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  1. #1
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    Aug 2010
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    anxiety and panic attacks are ruining my life

    Hello everyone

    I have been suffering from anxiety and panic attacks since last August which began with an attack of palpitations in the middle of the night. I had the all clear from the doctors in October when an ECG showed nothing abnormal and blood tests were also normal and the doctor told me that it was just anxiety causing my symptoms. I began to feel better but then my 9 yr old son was taken ill with flu and got more and more poorly and was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in January. His illness has caused my so much stress that my anxiety and panic attacks are worse than ever now and they strike at night as well as during the day so there is no peace for me. I keep getting a racing heart, an upset stomach and sweating palms and terrible feelings of unreality which is very frightening. I have also become paranoid about my heart and I'm convinced I have damaged it through my anxiety and that I will give myself a heart attack.

    I have now become agarophobic as a result and I can now just about cope with going to the corner shop and doing a short walk round the block with my dog but I feel panicky even going a short distance from the house. I once had a horrendous panic attack walking the dog and I had to walk home feeling absolutely terrible, I am now terrified it is going to happen again. My husband has been walking the dog a lot! If I have to go shopping I have to go with someone else and I now can't cope with things like going to a restaurant or coffee shop because my heart starts racing and I get terrible panic attacks. I went shopping today for some clothes today with my parents in a big shopping centre and I coped for the first hour but when it was time for lunch I had a terrible panic attack and I had to hide it from everyone, it was horrendous. I now think I am going to have to give up going out anywhere for a while, I can't cope with hardly anything at the moment not even get togethers with friends or family. I'm usually OK until it is time to sit down for a meal with other people then I totally freak out and have to hide the fact that I'm having a panic attack.

    I am very lucky in that I'm not working at the moment because I'm at home caring for my poorly son but that is stressful too and he has now got to have a wheelchair. I have been reading my Claire Weakes book, 'Self Help for your Nerves' and I was horrified to find that she is talking about nervous breakdowns and that my symptoms are exactly the same as those in this book. I am beginning to wonder if I am suffering from a nervous breakdown now and not just anxiety as I am now fearing fear itself and I can have a panic attack just by thinking about having one!

    The doctor did tell me to go back but because my son has been so poorly I haven't been able to get there and I hate going because I get panic attacks in the waiting room! I just do not know how to get myself out of this mess, it is totally ruining my life and I need to keep things together for the sake of my son, I can't have a nervous breakdown when he needs me to be strong for him. My husband is being extremely understanding about my anxiety and that helps a lot, he is very supportive. It has now got to the point that I hate him going out of the house to work, I feel terrible and panicky as soon as he has gone.

    Have any of you guys had panic attacks and agarophobia and found a way of dealing with it all? I would be so very grateful for any help and advice, I just don't know how to cope with this, it is almost unbearable.
    Last edited by hamster lady; 05-04-11 at 20:40.

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