-140 BPMs. I try breathing techniques which generally.never work. My best thing to reach for is generally a beer, sadly enough, if.I can drink it fast enough, it has slowed down the process of the episode enough to where I can push through it a little easier, but generally they stick around for a while. I've been hospitalized and brought in by an ambulance because of collapsing and losing function in my limbs. Couldn't feel my arms, or move them, and was losing feeling in my legs as well. While in the hospital, my heart rate calmed, for a little bit, enough to where blood started to flow back through my limbs again, they put me on 2 IVs and 2 breathing masks along with multiple monitors. After being OK for about 15 minutes, my heart rate shot up to 150 BPMs, which shocked them and they finally decided to drug me because that was the 4th time of the day that it got to be too much too fast and this time, my oxygen was assisted so it made no sense. My doctor told me to take my tranquilizers every day 3 times a day, basically, DO NOT avoid them because he was concerned at what my "panic attack" looked like. However he said he could only call it just that, a panic attack. No other explanation and he did not have me do any other tests to look into it. I know this message got long, but from experience, breathing techniques for someone with panic attacks are meant to truly help, deep slow inhale through your nose, long slow exhale through your mouth. It should help slow down your heart. However, I never have thoughts of dred during my panic attacks. I only have the "why me" thoughts in my head. And it's always in the middle of the struggle because it is incredibly embarrassing and sad to know this is it for me, my life, random moments of not being able to do anything, not being able to talk to someone, not being able to breath or relax ever, so I'm still unsure if I even am having "panic attacks" but doctors look at me, an in shape, 27 year old, with tattoos, and assume, how could it be anything else, let's just call it the easy option to name.