Paradiselea
29-02-12, 10:01
Hi all. I'm new to the boards and to panic attacks. I'm a Mum to two children who is self employed. I have come to find support with something I still don't understand so here is a brief bit about me.
I was diagnosed with Auto-Immune Thyroid disease back in October & whilst the illness has been miserable, it has been manageable to an extent. In January this year however I woke up suddenly in the middle of the night and felt like I was going to be sick. I'm emetophobic (spelling?) so I started pacing and this went on for hours. The next day I was still feeling 'wrong' and after a few hours I had somehow gone from feeling wrong to being stuck on the kitchen floor feeling like I was dying. My Husband called for an ambulance & the paramedic said I was hyperventilating. This carried on for about 3 weeks. I would hyperventilate every day and be so wiped out afterwards I was practically bed-ridden.
I told my Dr to medicate my thyroid because during this time it had enlarged by a considerable amount (you can see the lump in my neck) and was pressing on my windpipe but he can't give me anything because although my thyroid is being attacked by my auto-immune disease, the TSH levels in my blood are all normal. He did say that I was having panic attacks & that I needed therapy and since then i've been in conflict on what to do.
Previous to this I've had only two things happen that are similar to the hyperventialting, both when i was a pre-teen & in very hot countries. The first was at a market in Tunisia and the second was visiting the pyramids in Egypt. I have always assumed those were from heat exhaustion and merely fainting because I have never experienced anything of the sort before or after those two events.
Its difficult to accept that I am having panic attacks now (almost 15 years later) with no history of anxiety or stress etc. I have good days and I have bad days now. On bad days I am in an absolute state for at least 2 days at a time. On good days I have no sign of anxiety what so ever. I can't find a pattern or trigger that makes any sense. Even in my most trying times I've never had a panic attack until January.
Its becoming so bad I fear I need my husband to be with me 24/7 (which is impossible because he works a lot) and my business has suffered greatly because I'm too unwell to deal with that right now.
I'm trying everything I can to get through this. Weekly acupuncture, elimination diets (like gluten etc.) but I'm days away from March and have one good day to every 5 bad days & I can't go on like this anymore. I've just had another attack this morning doing the school walk & I'm completely wiped out now :weep:
Sorry for such a long intro. If anybody had the patience to read through I truly appreciate it lol
I was diagnosed with Auto-Immune Thyroid disease back in October & whilst the illness has been miserable, it has been manageable to an extent. In January this year however I woke up suddenly in the middle of the night and felt like I was going to be sick. I'm emetophobic (spelling?) so I started pacing and this went on for hours. The next day I was still feeling 'wrong' and after a few hours I had somehow gone from feeling wrong to being stuck on the kitchen floor feeling like I was dying. My Husband called for an ambulance & the paramedic said I was hyperventilating. This carried on for about 3 weeks. I would hyperventilate every day and be so wiped out afterwards I was practically bed-ridden.
I told my Dr to medicate my thyroid because during this time it had enlarged by a considerable amount (you can see the lump in my neck) and was pressing on my windpipe but he can't give me anything because although my thyroid is being attacked by my auto-immune disease, the TSH levels in my blood are all normal. He did say that I was having panic attacks & that I needed therapy and since then i've been in conflict on what to do.
Previous to this I've had only two things happen that are similar to the hyperventialting, both when i was a pre-teen & in very hot countries. The first was at a market in Tunisia and the second was visiting the pyramids in Egypt. I have always assumed those were from heat exhaustion and merely fainting because I have never experienced anything of the sort before or after those two events.
Its difficult to accept that I am having panic attacks now (almost 15 years later) with no history of anxiety or stress etc. I have good days and I have bad days now. On bad days I am in an absolute state for at least 2 days at a time. On good days I have no sign of anxiety what so ever. I can't find a pattern or trigger that makes any sense. Even in my most trying times I've never had a panic attack until January.
Its becoming so bad I fear I need my husband to be with me 24/7 (which is impossible because he works a lot) and my business has suffered greatly because I'm too unwell to deal with that right now.
I'm trying everything I can to get through this. Weekly acupuncture, elimination diets (like gluten etc.) but I'm days away from March and have one good day to every 5 bad days & I can't go on like this anymore. I've just had another attack this morning doing the school walk & I'm completely wiped out now :weep:
Sorry for such a long intro. If anybody had the patience to read through I truly appreciate it lol