Auntie.Eggma
01-08-13, 22:07
Hello!
I'm located in the UK, though I'm not from here (I grew up in Italy and the US). I study photography and teach English.
For the past couple of months I've been having what may or may not be panic attacks. I've been reluctant to use that term, but the shoe appears to fit (yes, I've been googling symptoms, but at least it brought me here!). No discernible emotional cause that I can fathom atm. I've never had anything like this before. It started with palpitations (and a feeling like I had low blood sugar or something), but those are mostly gone or not as bad as they were. There are weird warm head rushes, feelings of being "out of it" and a bit dizzy, loss of appetite at onset of episode (down to having to force myself to swallow if I happen to be in mid-bite at the time), floatiness, feeling like I need to walk around or go into the kitchen (better light in there and more windows, I guess) and just...feeling scared, I guess.
The doctor suggested several possibilities, which are slowly being explored. I had my eyes checked (turns out I'm far/long-sighted, reading glasses obtained, still adjusting, have just realised I'm being a bad girl right now and not wearing them to type this...ok they're on now), had a blood test to rule out thyroid problems, am on propranolol (which I expect is why the palpitations are not so bad), probably have a "bunged up" (technical term, that!) inner ear I've just finished taking mucodyne for (as well as taking up daily steam inhalation, which I'm loving for my sinuses and skin, but it isn't helping the ear as far as I can tell) but it's still not popping, and am trying to make an appointment for CBT but they're apparently rather booked up so it might be a few weeks before I can start.
I feel at least slightly off pretty much all the time, and more than slightly off a few times a day, which is a pain in the ass when I'm teaching. I get weird, more severe attacks in the evenings, especially around dinner time, especially if I'm trying to watch a movie. So we don't watch movies lately. My partner is doing his best to be supportive, but I can see he's becoming impatient, and then getting cross with himself for it.
I'm sleeping really badly, as I keep waking up in a slight panic when I try to fall asleep, as if I'm afraid to let myself sleep on some level. So I'm tired all the time. I have difficulty recognizing my body's normal signals like hunger, sleepiness, etc, as they're all just coming through as part of the general not-okayness I'm feeling all the time. The left side of my head feels fuzzy or painful a lot of the time, which I guess is from the bunged up eustachian tube the doctor thinks I have.
I'm feeling incredibly helpless and frustrated and basically barely living and I kind of want to cry all the time, as the prospect of feeling ok again is feeling more and more distant.
Hooray! :D
I'm located in the UK, though I'm not from here (I grew up in Italy and the US). I study photography and teach English.
For the past couple of months I've been having what may or may not be panic attacks. I've been reluctant to use that term, but the shoe appears to fit (yes, I've been googling symptoms, but at least it brought me here!). No discernible emotional cause that I can fathom atm. I've never had anything like this before. It started with palpitations (and a feeling like I had low blood sugar or something), but those are mostly gone or not as bad as they were. There are weird warm head rushes, feelings of being "out of it" and a bit dizzy, loss of appetite at onset of episode (down to having to force myself to swallow if I happen to be in mid-bite at the time), floatiness, feeling like I need to walk around or go into the kitchen (better light in there and more windows, I guess) and just...feeling scared, I guess.
The doctor suggested several possibilities, which are slowly being explored. I had my eyes checked (turns out I'm far/long-sighted, reading glasses obtained, still adjusting, have just realised I'm being a bad girl right now and not wearing them to type this...ok they're on now), had a blood test to rule out thyroid problems, am on propranolol (which I expect is why the palpitations are not so bad), probably have a "bunged up" (technical term, that!) inner ear I've just finished taking mucodyne for (as well as taking up daily steam inhalation, which I'm loving for my sinuses and skin, but it isn't helping the ear as far as I can tell) but it's still not popping, and am trying to make an appointment for CBT but they're apparently rather booked up so it might be a few weeks before I can start.
I feel at least slightly off pretty much all the time, and more than slightly off a few times a day, which is a pain in the ass when I'm teaching. I get weird, more severe attacks in the evenings, especially around dinner time, especially if I'm trying to watch a movie. So we don't watch movies lately. My partner is doing his best to be supportive, but I can see he's becoming impatient, and then getting cross with himself for it.
I'm sleeping really badly, as I keep waking up in a slight panic when I try to fall asleep, as if I'm afraid to let myself sleep on some level. So I'm tired all the time. I have difficulty recognizing my body's normal signals like hunger, sleepiness, etc, as they're all just coming through as part of the general not-okayness I'm feeling all the time. The left side of my head feels fuzzy or painful a lot of the time, which I guess is from the bunged up eustachian tube the doctor thinks I have.
I'm feeling incredibly helpless and frustrated and basically barely living and I kind of want to cry all the time, as the prospect of feeling ok again is feeling more and more distant.
Hooray! :D