Really scary experience today :(

Mental health
1

Bad anxiety and agoraphobia rules my life at the moment,  i do try to get out though at least once a day, i feel it's important to me.

Anyway about today, i had gone out with my husband, we got some groceries, on the way there and in the shop i was my usual nervous self, nothing different.

We left the shop, i sat in the car for a while and felt much calmer, i suggested we go for lunch so off we went, as i sat in the restaurant i did feel nervous but was coping okay with that, then the most awful feeling came over me.

Suddenly i was freezing cold, when i say freezing cold i really mean freezing cold as if i was submerged in a bath full of ice, i was shivering, had goosebumps and it was almost painful, my hubby wrapped his jacket over my shoulders but nothing warmed me up.

I was scared but continued with my lunch, my mind was muddled, thoughts all over the place and i felt like i was struggling to find the right words for things, my hubby assures me that i was perfectly coherent.

At the end of the meal my husband got up to use the bathroom, i sat at the table waiting for him to return and the panic hit me, it was a panic attack like i had never known it before, tunnel vision, sounds were like echos and i could not move for fear, i  have had thousands of panic attacks but never one that bad.

As we left i thought it had subsided but as we walked back to the car it hit again, that awful intense panic and i was still so cold.

I got home and just cried, i am trying to cope with this nightmare i am living in but that was a real kick in the teeth.

I actually felt quite angry because I had wanted to go into town to shop for make up and a book i wanted, in fact i got up and did go into town, felt wobbly but did it but despite that i am still terrified by what happened at lunch, i just don't know why i had that terrible cold feeling and why the panic that followed was so intense, it has left me more bewildered than ever sad

 

2

Can that be from the benzos? The freezing sensation thing. That can easily trigger a massive panic attack. The freezing cold thing maybe mention to your gp. The rest was massive anxiety. Im wondering if you have fibromylegia a bit but have no clue how to guide you on that. Maybe someone on here knows more and can help.

3

Thank you Lisa, not sure if it's benzo related or not, I've never had it before so I'm finding it hard to link it to anything, it was all very strange.

I did wake up with a sore throat and blocked nose today so maybe I am coming down with something.

I did google which isn't always the best idea I know but fibromyalgia did come up and I can relate to a lot of the symptoms, of course my husband thinks I am being a hypochondriac and insists it was caused by me having a cold drink in a restaurant with air conditioning but it's never happened before and it's only moderately cooler here today than it has been recently.

I will definitely speak to my doctor about it, prior to the episode of feeling so cold I was coping well with my anxiety and it was that feeling that provoked the fear followed by the panic, it seems I'm either too hot or too cold lately, maybe it's hormones or something, I don't know but I think it needs looking into.

4

Hi Bella dear

I have heard of benzo withdrawals causing people to feel icy cold but other than that I don 't know.

The panic attacks I can understand. You felt chilled to the bone and your anxiety went through the roof, understandably this threw you into panic mode

It's always scarey when we have a symptom we cannot identify.  The fact that you had a blocked nose and sore throat does appear to indicate a cold virus and this doubtless could induce feelings of being icy cold or red hot

Speak to your GP. It will calm your mind. Nothing bad happened to you in a sense, illness wise, other than the dreared full blown panic attacks. And please, Bella, stop googling!

You won't find an answer on google All you will do is worry yourself further, you know that honey. We cannot self-diagnose nor can google. It takes a qualified medic to do that.

Naughty Bella!

Honey, you will be okay. Don't be frightened

Your friends are here for you

Many, many hugs

Helen xxxx

5

Hi helen and thank you, i have not reduced my benzos yet, actually i recently increased my night time dose so am a bit unsure if it is related to them or not.

I completely agree that it was the feeling cold that sent me into a panic, i was coping well up to that point, i had even managed to navigate the salad bar in my wobbly state which is a bit of a nightmare because it is circular and does nothing to help someone who is already dizzy and unsteady as you can imagine lol.

I still feel achey and sore in my throat now, i have needed a lot of cold drinks to soothe it today and have developed a cough too so maybe it is just some kind of viral thing, i actually feel quite hot at the moment.

Yes very naughty of me to google, i will stop doing that and speak to my doctor on Monday, i have been meaning to get my hormone levels checked for a while now but agoraphobia makes sticking to appointments hard, i am going to have to do it though, even my husband who thinks i am a hypocondriac is quite insistent that something is out of whack with my hormones.

Thank you again, once i got over that bad spell i actually went on to have a really nice afternoon shopping so i will try not to let it worry me, i certainly have enough panic and fear at the moment without freaking myself out even more xxx

6

Honey, I don't wish to be personal but are you approaching early menopause?

I only ask because my worst period of Anxiety Disorder/Agoraphobia were during the onset of the change of life when my hormones were shot to hell

I cannot advise on the benzos because I do not have the knowledge to do so

As far as the virus is concerned you need soothing hot tea not cold drinks. The best thing for a sore throat is a spoonful of honey. Last time my throat was so raw I could hardly swallow I had honey and it was gone within a day! I swear by it

Bella, you are not a hypochondriac! Ad and Agoraphobia is hell on earth. We are bombared with one symptom after another. It is lonely and scarey I know. please, dear, reassure yourself that nothing bad is going to happen to you, no matter how vile you feel

All those years I had it/have it and I'm still here, raising hell and causing havoc!!! LOL I reckon the day will come when someone has to shoot me !!! like they do old horses

Hugs xxxx

7

I have suspected for a while that i am in perimenopause, initially my doctor said that because hormones fluctuate so much a blood test may prove inconclusive but more recently she has said something might show up.

I have noticed my cycles are off the wall, often less than 3 weeks apart, a week of spotting before it starts properly (in that week now), i have hot flushes a lot which i had blamed on the anxiety and what used to be PMS grumpiness is now a full blown rage that i can't control, i would not be at all surprised if my hormones were a major player in all of this.

I will try the tea with honey for my throat thank you, i am definitely coming down with something, i always get really itchy when i get a viral cold and this evening i am itchier than ever.

Thank you, the irony is that my hubby is the biggest hyochondriac on earth yet calls me one lol, he's a lovely man really but the kind that is dying if he gets a headache.

I always tell myself that the things i fear cannot actually happen, i know deep down that it is simply anxiety even though anxiety is absolutely horrific.

I did laugh at your last paragraph, it reminded me of a slightly humorous moment i had whilst on the phone to my gp last week, she was helping all she could and said she was so sorry that she couldn't do more for me, i said that the only thing left that i could think of was for her to take me out the back and shoot me, even she saw the funny side, just a light moment amongst all of the pain and despair.

The truth is i am quite sure that whenever she sees my name pop up on her patient list for the day she has the urge to do just that lol xxx

8

Belle dear,

take a spoonful of honey..you can put it in your tea but it works  best not diluted.

Menopause sucks

My husband is the same by the way.

As for your GP? If she didn't have patients she'd be out of a job! xxx

 

9

If you are getting Middle Age it could be hormonal. Talk to your GP about medications and treatments.

With regards medications, I sometimes get a sensitized itch that causes me some irritation.

I am a man and now in my 60s, I used to get hot and cold flushes that lasted through mid fifties, early sixties, they have now passed. It was put down as hormonal as men can suffer problems as well. Just talk to your GP again, good luck

BOB