PDA

View Full Version : Hey everyone!



epollock
07-29-2013, 09:38 PM
I have been replying to a few posts but am just now figuring out how to post my own. So I thought I would introduce myself - -

Im Liz. I live in Maine and I have been diag'ed with PTSD coupled with Severe Anxiety. I can deal with the night mares, the sleepless nights and all that. But dealing with the Anxiety has been horrible. For 3 years now (almost 4) - I have been seeing doctors after doctors - all telling me that I was fine, there was nothing wrong with me and even had one tell me that I was a "hypochondriac" . It took a regular E.R. physician to tell me what was really going on - he referred me to a specialist and here I am.
I have been off my meds now for over 6 months and doing great. I was on 1.5 mgs of Ativan a day (.5 twice a day and .5 as needed once a day) - it helped for the most part but I found myself really depending on it to get through my day. Even if I didnt need to take it, I needed to have the bottle with me just in case. So one day, I woke up and decided that I didnt want it anymore. I went back to that same E.R. doc (as he was the most helpful of all the docs I had seen) - told him I didnt want to take it anymore and he said it was safe for me to stop.
I then went and saw a nutritionist, my regular physician and a (spelling this wrong) - a rakki. The nutritionist told me about foods that would help and harm my condition. My reg doc told me a safe vitamin that I could take daily that would also keep me healthy and the Rakki - - that was weird!! BUT - she helped me most of all. She taught me relaxation techniques, meditation and how to visualize my anxiety so that I could put a "face to the name"

All in all, Im doing very well. I have bad days still - days where my mind insists that there is something wrong and that Im going to die of some strange disease or a heart attack or a stroke. But with all the new "tricks" I have learned, the attacks dont last 1/2 as long and they dont happen 1/2 as often.
I would def recommend the same to anyone else who is suffering from Severe Anxiety attacks.

I really appreciate this site and all the people who have been posting their experiences on here!! I have learned so much in the little time I have spent here - - a lot of my symptoms are common - a lot of people go through the same things I go through and I've learned new, great ways to help myself when I am having a bad moment.
So thank you everyone - - I can tell being here is going to be life changing!!

Take care and good luck on your road to recovery!!

Much love,
Liz