Palpitations, pounding heart, or accelerated heart rate, sweating, trembling or shaking, sensations of shortness of breath or smothering, feeling of choking, chest pain or discomfort, nausea or abdominal distress, dizziness, fainting, fear of losing control, going crazy, fear of dying, chills or hot flushes are some of the immediate changes that the body suffers on account of an anxiety attack.

The immediate physical symptoms preceding an attack include signs of a strong feeling of dread on the patient?s face, loss of control, trembling and shaking, sweating, hot flushes, tense muscles and dry mouth. Moments before a patient goes into an attack, he or she may complain of being lightheaded, dizzy or congestion in the chest.

The number of symptoms that one experiences does not dictate the severity of the attack. Someone can gave an attack with just a few symptoms listed above, and someone can first experience a cascade of all these before they precipitate into an attack. Some people experience anxiety attacks but never actually have any symptoms.

A number of biological changes occurring within the body are responsible for these symptoms, which leave the patient totally worn out and depressed. Furthermore, since muscle tension is one of the symptoms, it leaves the patient totally distressed at the end of the attack. Tension in the head and neck muscles often lead to headaches and migraines, accompanied by facial numbness. Similarly, tensions that occur in the chest on account of breathlessness are the causes of rib pain or tender breasts. All these secondary effects impair the sensations around mouth, face, cheek and jaw.