Crippling Anxiety out of blue..I NEED YOUR.HELP!!

[charlosa]

Hi Guys, new to the forum but just wanted advice from anyone really. I'm 24 and up till a few months ago was a completley "normal" person a bit of a worrier but nothing out of the ordinary. I got a bout of the flu a few months ago nothing out of the ordinary and wasn't unduly concerned. Then suddenly one evening I had a full blown panic attack and ended up in the emergency room. Ever since I've gone downhill, I went back to work and ended up feeling more and more on edge whilst being there...in the end I was a nervous wreck (bear in mind I've been in this job almost 2 years and love it!) ...Then came the insomnia, I went 2 or 3 nights on a couple of hours sleep (despite usually being able to sleep on a clothes line!) Had to completley give up work for over 2 weeks. ...I've been to see the dr and put on Citalopram...its helping somewhat but I''m still nowhere near myself and barely sleeping. I'm on the waiting list for therapy but god knows how long that will take!

I just wanted to ask has anyone else sufferred from sudden out of the blue, crippling anxiety and does it just go away as quick as it comes?! ...Will CBT therapy help me do you think? What about citalopram is that the answer?

Im just so baffled by all of this, can't seem to make sense of it at all. I can't believe someone can suffer from something so crippling seemingly overnight....

any thoughts greatly appreciated.

x

[charlosa]

Hi Kev, thank you for your reply. I appreciate your thoughts, I can only assume like you that the panic attack shocked me somehow and being a worrier anyway it tipped me over the edge...I've just never heard of this happening to anyone else so suddenly and severly like this an for no good reason. My diet is good, varied, I work full time so always busy and on the go and have been partial to a long walk or two.

A lot of the time I just can't seem to relax, I've tried breathing excercises, yoga, keeping busy but nothing seems to help. I'm pretty much constantly on edge. Its quite depressing to hear you think Citalopram nor CBT is the answer for me. I was kind of pining my hopes on either or. Not sure what is best to do then. My psychiatrist seems to think it'll all go away in time but I'm not so sure :(

[charlosa]

Thanks, going to wait for my therapy to come up and hope for the best. Trying to think positive. Just hope I can get some good nights sleep and relax a little. I've heard some people have had great results on Citalopram so I can only hope I end up among them. I do think its helped a little, although maybe thats the placebo effect! oh who knows. The mind is a terrible things sometimes x

[notmyself30]

Welcome Charlosa - My anxiety came out of no where as well and the doc put me on Citalopram which made me worse. I could not sleep, eat, think, I was always confused and dizzy. I have been going for CBT therapy which allows me to talk it out but I am still dealing with anxiety on an every day basis. I am not taking meds and I am doing ok with that but everyone is different. Try staying away from caffeine, smoking and bad foods they can all trigger panic attacks! Hope you start feeling better soon!!

[charlosa]

Thanks for the messages it is good to feel not alone in all this, any other pearls of wisdom greatley appreciated. I'm going to take a couple of sleeping pills now and try and get some sleep (oh did I mention am also now addicted to them after having to take them solidly and consistantly!) and trying to wean off with help of doctor. Its a nightmare on all fronts to be honest. Good luck to all. :(

[Robbed]

A lot of the time I just can't seem to relax, I've tried breathing excercises, yoga, keeping busy but nothing seems to help. I'm pretty much constantly on edge. Its quite depressing to hear you think Citalopram nor CBT is the answer for me. I was kind of pining my hopes on either or. Not sure what is best to do then. My psychiatrist seems to think it'll all go away in time but I'm not so sure :(

The thing to remember here is that there is NOTHING that you can do to make anxiety disorder 'just be gone'. Your psychiatrist is right when he says that it will go away in time (I'm actually surprised he told you this, as most psychiatrists are rather fatalistic in their beliefs concerning conditions such as anxiety disorder). Just remember that it might take quite some time - these things can come quickly. But they NEVER go away quickly. Also, remember that there WILL be periods when anxiety disorder seems to get worse for no reason. Just remember that this all passes. So try to be as patient as you possibly can while doing what you can do to help yourself relax (even if these things only seem to help a little). As for the medication, it will NOT cure anything. The best you can hope for from medication is for it to mask your symptoms to some degree. In this respect, taking a drug like Citalopram is more like drinking a beer to forget things than it is like taking an antibiotic to clear an infection. The BIG unknown is the question as to whether taking a drug like Citalopram hinders the natural healing process in the same way that taking cold medications actually prolongs a cold.

[charlosa]

Thanks robbed u speak a lot of sense. I guess I just hope theres some magic answer out there you know. It's going to be a slow process no doubt. Such a shame this happened as I was doing so well in my job, had a trip booked to Amsterdam which we had to cancel. Eveything was looking rosy and them BAM out of the blue this hit me like a ton of bricks. It does help to know I'm not alone and just vent though u know! Thanks to everyone for your thoughts. Any bodies views appreciated as I still can't get my head round it all :(

[hockeyplayer]

Hi there , I got almost the same situation you can read in my thread about cardiophobia , been 3 monthes now.I didn't say I had the flu in the beginning of this hell on earth but I'm pretty sure I did also , I'm also 24 , but I have a history of taking cocaine and actually panic attacked on it which started all this stuff and also had a rash.Currently on my 4th meeting in CBT.Wish you good luck , but to be honest it's still one hell of a roller coaster with my case.Currently feeling like crying , this morning I was more happy

:(

[charlosa]

Hi Hockey Player I'm sorry to hear you are feeling worse. I have so bad ups and downs, somedays fly by and are fine. Others are almost unbearable. Its such a struggle every day but as every keeps telling me I guess I just have to accept my situation right now and accept that some days to be honest I'll feel like shit ...."and theres not a lot I can do about it. "sigh" doesn't make it any easier though
x