How did panic first rear its ugly head for you???

[Panic1971]

I have been trying to deal with panic attacks for over 5 and a half years now. They started after my 2nd daughter was born. I was very anxious after she was born, something that I was never before. I went to my doctor about it and he told me it was post-natal depression. He prescribed anti-depressants and only after just over a week of taking them I ended up at A & E with my first panic attack. It was horrendous. I seriously thought I was dying. The doctors at the hospital told me that they are a side effect of the anti-depressants and advised me to stop taking them. Anyway, since that first panic attack I just live in constant fear of another one. I have been tensed up now ever since. I have at least a dozen panic attacks per day, and feel my life will never be normal. I get angry over silly little things and just wish I could have an anxious free day!!!

I was wondering how yours first started and how long you have been having them? Do you have lots of attacks per day???

Thanks for reading.

[Wenjoy]

Mine started 25 years ago on a hot busy pakced bus and I had to get off -I then dreaded them and avoided places - that was over 25 years ago - I then had a gap with no panic until a year or so ago - dont know what brought it back but its the fear of having one that makes it worse so I try to just let it wash over me and not run away - very very difficult!!!
Love wenjoy x

[yorkylover]

Hi there my panic attacks started over 10 years ago,and it all started when I started antidepressants.I was taken to hospital as I thought I was dying.Iv had them on and off since.I go through patches where I dont get them for ages,and then when something triggers one off I get like you and have lots of them in a day.
You are not alone here pet.Im always anxious,coming on this forum as helped so much.Knowing your not alone,being able to get advise,making new friends.It has been a great compfort to me,and Im sure it will be to you to.
You may need to try a different medication.Im still on antidepressants.Side affects usually go after a couple of weeks if you get any.
Take care;)

Ellen XX

[Insomniac]

Hi there.

Mine started about three years ago. I was on a coach trip with the school I worked for. I felt dizzy and sick, and really wanted to get off the bus, bit knew I couldn't really.

After that I thought coaches and travel were the issue. I used to worry so much about it I made myself more anxious and avoided coach travel for ages. Then that summer I was very ill travelling to Cornwall and had an awful time keep wanting to run away and leave places. It was only after a week of that I realised it wasn't really travel sickness but anxiety. I went to visit a lovely little town and couldn't get more than 200 yds from the car!

I took St Johns' Wort on and off for a while, which really helped. But this year has been worse. I started anti-depressants in June. Had my worst PA yet in August. I have been ok so far since with just manageable anxiety (which is not good but much preferred to full on PA).

I do get more angry, though my husband says I'm les volatile since being on the tablets. I do feel worse about the time of PMS, but I'm trying to cut out sugar and chocolate and work on a GI diet. I feel better so far, though I'm now coming to PMS time again. Anxiety level is slightly up... So fingers crossed!

Lisa.

[Lindalou64]

i would have to say i had a bad anxiety attck having my son cause i had a spinal and couldnt feel anything but i had 2 before that spinals,,,,then a month later hit me full force..........18 yrs now ........like wenjoy said its the fear of having one again and we start to avoid these places ect........but we have to push ourselves and tell ourselves ok ive had this feeling before i will not die from it and it will subside.............i was doing great for yrs till this yr i had a set back.........but mine is all stress stress stress...............and stress can do so much to our bodys and mind..hang in there it does get better.....its just scarey and lonley i know ......best to ya..............Linda [8D]

[Tracy75]

Mine started about 5 years ago when I split up with a particularly nasty ex boyfriend i've found it hard to get close to anyone since as they dont seem to understand what I am going through when I have an attack. I suffered with them on and off for about 3 years and then seemed to stop for about a year or so I found I could do just about anything I wanted, go shopping etc then for some reason i've started getting them back again over the past 8 months and i've no idea what the trigger has been now I feel like i'm getting them worse than ever! I just have to keep believing that things will get better and that I will finally beat this one day but at the minute they are just getting me down!

[clickaway]

I had my first panic attack about 10 or 12 years ago, and it was fairly minor. I went to the docs about 5pm, he gave me a quietener and I was out having a good time that evening!

It really came out of the blue, although I was then very unhappy with my living arrangements. My panics would only occur in the winter but would get worse over the years, and then they started to occur in the summer too when stress levels heightened.

One night in Decemeber 2003, I experienced a churning of stomach muscles and that was the start of my GAD. I had been quite stressed for a few months - I could never get to work on time and when at work and had to run and hide in the loo when something upsetting was said (this was during the build up to the Iraq War). Also, I had broken up with my ladyfriend and had only just got to terms with it.

Now I have GAD, I don't have specific attacks - my anxiety state is just worse on some days than others and it is often difficult for me to undertake simple tasks etc.



