Anxiety Spike Symptoms

Most people feel anxious at one time or another, but when anxiety interferes with everyday activities, it can be debilitating. While anxiety disorders are manageable with medication and therapy, anxiety spikes, also called panic attacks, can throw a patient into a tailspin, overriding all previous treatments. Panic attacks are unexpected and can occur for no apparent reason, report researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health. When anxiety spikes, it is usually accompanied by physical symptoms as well as extreme fear.

Physical Symptoms

People in the midst of a panic attack feel an intense terror that makes them sweat profusely. The heart pounds excessively, and the patient may feel nauseous and dizzy. The hands can start to feel numb or tingly and a flushed or chilled reaction flows throughout the body. Some people feel chest pains, while others primarily have shortness of breath or begin to hyperventilate. Abdominal pain, tightness in the throat and difficulty swallowing also are common physical symptoms of an anxiety spike. They often feel like they are suffocating. The outward physical manifestations feed the person's fear, and he may believe he is having a heart attack or really dying.

Mental Symptoms

The fear that accompanies an anxiety spike is very real to the person going through the experience. People who have repeated panic attacks often know that there is nothing to fear, so they compound their terror by thinking that they are going crazy for having the experience. Because anxiety spikes are so unpredictable, people with an anxiety disorder begin to worry incessantly about when and where it will happen again. They begin to avoid situations that previously triggered panic.

Variations

Mayo Clinic doctors report that panic attacks typically peak after about 10 minutes, with symptoms lasting up to 30 minutes. Some of the symptoms may linger for hours and occasionally last for a whole day. Panic attacks can happen anywhere at any time. Some people even wake up from sleeping with a full-blown anxiety spike. Patients usually feel worn out and fatigued when the spikes subside. The intense fear of having another unexplainable panic attack can lead to agoraphobia, the fear of open places. People with agoraphobia can end up becoming isolated and afraid to leave their homes. Left untreated, people who experience panic attacks also can become depressed, turn to drugs or alcohol for false courage or develop other social phobias.