My story

[Big Chicken]

First of all, never in my life did I ever think I would have to visit a psychiatrist and that I would be going through this. Reading some other peoples issues here I would have thought that you guys were crazy. I would have told you to take a deep breath and move on, don't be a wimp. I recently realized for myself that it's not that easy.

Week one: I started feeling a little nausea in the morning while getting ready for work. I get to work and I had nausea for a couple of hours and it would go away, no problems for the rest of the day. Tried to ignore it and just thought maybe I'm just not a morning person.

Week two: Same thing but more intense nausea and it would last longer,sometimes the whole day. So bad sometimes that I would avoid talking to people because I felt I would throw up. Same week, on one of my work days, the nausea was so bad I threw up as soon as I got to work. I went home sick but felt fine when I got home. I went to work the rest of the week and tuffed it out but I was miserable. The nausea was horrible and it was affecting my work. I made the connection that I was only feeling this way at work. I didn't understand why because I've been doing this job for 10 years now and nothing is different. I've never felt like this. I was frustrated and angry at why I was feeling like this.

Week three: Went home sick one day and felt fine when I got home. I was so nauseous I threw up a couple of times at work. Woke up the next day with an upset stomach again. Called in sick but shortly after hanging up, I felt fine. Went back to work the next day with nausea again. As soon as I drove into the parking lot of work, my hands started shaking, started sweating, my chest felt like it was getting crushed, nausea was very bad. I could not get out of my car for about a minute until I calmed down. Ended up working that day but I was useless and miserable that day. Now I get sick at home just thinking about work.

This scared me so much that I went to see a psychiatrist. I knew I was physically healthy but work was causing these bad feelings. I knew absolutely nothing about anxiety before this and I can't believe how quickly I deteriorated. Doctor said it was anxiety and prescribed some meds. I am dreading my next day back to work but it is a relief to know there is hope in controlling this. This is so frustrating and now I feel so bad for all of you going through this stuff. I want to be normal like I was 3-4 weeks ago. I fear that I will continue to get worse.

I have a very stressful job and have experienced many work related traumatic events. I guess it finally got to me. This is the only thing I can think of that caused my anxiety attack.

[Kurtis Blacq]

I thought the same as you. I'd never be affected by anxiety.. but according to every doctor I've talked to, I do suffer from this. However, for my anxiety.. I have similar symptoms as you, but are brought upon by a different situation. It Started off with a physical in which the doctor ended up telling me i was "sickening healthy". But as she checked my heart she said she heard a murmur but it was nothing to worry about. and from then on it always stayed in the back of my mind. I began to experience palpitations which then started my panic attacks that led me in the ER. My anxiety then began to link my murmur to the palpitations to the panic attacks.. Id experience dizziness, short of breath, and the general feeling of "dread". Which I have learned is due to the Fight or Flight response. After getting several tests done.. pictures of my heart.. x rays.. a heart monitor that i had to keep on for 2 weeks..blood tests.. blood pressure.. and a couple visits to ER.. I knew this was a battle i had to face with myself. Just to diagnose me, my doctor gave me a sedative.. a kind of mild tranquilizer.. she doesn't believe in drugs because one would start to rely on them to cure their anxiety and can never fix their problem internally. While i was on the drugs, i experienced no panic attacks whatsoever. And you say how you began to feel fine as you came home from work? That was the same with me.. whenever I'd rush into my parents room thinking I'm dying from some kind of cardiac arrest, after a minute, id be back to normal.. just shakin up a bit. Or when I went to the ER, I'd feel comfortable as soon as i was taken in. When we have these attacks, all of our rational thoughts are bypassed so we cannot think straight. You're definitely not alone. But I've been panic free for almost 2 months straight, which also shows me that it IS... in fact.. just me bringing upon this dread to myself. Thank you for sharing your experience. I hope mine can help.