advice about going to the doctors UK

[eec]

hey guys first time posting woop woop!

anyway so ive been dealing with panic attacks and anxiety for about a year now when it first starting happening I went to the counseling service at my university but they were terrible so I stopped.
the amount of panic attacks and my anxiety goes up and down depending on my situation its got really bad over the past month or so barely left my flat this month.
I think its time i go to the doctors but thinking about having to explain everything makes me so anxious! anyone else have this and can offer advice?
also unsure about the procedure would be really helpful if someone told me what to expect. im in the UK.

Thank you

EEC x

[vicky23]

hi EEC,
well if you go to the GP they'll ask you about your symptoms and how long you've been experiencing them, if any particular situation brings them on that sort of thing.
When I went to the Dr's I wrote a list of the symptoms I was experiencing so I didn't get flustered and end up telling the Dr nothing.

From there they may offer you medication probably a beta blocker called propranolol which helps with the physical sensations you experience during a panic attack like the racing heart/ shaking etc
The other thing which might happen is you could get referred to a talking therapy like councelling or CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) these appointments I found very helpful but there can be a long waiting list :/
In the meantime I'd say go to the library and get any books out they have on panic attacks which will have invaluable information on coping with them.
Best wishes
Vicky
X

[MyNameIsTerry]

They can refer you for therapy which is supposed to be based on the NICE stepped care model. This means you are likely to either access Level 2 Guided Self Help (which may be an assessment & approx 5 telephone appointments of 20 mins each or it may be an online CBT) or Level 3 High Intensity Therapy which is the traditional 12-15 sessions of up to an hour CBT with a therapist in a face-to-face environment.

Services are not the same or up to date across the country, so charities have stepped in to take over some of this or your GP may ask you to self refer to them if they don't have anywhere to refer to.

Beyond is Level 4 which is the traditional psychologist based advanced interventions for more serious cases, complex cases or where CBT just fails.

Ask your GP if he/she has this in place in your region.

NICE only applies to England & Wales though.

Its only natural to feel anxious about talking about it and you are very likely to be the same early on in therapy but they are used to it. Just be open about how it is affecting you.