AK Bun
12-10-11, 16:54
Hello all,
First of all a thank you. I've just joined the forum after spending a couple of pretty rough nights and today with anxiety, bordering on panic, bordering on depression - and found that reading your experiences has made me feel less alone during those dark hours... like having someone to talk to who completely understands what it's like to go through these things.
I'm in my early 50's and prided myself on being very fit until this year, when there has been a lot of stress due to family illness and other issues. All of which have now been resolved, thankfully. The legacy of 7 months of bottled-up stress however, is now manifesting itself in unexpected panic attacks and mild-to-quite severe phases of anxiety (often lasting hours). As a relatively fit and active person this has caused me to lose confidence in my body (and, at times, my mind!).
I used to drink too much (at least a bottle of red per night, but with binge drinking weekends 4-5 times a year, resulting in medication and missed work). I went into a clinic for a month and haven't touched a drop for over 4 years - and I've had no panic or anxiety since giving up the booze until now.
The feelings I'm having now though, are similar to those during the worst of alcohol withdrawal - only this time I cannot and will not resort to reaching for a large glass of red (and another large glass of red... and so on).
Had a good long session with my doctor this morning, who tells me it should be something we can sort out because I don't appear to have underlying depression and I've come forward at an early stage to try to tackle it.
He's prescribed 2mg Diazepam during the day, if I really need it (I do understand the addictive risks); 20mg Citolapram because the anxiety is causing some spells of mild depression (I've had an odd reaction to the first one, where my limbs went cold, but no other side-effects yet... touch wood), and 7.5mg Zimovane to give me a few good nights' sleep.
We're also looking a CBT, so that I can try to identify root causes and triggers, if they go back beyond the recent stressful months.
I also know I need to get back into doing some exercise, but when you lose confidence in your body, what was once routine, now becomes daunting.
I had a similar phase in my life when I was in my mid-20's, for about 3 years, triggered by family bereavement... doctors back then were in the dark ages, so I never really got to understand what was going on with me until many years after it had passed.
I hope this hasn't been too long an introduction :blush: - if you got this far, please feel free to post or PM me if you have any comments or thoughts.
I guess we all wish none of us needed to be here, but I'm sure this forum will be a comfort to me (it's already helped writing this). I hope I can contribute something useful too.
Best wishes to everyone,
AK Bun.
First of all a thank you. I've just joined the forum after spending a couple of pretty rough nights and today with anxiety, bordering on panic, bordering on depression - and found that reading your experiences has made me feel less alone during those dark hours... like having someone to talk to who completely understands what it's like to go through these things.
I'm in my early 50's and prided myself on being very fit until this year, when there has been a lot of stress due to family illness and other issues. All of which have now been resolved, thankfully. The legacy of 7 months of bottled-up stress however, is now manifesting itself in unexpected panic attacks and mild-to-quite severe phases of anxiety (often lasting hours). As a relatively fit and active person this has caused me to lose confidence in my body (and, at times, my mind!).
I used to drink too much (at least a bottle of red per night, but with binge drinking weekends 4-5 times a year, resulting in medication and missed work). I went into a clinic for a month and haven't touched a drop for over 4 years - and I've had no panic or anxiety since giving up the booze until now.
The feelings I'm having now though, are similar to those during the worst of alcohol withdrawal - only this time I cannot and will not resort to reaching for a large glass of red (and another large glass of red... and so on).
Had a good long session with my doctor this morning, who tells me it should be something we can sort out because I don't appear to have underlying depression and I've come forward at an early stage to try to tackle it.
He's prescribed 2mg Diazepam during the day, if I really need it (I do understand the addictive risks); 20mg Citolapram because the anxiety is causing some spells of mild depression (I've had an odd reaction to the first one, where my limbs went cold, but no other side-effects yet... touch wood), and 7.5mg Zimovane to give me a few good nights' sleep.
We're also looking a CBT, so that I can try to identify root causes and triggers, if they go back beyond the recent stressful months.
I also know I need to get back into doing some exercise, but when you lose confidence in your body, what was once routine, now becomes daunting.
I had a similar phase in my life when I was in my mid-20's, for about 3 years, triggered by family bereavement... doctors back then were in the dark ages, so I never really got to understand what was going on with me until many years after it had passed.
I hope this hasn't been too long an introduction :blush: - if you got this far, please feel free to post or PM me if you have any comments or thoughts.
I guess we all wish none of us needed to be here, but I'm sure this forum will be a comfort to me (it's already helped writing this). I hope I can contribute something useful too.
Best wishes to everyone,
AK Bun.