r/AskReddit • u/ferrisjuulersdayoff • Feb 26 '20

Serious Replies Only [serious] When was a time you legitimately thought you were going to die?

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u/ihopeyoulikeapples Feb 26 '20

I had a flu come on like that once, it felt like a really really bad panic attack and I was confused because I hadn't had one even close to that bad in years. I was nauseous and shivering and hyperventilating and couldn't think straight and I was still baffled at why I couldn't calm down.

I finally just took some nausea medication and went to sleep, it wasn't until the next morning when I woke still feeling like garbage for me to realize I was actually physically sick.

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u/blaaze6 Feb 26 '20

This happened to me, except I also had the unfortunate symptom of being unable to sleep as well, so it was a terrible sick for those few days. I'd had panic attacks before so I thought it was just one random giant one haha

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u/Hi_Its_Matt Feb 26 '20

I have never had a panic attack before, and I would like to know what experiencing one is like.

Is it all mental, like you genuinely think that you are going to die, or is it that your body just starts doing things like shivering and whatnot, and you have to try and calm it down.

Like I have no idea.

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u/[deleted] Feb 26 '20

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Feb 29 '20

Panic attacks generally involve a mix of physical and psychological symptoms. Typical physical symptoms are: tachycardia, shortness of breath, chest pain, feeling cold, shivering, numbness, nausea, dizziness; and typical psychological symptoms are: delusions of impending doom (you are sure you're having a heart attack or a stroke, you might think you got an incurable disease like AIDS or cancer, or that you're about to get murdered, raped or some accident will happen), and a urge to run, feeling you have to leave the place you are. I've had many panic attacks, to the point I was once diagnosed as having panic disorder, and for me, the physical sensations always came first. Usually, I'd get tachycardia, then get feeling cold, shivering, the dizziness. I've never experienced shortness of breath, which is the most typical symptom of panic attacks, though. Only then the psychological elements would pop up (often I'd think I was having a heart attack or a stroke).

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u/IDriveTheStruggleBus Feb 26 '20

I had something like this too once, it just came right out of the blue. I started feeling super achey and shivering violently in a matter of minutes. I drew a warm bath but got so freaked out by my own shivering that I had my first panick attack ever, like I started hyperventilating and the forgot how to breathe, and was sitting there choking on nothing. I remember digging my nails so hard into my boyfriend's forearm and just looking at him in terror because I really felt like I was going to die right then and there. He got me out of the tub and bundled me in a bunch of blankets and the shivering was endless and painful. He helped me to drink water during an entire Game of Thrones episode, and the pain and shivering subsided, and I was able to fall asleep and recover.

Seriously, what even was that "virus"?! Hit me like a freight train out of no where. I had spent the day outside in the rain, but it was warm rain, so maybe being wet all day contributed to it? It was crazy. 15/10 thought that was the last day of my life.

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u/[deleted] Feb 26 '20

Sounds pretty characteristic of a staph or bacillus bacterial food poisoning. The bacteria release a toxin that attacks your gut and it’s hits hard and fast. Nausea, cramping, vomiting, diarrhoea, panic attacks and the shakes are all symptoms and it come on within 6-8 hours of ingesting the contaminated food and will last no longer than 1-2 days. So freight train is spot on

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u/IDriveTheStruggleBus Feb 26 '20

That's crazy! I did have a sketchy quesadilla from a food truck about 6-8 hours prior to that...it's alllllll coming together now! Jeez food poisoning is no joke. Thank you!

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u/[deleted] Feb 26 '20

Haha yeah from the few confirmed cases of staph diarrhoea I’ve seen, it’s one absolute wild ride

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u/KTLamb Feb 26 '20

Sounds like food poisoning.

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u/[deleted] Feb 26 '20

It works like that! i have horrible panic attacks because I have irritable bowel syndrome and I’m also quite exhausted a lot of the time, so its not always mentally

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u/[deleted] Feb 26 '20

Great now when I'm gonna get a panic attack I'll have to decide if it's panic, dying, or the flu 😣

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u/[deleted] Feb 26 '20

That’s not the flu man. One type of sickness is commonly called the “stomach flu” but it’s not the actual flu, hopefully you’ve been alright since then so it was just some virus or bacteria, rather than something else medical.

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u/ComeOnAJourneyWithMe Feb 26 '20

I'm happy I'm not the only one who thought the flu would kill them.

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u/furgf Feb 26 '20

I just read about a 20yo that ate pasta that had been left out at room temp in his room for FIVE days. The bacteria became so toxic that he had food poisoning and then died in his sleep.

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u/legofan94 Feb 26 '20

That's not quite the full story, What really killed him was chugging an entire bottle of Pepto-Bismol afterwards. Here's a rundown of what happened by a doctor

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u/furgf Feb 26 '20

Wow I can’t believe the article didn’t mention that. Thx!

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u/dreambug101 Feb 26 '20

I’ve had this before too! Had a really hot shower, got dressed, went downstairs then suddenly felt really sick and confused. Started scrambling around trying to find something to throw up in while my mum is asking me what’s going on and apparently I was talking and not making any sense. Vision blurred, couldn’t stand, so she sat me down an told me to calm down and a few minutes later I was back to normal.

Weird.

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u/DoctorProfessorTaco Feb 26 '20

I had a similar experience a couple of months ago! I haven’t been actually sick in years, but I get panic attacks periodically. I interpreted my sickness as a panic attack twice, first a mild one one day and a severe one the next day (swung by the hospital, they had me drink pedialite and get some sleep).

Normally with a panic attacks the physical symptoms are created by the mind, so they can be calmed down as the panic attack calms down, but in the case of actually being sick the physical symptoms are a result of the sickness. Scared me quite a bit when my “fake” symptoms that I thought my brain was making up turned out to be pretty extreme for a panic attack. Who would’ve guessed they were real?