This is long so I’m sorry. Please read if you have some time or guidance :) 

So I’ve had GAD my entire life but I’ve only recently starting getting panic attacks. I’ve had a few in the past and they’ve been really scary and come on randomly. I started lexapro a few weeks ago and have been feeling better. I took melatonin for like the first time since I started the lexapro and almost immediately felt weird. I felt anxious like just off. Something in my head seemed off and kinda of like throbbing but not in a painful way???? This was about 3 hours ago and then about an hour ago I fell asleep and I woke up super anxious with a pounding heart and dizzy feeling. Then I had a panic attack and it went away within 5 ish minutes. I guess what I’m asking is do you think it was building up for a few hours which is why I’ve felt weird for the past 3 hours? Or do you think it’s unrelated? It just freaked me out and made me not want to take melatonin again even though I know it didn’t cause the panic attack. 

Does a panic attack build up and then peak and then go away over a few hours? I’m not really sure how to word this so I’m sorry if this didn’t make sense.