This is a little on the lighter side of panic, so please don't take offense to anything I've written here, please. After you're done reading, be sure to use the "contact" button and send me your "Have You Ever's"!!!

Have You Ever . . .

switched positions in bed so that you couldn't feel your heart beating?

tried to match your breathing rate to someone elses, even a pets, to try and see what breathing "normally" feels like?

tried to hide the fact that you were checking your pulse rate?

written a letter to anyone (spouse, children, parents) telling them how important they were to you and how much you loved them, because you figured you had some deadly disease and didn't want to "leave this earth" without everyone knowing your feelings?

heard of a disease for the first time and thought "could that be why I feel the way I do???"

tried to convince your psychologist that you are most likely crazy?

left a pill bottle out, or casually mentioned to somebody which medicine you just took, just in case you blacked out from it, the paramedics would know what you took?

been convinced that you must have something wrong with your optic nerve or brain because you thought you were seeing WAY too many floaters?

left an entire basket of groceries in aisle 8 because you passed the frozen fish, which reminded you of trichinosis, which reminded you of your upset stomach last week, which led you to think you must have a strange food related disease, which led you to feeling woozy, which further proved that it MUST be botulism that you had and still have, which made you panic and run to your car?

called more than one pharmacist to make sure that they all agreed that it was okay to take Tylenol with your panic medicine, but then you didn't take the Tylenol anyway, sure that the pharmacists were all rushed, under-educated, or on crack?

considered asking a poor relative to move in with you just so you'd never be completely alone if/when you panicked?

hear stories about alien abductions and, even for a nanosecond, consider that it might explain alot of things for you?

mocked a person who told you that they were "stressed out" and "couldn't function", considering yourself the foremost expert on stress and anxiety and find yourself appalled that someone would dare attempt to compete at your level of expertise?

taken the seat closest to the exit, even at your doctors office?

wished massage therapy was covered by your insurance, because, you rationalize, it's cheaper than drugs and you don't have to take it orally. (hahaha)

wondered if the chemicals in food, like MSG in the eggroll you just ate, might possibly interact poorly with your meds

stick a Xanax in your pocket unprotected?

remember after you'd washed your pants that you had stuck a xanax in your pocket, then rewashed all of your clothes, "just in case" the diluted xanax had coated your clothing and would then soak into your skin, killing you instantly, even thought it was a quarter milligram tablet?

been asked to stop shaking your foot or leg because everyone at the table was getting annoyed that their drinks were sloshing?

been angered when someone asks "how are you doing?" because you think they must be mocking you?

or better yet...

been instantly freaked out when someone asked "are you okay?", thinking that you must be pale, or worse - flushed - which MUST mean that you are two short steps shy from death.

wondered why your cat is staring at you, then you remember that on Oprah you once heard about animals that are able to sense angels, and you started panicking figuring your cat saw one, and you can only think of one reason why an angel would hang around you - and how come your cat doesn't seem to care??? - The heartless furball.

gotten out of the shower, noticed that you were steaming and/or very pink, then worried that you "overdid" it, possibly causing your blood pressure to fatally surge?

quit taking long showers because you worry that you'll pass out and have to be seen buck naked by the paramedics?

considered what underwear you had on - not in case of a car accident, but in case you had a panic attack and had to be taken to the ER?

congratulated yourself on having a panic free day, then immediately started panicking?

felt a sad sense of loss when you got your xanax refilled because the old bottle had been through so much with you?

been nearly crushed when your bloodwork came back "A-OK!" because you were hoping you'd have been anemic, which would have explained the panic attacks maybe.

considered calling Sally Jesse Raphael and asking her to do a show on panic attacks, but then didn't because you didn't want to feel stupid if she'd already DONE a show on them?

fantasized that some gorgeous movie star had a first time panic attack, whereby you angellically emerge from the crowd and say "Just breathe, sweety." calmly, and rationally, then he/she falls madly in love with you, whisking you away to a lifestyle of fortune and fame? (oh to see Brendan Fraser hyperventilate...sigh...but that's just me, ignore me.)

Lied to your guests, letting them believe that they were drinking "regular" coffee so you'd "fit in better"?

thought you had gotten a buzz from a Sprite?

tried aromatherapy but then panicked wondering what the hell you were breathing into your lungs?

