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want_to_be_panic_free
05-01-2012, 11:54 AM
I've been fighting the anxiety monster for about 7 months now, and although my husband, friends, and family are very supportive and want to help, it's hard to even explain what I'm going through to those who have never experienced it.

In October of last year, I started having panic attacks and severe anxiety, most of the time completely out of nowhere. The first one was so unexpected and severe that my husband and I went to the ER...I thought I was having a heart attack! Since then, the extreme panic attacks have gotten father apart, but it's rare that I have a day that I don't experience some of the symptoms: pounding or fluttering heart, clammy hands, chest pain, dizzy at times, and the worst: feeling like I'm going to die.

Every doctor I've been to has assured me that it is not a heart issue, just a very strong anxiety disorder. My gynocologist suggested that the panic attacks started because of a change in hormones, as I stopped taking birth control for the first time in almost 7 years a couple of weeks before the first panic attack.

Sometimes I feel like I'm going crazy, sometimes I feel like I'm having a heart attack, sometimes I feel so keyed up and tense, other times I'm exhausted and very emotional. The disorder is taking over my life, and I don't know what to do. I've always been very outgoing and up for anything, until now. I'm 28 years old.

And advice or words of wisdom are more than appreciated. For someone who has always felt very confident and sure of herself, I am LOST.

Lexie1425
05-01-2012, 08:06 PM
I totally understand what you are feeling. I have felt the same. I have been on medication until a few months ago and it made me feel great when I was on it but did nothing but cover up the problem. I am now trying to cope with anxiety without medication and it is very scary. I had a week a couple weeks ago that was absolutely awful - panic attacks a few times a day and feeling anxiety 24/7. I have been able to calm down since then but still feel on edge like I am waiting for it. It is getting better but it's hard and I definitely have a long road ahead of me. I know what you mean about feeling lost. You just have to keep going. The past few weeks I have been avoiding working out, but today I got the confidence to go to the gym and it felt great. You have to do things that you don't want to. You can't let the anxiety take over. It can't hurt you. You are in control of it. I definitely do not have the answers since I am still trying to figure this out myself, but know that you are not alone!

want_to_be_panic_free
05-01-2012, 11:31 PM
Thanks. Sometimes it helps just to know others are going through it too, that I'm not crazy.