Panic at doctor office

[WMMCGRATH2000]

Does anyone have panic attacks at the doctors office? *I had one last time and I have an appointment Thursday and have worried about it everyday for a month. *I'm nervous about the appointment in general and specifically anxious when my blood pressure is taken? *Totally afraid I might have another panic attack. *I made an appointment at a different doctor office hoping it would help. *Any suggestions?*

[Jdekker]

I personally love the doctors office. I used to always be on "high-alert" for things which I believed were "wrong" with me (I'm sure my doctors got a little tired of me coming in for every nuance of bodily-change or pain). I can't say I've had panic attacks at the doctor's, but might I ask, have you had bad experiences at the doctor previously? Have you had a track-record of receiving "bad news" from them?

I've found that my panic attacks in the past were usually triggered by underlying and even subconscious reasons. Are you in fear that you MIGHT get bad news at the doctors?

In my personal opinion, scheduling an appointment at a different doctor's hoping it will help is only masking the problem. It's letting your fear control you. Something that has always helped me was asking myself "what is the worst than can happen?" For example: From your post, it seems your fear is stemming from the thought of fear itself. You're worried about having a panic attack at a specific place because it's happened before. Keep this in mind: doctors are there to help you. Life won't stop because of your fears, you have to face your fears to make it through to the other side.

Hell, wanna know something funny? I used to get panic attacks in traffic. Why? Well, I believed I would have a panic attack in traffic. Seriously, that was the only reason why. And, because of my obsession, it began happening. I skipped crowded routes for a while, avoided scheduling things around high-traffic times. But, guess what? When that wasn't working out, I had to face the traffic once more. I couldn't live my life that way, I couldn't let it control me. I re-examined the cause of my initial attack and remembered a few, important things: I was extremely hungry and extremely fatigued from coming off of a 13 hour work day. I got dizzy and disoriented and "thought" something was wrong, thus giving me an episode of panic. I've since gotten over it, though.

If you don't mind discussing it a bit further, I know you're afraid of having a panic attack at the doctor's office, but why? Just because of the thought? I'd like to help you find the root-cause of this so you can nip it in the bud, which I know you can.