Sereve anxiety can anyone help..??

[nh_user_1064012]

Hi everyone,

I am new to this site and unfortunately struggling just like you guys...

I have had the same thoughts - mine started with a cervical cancer scare that was fine in the end but very scary awaiting Biopsy results... I was convinced I was going to die from it... Then everything started to go wrong... Lumps in breast that were checked and just cysts, hoarse voice and lump when swallow, seen ENT doctor said noting there when looked with the scope but I just couldn't believe him... So back for another ENT appointment tomorrow... Things have got worst, pain all around my neck front of neck... Ears sore very sensitive to noise, I've had very loose stools for the last 4 weeks and yellow so having a colonoscopy done in a few weeks... This is all freaking me out... Doctor has put me on Sertraline 50mg I started 5 days ago and desperately waiting for them to help... I am also on sleeping meds Zolpidem 10mg as I can't sleep without them and even with them I'm lucky to get 4 or 5 hours at most...

Prior to this all starting 4 months ago I didn't suffer at all with this level of anxiety... I went to work and enjoyed going out doing stuff with my family....

Now I'm a wreck signed off from work my husband is too as I'm so scared to be on my own... The thoughts going round in my head that I'm ill and going to die are constantly there 99% of the day...

I am on the waiting list for CBT but that takes three months so I have decided to go private... Not something I can really afford but I'm desperate... Going to start that today...

I have a holiday booked with my family in Spain for 4 weeks, due to fly on 27th of this month... If I'm not feeling any better I don't know I will be able to go... I have been seeking medical reassurance most days by visiting the GP who now is convinced it's health anxiety and lots of the symptoms are due to that... Whilst part of me believes him there is still part of me that thinks I am really unwell...

Dizzy feeling, lump in Throat, pain around front of neck, hearing very sensitive to old noise, chest pain, shaky, heart racing...

Had blood tests done and all is fine... Whybcant I except that and get my life back...

I feel my life has been stolen... I can't go to work can't be alone, can't sleep, can't do daily things I would normally do...

Can anyone share there experience with me, I just want to know I will get better with time... I feel like right now I am just surviving.... it's very painful for me and my family as I have always been such an upbeat kind of person...

Thanks for reading guys... Any advice or to jut share experience very very welcome...

Bekah from London xx

[nh_user_1063390]

Hi Bekah this probably won't be much help but just wanted to let you know I'm feeling more or less the same although my breakdown was caused by a number of things bereavement,working really long hours relationship problems etc etc I was first diagnosed with post natal depression 25 years ago and after that I had 3 "major " episodes the last one being 10 years ago so then 4 weeks ago out of the blue it's back again!!!! The gp upped my sertraline to 150mg and last Friday put me on buspirone and then yesterday I had the mother of all anxiety attacks and I really thought I had lost my mind I put it down to reaction to the buspirone but who knows??? I'm still in a state this morning no appointment at gp til tomorrow.... I too am a wreck and hardly venture out of my bedroom when I had this before I had two kids and had no. Choice but to carry on the day to day things (with great difficulty) but now I don't have to do anything I too have been signed off work and now have money worries anyway enough about me ... You WILL get through it as I never thought I would and I did 3 times.... It will just take time ... I keep trying to tell myself that but it's hard to convince myself when I'm feeling so low ... Sorry if this hasn't been much help but I just wanted to tell you you're not alone all the best Bev x

[anon53727290]

Hi Bekah

I could have written your post myself! So theres your reassurance that you are not suffering these symptoms alone.

I have had GAD now for over 14 years for which I have been medicated with Citalopram on and off. My latest bout of anxiety started when I fell pregnant with my little girl and I am still suffering now and she is 5 months old. I have not gone back on Citalopram as I read it is bad for your heart. As my anxiety is health anxiety and I focus on my heart and am convinved I have a heart problem I darent take Citalopram!

I have palpitations, short of breath, aches and pains everywhere but mostly back and neck due to tension which I feel is made worse as I have to carry my daughter which is puttong a strain on my already tense back muscles. I have started drinking Chamomile tea and have cut out caffeine.

I feel as though I will pass out or faint...or worse, if I leave the house, which I have to do to take my son to and from school. I am a mess and keep thinking I am losing my mind.

I too had a smear and got results 6 weeks later which were normal this time but the wait and angst was horrific. I was petrified of hearing the postman! I have had abnormal smears in the past and biopsys which have then been normal but for someone with GAD its the unknowing and waiting. I also get a lot of cysts on thrle underside of my breasts which have been investigated. I wonder if they are due to stress!

I just want to feel normal and happy without worrying about my next panic attack. I started CBT last week via telephone and will keep you posted as to whether there is any improvement x

[nh_user_1056450]

You sound like you've really went through it bekah.. it's not easy when it's health anxiety as I suffer it too and anxiety symptoms can make us more anxious as we are already worried about our health... your doing everything right tho don't feel like your annoying your doctor as that's what they're there for as sometimes it takes just having the tests done to put our minds at rest once they come back fine it's about trying to draw a line under it as best you can... enjoy your holiday with your family as I promise you your perfectly healthy it's just your anxiety and you deserve the break as anxiety drains every bit of energy you have... take all the support you can get and don't give yourself a hard time.. give yourself time to heal it's gonna take time but you can get there.. am also attending cbt.. a was on sertraline but it made me worse.. am still not 100 percent and some days are worse than others but am trying not to think long term am trying just to take a day at a time.. when I think long term a panic as a don't want to be stuck with Anxiety forever.. I find it hard still to go out places and that's hard as I have three girls I tend to just go and suffer it... we are all on the same boat here so speak anytime you need some re assurance or just even the fact we all know what your going through so it sometimes helps knowing someone else can understand.. take care

[nh_user_944375]

You don't need to wait to start working on CBT techniques. There are plenty of things that will be helpful on the Internet.