Back again!

[sazzle]

Hi all,

My anxiety was pretty bad a few years ago but I managed to get better and for a while everything has been great! Well not so great now as its all back and 10 times worse than before. I used to just get panic attacks which would subside over time but now my doctor thinks its GAD.

Every week it seems to be slowly getting worse. My symptoms are;

Feeling like im not getting enough oxygen or being smothered and I'm having pretty bad palpitations. My doctor gave me a 24hr monitor which came back fine and I'm currently wearing a 7 day monitor which I will be finished with on Tuesday. I've writted down when it was at its worst so will see what this comes back with.

Is this all pretty common with GAD? It's really ruining my life at the moment and it seems to be worse at night when I'm trying to sleep. The palpitations and feeling of being suffocated are worse and as I'm dropping off I wake up out of breath.

Doctor has put me on Mirtazapine 30mg to take each eveing and buspirone twice a day and Its been a few months and don't feel any better.

I guess I'm just venting and asking for advice because I used to be able to control my anxiety and nothing seems to work to calm me down anymore. My safe calming place which was my bedroom watching my fave programs doesn't help and each night it is terrifying wondering if I will wake up tomorrow.

I'm just not used to having persistent constant anxiety symptoms and I'm terrified I must have something awful which is going to finish me off any day now. My doctor has listened to my lungs which are fine and a cardiologist whi reviewed my 24hr monitor said I do have mild palpitations but these are normal. So why out of the blue is it back and worse than ever!?

[Pepperpot]

Hello and welcome back :)

I understand the smothering sensation and the feeling of not being able to get enough air. I used to be dropping off to sleep then all of a sudden I'd be gasping for air. It's horrendous. I used to be terrified I'd stop breathing, and used to carry around a bottle of water cos I figured if I could sip that then my throat was still open. X

[sazzle]

Thanks for replying, I will try the water bottle idea as I never thought of it before. I ended up in accident and emergency yesterday with the symptoms and they hooked me up, Tested my heart and lungs and said I'm fine. Normally I would be feeling a bit better after being checked out but my anxiety is telling me they must have missed something! Typical eh. I'm wondering what meds work best for people here? I'm on 30mg Mirtazapine at night and 5mg buspirone twice a day. Its been a few months and I don't feel any better so going to go back to my GP soon for a review. It's just really getting me down at the moment as I've just had a wonderful job offer but now im concerned my anxiety will make it impossible for me with lots of trips away from home.