Anxiety is back stronger than ever

[Dan90]

Hi All,

This is my first post on these forums, hoping writing it all out will help calm my nerves.

Yesterday I had a huge panic attack and for the first time in my life I called an ambulance, truly thinking I was having a serious medical episode.

I went downstairs to make myself a coffee around 5pm. Just as I walked over to the fridge to grab a some milk I felt an intense dizzy spell. I tried to shrug it off as being unwell but by the time I got to the coffee machine again I felt sure I would collapse, so I called over to my wife to tell her something was wrong. From there the usual panic symptoms kicked in, heart racing, feeling of impending doom, feeling short of breath and eventually some slight tingling in both my arms, towards my fingers.

My wife phoned an ambalance as things seemed to keep escalating and I wasn’t able to calm down.

Once they arrived I was sitting on the couch, they hooked me up to their Heart monitor and took my blood pressure. Although both were quite elevated they told me everything looked normal and I was most likely having a bad panic attack. They sat with me for a good 20mins until my heart rate lowered to a safe level and said in their opinion I did not need to attend hospital, but could If I wanted. My wife and I decided since they check me out we would stay home.

From then on it took me hours to fully calm down. I had this horrible feeling (and still do) that something serious might be wrong with me.

I should add I have had Ecgs in the past few years, blood pressure, and even an echocardiogram and Chest CT scan for an unrelated genetic test a couple of years ago all of which were normal.

I have had a cold the past few days, a slight fever which the doctor said was nothing to worry about although I have been feeling generally unwell whilst I try to shake it.

Anyone else had a massive panic attack out of the blue like this? I’m still shaken up today, but am finding. More moments of calm as the day goes on.

I do have a few big things happening at the moment, work is laying people off and my wife and I are expecting a baby in about 4 weeks, which is great but obviously a big change.

I’ve also noticed some irrational thoughts about death, health issues etc. happening more and more over the past few weeks.

Cheers,

Dan

[Dan90]

Hi tntomo,

Thanks, I am looking forward to meeting the little one! Only 4 weeks or so now.

It’s nice to know we aren’t alone with this anxiety battle. Sorry your feeling the same way I am at the moment, the gut wrenching feeling is no fun! Similar to you, the older I get anxiety keeps returning with more what-if type thoughts.

I think the best thing we can do when anxiety is at it’s worst is to remember it’s not here forever and things will get better as we get back in to a calmer state of mind, even if that takes time. We are not alone.

Stay strong too, we will beat this one day.

[tntomo]

I sure hope we do beat this one day! I’m so tired of fighting this illness all the time. I feel as though my children and husband suffer because of my anxiety outbursts.

I woke up with anxiety this morning, actually I’ve been suffering with it all week, it just so happened to find something else to make it spike even higher then what it is. Some days I’m so scared, my thoughts when the what ifs start running through my head are so strong. I try very heard to control them but it’s difficult for me to come down to a calming level.

[Guest_342]

Hi Dan!

I’m so thrilled to hear you’re taking some active steps towards hopefully sorting this out. You’re right - it’s amazing what stress can do to us! I guess sometimes our bodies tell us, “Mind/brain, you seriously need to take a breather...”.

Regarding symptoms and feeling worried they are serious physical conditions, I guess we can just do what’s reasonable in terms of making inquiries and have a healthy balance so we don’t let medical tests become excessive. But it’s hard to find that balance, and perhaps something your doctor has some advice on.

Best wishes for the weeks ahead! So exciting!!

[Dan90]

Hi tntomo,

I can relate to what your saying, I’ve had many of those days too. One piece of advice my councillor gave me in the past was to not dwell too much on the bad feelings we may have. Remember each day is a new day, and another small step towards feeling better.

Another tip is to download the app Calm or Headpsace. You can use a free version of each which introduce meditation. After a few sessions, I noticed my thoughts seem to slow down or fall in to the background a little more. It allows me to make take a break from my worrying thoughts.

Hope this helps!

Dan

[Dan90]

Hi Gelati,

Absolutely, in fact I have come to realise my body seems to show more anxiety symptoms when I really need to take a breather.

I talked over a few of the things on my mind with my wife and also with my parents for another perspective. All agree I am just anxious at present and feel I need to work on my breathing calmly a little more. My dad suffered from similar symptoms when he was younger.

All of them agree there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with me either, so I agree it’s about a balance of how many medical tests. Sometimes we just have to accept, if we have had a number of tests done then we are unlikely to be suffering with anything serious.

As my mum always says I have had more tests than a lot of people my age, so not to worry!

I have noticed that only once I fully accept I am ok, my body will then calm down. It’s just hard to do this sometimes.