READER SUBMITTED HAVE YOU EVER'S (yes, the above are all my quirks!! lol)

Went through a drive-thru restaurant and ordered food, when you made a correction on the order, then you thought they poisoned the food so you just took off to another one.

Inhaled cleaning agent while cleaning, and just knew because it has harmful chemicals, that it just entered your lungs and the dizzyness starts then the panic.and you think your going to die?

Or sprayed raid for ants and knew if it kills the ants...it can kill me.

have you ever checking your sheet and pillows before you go to bed so you would reassure yourself that there are no cat hairs from your cat, because a few people told you you can die from cat hairs?

Have you ever ....put a plastic glad bag in your purse just in case you had to "chuck your cookies"

Have you ever ... gone into a restaurant or movie theatre and checked out precisely where the washrooms were.

Have you ever ... stuck your tongue around the furthest tooth in the back of your mouth so you'd resemble a smile while having a giant panic attack.

Have you ever ... felt your heart pounding so bad, you kneel down and rest your chest on your knees while pretending to check out the great magazine selections.

Have you even made sure your legs were shaved just in case this is the day you have to be rushed to the emergency room.

Have you ever gripped the steering wheel so hard that there are fingernail marks on it?

Have you ground your teeth so much that you get a headache?

Have you ever bought a heart rate monitor designed for athletes then worn it all day and totally freaked anytime your heart rate drops too low or high?

Have you ever went out to check the mail and see a neighbor, and then run back into the house pretending the phone is ringing so you won't have to talk to them? Then wait until dark to check the mail?

Have you ever had heartburn so bad but refuse to take an antacid because you just know it will cause a panick attack?

Have you ever after taking a multi vitamin just know that you will either panic, pass out or die?

Order a beer at the bar and only drink half of every beer because you are scared someone put something in it, and now when you go to the same bar they give you half a draft?

Have you ever left guests at your house saying you had to run to the store because you were having a huge panic attack and didn't want them to witness it?

Ever smelled fumes and called the poison control center to make sure you weren't gonna die from them?

Parked your car at the end of your drive-way so no one would block you in, trapping you, in case you had a panic attack and had to make a sudden exit?

Taken the stair because of fear of the elevator getting stuck and you panicking?

Wished you'd married a doctor so he could save you in your moment of crisis with his medical skills? At least he could hook you up to IV sedative so you wouldn't feel the panic sensation.

Listened to folks talk and not heard a word they said?

Make excuses not to go on an outing for fear of panic attacks?

Dumped canned food down the disposal because it just didn't smell or look right?

Taken a quarter of a pill to see if you were going to have an adverse reaction to it? If so, then it would only be a fourth as bad.

Told your hairdresser you had a virus and if you had to leave abruptly to understand?

Thought you'd lost your bottle of Xanax? Now THAT'S panic!

While getting your hair styled noticed that everything in the mirror was tilting, instantly starting a vertigo induced panic attack while you're forced to watch yourself in the same mirror unable to sneak a xanax from your pocket without being "caught"?

Bent over to fill your pets food dishes and stood up too fast, making you woozy, leading you to a major vertigo/panic attack situation, then you go back later and realize you left the catfood on the floor and the cats scattered it everywhere while you were in a xanax induced sleep.

Tried to look for other people in a crowd who might be panicking because then you wouldn't feel so weird?

NEVER look "in" the toilet afterwards because you're afraid of what you might see?

Put your "pissed off and in a hurry" face on when you go into a store when you're anxious so nobody gets in your way and you can zoom through and get back to your car as fast as possible?

Have you ever gone to a different store after not being able to find a parking space close enough to the door of the first store?

Have you ever washed down a xanax with a triple venti mocha? (3 shots of espresso!)

Have you ever stretched, then heard your neck crack and start to panic, just KNOWING that the crack would render you paralyzed?

Ever panic because your foot fell asleep?

