Panic and anxiety in the evenings

[Chrisi]

Hi I'm new to all this I have been diagnosed with panic and severe anxiety, my attacks happen almost every night anytime between 7-midnight it's a vicious circle I've tried taking my mind off things but I know the times I start feeling dizzy I get a heavy sensation in my chest I feel tingling in hands and feet a lump in my throat and then the fast palpatations it's driving me insane I'm expecting it every night now I can't stop thinking about it it's so random for me this is my 4th week into the attacks I feel like there's something else wrong and no one believes me ������ also I have had an ecg done at my gp and he referred a non urgent referral to see a cardiologist as he feels he needs an expert opinion what if this is to do with my heart and not my mind like an chemical imbalance they have provided me with sertraline and diazepam which I was reluctant to take but have started to take sertraline 3 weeks after the gp prescribed them
Any advice would be much appreciated as I'm really scared

[Bigboyuk]

Hi Chrisi so other than a diagnosis what help has your dr offered,like therapy, meds etc? I would go back and ask for help as soon as :) Cheers

[Chrisi]

I booked to speak to a CPN and spoke to him yesterday he was not very helpful gave me a couple of booklets about panic and a self referral leaflet to look into CBT therapy oh and also said try calling the cardiologist department see if I can quicken up my appointment
I've seen the gp a couple of times all they say is take your meds you need them to start working

[Tea]

How long has it been since you started taking them? Most of these things take time to work, so unfortunately your GP probably can't do much until you know whether it's having an effect.

I had a similar issue with my heart feeling out of control (mostly in the evenings and at night too) and it was helped massively when they put me on propranolol. The other thing that really helped was distracting myself with low-intensity video games. I have faith that you'll be on the road to recovery soon! Good luck.

[Kb97]

Hi,
I experienced the exact same panic attacks every night as you when I had heart anxiety. They've recently come back (the exact same as you every night). But, I was on Prozac for two years which completely got rid of it all so I would say give it a bit longer to work. Prozac took 6 weeks to work for me, it really worked and saved my life. I'm looking to go back onto the prozac, your panic attacks sound the exact same as mine and I'm sure you're just experiencing panic caused by subconsciously thinking about your heart. Therapy also helped me I was underage at the time so I saw an underage mental health service who provided me with CBT. Definitely get all of your tests done to get your mind at rest too but if the ecg has come back clear you're most likely fine! Sending my love x