Have You Ever Had a Panic Attack?

Everyone deals with stress, but have you ever been so stressed that it led to a panic attack? Here's what happened to me the other day...

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Confession: Lately I've been stressed. I'm blaming it on working too much and staying up too late (and having a 3 month old baby!). Recently, after a super long day of dealing with kids and deadlines and other headaches, I realized that I'd hardly stopped all day--to eat, to rest, to do anything but buzz from one task to another. Ever happened to you?

And then I noticed that my face was feeling a little tingly and numb. It freaked me out, and of course, I turned to Google (not always a good idea to play Google M.D., but I caved). After some serious reading (and worry) and a conversation with a health-expert pal, I concluded that I was most likely experiencing a physical reaction to stress.

While facial numbness can be a sign of all kinds of health conditions (and I'm not a doctor, so if you're experiencing this, talk to her first!), it's most often blamed on anxiety and stress. It might also be a symptom of an impending panic attack--or one in progress.

Clearly my body was throwing up an S.O.S.: "Slow down Sarah!" OK, so the deadlines aren't going away and the kids aren't going to grow up overnight, but I learned an important lesson about that stress is a nasty fellow, and we need to deal with him before he deals with us.

While we're on the subject, here's an interesting post by Huffington Post blogger Therese Borchard. It was a tad depressing, but really a wake-up call for me.

Have you ever had a panic attack or experienced physical pain/symptoms from stress?