Hi all,
After having my daughter 7 years ago, I went untreated for a couple of years with severe post natal depression.
I then suffered from intermittent mild anxiety for the next 3 years or so, which then became more often after witnessing a fatal accident in 2013. (worse when I'm in the car)
I was a witness in court for this accident about 3 months ago, and since then it has made my anxiety not only worse, but more often. About 3 weeks ago at work i felt a hot flush go through my head, my heart rate went through the roof, i got tunnel vision and felt sick and almost passed out. I felt off for 3 days afterwards. I've now had 3 more episodes of this, along with a feeling of extreme panic while it's happening, but also feeling anxious when it's not that it's going to happen again, and also a regular feeling of the world not being real, and feeling detached from it and just quick bursts here and there of feelings of dread and panic.
After looking on Google, i do feel I may have panic disorder. My doctor is aware of my two almost fainting episodes, and wanted me to monitor my pulse if it happened again but he's not aware of the other feelings I'm getting. I need to make an appointment to see him (which alone sends me into a panic) but I'm sure he's going to recommend medication. After researching, I've seen mixed reviews of people taking medication for anxiety and panic disorders and I wanted to know first hand from someone on here what path they went on, and how it helped them? Having a mentally ill mother, the thought of any medication scares me (and addictive ones are a definite no no for me) But I'm so exhausted, and so sad of feeling like I'm going to feel like this forever that I just want to fix it.
