Hi all,
Sorry for the long post ,
I’m wondering if anyone else suffers with the panic attacks just as night time (early hours)
I have become dependant on my partner, not realising that it effects him too,
If I see any story online about a person dying like a headline like “woman thought she had stomach pains but it was cancer etc” I’ll go and read that article to check my symptoms with that person,
I think my health anxiety started when I lost my last partner and my mother is an alcoholic, so I had no support (how i wished I’d listened to my Gp back then to get therapy),
Without realising it I’d spent my life living in fear,
But the panic attacks came from nowhere and ALWAYS at night time (early hours),
I wake to go to the toilet and if I notice ANY slight pain my mind runs wild with it , I immediately think I’m dying,
The amount of times I’ve made my partner take me to the AnE hospital and even called an ambulance because when Your having a panic attack no logic thought will sink in, at that moment you DO think your dying,
The therapist said it’s because when we feel some sort of pain it heightens all our senses so things that we normally don’t notice, we suddenly are aware of and that spirals out of control,
This has been like this for 3 years to the point I dread night time,
Im depressed and have NO energy in the days, I don’t want to leave the house,
I don’t get dressed,
And I also suffer with bowel problems and my stomach is constantly swollen (bloated),
The doctor will ALWAYS say its stress or its IBS,
And my panic attacks “it’s just stress try some breathing exercises”,
I even seen a therapist once a week to help with the panic attacks and when he said how he had them and he understood I thought at last I found someone who understands,
But then he went on to say “do breathing exercises”!
My panic attacks are so severe they last for hours so I’ll be awake through the early hours, going back n forth “what if I am dying and this isn’t a panic attack”
Breathing exercises don’t work for me
I now take a 5mg diazepan (think there called that),
Although my doctor tries everything not to prescribe them,
I believe in thought are things,
And I know my negative thinking is making my body negative as well,
So I think the more we stress about it the worse we feel,
I’m now trying a way to stop the negative thinking, I wish I had the answer and it worked
Because as it is at the moment I don’t feel well every day,
I’ll get about 4 - 6 days out of a month I feel and act like a normal person and I LOVE those days