Well today I had a MAJOR panic attack. It was the scariest thing I have ever had, I literally thought I was going to die. The thing is nothing triggered it, I was happy Christmas shopping with my husband and the kids. All of a sudden I started sweating. I drank some water and tried to walk it off but nothing was working. I told my husband we had to go home but after only a couple minutes in the car I was having trouble breathing and started to tingle and lose sensation in my body and face.
The hospital is a five minute drive from the shopping center so I told my husband I needed to go to the emergency department. By the time I was seen the panic attack was so bad I couldn't breathe, my whole body was in paralysis (I honestly couldn't move even my index finger) and I had tingling all in my face and couldn't move my jaw properly. It was so terrifying. They gave me some Valium to calm me down and kept me for an hour observation. I still felt quite anxious for several hours but I am feeling better now.
I did some googling and the steroid I started today for pre-chemo (dexamethasone) has a side effect of severe panic attacks in 0.11% of cases so I am not sure that that was the cause but I am hoping since it was my first dose and nothing else triggered it. I hope to god I don't have to go through that again it was a nightmare. I have asked my oncologist to prescribe regular anti-anxiety medication for me to pick up tomorrow when I have chemo so I can hopefully prevent that nasty reaction again. I would rather add one more med to my list than deal with such intense anxiety attacks, I have never had anything like that before and hopefully don't ever again.
Chemo Tomorrow
I start chemo tomorrow so I am very nervous and I am praying that all goes ok and I have minimal side effects and that I can combat the nausea. Wish me luck, I truly hope it goes better than I am expecting. I guess I will put my faith in god and pray that he will help me through this terrible time in my life. Bring on April when 'hopefully' I will be finished chemo and can start radiation and get back to my life!
Oh sis, I am sorry. There are plenty of reasons why a panic attack would make sense right now with all that you have to deal with and prepare for. I imagine the medicine would only over enhance those feelings. In our prayers.
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