I have improved a lot and panic attacks have become few and far between. There is hope! I used to have them daily - I went a few days where it was practically constant, waking up into them and having them when trying to go to sleep, and napping just to try to get away from them. That was about 2 years ago.

So, tonight, I was laying in bed trying to fall asleep, gasped suddenly and went into hyperventilation. I started going into a flashback but was able to pull my mind out of that. Then I just stopped breathing. Then started breathing heavily again. Finally, calmed my breathing down and was just laying there. Throughout this all my mind was fairly calm, my hands were clasped and I was just reminding myself that it's not a big deal and it will pass. All in all that might have lasted ten minutes.

You'll notice in my description I focused on my breathing a lot. That was the main symptom for me track. No shaking this time, or tension in the arms and legs. Would you still call this a panic attack? Just a milder one?