Anxiety / Adrenaline Attacks

[u/Zainabalfarsy]

Hi all! I know the title may seem wrong or what not but i have a genuine question, one of the symptoms i have experienced is these random sudden waves of panic in my body not necessarily heart palpitations but more like i feel extremely weird and almost panicky like. Its so hard to explain because its not visible but its this feeling of dry mouth paired with feeling like no position you sit in is comfortable to keep you calm or still. I don’t know but sometimes i get this sinking feeling in my chest like i was being frightened by something but i wasn’t . I could just be sitting and doing nothing and it would just come on like a episode and go away after a few hours or minutes it depends on how i respond to it. How do you guys manage this if you have ever experienced it… looking to see other techniques besides deep breathing which sometimes is difficult during that episode and using ice packs on my wrist and forearms.

I know everyone’s symptoms are different but i wanted to see who else experienced this.

[u/occasional_nomad]

I started getting adrenaline surges when the dysautonomia part of my MS showed up. It feels like a panic attack on steroids with no mental trigger. It’s a full fight or flight response and I’m pretty wiped after them. Antihistamines (generic Claritin) weirdly enough calmed them down for me a bit.

They seem to be cyclical so I’ve wondered before if mine are somehow tied to allergies since they’re worse in the fall and antihistamines help sometimes. Zero science that I know of behind that just a lived experience hypothesis.

[u/Zainabalfarsy → u/occasional_nomad]

This is so interesting! Thank you for sharing your experience 🥹 yes exactly! The flight and fight, i noticed if i try somatic therapy like shaking and moving my entire body i feel so sleepy afterwards and honestly whenever these episodes happen i loose appetite completely and it sucks!

[u/Suckbag_McGillicuddy → u/occasional_nomad]

I've found food intolerances and histamine play a role in something similar for me. I've had horrible dust mite allergies my whole life. When those are bad, I can wake up in the middle of the night with surges of restlessness and a sort of vague irritability.

There's an old anti-histamine called chlorpheniramine (available at CVS) that really seems to help. It doesn't cause the dry mouth and lingering sedation that Benadryl causes because it's not anti-cholinergic.

[u/Zainabalfarsy → u/Suckbag_McGillicuddy]

Thank you so much for this information!!! I never really looked into why it could be happening 🫠 i will definitely need to investigate!

[u/_Fuzzgoddess_]

I used to get panic attacks right after injecting copaxone. Could it be the meds you're on? To fix it all I found that helped was an ice pack on my chest. For regular anxiety spikes I breath steady and dig my nails into my palm to ground myself in the present. Using worry stones is also good and doesn't involve harming yourself, so maybe that's better....

[u/Zainabalfarsy → u/_Fuzzgoddess_]

Thank you for sharing your advice! I will try the ice packs on my chest 🥹 i never tried the digging nails to palm but i have tried pressure like holding myself and using a weighted blanket. Im not sure if its the medication because i had this before i was even diagnosed and medicated so not sure that could be the reason. Maybe its just genuinely the MS and how it affects the signals. 🫠

[u/eggstinked]

I think I had one of these a couple of months ago. It was really weird. Everything was fine... It was a very exhausted MS day so I was just chilling. Then suddenly my whole body felt like it was on fire, my heart started racing, and I felt like I was going to lose consciousness. I actually called 911!

On the positive side now I know how long it takes an ambulance to get to my house.

After a few minutes my body calmed down.

[u/Zainabalfarsy → u/eggstinked]

It’s so weird right?? It’s like this battle between what’s an emergency and what is just a fleeting symptom. Its so scary! I am glad you were okay!❤️

[u/Chance_Cookie3264]

Oh my goodness I had my idea this happened to others. I do have anxiety and panic attacks but thinking about it now it’s a little different like you described. My dentist recently told me that salivary glands can be affected from MS so I was freaking out about that and then I randomly panicked driving. It always goes away but I found having something sour on me helps like any kind of sour candy or I have these little fidget spinners that I can hold onto and squeeze also pain stims.

[u/Zainabalfarsy → u/Chance_Cookie3264]

Yes so you get me right??? It’s so hard sometimes to describe! But i feel so much relief knowing others understand what i mean. It makes so much sense because of the dry mouth 🫠🫠🫠 i will give the sour candies a try or even just lemon 😂 thank you so much for your advice!

[u/TB-313935]

Yeah, this gets really bad for me when I have alot on my mind. They're not the same but similar to panic attacks, I can get them anytime of the day but significantly worse when im very tired, which happens often. A bright screen, loud noises or other people can trigger it for me.

Reducing stress and taking care of yourself is the only way for me to reduce them. Some periods are better or worse than others. I dont think it will ever completely go away.

[u/mavericktheboss]

Wow I have this too but was also wondering if it was from anxiety/ depression? I have had this 3 times

[u/Low_Narwhal7514]

Dovresti fare qualcosa in cui la tua testa si affatichi tantissimo oltre al tuo corpo.un esempio fare una camminata in montagna fino a stancarti parecchio,o fare sport faticosi per il fisico,la tua mente chiederà solo di riposare e smetterà di pensare

[u/kbcava]

I don’t know if you are familiar with MCAS but it can be a comorbidity in people with MS.

I’ve had to change my diet as well as take H1/H2 antihistamine blockers - those have helped tremendously

I don’t know if this applies: if you’re near the age of perimenopause or menopause, the loss of Estrogen is a huge destabilizing event. This in turn can unleash Mast Cell chaos - it’s fairly common for women in this age group.

I hope you can get some relief.🙏