Hi - I'm also new here :-)  I'm new to panic/anxiety so I am going to post everything that happened to me in the last 4 months as I don't understand what is happening to me and I am from an area where this is not a common issue. 

For some reason I had my first panic attack ever 4 months ago (happened a week or 2 after I strained a stomach/core/chest muscle during a sports exercise).  It happened around 11pm and since I never had a panic attack before I thought I was having a heart attack or something, fortunately I was visiting family and got them to drive me to the ER (I'm 32 by the way) - the doctor did all kinds of checks and could find nothing wrong, she sent me home with pain killers and Lansoprozole to relieve the tension in my stomach.  I could still feel the effects the next day, but got better the day after and I believed that the muscle strain caused it and that the meds helped.

3 months later (3 and a half weeks ago) I was sitting at home (I live alone) and suddenly feel a slight discomfort in my stomach, ignored it, but when I went to bed and placed my head on the pillow I was suddenly overwhelmed by anxiety, panic, nausea, hot then cold flashes - I think I was stuck with the feeling for an hour or 2 before I managed to get some sleep.  The next day I went to a doctor...again, she couldn't find anything wrong and gave me omeprazole and something for nausea....she also advised me to avoid foods that can hurt my stomach - I immediately quit coffee, spicy foods and milk/cheese (which in retrospect was probably a bad idea as I drank a lot of coffee and withdrawal might have worsened some symptoms).   2 days later I went to a pharmacy to ask for something for night anxiety, they had their nurse take my blood pressure and chat to me, for some reason she found my blood pressure quite high and then also gave me "water pills" for that along with a natural anxiety med.  Needless to say I still felt horrible.

The next day I was visiting my family again and again got my mom to take me to the ER as I felt like something was horribly wrong (chest pains, panic, nausea, heart beating, etc).  The doctor didn't even look at me and just gave me a sleeping pill and more lansoprazole.  Obviously I slept well with the sleeping pill, but the next day I was anxious/panicked all over again.

Another day later I decided to go to the hospital and see a doctor again.  She listened to all the symptoms and then proceeded to do a ECG and also sent me for a chest x-ray...no issues found.  The doctor prescribed an anti-biotic, lansaprazole and lorazepam (1mg, for the anxiety) - she suspected that I had a stomach ulcer.  I did not take the Lorazepam as I was a bit scared after reading about it on the net.  4 days later I woke up around 3am with a pounding/racing heart, I took one of the lorazepams and waited an hour...heart was still pounding and I was extremely scared...so I got up and went to the ER again.  I was sent for a sonar of the abdomen and muscle above stomach....again, came back with no issues.  The doctor then told me that they cannot find anything wrong with me (or at least nothing life threatening) and I will have to work through their clinics so they look for other issues....at which point I actually started crying (which is unusual for me).  I was just so frustrated that I felt this bad and couldn't sleep and everyone just keeps telling me there is nothing wrong.

A week and a half ago I went to the clinic the doctor said I should go to - their the nurse referred me to their psychiatric nurse for further assistance.  The psychiatric nurse couldnt help me much as I couldn't give them a reason why I might be experiencing this issue.  I was given an appointment with a pschiatrist (a week later tho) - I started taking the Lorazepam tablets (half of 1mg) and they actually made me feel so good (I only had 5 tablets or so) that I thought the issue was resolved.  The day I had an appointment with the psychiatrist I stopped taking the Lorazepam tablets (I only had 0.5mg left in anycase).  The psychiatrist asked me so many questions, but I just didn't understand where this issue was coming from at all so she ended up requesting blood tests for me (full blood count and some tests for kidneys, thyroid, etc.), she then also prescribed Citalopram (Deprimal) in the meantime.  The thing that annoys me most is that I will only get the blood test results in one month's time when I see the psychiatrist again :-( , but in the mean time I am expected to take anti-depressants that might make me feel even worse for a while :-(

I received the Citalopram yesterday, but didn't take it as I was simply too scared.  After a bad night I decided to take the first dose this morning (Dr said I should take 10mg for a start).  So today is day 1 on an anti-depressant for me.

Sorry for the long post.  I just don't understand what is happening and how something like this can happen out of the blue?  I'm not depressed, but after each bad night, panic attack, etc. I actually feel like I am becoming depressed... I don't feel like myself at all and my mind is constantly racing and thinking of things that might actually be causing this (e.g. thyroid, adrenal issues, IBS, bad diet - I have even come up with worse things that just make me panic even more).