New to the forum, new to anxiety

[dark_inferno_22]

Hey, I did type a long post prior, but it didn't post. Anyways I'm Shawn, I'm 22, and I found out recently I have anxiety.

I had been feeling nauseated for the past 4 weeks and it took until I went to the ER this past Sunday for them to tell me I have anxiety and that's why I've been nauseated and have had all these other symptoms (besides all the medication they put me on and tests they ran).

Anyways, my anxiety has been keeping me from work cause I'm too afraid I'm not going to be able to breath or I'll think it's anxiety and it will be asthma or what not. It's horrible, right now I feel like I'm going to lose my job, people at work are mad at me, etc. because I just barely was diagnosed with Anxiety, previously the doctors thought it was an ulcer, gallbladder disease, etc.

I want to go back to work, but I get where I feel like I can't breath, which scares me into not going. How do you guys cope?

[Charmbracelet81]

I mainly focus on my heart but quite frequently I think I am not breathing unless I force myself too...it's like my chest is hollow or something and I freak out that I can't feel myself breath. I have been in cognitive behavioral therapy for a year now. That's how I cope. It is working, but the thoughts are the hardest part to deal with that makes me focus on my physical self. :|

[dark_inferno_22]

I'm going to try the longer post again so here it goes:

4 weeks ago I went to work on Wednesday, when I got to work I remembered I had a critical meeting on Friday that needed to get done, so I marked it down on my calendar and thought no more of it. I was actually early this day and I started to feel nauseated. I went outside, tried to walk around and what not to get the nausea to stop. Prior to this my mom was sick the week before and 2 weeks before that I was nauseated for a couple of days.

Well I was able to finish up work that day then the next day the nausea got worse, I wasn't able to eat, all I could do was drink liquids slowly and have a garbage can close near by. I thought I had the flu. This continued on, and finally on Sunday (4 weeks ago) I asked my sister to take me to the doctors to get something for the nausea.

They ran some blood work and took a urine sample, checked vitals etc. and said I probably had a stomach bug. They gave me a shot of Phenagran and a prescription for some phengran to take. We left filled the script and went home. The doctor told me if I wasn't feeling better by Tuesday to come back in. So I went home, didn't go to work or anything, I was able to drink some fluids and eat crackers, but that was it. On Wednesday I called the Doctor and scheduled an appointment as I was still nauseated, they couldn't get me in until Thursday, so I scheduled for Thursday. Went in Thursday and doctor was too busy so we had to reschedule for Friday.

Went in on Friday and the doctor pressed on my gallbladder which hurt, I asked if the doctor had nails cause it hurt where they pressed. The doctor was thinking it was an ulcer or gall stones that I had, so the doctor gave me some Nexium and a refill for the phenagran and asked if I wanted an ultrasound. I said yes in case it wasn't an ulcer and it was a problem with my gallbladder - find out sooner the better I figure. So I have the ultrasound done and what not.

The next week (2nd week now) the doctors call and say that my gallbladder is normal, but I have fat around my liver. So I schedule another appointment and when I go in I'm way way nauseated, bad to where I feel like puking right then and there. The doctor talks to me and makes a list of what it could be, anxiety not being one of the items though. He asks for a urine sample and a stool sample and gives me Compazine for the nausea where the phenagran wasn't working, takes me off of Nexium and puts me on Prilosec OTC.

I go home, still haven't been to work, take the compazine which helps better, but not perfectly. So a week goes by, I was able to go to work for 2 days and got nauseated bad with the compazine, so I miss work again. Well the weekend comes along and my brother is down to visit and what not. Well on Sunday I have problems breathing, I feel like I'm not getting air in. And the dream I had that night I felt like I was suffocating in my dream. So I freak and have my sister take me out to the hospital and start bawling on the way there. We get there and the doctor on staff takes my vitals and sees that my oxygen level is above normal.

He talks to me and says he thinks I have anxiety and to stop taking the compazine. He says the anxiety is more than likely causing my nausea and the lump in my throat and all these symptoms I've experienced. He gives me advantia to get me calmed down and toward the end of the visit I'm feeling 50% better. He gives me prescriptions for Xanax and Celexa and says to take the Xanax for 3 days to clear the compazine out of my system, as that may have triggered the anxiety attack as well, and then start the Celexa for 3-6 months. So I do so and since I've taken the Xanax and Celexa my nausea has went away and I'm not inadvertantly bawling. I feel a lot better.

So my story is simply, the one thing I never would have thought it would have been was what it was. I've learned more about it, I'm learning to cope, and I'm reading on how others are coping with this similar situation.

EDIT:
Since this all started I've lost 12lbs