Ray


http://www.anxietyrelease.org.uk/

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance.
~Mark Sanders and Tia Sillers

[surreylady]

hi there.

my panic started after i had my second child who is now almost ten years old. i thought i was dying and ended up in A and E, had all the tests and it was put down to postnatal depression. i was put on dothiepin and managed after a few months to recover, having the odd panic attack over the years but nothing serious.
then about a month ago they came back out of the blue and ive only had a few but live in constant fear of them, though this is getting better after i was put on cipralex and im reading self help books. i know ive beaten this before so i can do it again, the thing is to try to be positive, which is hard when you feel so lousy!!!
i hope things improve for us all

mandy xxxx

positive attitude brings positive results

[AlisonP]

My first panic attacks started nearly 20 years ago when I moved to London. I think this was due to the stress of a new job, just started living with my boyfriend and London being so different from what I was used to (quiet country town). This eventually progressed into full blown agoraphobia and I was put on tranquillisers - but still managed to fight my way to work every morning.

People do not understand when you have a condition like this and it can be very difficult and embarrassing trying to explain it. It took me the best part of 5 years to recover and I still got panicky occasionally.

I have now moved back to my home town (after begin in London for 17 years) and had been here 3 years when (after a few particularly stressful months - house move, job stress, finances) I started to get panic attacks again. I was furious ! - how dare this happen to me again! I have been to my GP who has now put me on Citalopram. I am now at the end of week 2 and have had quite bad side effects - will it get any better? - my GP says it may take 3 - 4 weeks.

Anyway just taking one day at a time - and here's hoping to feeling better!

[squirrel]

mine started 25 years ago , It was certain situations at first ,then I started to avoid thing like buses trains, crowded places.I was put on Seroxat 9 years ago and that helped in the beginning but stopped working so the doc increased the dose. I then did some research on the internet about antidepressants and did not like what I read so I stopped taking them 18 months ago.I had a dreadful year last year after stopping the tablets and only just starting to feel better.I have lost all confidence and have bad balance problems and would swop this for my original anxiety anytime.

[net]

mine started 34 years ago when i panicked everytime i was away from my parents we had just moved areas so my sexual abuse had stopped then i got scared if i wasnt with my parents it would happen again

netty


the dreams of the future are better than the history of the past

[Louise1989]

Mine started in May this year.
i was sitting on the sofa talking to my uncle and i said i feel light headed.
out of the blue i was hyperventialting. i then started to shake and was worrying because i was convienced i was dying.
i kept on and on for the ambulance and she told me that it was a panic attack.
ended up at a local hospital because my heart rate was 143 instead of 60-100. spent nearly all ngiht in a&e in a cardiac ward.
had random tests dont and a ECG. i was told that it was just a panic attack. the hospital neevr said naything about paper bags..
Well the next day was a different story. i worke up happy and thought nwo thats over i can get on with my life. how wrong was i? i felt awful. convienced i was going to faint.
so when i had my next exam i went to the school nurse and she told me to keep thinking nothign bad is going to happen. so i did and that solved that.
Well last night i had my first one in about 2 months.
Felt really ill today and told the teacher because im now in 6th form and she said ring for an emergency appointment at your doctors. so i did and today she told me panic attacks. :(

[Wannabeloved85]

learnt mine 4 years ago from mum whos agoraphobic, but as i learnt it, it was more the fear of going out as id stayed in for so long loking after her, when i did go out, i was having breathing difficulties etc.

I dont have many attacks perday, now its more health anxiety as my mind has time to dwell on things with the lotsa spare time i have.

Becci x

[daisy chain]

:Di had anxieties as a child i was nervous about everything.my father was a drinker and emotional never there for me and my sisters.i was the middle child and if it wasn t for the love for my mother i wont be here today.i grew up with that dark clould forever with me through my realationships which one change my life on the road to panic.lets say the only confidence i had was beaten out of me i let the realationship straight away it was months after that i met my husband to be and was happy for the first time in my life the panic attacks came thick and fast didn t know what had hit me .my husband to be help me through this even thou to this day he still do not understand he has stay with me .saddly after after the birth of my children i had my whole life turn upside down i lost my mother to cancer my father rejected again and my sisters went his way and i just couldn t grieve mum was only 48 and i needed her five years has past and father and sisters got in touch .my father was still looking at me as everthing was my fault it lasted 7 weeks and was rejected again had the worse panic attack of my life and from this dad i know my father is bad for my health not having him in my life im back on the road to recovery and my sister have at last seen how alfull my father has been to me and all my greive came out and boy did i need it could write a book on the rest one day daisy[:chain]

anita jane

[spuds]

