Calm Down, Eryn

Yesterday, in the middle of my Structures of Modern American English class, I had a panic attack. 

I had never had a panic attack before, but I am pretty certain that is what I had. I was just minding my own business, diagramming non-finite sentences, when suddenly my heart began to race, my hearing went out, my palms became sweaty, and I could barely breathe. I had to set down my pencil because my hands were shaking so violently.

I had no clue what was going on. I felt like I was going to keel over right on top of my horribly diagrammed sentence. This only lasted for about a minute, but I knew it wasn't normal.

I looked online at WebMD and the symptoms are as follows:

• Difficulty breathing.
• Pounding heart or chest pain.
• Intense feeling of terror.
• Sensation of choking or smothering.
• Dizziness or feeling faint.
• Trembling or shaking.
• Sweating
• Nausea or stomachache.
• Tingling or numbness in the fingers and toes.
• Chills or hot flashes.
• A fear that you are losing control or are about to die.

The symptoms not underlined (quoted from the WebMD page) are what I experienced.

Yep, I would call what I had a panic attack. I am not completely certain what caused it, but I don't want it to happen ever again. 

I told Kody about it and he gladly offered to skip his classes so that he could take me to the ER just to be safe. Kaila had them in the past, and she turned out having a Pulmonary Embolism. Panic attacks are signs of one, so it would be a precautionary step. However, I went on the rest of my day just fine.

I called a nurse on the United Healthcare hotline and he said not to be worried about them, just to keep note on when and where they happen. 

I guess I am fine today. I don't feel anything abnormal. I am tired from staying up too late, but that is normal for me. Kody even stayed with me an extra two hours longer than normal last night until Kaila came home to make sure I was okay. I just slept on the couch the whole time, but it made me feel safer knowing he was there if it was a sign of anything more serious.