Anxiety almost a year on

[worriedmummy85]

Hi everyone

Just thought I would share my experience reading this might help some people.

I remember my first panic attack like it was yesterday...... I had been suffering with headaches for months, I was getting no joy with my gp, just being told to take paracetamol all the time. I gave up pretty quickly and just got on with it until one week they were constant for a full week with no relief I started getting put on different tablets aspirin, migraleve, pitozofen, and lastly amitriptyline.

I couldn't take the dulling effects of my last tablet so I came off them but I was never told to wean myself off them, this was the worst mistake of my life. One night I was lying in bed and these migraines come back with a vengeance the left side of my face went numb I was having palpitations, I started thinking there was something seriously wrong.

I rang for medical advice they sent and ambulance for me, then came the hyperventilation and the erratic behaviour (if they were sending an ambulance there must be something seriously wrong right??)...... I was wrong I was just having a panic attack my first ever one, but I was very much in denial and still believed I was dying and they were missing something!!!

I went back and forth the the GP every other day, with pain in my chest, pain under my ribs, tight chested, dizziness.
You name it I had it all. I refused tablets because I truly believed this wasn't anxiety.

I eventually had a major melt down at work and realised I needed help, back to the gp I went and took the help CBT and sertraline/zoloft.

I was terrified to take these tablets as my doctor told me they could make the anxiety worse (who would want to feel worse when you already feel bad)?

I took the plunge after a week of looking at these tablets and wanting to cry, once I did I was very much aware I had took them and my anxiety was so high and the next day was worse I sent myself into a blind panic.

The good thing about this story is that was the last panic attack I had its now been a whole year since my last panic attack, I have been unwell with flu and infections and never once have I panicked about it.

I was in that point where I thought I was never going to get better, I thought I was never going to feel normal again but I honestly do feel normal.

Looking back I realised how much o depended on this forum and how much people helped me, so I am here of you have any questions or just want to chat.

If the help is there take it.

Gem xx

[Ins0mniac]

Did you check your Magnesium, Vitamin D, Vitamin B6 and B12 levels? I used to have the same symptoms you have now, untill I started to take supplements. After 3 days of taking these daily extreme heart palpitations, chest pressure, wierd tension in head, etc... significantly decreased or completely stopped. Also don't google every symptom you have over the net, it will simply make you more paranoid than you are allready.

I would advice you to do a completely checkup with a Cardiologist (Heart Electrocardiogram, Echocardiogram, Echo-Stress test) and undergo a complete Neurological evaluation (Bloodtests and mainly the 24-hour urine test). The 24-hour urine test will indicate whether or not you have unbalanced stress-hormones (adrenaline/noradrenaline/cortisol/...), so that you will be able to even those out with homeopatic medication or supplements. You can also ask a Nephrologist to check whether or not you have some type of 'Adrenal Gland Disorder'. Adrenal glands are positioned above your kidneys and a small inflamation may cause overproduction/underproduction of certain hormones. If your condition doesn't become better after 3 weeks, I suggest you undergo a complete Sleep-Study in a clinic (they'll do an EEG, in order to look whether or not you're getting sufficiënt sleep).

Did you condition worsen after pregnancy? Some women often get unbalanced hormone-levels after pregnancy. Having unbalanced hormones might keep some of your symptoms, eventhough your anxiety decreases overtime.

Also stay away from sleeping pills. I would suggest you consult your GP and ask for the best way to gradually erase the need of using sleeping pills/antidepressants/etc... by cutting down the dosage overtime. Sleeping pills are a 'treatment' not a 'cure'. Actually by popping pills for every problem you have, you eventually worsen your own condition. Doctors are there to keep selling their 'perscription medication'. Most of those 'doctors' even work together with major pharmaceutical companies, so I wouldn't put all of my thrust in those type of 'doctors' that simply dismiss the root cause of the problem by perscribing medication for temporary relief. This is like putting a patch on a wound, but you're not allowing your body to heal that wound.

Try homeopatic medication and keep yourself reassured that your condition isn't deadly or dangerous. Example: Soldiers during battle pass out and go into deep-sleep immediately, eventhough they're being shot at. You can't control sleep, so by thinking/worrying about getting enough sleep you just keep yourself from sleeping (paradoxal-effect). Simply lay in bed and ease your mind (you can try homeopatic mental stress medicine at first, like "Sedistress") even if it takes you 6 hours to fall asleep, you'll eventually sleep.

Also people who have insomnia often don't remember themselves falling asleep, dreaming or waking up. Therefore they're often paranoid about getting 'sleep-deprivation'. You don't remember yourself sleeping because the brain is working more efficiëntly by regenerating at night. A person with a normal sleep-pattern sleeps for 8 hours, in this stage the brain shuts itself down for 30% and repairs occur slowly. By sleeping less than 5 hours, you brain shuts down for >60% in order to get all of the repairs done faster. Because your brain shuts down for >60% you don't remember getting sleep, dreaming, waking up, mainly because your brain doesn't feel the need to keep track of that. The main purpose of the brain of an insomniac is to get repairs done as soon as possible, this will make you go through your sleep-stages (Light Sleep, N-REM, Deepsleep, REM) faster than usual. Also don't forget that the 'best sleep' is when you don't remember yourself having a dream, because as I've mentioned before the brain works more time-efficiënt.

When waking up you might feel head tightness and even pain, red eyes,... this is normal for insomniacs. Your brain doesn't 'relax' because you're getting lower amount of sleep and your brain is doing critical repairs in your brain and body (it leaves this tightness, etc.. because it's not a priority to survival). So you're 'surviving' not 'living', and might feel like a 'zombie' the next day. But you won't die. People can 'live' their entire life with this condition, it isn't fun but it isn't deadly.

Good luck!