The first time I had one.....I was 30, married, new baby, stress at the job, trying to buy a house, etc.
Was sitting in the car, waiting for the wife to get out of the grocery store, kids in the back crying. I start feeling this, like, tingling in the center of my chest.
So I start going "oh shyt, wtf is that weird feeling in my chest???"
Wife comes out, gets in, I start driving, trying not to think about it.
Get a mile up the road, she looks at me, asks whats wrong.
I try to tell her that my chest has this funny feeling in it, and as I'm saying it to her, I felt like I couldn't get the words out right.
Next thing I know, my heart starts fukking RACING a mile a minute, like it was going to pound out of my chest.
Pupils dilated, I couldn't breathe and I just freaked out, thought I was going to die.
Wife yells at me to pull over, I jump out of the drivers side trying to catch my breathe, my arms start going numb.
Get me to the Hospital, their running EKG's, taking blood, etc.
Panic attack, and the reasons my arms were going numb is because I was hyper ventilating, lol.
Now, when I get that feeling, I take a few slow, deep breaths and try to laugh at myself, talk about how crazy I am inside my own head.
I was told that trying to deny it is the worst thing to do. The best way to stop yourself from having a full on one is to realize the symptoms as they start coming on, take a deep breath and hold it, and as you let it out slow, let yourself know that you know what it is, and that your OK to feel it, but its not a big deal, don't worry.
That seems to help me stop them.