Just saying hey

[Tea]

It's been a few years since I last used an anxiety forum. I used to suffer from social anxiety and depression with panic attacks and all that fun stuff, then after getting back to normal for a while I got pretty sick (every doctor thought it was something different, from a reaction to new medication, withdrawal from the old one to just a physical illness). But after the worst few weeks of my life, I came out the other side with GAD and started getting panic attacks from everything and anything, often so bad that I couldn't do anything or even eat for days afterwards. So fast forward about 2 years and I've made a lot of progress. I still have a long way to go and I'm not sure I'll ever be able to do some things I used to love (like seeing bands live), but I like to think I'm getting better every day.

So sorry about the mini essay, but hopefully I'll find a little bit of a sanctuary here. I'm sure you're all lovely! ^_^

[venusbluejeans]

Hiya Tea and welcome to NMP :welcome:

Why not take a look at our articles on our home page, they contain a wealth of information and are a great starting place for your time on the forum.

I hope you find the as site helpful and informative as I have and that you get the help and support you need here and hope that you meet a few friends along the way :yesyes:

[Bigboyuk]

Hi Tea and welcome aboard to NMP I too suffer from depression and SA so you aren't alone on this hey enjoy the forums :)

[dfoxworth]

Hi Tea, I've recently experienced panic attacks and they are awful! I get a burning stomach that rises to the chest and goes through out my arms making my hands tingly. My heart rate sky rockets to 175 BPM at times and I get hot flashes and chills. I haven't been able to do anything or eat either. How did you deal with that? I have no appetite and when I try to eat my heart races. I am on Metoprolol which is a beta blocker for my heart, but it doesn't seem to help much. Also just started Sertraline 9 days ago.

[Tea]

My heart mostly got under control after they put me on propranolol, and I got good at distracting myself from panic by burying myself in pokemon and knitting. Eating is just a practice thing. If you can find a way to distract yourself and calm yourself down during and after tiny meals, you can build it up from there.

When you lose that confidence that you can do regular things without freaking out, it takes a lot of little steps to get it back, but it can be done. I know it feels impossible for things to ever be different sometimes, but you'd be amazed how much people can recover. I got so skinny I couldn't stand up and now I'm chubby again! So there's hope for us all. I believe in you, D!