Anxiety depression and panic attacks

[Ashley14]

Hello this is my first time here I’ve never had anything like this before. I suffer from migraines and I have for the last five years and I have been managing it but ever since 1 March my hubby’s birthday which I organised a party I got a really bad migraine and had to go home. I was so upset about it. Seven days later and I have another one which was the worst one I had in a really long time. The pain was excruciating and now I’ve stopped alcohol soft drink anything but water. I feel that I wanted to stay home and never leave the house again because if I do I will get another migraine. But then I went to work and I got another one and ever since then I can’t leave the house. I don’t want to catch up with friends or talk to anyone or do anything anymore. I’m too scared basically I can’t even go to the shops. Just in the night I was sitting there watching TV and I can feel my heart racing and my blood pressure was really high I was freaking out I went to hospital because I thought I was having a heart attack this is the first time this has ever happened to me. Then five days after that at work I felt the same thing again and then I realised it’s just me maybe it’s anxiety maybe it’s a Panic attack. Now I’m so stressed so sad all I wanna do is cry no motivation constantly in pain with headaches. I can’t tell if I’m depressed with anxiety and panic attacks all at once I don’t know what to do 😭 I just know I don’t want this.

[Nurse_Jenn]

Hi Ashely14,

Welcome to the forum. I am really glad to see you reaching out here but am sorry to hear that you are experiencing so much pain. I know many others suffer from migraines and the stress and low mood symptoms you are experiencing are common. In fact in a recent report that was done for PainAustralia and just over 20% of Australians experience migraine. I have attached a link to an informative website called headache Australia.

https://headacheaustralia.org.au/migraine/migraine-a-common-and-distressing-disorder/

With migraines or any type of ongoing and recurring pain, there is an increased risk of anxiety and depression. The fact that you have stopped leaving the house and no longer socialising with friends says to me that it is time to get some more intensive support than just managing your migraines on your own. By going to your GP you can get a full physical health check, and then a referral to a pain specialist clinic or counsellor (if available in your area) or a psychologist who can start helping you build new strategies to self manage your symptoms.

Getting professional support during this tough time will help you to sort out what is the most important thing to focus on first. A health practitioner may work with you on using some Mindfulness strategies to manage your anxiety or work with you on a plan to increase your motivation so you can start to get back to work, your friends and back to good health. Recovery from a period of being unwell can take some time. Be kind to yourself as this is really hard.

If you don't feel up to leaving the house to see your GP right away, then you could try to build up some skills by using an online program called Mindspot. This is for people with anxiety and/or depression and can be done online and using the phone. You can read about it here www.mindspot.org.au

Another strategy could be to call the Beyond Blue support line on 1300 22 4636 where you can talk to someone about your immediate stress and low mood. This can be really helpful in the short term.

In any case getting help sooner than later is important so your symptoms don't get worse. Migraines are common and can be managed and so can the stress, low mood and worry you are feeling right now. Keep on posting on the forum and let us know how you go. You can use the search feature to look up key words like 'migraine', 'pain' and 'panic attacks'. You are not alone.

Wishing you the best possible outcome,

Nurse Jenn