Panic attacks not happening immediately
I know panic attacks often happen out of the blue for many people, but I'm talking about the ones that are caused by the fear of a particular event.
I've only had 2 attacks up til now, and I've never been diagnosed with any anxiety disorders (although I strongly think I do have it). The first one happened after two people got severely injured in frisbee practice, and the second one happened (don't judge me on this) when I got vaccination shots.
From those two events, I noticed that both of them didn't start immediately after what happened. I mean yeah, I was really scared, nervous, and my heart was pounding. However after they passed, I was fine, I was much calmer and more relieved, BUT wait like 10 minutes and I felt like dying.
My eyes were hazy and blurred, my ears were ringing and clogged, head was spinning round and round, and somehow part of me wanted to run away and cry, part of me wanted to curl up into a ball and then cry, part of me just wanted to puke, my ethmoid sinus (I believe that's what it's called) was throbbing and pressing. I didn't really pay attention to my heartbeat, but I am pretty sure I was having some difficulties breathing. I dont know if anything was noticeable on the outside, like if my face was pale or maybe it was completely blank, maybe I was visibly trembling (I don't remember), because someone did ask if I was okay (for which I answered yes to). I don't know exactly how long it lasted, probably around 2-5 minutes.
Honestly I don't even know if those two were even panic attacks, but it just seems like the only logical answer.
So, any thoughts on this? Do you think they really were panic attacks? Is this a common thing?
@pruesadilla you are right with the fact that panic attacks do happen out of the blue, but they also do just as likely happen because of some anxiety-inducing event. So what you were experiencing was a panic attack but it was because your brain was responding to a stressful event. You are not alone in that sense, I got a panic attack a while back because I was so nervous about going to a hospital alone for the first time.
@pruesadilla
First of all an anxiety disorder is different than a panic disorder. I want to make it clear so is easier for you. Anxiety disorder is more common, is just very frequent anxiety and most of the times severe. A panic disorder is when you have very frequent panic atacks with or without a motive. So reading this I think you have a proper diagnosis from that professional.
Now about your specific situation. Is very normal. I've read that it takes 3 minutes for a full panic attack to show up. It initially starts with symptoms and leads to it (in a conscious matter or not).
What I think is happening to you is that there's a trigger. You keep thinking about it and it builds in your mind and body which then explodes into a panic attack.
My advice is to really find a coping mechanism for this. Try to think what really triggers you and why it does, and then find ways to deal with those thoughts in a rational way.
Best of luck 
@pruesadilla
I also have lots of panic attacks. Have you seen a MD for this issue? I see about 10 MD's for my medical issues.
@pruesadilla
Absolutely this can happen!
What happens when you have a panic attack is that our brains go into flight or fight mode - that's the part of you that wants to run away and cry while also wanting to curl up into a ball. All our brain does is want to protect us from that danger - even if you don't need to be afraid.
Although a lot of panic attacks can happen before the event, it's not uncommon for them to happen after or a long time after. This is because the brain is basically over sentisised - so it's ringing alarm bells when it doesn't need to.
If you have ways to calm yourself through panic attacks and anxiety - whether that's deep breathing or relaxation activities - keep using them well after the event or whatever triggers your anxiety. When our brain is wired up we have to work extra hard to try and keep it calm, even though there's no danger about.
Hope this answers your question
