panic attacks

[kestral]

what a year its been so far. my brother in law diagnosed with cancer, my neighbour died of cancer then another friend finds out he has it as well. i have food poisoning then find blood on the toilet paper and am waiting for the results of the blood test results. some good news when my daughter gave birth to a little girl yesterday but as i suffer panic attacks im stressed to the hilt and then have panic throughout this morning finally fainting, something i didnt realise you could do and being taken to hospital in the ambulance and a complete health check done. they couldnt find anything wrong and said it was due to the panic attack and gave me liquid diazipam. i have palps, bp and diet controlled diabetes and now i feel uncertain and weak.

[Stormsky]

Hi, im sorry to hear what an awful year of bad news youve had so far....but flip side, also the great news of a baby grand daughter too! congratulations...
Im not sure fainting would be due to the panic attack, as during panic blood pressure raises.... and its due to low blood pressure that you faint.... but it could be a mix of things with yourself as you have other medical conditions, i.e. diabetes...and the food poisoning as well...sounds like you are really run down all round....
Try to stay positive and look at the great things you have to look forward to , like your new grand daughter.... i hope the blood tests go ok too.xx

[kestral]

i wonder if i had some missed beats which reduced the blood flow up to my head, or too much adrenalin being pumped into my system from the shock effect of the panic i may have got up from the chair too quickly and caused it. the hospital thought it was as a result of the panic as the heart tests from the paramedic and then in the hospital was ok.

[Beyonderz]

If your tests were fine, then there is nothing wrong physically. Some people's panic disorder starts with fainting. My brother's also was like this in the start. I feel like losing control and faint from time to time, when I am in my panic periods. Try to follow your doctor's advise. Panic attacks can make you feel like you are experiencing any type of sickness. It's annoying but possible to heal.
Hope you feel well soon.

[kestral]

cant sleep because of the fear. what if they missed something in the tests, how can they no what my body was doing when i passed out or what caused it to happen? im thinking its going to happen again or worse, these thoughts are making me stressed to the point of panicking and its hard to control.

[Beyonderz]

You know, feeling dizzy and about to faint (or faint, in my brother's and your case) is a common symptom to anxiety, and it occurs quite often during panic attacks also.

Think like this, if it was a serious thing that you think doctors missed;
- You would feel some more sever symptoms accompanying that,
- It would cause you some trouble by now, wouldn't wait longer.
- AND doctors wouldn't miss anything with symptoms like fainting :)

Try to focus on some other things meanwhile, and try to calm down. I know it's very hard but it's in your control to drive away such thoughts. When you feel like such panicky mode is coming back, start taking deep breaths and at the same time direct your thoughts to present objects, or repeat some words and sentences, that will keep your mind away from the symptoms you are experiencing that moment.
If you feed those symptoms with thoughts, they will get worse.

Hope you feel well soon

[pablo22]

hope your feeling better!! something the counsellor told me the other day i thought was really good... life gets more tragic the older you get. I think its good just trying to see the positive in everything x

[kestral]

im now trying to go back on 20mg citalipram, this is my third day on this medication having previously been on them for many years, but i feel so uneasy as i cant stay still and ill and keep worrying i will faint again so dont want to go out. i am feeling trapped by not daring to do all the things im used to doing.

[Beyonderz]

Maybe you can try going out little and after seeing that it's going fine and you are not fainting, you can relax and feel better.

If you are not fainting indoors, why would you outside? That shows there is nothing wrong in your health, it's just your thoughts. And you can control them. Go force it a little, try doing the things you use to do. You will definitely feel better after seeing nothing is happening actually. That may help.
Feel well soon.

[kestral]

can i be reassured the ecg i had on saturday would give all details on the readout of when i collapsed that day. the doctor there said there was nothing showing and said i would have had a panic attack and to go on citalopram from my gps surgery. i am however stressing as i am not sure if the test i had would be complete enough.