Ambypom
04-12-2013, 08:43 PM
****I am currently reading the sticky threads on this forum but posting this in the meantime****
In september of 2011 I got a new job working for AT&T at a call center. It was a nice job paid well and I could sit all day and talk on the phone. Yes I got a lot of pissed off people that yelled and blamed me for everything but in the back of your head you just have to laugh at them.
About a month into this job I was sitting in the cafeteria on lunch when I realized I forgot to punch out for lunch “again”. This happened a few times already and I always hated confronting my higher ups about fixing it even though they didn't seem to mind at all. As i'm sitting thinking about what I should do my heart starts beating faster and faster. Then my head starts to hurt. I'm thinking, “Why am I getting so worked up over this?! I only forgot to punch out!” I tried to just sit down and breathe and just get over it and I eventually did. I was fine for the rest of my shift.
After a few hours of being home and after my boyfriend had gone to work I decided to nap. Suddenly I wake up abruptly and my heart is racing so fast and my head was pounding. It felt like I was having a heart attack and a migraine at the same time. No one was in the house. I was all alone in so much pain I didn't know what to do with myself. It was the single most scariest thing I have ever felt in my life. It's been awhile since this happened so I can't even remember what I did to get through this. I think I had just waited it out and took a pain killer for the horrible head ache I had afterward. That was the worst panic attack I had to date.
When I was feeling better I sat on a couch and called a few people to see what had happened and what I should do. I kept thinking, “Maybe I should go to the hospital?” The worse thing about the whole situation was that I was afraid to go back to sleep. Since I had woke up into this attack I felt sleeping was the worst thing I could do. So I just layed in bed the whole night waited for my boyfriend to come home at 6 am since he worked overnight. When he came back I finally felt like I could sleep.
Both of those attacks happened in the same day and it was the start of a series of horrible attacks to come. From what I can remember back then after the first 2 attacks I started having them over silly things. Like for example I was in the kitchen fixing my boyfriend lunch to take to his overnight job and bam. My heart out of nowhere starts racing and the head ache starts. This is always how it happened. My heart starts racing. I try to calm myself down. If I fail to then my head starts hurting. Now I know that there's no way to stop it once the head ache starts. All I can really do is sit down and take deep breaths. Now I know a common symptom of a panic attack is not being able to breathe. But this was not the case. I have always been able to breathe fine. Deep breaths help calm me down is all. For the next maybe 9 months after my initial attack I had to deal with them off and on.
Around july 2012 I was procrastinating on sewing costumes together for a animation convention I go to every year. This year I had really procrastinated. I procrastinated so much that I had a tremendous amount of anxiety over it. I mean this got so bad to the point where if I got up out of bed to fast or did anything at all that would raise my heart rate just the smallest bit I would start having an attack. Sometimes they were small and manageable. But mostly they were so bad that they left me laying in bed for 1-2 hours trying to calm down and wait for my pain killer to get rid of the awful head ache. This went on for about 2 weeks until I had everything done and I was finally wearing my costumes at the convention. Then I was magically fine.
Now I suffer from something a little different. I don't want to call them panic attacks. It will again happen if maybe I go up and down too many flights of stairs. Or get up to quickly. But most of all.... when I learn over or lay on my right side. Yes... when I am trying to sleep and I lay on my right side by turning over it for some reason stresses me too much and my heart starts beating like i'm going to have a panic attack. But I usually know to turn back over and lay on my back. Or to stop leaning over and sit up straight. I'll take my deep breaths and 99% of the time I can calm myself down and not get the head ache. Now am I not getting the head ache at all.
It’s all about the vomiting now, bringing you to the present. My typical day of anxiety will start as soon as I get out of the show. I will vigorously dry my hair with a towel and it will cause my heart to race. As soon as that happens I know I’m in for an awful day. During one of these days anything will cause my heart to race and make me throw up. So many things will cause my heart to race. Honestly anything. Just standing. If I’m standing eventually my heart will beat faster and faster until I throw up. I’ll be ok for a little but then I happens again. I had to leave work early the last 2 days I worked because of this.
I recently went to a doctor. Basically, all he said was that there might be something wrong with my thyroid and I have high blood preasure. He would do some tests and if nothing turned up, that I need to go to a psychiatrist and get anxiety medication. They did an ECG on me. They put little tags all over me and I guess measured my pulse. So far I haven’t heard anything back from them. I scheduled another appointment because now that I have a job that requires a lot of standing and moving it’s become more of an issue. My other job requires only sitting.
I can’t live like this anymore. I can’t. It’s preventing me from doing so much. My mom told me when I go back to the doctor for blood work that I should ask for a stress test. Is there anything I should ask them to do that would help them find out what’s wrong with me? Because it’s hard to believe that this is just anxiety.
Any advice would be appreciated. Any names medication others have taken that helped would be appreciated.
edit : also regular ways of dealing with my anxiety now don't help. What I have going on now won't just "stop" in I relax for awhile. I have to lay down and do nothing for HOURS. Sometimes the entire day. Sometimes I will have to go to sleep for the night and STILL feel it the next day. I can last for 48 hours sometimes before stopping.
