When panic feels like a stroke: what I told Blavity Health
When panic feels like a stroke, call 911. My Blavity Health take on burnout, panic attacks, and why ER teams check blood sugar first.
When a panic attack hits hard, it can feel like a stroke. Locked hands, a frozen face, and a sudden sense that something is wrong with the brain. That overlap is why sudden symptoms always deserve emergency care.
I spoke with Blavity Health writer Tyler Chris Daniels for a story on burnout, panic, and Megan Thee Stallion's public health scare. In the ER, one of the first things we check on a possible stroke is a fingerstick glucose, because low blood sugar can cause confusion, slurred speech, even one-sided weakness. Nobody can reliably tell a panic attack from a stroke at home, doctors included. We work it up as a possible stroke first. Panic is the diagnosis left after the dangerous causes are ruled out.
Stroke treatment depends on time. Don't wait it out. Don't drive yourself. Call 911. Remember BE FAST: Balance, Eyes, Face, Arms, Speech, Time.
Read the full Blavity Health article here: https://blavity.com/health/megan-thee-stallion-panic-attack-burnout
Originally published on Blavity Health. This is an original companion summary for harveycastromd.com.