Have you ever panicked after dropping something in your apartment because you thought maybe the downstairs neighbor would call the police after 'hearing a strange thud' thinking it must have been a body falling on the floor?

freaked out when someone actually wanted to sit in the MIDDLE of the aisle at the movie theater? How could they! Sitting on the edge is imperative (this goes for restaurants, too).

been insulted when anyone actually wanted to DRIVE you somewhere? You have to have your car at all times so you can leave, duh...

turned down DATES because WHEN (or if) you freaked out you wouldn't have to convince them to bring you home without appearing rude

bought children's chewable vitamins instead of the adult ones so that you wouldn't have to actually swallow a pill (but then freak out anyway when you chew the children's ones?)

check your pulse more than 30 times a day?

actually researched enough to know that when you're laying down, if your heart is beating too fast from panic, to lay on your right side to help blood flow, or if you're nauseous from panic, to lay on the left side, because it helps digestion?

switched jobs so that you could work in a situation that better suited your panic style?

Avoided wearing a COLOR (like red :) that made you uneasy?

Have you ever gone back inside your home after smelling weird things in the air thinking it would for sure be a chemical catastrophy?

Been so thirsty you could drink a gallon of water but refused to take one sip for fear of choking on it.

HAVE YOU EVER DIALED 1800 GERBER AT 3:00 AM, TO TALK ABOUT BABY FOOD TO SOME POOR SOUL AT THE OTHER END OF THE LINE TO DISTRACT YOUR THOUGHTS FROM YOUR PANIC ATTACK (I DID! LOL!)

Have you ever refused to wear the same shirt or trouser the day after you had a big panic attack? That you want to wash it first because if you put it on you'll be having an attack again?

Have you ever... poked yourself in odd places looking for lumps, and found something that started a panic, and then looked for the same thing in the same spot on the other side of your body, something that matched, to reassure yourself that since you have two of them it must not be cancer?

Have you ever been bitten by a bug that you did not see and thought your going to or if you have to many flee bites, you'll feel like they took to much blood and you going to have so bad reaction to it,?

screamed out "is some thing wrong??" and grabbed a flight attendent's arm in the middle of a flight when you heard a funny noise or felt a wierd feeling on an airplane when going in for a landing?

Have your ever gone to bed at night with the cordless phone on your chest and your blood pressure cuff on your arm "just in case"?

Have you ever started to panic because you went somewhere ( a college class for me) and saw someone sweating when it wasn't hot and thought THEY were going to have a heart attack? And then due to your palpitations YOUR chest started hurting?

I have checked my pulse in public "really fast" by pretending to check my watch!

Been too afraid to use the restroom alone because you might have an attack and no one would be able to help you

Have you ever got to the door first on a plane/bus, because you thought the heavy person in front of you would get stuck in the door and you wouldn't be able to get out.

Always sit in a restaurant or theatre where you can see the exit and watch the door in case it moves

Know all the exits on the rides at Disney, it there was ever a problem you can get yourself and everyone else out

Carry a flashlight so you could always be able to see

Have you ever panicked so much that you woke your boyfriend up in the middle of the night. Let him drive you to the ER. And while you're waiting for the doctor feel a bit stupid because the panic already flown away. But you let the paramedics do all the tests anyway just to make sure you're not dying from a heartattack. And of course you're not. You're feeling relieved. Go back home but can't fall asleep because suddenly you're convinced of the fact that the paramedics are not qualified of maybe didnt tell you that you are going to die just to comfort you and they all know that you will die this night and that there was nothing anymore they could have done to help you.

Have you ever refused to wear the same clothes the day after you had a huge panic attack because wearing them may cause an other one.

Skipped washing your face because you cant see for fear of someone sneaking in on you to do you harm, even though your bathroom door is locked, your house door is locked, bolted and chained, and you have already done a 'walkthru' checking every room, closet, and crevice?....lol. I have even done the one side at a time. Ill wash one eye at a time leaving the other open so i can see whats going on.

Have you ever woken up, with a full-fledged panic attack, very dizzy, and convinced yourself it wasn't YOU that was dizzy - that there was an earthquake that pushed the earth off it's axis and the planet was hurtling out in space and you are the ONLY one to feel it?

Have you ever performed the nightly ritual of placing your charged cell phone on the night stand next to your bed and laid out clothing to include shoes and coat, load the pockets with car keys, medication list, driver liecens so when you wake up with a panic attack and think you are dying you can quickly call for help and/or drive straight to the hospital without delay?

been taking a shower and all of a sudden wondered if the hole in your back yard was dug so that you can be buried in it?