In september of 2011 I got a new job working for AT&T at a call center. It was a nice job paid well and I could sit all day and talk on the phone. Yes I got a lot of pissed off people that yelled and blamed me for everything but in the back of your head you just have to laugh at them.
About a month into this job I was sitting in the cafeteria on lunch when I realized I forgot to punch out for lunch “again”. This happened a few times already and I always hated confronting my higher ups about fixing it even though they didn't seem to mind at all. As i'm sitting thinking about what I should do my heart starts beating faster and faster. Then my head starts to hurt. I'm thinking, “Why am I getting so worked up over this?! I only forgot to punch out!” I tried to just sit down and breathe and just get over it and I eventually did. I was fine for the rest of my shift.
After a few hours of being home and after my boyfriend had gone to work I decided to nap. Suddenly I wake up abruptly and my heart is racing so fast and my head was pounding. It felt like I was having a heart attack and a migraine at the same time. No one was in the house. I was all alone in so much pain I didn't know what to do with myself. It was the single most scariest thing I have ever felt in my life. It's been awhile since this happened so I can't even remember what I did to get through this. I think I had just waited it out and took a pain killer for the horrible head ache I had afterward. That was the worst panic attack I had to date.
When I was feeling better I sat on a couch and called a few people to see what had happened and what I should do. I kept thinking, “Maybe I should go to the hospital?” The worse thing about the whole situation was that I was afraid to go back to sleep. Since I had woke up into this attack I felt sleeping was the worst thing I could do. So I just layed in bed the whole night waited for my boyfriend to come home at 6 am since he worked overnight. When he came back I finally felt like I could sleep.
Both of those attacks happened in the same day and it was the start of a series of horrible attacks to come. From what I can remember back then after the first 2 attacks I started having them over silly things. Like for example I was in the kitchen fixing my boyfriend lunch to take to his overnight job and bam. My heart out of nowhere starts racing and the head ache starts. This is always how it happened. My heart starts racing. I try to calm myself down. If I fail to then my head starts hurting. Now I know that there's no way to stop it once the head ache starts. All I can really do is sit down and take deep breaths. Now I know a common symptom of a panic attack is not being able to breathe. But this was not the case. I have always been able to breathe fine. Deep breaths help calm me down is all. For the next maybe 9 months after my initial attack I had to deal with them off and on.
Around july 2012 I was procrastinating on sewing costumes together for a animation convention I go to every year. This year I had really procrastinated. I procrastinated so much that I had a tremendous amount of anxiety over it. I mean this got so bad to the point where if I got up out of bed to fast or did anything at all that would raise my heart rate just the smallest bit I would start having an attack. Sometimes they were small and manageable. But mostly they were so bad that they left me laying in bed for 1-2 hours trying to calm down and wait for my pain killer to get rid of the awful head ache. This went on for about 2 weeks until I had everything done and I was finally wearing my costumes at the convention. Then I was magically fine.
Now I suffer from something a little different. I don't want to call them panic attacks. It will again happen if maybe I go up and down too many flights of stairs. Or get up to quickly. But most of all.... when I learn over or lay on my right side. Yes... when I am trying to sleep and I lay on my right side by turning over it for some reason stresses me too much and my heart starts beating like i'm going to have a panic attack. But I usually know to turn back over and lay on my back. Or to stop leaning over and sit up straight. I'll take my deep breaths and 99% of the time I can calm myself down and not get the head ache. Now am I not getting the head ache at all.
It’s all about the vomiting now, bringing you to the present. My typical day of anxiety will start as soon as I get out of the show. I will vigorously dry my hair with a towel and it will cause my heart to race. As soon as that happens I know I’m in for an awful day. During one of these days anything will cause my heart to race and make me throw up. So many things will cause my heart to race. Honestly anything. Just standing. If I’m standing eventually my heart will beat faster and faster until I throw up. I’ll be ok for a little but then I happens again. I had to leave work early the last 2 days I worked because of this.
I recently went to a doctor. Basically, all he said was that there might be something wrong with my thyroid and I have high blood preasure. He would do some tests and if nothing turned up, that I need to go to a psychiatrist and get anxiety medication. They did an ECG on me. They put little tags all over me and I guess measured my pulse. So far I haven’t heard anything back from them. I scheduled another appointment because now that I have a job that requires a lot of standing and moving it’s become more of an issue. My other job requires only sitting.
I can’t live like this anymore. I can’t. It’s preventing me from doing so much. My mom told me when I go back to the doctor for blood work that I should ask for a stress test. Is there anything I should ask them to do that would help them find out what’s wrong with me? Because it’s hard to believe that this is just anxiety.
Any advice would be appreciated. Any names medication others have taken that helped would be appreciated.
edit : also regular ways of dealing with my anxiety now don't help. What I have going on now won't just "stop" in I relax for awhile. I have to lay down and do nothing for HOURS. Sometimes the entire day. Sometimes I will have to go to sleep for the night and STILL feel it the next day. I can last for 48 hours sometimes before stopping.