This is a really interesting thread. I thought my anxiety was due to ill health after an operation and ectopic heartbeats - I have been told there is nothing wrong with me but this is proving hard to accept. I can see now though that it goes further back than this - to a panic attack I had 8 years ago when I was pregnant, to a car accident (not injured, but very shocked by it), and to a very stressful job. Situations which I would previously have coped easily with are now stressful and small things lead to anxiety. However, I can also see that I have somehow 'learned' to be anxious and anxiety has become a habit. In the same way, I do think we can 'unlearn' it - once we can relax and get through an anxiety spell/panic attack our bodies will stop producing the adrenaline that causes the horrible symptoms. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done.

[blondeangel]

I have ptsd (post traumatic stress disorder) from a past abusive relationship like almost 10 years ago. First I had anxiety attacks, but my panic attacks did not start until a few years afterwards (which is normal for ptsd). Now they will happen frequently for a while, then infrequently and range in intensity and duration. my longest pa was 3 days. The thing with panic is that it is different from anxiety because there is no known trigger for them.....but I am having one right now, and am trying to breath deeply and not focus on it...use the same strategies as for anxiety. I know that it won't magically go away, but I know I need to deal with it as I am having it now. Yes they suck...really. But I think if we all put our minds to it we can beat it to some degree. Stay positive and enjoy life as much as you can....try not to let it stop you. My mind is all jumbly right now...so I am goin to go.

[hayles]

Not sure really.
Always had a phobia of being sick from the age of about 6
and used to hate going to school in case i was sick, but it kinda blew over until i was 19.

My Mum was ill and had a terrible time with some surgery, and i came down to see her and crashed my car. I was living away from home at the time and hated it. After my mum got better i went back to where i lived and then one day panic hit me.......i think it was in the train to work. that was 5 years ago and i have had it on and off since then really. recent bout started due to a sickness bug about 10 months ago, which then developed into full blown health anxiety....hurrah!!!!:([:P]



Hay x

[Lilac]

Mine started in July this year suddenly.
I had gone through a really stressful 6months at work. Re-structuring
all departments. Finally got told my job no longer existed and I had to apply for my job under a new title!!! basically they joined my job with
another managers made it into one and my colleague and I were up against each other for one job - you get the picture.
Anyway after doing my job for 14 years - I re-applied and I didn't get it. so was advised would be made redundant.
After initial shock I actually felt relieved - becuase thenew job (2 in 1)
wouldn't be manageable so being a very optomistic and positive person
I felt angry but relieved. I was just one of many in same situation.
Got a reasonable redundancy package.
Anyway - after hearing the news I took a few days of work to collect my thoughts - at that stage had to work a months notice.
A week after hearing the bad news one night in bed I suddenly got really bad palpitations and couldn't breathe. Unfortunately I was on my own, husband works nights sometimes. I phoned him, and then the emergency doctor, they advised me to call ambulance.
Ambulance arrived at same time as husband.
They ran ECG and tests etc in back of ambulance and said my BP was high but ECG seemed OK so let me out and said must see GP.

I did and she said BP high, sent me for lots of blood tests.
Didn't have another episode until week later, when I had chest pains as well. Called ambulance - they kep me in over night and ran more tests
xray, ECG etc. All clear.

I went back to see Doctor, my BP had come down and all tests clear.

I carried on having difficulty breathing especially when I go to bed
so sleep was bad. Didn't have panic attacks just weird breathing and palpitations. And was easily startled by any sudden noise, and had lost my sense of humour.

I had a portable ECG monitor strapped to me for one week. This showed some tracings when palpitations occured but nothing
they felt needed further investigation.


I then went on holiday for 2 weeks and had no symptoms.

Returned thinking was cured!!! 2 days later all the symptoms started to come back steadily getting worse until last weekend when I had really bad attack with chest pains that last for 2 days, feeling sick and dizzy
and very scared.
I had my first proper panic attacks (outside) 3 in ten minutes whilst waiting to see Doctor on Monday.
I now feel really tired and in constant anxious nervous state,
I have learnt to control my breathing so don't hyperventilate like I used to.
Today I had to go to JobCentre to register as unemployed - this made me very anxious, palpitations, tight chest etc and tired - but I feel pleased I managed to do it. However came home exhausted.

I have read that my sudden onset of anxiety might be because
I coped for so long with stress feeling unhappy and angry at work and not being able to release these emotions. Otherwise had no problems
was a happy easy going person.
I'm going to have more tests to see why palpitations - my GP hasn't talked to me about anxiety or stress I have got all the information from
this website and other research.

Thank you everyone for your support.