Have you ever had your dog been unusually affectionate, not wanting to leave you, and been afraid because you've heard that they can sense a heart attack, stroke or epileptic seizure coming on?

I went into panic mode after thinking the bass beat of a car raido next to me was my heart beating fast and thumping in my head. as soon as i figured it out i went back to normal.

have you ever felt the whole nine yards of the "have you ever list?" if yes! you are not alone!

been afraid to go the dentist, even though u desperately need to, because you are afraid that the shot he will give u to numb your mouth will go to your brain & you will be the only person in the world to die in the dentist chair

Told someone all of the medicines you took that day in case this was the time that this really wasn't really a panic attack and you really did pass out and need to be rushed to the hospital for surgery for a life threatening situation and wanted to be sure the doctors and anesthesiologist knew exactly what was in your system so they wouldn't give you a lethal combination!

Have you ever refused to get tickets to a show because all they had left were balcony seats and you knew that there was going to be a fire or the balcony was going to collapse?

Knew your cat or dog keep cuddling with you because they could sense your cancer or knew you were dying.

Said a sincere goodbye to your husband before going to the dentist because you knew the bacteria in your mouth would rush straight to you're heart and kill you.

Had a pain somewhere and felt that area so much you were so sore the next day if felt like you were in a car accident.

gone to the hospital and sat in the waiting room pretending to have a reason for being there untill the panic went away. or estimate how long it would take an ambulance to get to you if you needed it. want to move closer to the hospital.

smelled your furnace when you turn it on and thought you were gonna die because its was carbon menoxide.,So when out and bought a detector.(even though it doesnt have a smell.)

feeling like your heart is not beating normal, so you go into the bathroom or any room with a mirror close your eyes really tight then quickly open your eyes to see if your pupils dilate cause you know death is not neat because your pupils work and your body is functioning normal?

told your friends that your teddy bear has fleas so that they'll understand that you dont want to cuddle it while you're having an attack because it will be too close to your throat and cut off your air supply killing you in a matter of seconds.

Have You Ever tightened up your muscles while having a panic attack thinking it will make your panic attack go away?

Put yourself in charge when your family or work are organizing something so you can make sure that everything will be within a 2 mile radius of your house?

Made mental notes of landmarks in the grocery store parking lot and while shopping kept repeating "second aisle, next to the tree" in case you panic and can't find your car?

Planned a driving route that includes absolutely no traffic lights?

Cut across parking lots to avoid stopping at a light?

Hung your head over a steaming bowl of water and cayenne pepper to clear your sinuses because you're too afraid to take pills--then panic because it's actually working?

Gone to the grocery store with a big tote bag full of water, magazines, Xanax and self-help books, just in case you panic--then panic because you're afraid the store might think you're shoplifting?

Gone into a full blown panic attack when the lights in the house flickered because you're afraid the power might go out?

Put off getting your car serviced because you can't stand to be without your car for two hours?

Sat up all night afraid to go to sleep with the blood pressure machine and a bottle of aspirin right next to you, just in case?

Thought of breaking an arm or leg so that your "panic attacks" wouldn't seem so bad - but then realized it wouldn't be a good idea because then you might be too weak to handle your panic attak which would then kill you!

Examined your pupils in the mirror by turning the light switch on and off to make sure they will dilate "normally" - and in the mean time be thinking that you might have to make a run to the ER if they don't?

Forced the guy at the car wash to let you out of line because you knew if you went into the carwash you would die of suffocation?

have you ever driven to the er, parked out front and taken a nap so you could finally get better sleep. That way if you have a heart attack you will be close to the hospital?

Held your finger over the MUTE button on your remote so you could press it everytime commercials come on so you don't run the risk of hearing or seeing ANYTHING health related?

Stood in the shower and felt a lump in your cheek while washing your face, panicked so bad and so quickly that you needed to grab the rail - then realized it was just a cough drop you had in your cheek that you'd forgot putting there a few minutes earlier?

Always wash your hair and "important parts" first in the shower because you know, that way, if you panic, you can get out FAST and still be considered "mostly clean."

Join In The Have You Ever List ... Send me your original "Have You Ever's"!!!! (just click on the "Contact" button below.)

page last updated 1/4/05