Angelcake
16-01-07, 23:18
Hi everyone, i'm sarah and this is my first posting after 'watching' for a good few months now. This site is EXCELLENT!! A real life saver for a paranoid like me!
I have had GAD for as long as I can remember, started I think when I was around 11 years old and I'm now 33. I have had terrible panic attacks, bouts of social phobia, problems eating in public (from a fear of choking and a terrifying feeling of not being able to swallow), driving fears etc etc - anyway, spent most of my teenage years thinking I was dying on a regular basis until I heard a radio programme discussing panic attacks and realised they were describing me to a "T"! I have had some really good therapy and am coming to terms with my anxiety (in terms of acceptance, rather than it miraculously disappearing!).
My primary issue these days is health anxiety - which I know is worse or better depending on my state of mind... BUT - I am right in the middle of a really nasty episode of ectopic heartbeats (again something that has plagued me on and off since my teens, had several ecg's, one trip to a&e and a heart ultrasound in 2005 - nothing wrong - obviously!).
I guess I'm looking for a bit of reassurance from some clearly very experienced members...
My ectopics come out of the blue (often after a period of stress) and will most likely last for a month or so. I get them every 2,3,or 4 beats when they are bad - sometimes one after the other for a short time (which is when I REALLY think "this is it- definately dying this time"!!). Sometimes they will settle for 15 mins or so, then they're back. I get them during all of my waking hours- normally start half an hour after getting up, then last all day. Worse after meals and all of the other 'usual' things that people have reported. I take Propanolol 40mg three times a day and [think] that helps. I stop taking them when they settle.
I think I'm unsettled this time (for a change...) because i had them at the end of November for about 3 weeks, took the medication, stopped caffiene etc and they went away. But they're back!! Came back just before New Year and haven't gone away yet... I'm trying really really hard not to get uptight about them, but they keep tricking me into thinking they're getting better (having just 10 or so a day for a few days), and then they come flooding back again and now don't seem to be easing up- although the nasty throat feeling isn't quite so pronounced.
Tonight I'm feeling like I must be the only person in the world who has them so regularly for so long - so there must be something wrong?? Right??!! Will someone please tell me that I can have ectopics every minute of everyday for years and it won't do me any harm at all!!
Apologies for the extremely long posting - I've been building up courage to do this for days - so it's all coming out now!! Not even sure if I'm doing this right -[:I]
Thank you so much - I wish I'd seen a site like this 20 years ago! Sarah
Sarah
I have had GAD for as long as I can remember, started I think when I was around 11 years old and I'm now 33. I have had terrible panic attacks, bouts of social phobia, problems eating in public (from a fear of choking and a terrifying feeling of not being able to swallow), driving fears etc etc - anyway, spent most of my teenage years thinking I was dying on a regular basis until I heard a radio programme discussing panic attacks and realised they were describing me to a "T"! I have had some really good therapy and am coming to terms with my anxiety (in terms of acceptance, rather than it miraculously disappearing!).
My primary issue these days is health anxiety - which I know is worse or better depending on my state of mind... BUT - I am right in the middle of a really nasty episode of ectopic heartbeats (again something that has plagued me on and off since my teens, had several ecg's, one trip to a&e and a heart ultrasound in 2005 - nothing wrong - obviously!).
I guess I'm looking for a bit of reassurance from some clearly very experienced members...
My ectopics come out of the blue (often after a period of stress) and will most likely last for a month or so. I get them every 2,3,or 4 beats when they are bad - sometimes one after the other for a short time (which is when I REALLY think "this is it- definately dying this time"!!). Sometimes they will settle for 15 mins or so, then they're back. I get them during all of my waking hours- normally start half an hour after getting up, then last all day. Worse after meals and all of the other 'usual' things that people have reported. I take Propanolol 40mg three times a day and [think] that helps. I stop taking them when they settle.
I think I'm unsettled this time (for a change...) because i had them at the end of November for about 3 weeks, took the medication, stopped caffiene etc and they went away. But they're back!! Came back just before New Year and haven't gone away yet... I'm trying really really hard not to get uptight about them, but they keep tricking me into thinking they're getting better (having just 10 or so a day for a few days), and then they come flooding back again and now don't seem to be easing up- although the nasty throat feeling isn't quite so pronounced.
Tonight I'm feeling like I must be the only person in the world who has them so regularly for so long - so there must be something wrong?? Right??!! Will someone please tell me that I can have ectopics every minute of everyday for years and it won't do me any harm at all!!
Apologies for the extremely long posting - I've been building up courage to do this for days - so it's all coming out now!! Not even sure if I'm doing this right -[:I]
Thank you so much - I wish I'd seen a site like this 20 years ago! Sarah
Sarah