Glad you all are here...

[jahl7787]

I am happy to find a community where I can talk to people who actually know what I'm feeling and experiencing. A little background about me: I am a 22 year old male who has been dealing with anxiety for almost two years now. A panic attack at work is what initially triggered it, and two weeks following that I still felt nervous, uneasy, panicky, etc. I was put on Lexapro 5mg. a day, and I must say, that really did help me. Also just having the drug ativan around, knowing it is the only thing that could literally "melt" my anxiety away. I have been off the lexapro for about a year now, and all has been good up until about a month ago. Watching tv with my friend, I was feeling really tired and feeling spaced out. "Uh, oh" I said. I knew a panic attack was creeping up on me. I was able to control it somewhat, I didn't pass out or anything like that, but it was still pretty severe. Ever since I have had feelings of uneasyness and worry. I always feel as though there is something wrong with me. I was complaining about eye pain, then focused on neck pain, now I keep focusing on chest pain. I'm positive the pain is anxiety-related, but it still worries me. Until I get insurance again I guess I'm stuck. I will probably go on lexapro again seeing that it helped me. Any males in my age group may want to give it a try, seeing that it really helped me. I've tried therapy, but finding a good doc is difficult imo. Sorry for the long intro, just wanted to give people feedback from my perspective. Anyways, I'm glad I'm here and loom forward to talking with all of you!

-Jeff

[tokamak85]

Hey Jeff. I'm new here and 22 as well hah. I just wanted to say hello and good luck.

[Cosmo1301]

Hello everyone- I'm only 23 too and having these similar problems. Just out of the blue about 3 weeks ago I had an awful attack while on a long weekend with my family. I thought I had choked on a piece of food, but now I know it was just a panic attack. I hate that this is taking my life away from me. I feel scared and jittery all the time, and I am always worried it will happen again. I was supposed to fly out to San Jose next Monday for a business trip, but I canceled on it b/c I'm worried I'll have a panic attack mid-flight. This is awful because I feel that there is nothing I can do to fix it. And I'm sort-of a control freak and like to be able to "fix" things. It feels as though my body has just turned on me for some reason. :( I am so soooo thankful there are others out there who can relate.

My doc put me on some meds (I don't get insurance until July with my new job) and it was a bitch to pay for them, but I am doing a little better. Xanax for when I freak out and zoloft for everyday. I am hoping this whole thing will just sort-of go away like it started--- soon and suddenly. I'll be thinking about all of you. Thank you so much for being here and sharing.