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lindajane1971
19-08-12, 23:56
Hi Everyone,
I am having problems......Ive went from having some health anxiety to it now starting to take over my whole day.

Just want to let you know before reading further, im writing down how my mum died so if your sensitive to that then please don't read anymore.

My mum died suddenly 4 years ago, aged 54 from a sudden heart attack out of the blue. She was a reasonably healthy person but did smoke. I was not present when it happened but i was at the hospital when they pronounced her dead, she was at a friends house and the story her friend told me was - my mum was helping her friend move stuff in her house when she said she felt unwell, she said she was dizzy and felt sick and then she went to the bathroom and was sick quite a bit, when she came out she was very pale and sweating really bad and could hardly walk so she got her to lie down on the couch where she started to moan and then said she had chest pain. Her friend went to my aunts house which was just round the corner and she went round and told them to call an ambulance. It came and took her to hospital (this is when i was then called and i went to the hospital straight away) I was called at 11pm and her time of death was just after midnight so there was not that much time between everything happening.
The doctors gave no explanation for her death, just kept saying as she smoked that was why it had happened, there was no autopsy which now i regret not insisting there was one, if only i had known then how bad this would have effected me, knowing for sure what happened would've given me the much needed closure i seek so badly now.
I was the eldest daughter so the organizing of her funeral and sorting out her house was down to me and i don't think her death really hit me until a few months later when i just broke down upon waking one morning and ever since then my health anxiety has slowly taken over my life.

I am now scared every day that i am going to drop down dead like my mum did, after all she was fine 3 hours earlier when i had been with her!!!
The only thing the doctors have said i have is that I have ectopic beats - a recent 24 hour holter picked up i had 608 of them in that 24 hour period - and of course every time i feel one, i panic thinking "Did mum have any of these before she died?" "Is this the start of a heart attack?"
I am overweight, in fact im obese, i hate it, im so disgusted with my body i just look at it and weep, i really really want to lose weight and i have been trying, but its so very slow, i have been losing only 1lb per week, i have lost 7lbs so far. I know that is a loss, but its a pathetic attempt really.

I know i could lose more, but i am scared to exercise!! If i break any sort of sweat, i panic, petrified that my mum was sweating a lot when she died so i automatically think that this is the start of a heart attack. How can i get round this?? I need to exercise to lose weight!!
It was really warm here today, 20dg - im in Scotland so that's roasting LOL. But instead of enjoying the nice day i was anxious as i was too warm and i kept thinking that as everyone else was not complaining about it, i was warmer than them so therefore that was not normal so it might have been the start of the sweating before the heart attack strikes!

My anxiety gives me lots of symptoms, but the most common ones are - lightheaded, nausea, sweaty and weakness and of course these are all things that my mum felt before she died and my brain is 100% convinced that when i get these feelings i am going to die like she did.

Now from the moment i open my eyes in the morning and before i have even sat up in bed i am anxious about if i will be alive by the end of the day. And when i go to bed i am scared to sleep, scared that i will not wake up, i cant sleep unless i watch something on the tv until i drift off, and when i wake up - thankful that i have survived the night - the cycle starts again!!!

I just cant get off this never ending anxiety roundabout

:weep:
sorry for the long post.

Serenitie
20-08-12, 00:38
Hi lovely. I'm so sorry to hear you are suffering so badly. You have experienced trauma which has fed your existing health anxiety. Have you had any bereavement counselling or tried CBT?

You are taking positive steps to improve your health. 1lb a week is sensible and not at all pathetic. Exercise would not only help your weight loss but would release endorphins that would make you feel better. Start off gently with a short walk or some yoga and increase gradually?

Be kind to yourself. You have every right to a healthy, happy life. Your Mum would wish this for you and would not want you to suffer. I hope that you find peace soon :hugs: xxx

lindajane1971
20-08-12, 19:34
Thanks for reading and replying Serenitie :)

Earlier this year i had visits from a Occupation Health worker, he was nice but it was not proper CBT it was mostly just chatting about the ectopic beats i was having.
I got some good advice from him eg using my ipod when in a large shop as a distraction was a good one and i still do that when i feel "jittery" in a larger shop.

I would maybe benefit from bereavement counseling but im not sure where i go to ask for that, the doctor??

I have managed to get through today not too bad which included a visit to the dentist!

I cant remember what "normal" feels like anymore!!

eileenb73
20-08-12, 22:17
Hi Lindajane,
I just wanted to say that youre not alone, my mum died suddenly of a heart attack in front of us when I was 16 and it was her 38th birthday and she had no known health problems, and my dad died of a heart attack at 57 although he smoked, since then Ive dealt with health anxiety, panic attacks and panic disorder. I have been much better the last few years after my gp sent me to see a psychologist who did cbt with me, it changed my life. Dont get me wrong I still have periods that last for sometimes months of chest pain and endless rounds of hospital tests but its always anxiety. My Gp has put on primary preventive medication to protect me ,should I have any heart problems, aspirin, bp tablets and a statin(she said to bear in mind that EVEN if i have a heart attack that I could survive it). I also had to have an extra nerve burned off in my heart( I had wolf parkinson white syndrome), so far I'm still here :) The problem usually is that although i know I suffer from anxiety , the fear is what if I dismiss real symptoms of heart problems. Every year around my birthday (I am now 38) its much worse and I struggle but I just keep telling myself it will pass, I have taken care of most precautions with the exception of my weight (Im very overweight) but stress makes me eat, its a vicious cycle.
Go to your Gp and ask maybe about preventitive meds, and counseling that was one of the best things I ever did, and try and remember you may have family history there is nothing you can do about that but there are loads of factors you can control, and you are not alone

lindajane1971
20-08-12, 23:22
Hi Eileen,
A fellow scot! :)
Thanks for reading my story and for sharing yours. I am so sorry to read of your loss and what you have been through.
My gp has given me propanolol 40mg but i am petrified of taking it. She said its not really necessary for my ectopics and it wont stop them but it may help with the anxiety.
She says that because the tests they have done on me are all normal (not in my head tho!) that i dont need any medication but almost every doctor i have seen has tried to get me to take a antidepressant which i am not happy with.
I fear medications, i can barely take a paracetamol these days, its the side effects that terrify me and i just cant bear the thought of taking them.

I am also very overweight i weigh 114.1 kilos :( im so gutted that im this size!

eileenb73
21-08-12, 00:15
Hi Lindajane,
I take bisoporol but I cant really say it helps with anxiety, Im much the same with medication, I wont take it unless really necessary, too scared of side effects, I take my heart meds because my anxiety over having a heart attack is greater than my anxiety of side effects. Antidepressants can help, I have been so bad with anxiety where I could not go out of the house and lived with the fear of dying every minute of the day and I took citalopram, after 10 days I was then well enough to start dealing with things again but I came off it after 6 months, but for those 6 months it was really helpful. If your anxiety is so bad about the side effects , ask about counselling, I was dubious at first but it really helped, it takes time though and its not a magic cure, I still suffer bad anxiety attacks and have days where I feel this is the end but I can rationalise it a bit better and that helps.Some doctors though just seem to want to medicate, maybe see a new dr at your practice,I only seen one of the other drs as mine was on holiday and she was brilliant (which surprised me, as I often feel my dr cringes when I visit, I could probably have measles now and theyd tell me it was anxiety)
I know how you feel about your weight I ve put on so much (3 stone+) but somedays I have to remember who I am on the inside and my weight, whenever I get the will-power is something I can change.
I also bought a good few self help books off the internet which were good, and of course having people to talk to always helps :)