Please help - scared.

[JJ!!]

Hi There,

Firstly I'd like to say thank you for setting up this forum, it's nice to know that I am not alone in this.

I got my first panic attack about eight months ago and I didn't know what it was. I have been for every test on my heart, brain, scans etc and nothing came of it. After a time I said to my doctor I think its not physical I think its an anxiety thing. I kind of knew coz I knew that if there was something physical wrong with me then the symptoms wouldn't change as much as mine did.

I struggle everyday, I have a lump in my throat, I feel like I can't breath (and that is now normal to me) and then I get episodes where I get a burning heat over my neck and head and then I shake and I can't control it.

I worry everyday that I am going to die and every morning when I wake up I'm stunned coz I felt so bad the night before that I'm amazed I'm actually awake.

My life is terrible at the moment, its full of fear and anxiety and I don't know how to fix it. My husband is great and I'm very lucky to have him but I end up in tears most days coz I worry that he's gonna leave me because I'm just so useless at the moment. I used to have a great job and now I can't even go to work.

Please, please help.
Thank you

[1970]

Hi JJ

i think the important thing is and you have alreay realised this as you said in your post, its not a physical thing and you are not dying from some nasty disease, a lot of us who suffer anxiety / panic fear we have something terminally wrong with us and that keeps feeding our fear.

so by you realising that it is anxiety is already a big step forward.
i too get the feelings of being really hot in the face an neck area, dizziness and at times fatigue, there are many many more symptoms and shortness of breath is just one of them

you say you fear you are going to die, do you think the anxiety will do this too you

just remember these are only feelings and feelings can't kill you , i don't have a magic cure for you or others or myself i wish i did, all i can stay is hang in there, learn as much as you can about it, try to understand why your body is feeling this way

another thing you could try to do is when you feel that way just say to your self ok these feelings are from anxiety they are not going to kill me, its discomfort not disaster, the more we worry about it the more it feeds our anxiety, try to change your thought patterns when it happens and think of something else

i know what i have said may not be a cure and its not easy to think calm when you are in a state of anxiety, believe me i do know i have suffered with this for a long time now.

hope things get better for you and im glad you have someone special to support you, you mention you worry about your husband leaving you, just think if it was the other way around and he suffered it, would you leave him, i would probabley say no you wouldnt

take care

[palow]

Dear JJ,

Your condition is entirely curable with time and cognitive behavioral therapy. You don't have a mental illness. It's just a nasty behavior/thought pattern thing you picked up from some initial trauma. Doesn't matter what it is. Don't go to a shrink and don't start taking meds before you've had a chance to try some CBT.

CBT takes patience and faith. You will be re-programming new positive thought patterns that these take time to take root and kick out your old programming. If you can't afford CBT or don't have access to one, try the programs you can buy online. These programs are all based on CBT. I used Linden and it worked, even though it took a few months and often I didn't know what the hell I was doing. When you get into CBT, just do what you're told and never listen to that voice of anxiety in your head.

Your condition is curable but you have to take action.

Also you should exercise daily and eat well. Cut out cigarettes, coffee and alcohol entirely if you take any of these (you'll be surprised how much discipline you have when you're at rock bottom).

Good Luck
PL

[anxietyguy]

Hi there

I know ot tough dealing with uncontrollable emotions in mind and body.

I spent the last 5 years going through the mill.

ithink the key thing is to get curiuos and start to let the feelings in and maybe make them worse. its the only way to get control back

don't let panic boss you around

you might find the info my blog supportive or useful