Hi, I'm 31 and I live in the UK with my cat.

I am scared of so many things. I feel like it's really getting in the way of my life, most things are either terrifying, or I avoid them altogether.

Right now my biggest problem is this:
Tuesday week I am having an operation. I am terrified of hospitals/needles/indignity (and as operations go, there's not a lot more undignified than the one I'm having). I burst into tears just having a blood test. I have no idea how I am going to get through this. I'm not really worried about anything going wrong, I'm scared of saying things I'll regret later under the influence of the drugs, and I'm scared of strangers seeing me naked. I already feel dirty and disguisting just thinking about it.

Obviously CBT is not going to fix this by next Tuesday, and antidepressants just make me worse, but is there any type of treatment that can stop the panic attacks just for a week? I'm totally drained from daily panic attacks and I'm worried if I have a panic attack in the hospital they might decide to delay until I'm feeling "better." Waiting again would be my worst nightmare. But can I take anything if I'm going to have an anaesthetic?

In between now and then, I'm also starting university studying animal care. I'll tell you about my social anxiety and horse and dog phobias later! Right now all I can think about is the operation. The panic attacks are exhausting and my sleep is poor, I'm weak as I can barely eat at the moment, I can't concentrate. I'm going to make such a bad 1st impression on my tutors and the other students.

I'm sure I sound like a total raving lunatic. I promise you I'm not normally like this! I will introduce myself properly when I'm feeling more coherent.