JAug
05-08-2012, 10:48 AM
Hey all, i'm new to the forum, seems like lots of friendly, good hearted people on here.
I guess we'll dive right into my issue, lol.
I've been an athlete all my life, always pushing myself physically and mentally, never backing down from anything. Over the summer I fainted while in public on a hot day in June. The doctors said I was a little dehydrated. The only cause I could think of was an extremely strenuous bike ride I went on a few days before and had not hydrated well enough (my heart was racing for hours after the ride and I felt extremely lethargic for the remainder of the day). I had spent a week in the hospital because the days following the faint I was terrified of it happening again. The anxiety symptoms were so bad they decided to keep me and do a complete run through of my body, everything turned out fine. The symptoms included extreme dizzyness, pressure in my head/eyes/ears, nausia, fear.
I had only passed out once after that. They had given me a prescription of Zoloft to try, and I was so nervous about the side effects that one morning I woke up with my extremeties tingling. I had just started doing deep breathing excersizes as well and was trying to force the air into myself, which (as you could guess) caused me to hyperventilate. I have not fainted since (this was 6 months ago).
Fast forwarding 8 months from the initial fainting episode, I still to this day am affraid to push myself physically and mentally. I've been seeing a psychologist for roughly 6 months, but am having some doubts on the abilities of this particular psychologist. She claims to have experience with anxiety, but it seems as though I'm doing more learning and finding out about new tips/tricks than she knows just by reading books on my own. Every new tactic is "news" to her, and this bothers me.
I am aware of a local psychologist who is considered an expert by his peers in the field of anxiety and post tramatic stress disorder, i've considered giving him a call but am hesitant to do so.
Anywho, i just had my yearly physical and bloodwork done and all is normal. However, i still get these overwhelming dizzy spells, pressure in my head/eyes/ears. Of course the fear of fainting is there and it really hasn't gotten substantially better than it was the day after it first happened. I know i need to stick with what i'm doing on a daily basis (distraction techniques, meditation) and keep telling myself it will get better. But, it's getting more and more difficult to believe it sometimes. The fear is there, it's constant and it interferes with everyday life.
What do you folks reccommend? Medication is not an option for me.
I guess we'll dive right into my issue, lol.
I've been an athlete all my life, always pushing myself physically and mentally, never backing down from anything. Over the summer I fainted while in public on a hot day in June. The doctors said I was a little dehydrated. The only cause I could think of was an extremely strenuous bike ride I went on a few days before and had not hydrated well enough (my heart was racing for hours after the ride and I felt extremely lethargic for the remainder of the day). I had spent a week in the hospital because the days following the faint I was terrified of it happening again. The anxiety symptoms were so bad they decided to keep me and do a complete run through of my body, everything turned out fine. The symptoms included extreme dizzyness, pressure in my head/eyes/ears, nausia, fear.
I had only passed out once after that. They had given me a prescription of Zoloft to try, and I was so nervous about the side effects that one morning I woke up with my extremeties tingling. I had just started doing deep breathing excersizes as well and was trying to force the air into myself, which (as you could guess) caused me to hyperventilate. I have not fainted since (this was 6 months ago).
Fast forwarding 8 months from the initial fainting episode, I still to this day am affraid to push myself physically and mentally. I've been seeing a psychologist for roughly 6 months, but am having some doubts on the abilities of this particular psychologist. She claims to have experience with anxiety, but it seems as though I'm doing more learning and finding out about new tips/tricks than she knows just by reading books on my own. Every new tactic is "news" to her, and this bothers me.
I am aware of a local psychologist who is considered an expert by his peers in the field of anxiety and post tramatic stress disorder, i've considered giving him a call but am hesitant to do so.
Anywho, i just had my yearly physical and bloodwork done and all is normal. However, i still get these overwhelming dizzy spells, pressure in my head/eyes/ears. Of course the fear of fainting is there and it really hasn't gotten substantially better than it was the day after it first happened. I know i need to stick with what i'm doing on a daily basis (distraction techniques, meditation) and keep telling myself it will get better. But, it's getting more and more difficult to believe it sometimes. The fear is there, it's constant and it interferes with everyday life.
What do you folks reccommend? Medication is not an option for me.