Consistencies between recalled panic and lactate‐induced panic

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Abstract
This study investigated the frequency and severity of symptoms during naturally occurring panic attacks recollected as “usual” and during sodium lactate‐induced attacks. Seventy‐six male and 126 female patients with panic disorder or agoraphobics with panic attack (DSM‐III criteria) underwent lactate infusion studies and were serially administered the Acute Panic Inventory (API). Fifty‐nine percent of the subjects were rated by an attending psychiatrist to have experienced lactate‐induced panic attacks. Patients were also asked to API symptom rate their “usual” panic attacks.For panic recollected as usual, the most frequently reported symptoms (≥ 75%) at the moderate to severe levels included: afraid in general, difficulty concentrating, difficulty performing a job, desire to flee, afraid of losing control, palpitations, feeling hot or cold or both, dyspnea, dizzy‐lightheaded. During lactate infusion, 25 of 29 API symptoms increased significantly from prelactate to point of panic; however, particularly robust effect sizes were exhibited for the desire to flee, dyspnea, tingling, twitching/trembling and difficulty doing a job. Comparison of panic recollected as usual and lactate‐induced panic showed that more than half of the symptoms did not differ after Bonferroni correction; however, the most notable were fear in general, dyspnea, chest pain/discomfort, difficulty swallowing, feeling weak, desire to flee, and feeling hot/cold or both.These data point to a very distinctive role during both recollected and lactate‐induced panic attacks for fearfulness the desire to flee (by definition), and for dyspnea, difficulty performing a job and fear of losing control. During lactate‐induced panic, dyspnea exhibited the most robust effect size of all physical symptoms. Anxiety 1:31–36 (1994).

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