new to the website and desperately seeking help

[blueboy87]

hello everyone, my name is kevin and im 24. ive been dealing with anxiety issues for most of my life. for the majority of the time these have been low level and managable. i had a bout of terrible panic attacks as a 6/7 year old child, but those cleared up and i thought i had beaten them forever. but over the last 18 months to 2 years they have returned. i am able to understand them a bit better as im certian they have been caused by alcohol abuse, which i didnt even see as a problem at first. about a year ago i had a huge panic attack whilst out and about and this lead me to grow more agorophobic, a problem i have at least partially curbed. i sought medical advise and was prescribed rinitidine (prozac) and other medicines for gerd (gastro eosophogal reflux disease) which was also down to the drinking. this seemed to clear the situation up quite well after a while. but once i felt better i slowly started drinking again, gradually increasing the amount and frequency, fooling myself that i could handle it. but after a couple of big drinking nights over a few days my body and mind have reacted again. the last of these nights was last wednesday, so its no surprise that the problems began on the thursday night. i again fooled myself into thinking that i could handle it all, and so didnt book a doctors appointment monday or tuesday, ensuring that i would have to wait until next week to see the doctor. the problem has gotten worse over the days (including the gerd) and so wednesday i booked an appointment, monday 5pm, which was the earliest time slot available. im really really scared, having been through it before gives me a certain amount of strength to deal with it, but also makes me more scared because i know how bad it can get. im really scared about going through the weekend as the doctors clinic will be shut saturday and sunday, it will be very difficult to deal wit that.
thats basically my story, thank you to anyone who reads this. any tips or advise would be much appreciated.

kevin

[nomorepanic]

Hi blueboy87

A huge warm welcome to nmp.

You'll get loads of advice and support here and make some lovely friends along the way.

Best wishes

[moirascott]

Hi Kevin

Welcome to the forum you will find loads of info on here.

Moira

[Foxtrot]

Hi Kevin

Just take the time to have a look around and perhaps having the comfort of knowing that others feel the same way as you will give you the strength to get through the weekend.

One thing that's coming over loud and clear though is the problem that alcohol is causing to your health. I think you should really mention this when you visit the doctor and ask for advice on what to do about this. There are some people that just can't tolerate alcohol. It is a depressant so perhaps it would be wise to stay away from that for a while and get help from the doctor. It's very difficult because a lot of social activities are based around alcohol but what's the point really if it's going to end up messing with your mind.

Perhaps ask the doctor for referral to a psychologist for CBT so that you can recognise and deal with your problems before they even begin.

I wish you the best of luck and now you've recognised the problem you can do something about it. That's very brave! You should feel proud of yourself.

Best wishes
Foxtrot

[blueboy87]

thank you all for your kind words. it was much appreciated.

[Vanilla Sky]

Hi and welcome to NMP :welcome:

Paige x

[Irysbleu]

Hello...I'm new too...just joined...I hope you're doing okay.

[blueboy87]

im not really, gotta wait for the meds to calm down, could take a while. but thank you for your reply, that goes for everyone else aswell. its really great to see that there are people who care and have gone through or are going through the same sort of problems, thank you all

[louis]

Hello Kevin,
Along with the others welcome to the site. I think that even though you have an alcohol abuse problem the very fact you are facing it puts you way ahead of a lot of people.
From your history I would suggest two things to you. You sound so familiar. I have not had an alcohol abuse problem but i did abuse medicine when i was young for a short time. You obviously see it is doing you no good to get stoned trying to manage your panic.
I have talked a lot of men (who happened to be either at a homeless shelter or in jail that did some sort of substance abuse but their root cause for both problems was panic.
Please find a local AA chapter. You are doing wonderful to admit this is a problem you cant handle. There is a lot i dont kknow but I can tell you the AA method works for most of the people who put in just a bit of effort. Prozac may not help you. It did help me just follow the doctors instruction about getting off it when the time comes and do it slowly. Please feel free to e-mail me and I will give you some excersizes you can use to help you manage your attacks. Mine started when i was young too and I have now learned to manage my panic and not let it manage me or my life. In my case my age worked against me as I am 54 and when i was very young the doctors did not understand panic attacks the way theyr understand them now. You can do this! I promise you this can be managed without alcohol and without making your life miserable. If i can do it so can you.
God Bless you and do please try AA.
Louis