View Full Version : How did yours start?
About a year ago I had a reaction to a medication. Life has never been the same. Before this my body reacted well to stress or anxiety. Anyone else have this experience?
Or what was your starting point, if it's identifiable?
Mine was being a teenager and staying up too late one night past when everyone was asleep and I just got the random intrusive thought of what if I were to lose it and hurt someone in my family and that made me so anxious and that basically led to a title wave of events such as me questioning my sanity and a series of panic attacks and etc. etc.
Honestly, that bad time lasted for a year or two, then I just kinda forgot about it, and now it's only been bad since February and I'm learning to deal with my anxiety and OCD in ways I hadn't before. I used to just distract myself to the point that I shoved all that anxiety down and now I've developed actuall coping skills, lol.
Just want you to know that it is possible to get out of this and be yourself again. I've had some extremely low points where I didn't think I'd make it to the next day, but I've gotten out of it and now it's just a matter of time and letting my body heal.
All the best,
monika
I was born with a disability, so I’ve been in and out of the hospital many times in my life. I never had a problem with HA until 4 years ago when I was hospitalized with the flu and pneumonia. That wasn’t the first time I was hospitalized for those reasons, so I don’t know why I had a panic attack. A couple of months after getting out of the hospital I started worrying about my health. My worrying started with my breathing, then blood clots, and now it’s my heart. But my heart has caused the greatest anxiety for me. It seems I get scared over things that cause instant death.
My mother was a hypochondriac for as long as I can remember and very vocal about it ... most of the time growing up I was ok enough to brush her off, but eventually it caught up with me too and I started to have HA. It was never bad enough to interfere with my life though. I'd just worry a lot about doctors appointments. Then my mom got a rare cancer about a a year ago and died a month later and that shook me up like crazy. Since then it's all been a struggle.
Thank you for the replies. It's helpful and instructive to read how sometimes these thngs simply start. Each individual is different, of course, but it is helpful to read about your experiences.
I think mine started from stressful situations one after another....
1. Hubby went to Kenya for 6 weeks, dog had fleas so bad that myself and friends were getting bitten- 2 weeks in I ripped all carpets and replaced to wood flooring....
2. In that time I managed to get alopecia areata, my eyebrow fell out comp and lost loads of patches of hair..started googling and saw about HIV,Lymes and other problems that can cause this,,,,...has blood tests all ok down to stress....
3. Sn had febrile convulsions ended up in hospital...panic panic panic......
4. Hubby went to Afghan and got shot, was told by men at the door...thought he was dead...etc etc,...
Alopecia back 2 times since.....
Ive lost friends, seen in hospital on death beds
My Daugther wasn't breathing when born....
My stress level is 1000%
I think a ton of things have made this anxiety worse....
X
Hiya
Mines been with me since my dad died if cancer 10 years ago I've never been the same since, always worrying, i did have Cbt two years ago and it seemed to get better but I'm back to uncontrollable worry again but I am having Cbt again so fingers crossed it works!
Jayne xx
miggymoggy
22-04-12, 17:54
My Dad was and still is a major hypochondriac when we were growing up, which I think affected me, but it really kicked off big time when my very healthy Mum contracted lung cancer 3 years ago and died 10 weeks later. I was such a mess. Crying all the time, constanly at the Doctors thinking I had this cancer or that cancer or MS.
CBT really helped me though.
xxxxx
I can never identify my starting point with anxiety and panic ........ I often wonder if I could if I would be able to deal better with it ????
Who knows eh ?? :wacko:
Miggymoggy - I'm surprised how similar our stories are ... being raised by a hypochondriac and then having it really go off the deep end with losing a parent quickly to cancer. My mom died a month after her diagnosis. I remember feeling like I was walking around in a dream it was so fast. That kind of thing can really be traumatic.
candy_floss
23-04-12, 18:47
There was a boy in my class who had an undetected heart condition.
One day we went on a walk through the woods for a Geography class assignment and he had a heart attack right in front of us all. It was horrific. He suffered two more massive heart attacks (well according to the rumour mill at our school anyway!) and died that night in hospital. He was only 13 :weep:.
A few weeks after he died I started having chest pain and was convinced that the same thing would happen to me.
Then my granddad died of lung cancer on Christmas day when I was about 15. That was when my worry switched from heart disease to cancer.
I've also been let down by doctors in the past which means I have a hard time trusting what they say now.
xvolatileheart
23-04-12, 22:10
Mine started with a panic attack in January that felt like it was out of nowhere, so I was convinced it was a heart condition. Looking back, I can see there were stressors in my life at the time, but I still have a hard time accepting that they could cause those bodily symptoms.
I was okay for about 4 weeks, then had a lot of coffee which set off another panic attack. Since then, I haven't been the same. Constantly worried about my heart, my lungs, brain cancer, everything. I can't accept that these bodily sensations are just anxiety.
gemjones85
24-04-12, 07:30
Id suffered pnd since my 2nd son (hes 3) then i got pregnant with twins, and i was told id need a c section - which sent me in a worry. But i think the thing that triggered it was..
When the twins were 5 weeks old. I took the youngest to gp cos he wasnt right - was told i was over reacting.That night he stopped breathing - was rushed to a+e - severe bronciolitus (was on oxygen for a week) - in the meantime the other twin ended up the same (altho he never stopped breathing)
I think that just sent me into a wave of panic
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