Horrible, horrible anxiety attack

[Guest heartplace]

It's because of a nightmare I had.

The nightmare didn't involve intrusive thoughts or anything, but it contained one of my worst fears. I woke up with my nerves frazzled. Just a little while ago I got thrown into a full blown panic. Dizziness, shortness of breath, shakiness, tremors, etc...it's to the point where I can hardly even walk because I've lost my sense of balance. I feel like I'm about to pass out. I've calmed down just a little since.

I can barely even type right now, I'm so jittery.

[Withdrawntech]

I hope you feel better, Do you drink tea?, If you got some have a cup!

[Guest lizinlondon]

Reset your breathing. Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 2 seconds and exhale for 6 seconds. Believe me this works. It rebalances oxygen in your body and will reset you. Do it until you feel calm.

[Guest imalright]

Heartplace - that happened to me the other day! I also have PTSD - actually...that was the thing that came first and then OCD followed.

I'd been to the gym in the early morning and ended up nodding off on the couch when I got home. Had a terrible nightmare about my fear and then woke up terrified. OCD made me feel it was so real. I eventually got a hold of myself and coached myself i.e 'that was just a bad dream...you're safe now...that was just your brain processing stuff. It wasn't real'.

I then went about my day as planned and had totally calmed down within a short time

I agree with Liz - start with that as it really will help.

It was just a dream - you're perfectly safe

[Guest heartplace]

Thanks for the replies.

It was actually a series of different dreams, most of them just being bizarre ones that make little sense. A couple were nightmares.

Withdrawntech- yes I do! My sister likes to do things that she knows help relieve anxiety when I'm having an anxiety attack, so we drank some together today lol.

liz- I will definitely try that sometime, thanks.

imalright- I know some people with PTSD. I can see how the two might interact with each other. Hope you're feeling better now! Thanks

I'm on fluoxetine 40mg a day, this is a recent dose. I was originally on 20mg. Ever since starting fluoxetine I have had crazy dreams but they're usually not nightmares. I'm wondering how long I can keep dealing with this side effect. My doctor says it's a common one.

Does anyone ever confuse their nightmares (I mean nightmares as a result of OCD, not just any kind of nightmare) with reality? Like...you have a dream that you see someone doing something wrong, and then you end up dreaming YOU'RE the one doing something wrong? And then you're left wondering if what you did in your dream really happened...that's part of what happened to me today. I KNOW I didn't do what I had a nightmare of, but it felt like I did and I was left doubting myself.

Edited September 23, 2014 by heartplace