I am 32 years old and had my first panic attack 4 years ago while trying to fall asleep. It began with heart palpitations, shortness of breath then dizziness and my entire body started to shake. I went to the ER, they ran blood work and couldn't find anything wrong and referred me to my family Dr. I went the next day and she diagnosed me with Panic attacks and started me on Paxil. I took Paxil for 18 months and I was feeling great...no problems and no more attacks. I had to stop the Paxil because of gained weight. I started Celexa and took that for 2 years and was also doing fine. I decided to go off of Celexa this past January because I was feeling fine and didn't think I needed it any more. 6 weeks ago I began having problems sleeping, heart was beating fast and palpitated and I just could get rested to fall asleep. 2 weeks of having this I had a major panic attack. I was driving, my both arms and hands went numb and my heart started to palpitate and I was dizzy and week. I immediately called my Dr and she had me go to a pharmacy to check my BP it was 158/94. She prescribed blood pressure pills. I went to see her 2 days later and she prescribed Celexa again. I had a terrible reaction and was vomiting for a couple of days. She then took me off and put me on buspar. That didn't seem to be working either. During the past couple of weeks, I have also had episodes when lying in bed trying to fall asleep of internal vibrations in my trunk area...feels like my heart is beating irratically and I just vibrate from my chest to my stomach, I do my breathing exercises and it goes away...normally lasts less than a minute---this is internal only...I do not physically shake. I am wondering if this is also a panic attack symptom. I have read that it could be too much of a chemical going to my central nerve system. I went to a psychiatrist 2 days ago and he prescribed Anafranil and Zanax and wants a cardiogram to rule out Mitral Valve Prolaps. Has anyone had these internal shakes and do they know what they are from? Please help.

Hi Grneyess32:

I don't know if this is going to help you at all but figured it couldn't hurt...

About 10 years ago, while almost asleep, my entire body started vibrating. It wasn't an unpleasant sensation but bothered me enough to contact my doctor. I'm using the term vibrating because it felt like I was shaking SO fast that when I looked at my hand it was blurred. My doctor told me that the vibrations were due to my body releasing stress. It only happened at night, right when I was on the verge of sleep.

It didn't panic me (and I used to get panic attacks occasionally from childhood through mid-20's) but that doesn't mean that it wouldn't panic someone else. I remember that when I did have a panic attack, the situation I was in when I had the attack (whether it was driving the car or sitting in a restaurant), would sometimes trigger another one when I got into the same situation again, just from fear of getting another one. Does that make sense ? Maybe your body shaking REALLY freaked you out and everytime you lay down to sleep you would fear a panic attack which would, in effect, bring one on ?

Just a theory.

Best wishes

Quote from grneyess32:

I am 32 years old and had my first panic attack 4 years ago while trying to fall asleep. It began with heart palpitations, shortness of breath then dizziness and my entire body started to shake. I went to the ER, they ran blood work and couldn't find anything wrong and referred me to my family Dr. I went the next day and she diagnosed me with Panic attacks and started me on Paxil. I took Paxil for 18 months and I was feeling great...no problems and no more attacks. I had to stop the Paxil because of gained weight. I started Celexa and took that for 2 years and was also doing fine. I decided to go off of Celexa this past January because I was feeling fine and didn't think I needed it any more. 6 weeks ago I began having problems sleeping, heart was beating fast and palpitated and I just could get rested to fall asleep. 2 weeks of having this I had a major panic attack. I was driving, my both arms and hands went numb and my heart started to palpitate and I was dizzy and week. I immediately called my Dr and she had me go to a pharmacy to check my BP it was 158/94. She prescribed blood pressure pills. I went to see her 2 days later and she prescribed Celexa again. I had a terrible reaction and was vomiting for a couple of days. She then took me off and put me on buspar. That didn't seem to be working either. During the past couple of weeks, I have also had episodes when lying in bed trying to fall asleep of internal vibrations in my trunk area...feels like my heart is beating irratically and I just vibrate from my chest to my stomach, I do my breathing exercises and it goes away...normally lasts less than a minute---this is internal only...I do not physically shake. I am wondering if this is also a panic attack symptom. I have read that it could be too much of a chemical going to my central nerve system. I went to a psychiatrist 2 days ago and he prescribed Anafranil and Zanax and wants a cardiogram to rule out Mitral Valve Prolaps. Has anyone had these internal shakes and do they know what they are from? Please help.