Wow, I wish I'd read this thread a year or two ago. I'm in my early 40's, and I had a couple of panic attacks last year for the first time in my life. For the first one I was driving and had to pull over and walk around in a strange neighborhood because I was convinced if I stopped physically moving I'd die. The second time happened at work, and I got a friend to drive me to the emergency room, having tunnel vision and difficulty breathing the entire time.

Here's my epiphany though: When I got to the emergency room, they just laid me down in a bed for monitoring, and after a few minutes (and about $1k) it went away. Since then, in the couple of times I've felt it coming on again I've just told myself that if it happens I'll find a place to lie down and relax until it passes. I haven't had to actually do that, because just the idea that I can is enough to make it go away. (YMMV, but it works for me.)