Panic attacks cause a variety of symptoms that may feel overwhelming, uncontrollable, and frightening.
It is associated with the fight-or-flight response you are experiencing.
Heart rate typically returns to normal as the panic attack subsides.
Verywell / JR Bee
Meditation, deep breathing, and acknowledging that you’re having a panic attack may also help.
Excessive Sweating
As anxious feelings arise, it’s not uncommon to begin to sweat.
Much like other anxiety-related symptoms, excessive sweating is part of the bodys innatestress response.
The punch in of sweating can vary.
You may experience either a cold or hot sweat or both.
You may sweat from your underarms, forehead, or multiple parts of your body.
You may or may not experience chills or hot flashes along with the sweating.
While uncomfortable and sometimes embarrassing to deal with, know that excessive sweating is not necessarily harmful.
Finding strategies to calm yourself down can help decrease the stress response leading to the sweating.
Once again, something as simple as relaxed breathing can go a long way in stopping the symptom.
As with all of these symptoms, psychotherapy and medications can help in the management of the underlying disorder.
Hyperventilation and Choking
Hyperventilation involves rapid breathing that may be brought on by panic and anxiety.
Instead, you will take quick and short breaths.
At times it may cause you tofeel like you are choking, which only further intensifies the panic.
In cases of panic, the chest pain is triggered by the anxiety itself.
This makes it hard to focus and can heighten anxiety.
Although uncommon, it’s possible for someone experiencing a panic attack to faint.
If you experience these symptoms, go ahead and sit or lie down, preferably somewhere quiet.
Close your eyes and focus on your breath to help you come out of the panic attack.
And once the underlying panic disorder is treated, you’re less likely to experience this symptom.
Numbness and Tingling Sensations
Feelings of numbness and tingling can also occur during apanic attack.
Areas of the body may have pins-and-needles sensations or feel completely frozen and numb.
Focused breathing can help here, too.
Shaking your limbs and body may also help.
As the attack escalates, you may worry about your own personal safety and experience afear of dying.
Such thoughts and fears often increase the intensity of the attack.
For more mental health resources, see ourNational Helpline Database.
American Psychiatric Association.Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 5th edition.
Bystritsky A, Khalsa SS, Cameron ME, SchiffmanJ.
Current diagnosis and treatment of anxiety disorders.P&T.2013;38(1):30-57.
The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook.
Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.
