Horrendous panic today

[ChildOfTheKing]

Hello all,

I had made some progress in my anxiety journey since starting a few months ago and had even gotten to a point where I didn't think about my breathing all the time (still happened in spurts) tho I still feel lightheaded DP/DR most of the day. But I'd been coping better & had a successful job interview. However this past week has been a real flare up, have been getting bad tension headaches and feeling more lightheaded/out of it.

I went to the doctors this morning because I had a follow up appointment for blood work to check if I'm still anemic (doctor said blood work was perfect and I'm even able to donate blood!). He's aware of my anxiety and has been very helpful in referring for counseling & giving advice. I let him know about the tension headaches & he prescribed me a medication to take as needed called fioricet (butalbital/acetaminophen/caffeine). When the nurse was taking my vitals she put the pulse ox on & at first the O2 sat read 86%, I questioned this & she said "don't worry, its cause I just put it on and your hands are very cold. Wait and it will go up, it happens." Not gonna lie, they were freezing. Plus I had moved my hand around when she put it on, which I heard can affect it as well. Sure enough it climbed up to 96 & she said "see?" And took it off. I should be relieved by that but I've had anxiety about my breathing before with my anxiety, and afterward felt like I was short of breath.

I grabbed some food at home & went to the gym to shake off the feeling. Was on the bike for about a half hour & felt okayish until the last few minutes when I had an uneasy feeling about my breathing again, went to the bathroom to compose myself as I was feeling lightheaded/derealization too, thought I was going to have a full blown panic attack right there, or pass out or both. Went back out to the elliptical still feeling uneasy but used it for a bit till it was getting intense, then did weights for a little, then went home with yet another tension headache.

I showered and took the pill that was prescribed to try. It certainly did reduce the headache but I also felt dizzy more than usual & had a panic attack, hyperventilating & all. It has taken me a while to lower it down a bit & I still feel very weird & breathless like I can't get in a deep breath. This has happened before & was constant too but my anxiety mind goes to the vital signs earlier even though the nurse explained why it showed up like that intiially. I keep thinking there's something wrong with my lungs or heart or something.

This has me down because I have a second interview tomorrow at the same place where the first interview was successful & it will also involved seeing how I work. I've been excited about it but also very nervous & anxious, so I don't know if all these stressful panic have something to do with it. I'm hoping I'll be so focused and distracted that I won't even notice anything. Plus I really want to be working again & want this job as it's a nice place. I don't want to blow this & my anxiety symptoms are full blown right now.

Can anyone relate? I'm sorry if I put this in the wrong section, there's elements of panic & HA so wasn't sure where to put it.

[pan1c]

Hello all,

I had made some progress in my anxiety journey since starting a few months ago and had even gotten to a point where I didn't think about my breathing all the time (still happened in spurts) tho I still feel lightheaded DP/DR most of the day. But I'd been coping better & had a successful job interview. However this past week has been a real flare up, have been getting bad tension headaches and feeling more lightheaded/out of it.

I went to the doctors this morning because I had a follow up appointment for blood work to check if I'm still anemic (doctor said blood work was perfect and I'm even able to donate blood!). He's aware of my anxiety and has been very helpful in referring for counseling & giving advice. I let him know about the tension headaches & he prescribed me a medication to take as needed called fioricet (butalbital/acetaminophen/caffeine). When the nurse was taking my vitals she put the pulse ox on & at first the O2 sat read 86%, I questioned this & she said "don't worry, its cause I just put it on and your hands are very cold. Wait and it will go up, it happens." Not gonna lie, they were freezing. Plus I had moved my hand around when she put it on, which I heard can affect it as well. Sure enough it climbed up to 96 & she said "see?" And took it off. I should be relieved by that but I've had anxiety about my breathing before with my anxiety, and afterward felt like I was short of breath.

I grabbed some food at home & went to the gym to shake off the feeling. Was on the bike for about a half hour & felt okayish until the last few minutes when I had an uneasy feeling about my breathing again, went to the bathroom to compose myself as I was feeling lightheaded/derealization too, thought I was going to have a full blown panic attack right there, or pass out or both. Went back out to the elliptical still feeling uneasy but used it for a bit till it was getting intense, then did weights for a little, then went home with yet another tension headache.

I showered and took the pill that was prescribed to try. It certainly did reduce the headache but I also felt dizzy more than usual & had a panic attack, hyperventilating & all. It has taken me a while to lower it down a bit & I still feel very weird & breathless like I can't get in a deep breath. This has happened before & was constant too but my anxiety mind goes to the vital signs earlier even though the nurse explained why it showed up like that intiially. I keep thinking there's something wrong with my lungs or heart or something.

This has me down because I have a second interview tomorrow at the same place where the first interview was successful & it will also involved seeing how I work. I've been excited about it but also very nervous & anxious, so I don't know if all these stressful panic have something to do with it. I'm hoping I'll be so focused and distracted that I won't even notice anything. Plus I really want to be working again & want this job as it's a nice place. I don't want to blow this & my anxiety symptoms are full blown right now.

Can anyone relate? I'm sorry if I put this in the wrong section, there's elements of panic & HA so wasn't sure where to put it.

Hey ChildOfTheKing,

I can totally relate, I've have been in the same situation a few years back now. You may think there is an underlying health issue but my money is on you are 100% healthy, you just have anxiety unfortunately. When you are heading back for the interview just know and believe totally that your panic attacks are, yes, horrific. But, they cannot hurt you physically, that is the truth, they cannot. Think about how many times you have felt terrible but you have always got through. They are just symptoms / Sensations, they feel bad but cannot hurt you. Once I learnt this and believed it 100%, Panic slowly disappeared.I pushed myself to do more and began to take control back from the disorder. You are going to ace the interview! I recovered and so can you. Chat soon, all the best.

[ChildOfTheKing]

Hey ChildOfTheKing,

I can totally relate, I've have been in the same situation a few years back now. You may think there is an underlying health issue but my money is on you are 100% healthy, you just have anxiety unfortunately. When you are heading back for the interview just know and believe totally that your panic attacks are, yes, horrific. But, they cannot hurt you physically, that is the truth, they cannot. Think about how many times you have felt terrible but you have always got through. They are just symptoms / Sensations, they feel bad but cannot hurt you. Once I learnt this and believed it 100%, Panic slowly disappeared.I pushed myself to do more and began to take control back from the disorder. You are going to ace the interview! I recovered and so can you. Chat soon, all the best.

Thank you so much, I know you're right and it's all just sensations. Today went pretty well and I'll also be going in tomorrow & Friday to see how well I work & adjust so that's good news. Today mostly shadowed but when I was really busy I didn't really think about much else except the task at home. There were times when I felt woozy and breathless but I didn't hit the floor so that's something lol. Toward the end of the day I was feeling really breathless but also just tense in general same with when I first went in. I know I'm focusing way too much on sensations but the anxiety mind says "but remember what if something is wrong? At the doctor's blah blah and this happened here blah blah."

[pan1c]

Thank you so much, I know you're right and it's all just sensations. Today went pretty well and I'll also be going in tomorrow & Friday to see how well I work & adjust so that's good news. Today mostly shadowed but when I was really busy I didn't really think about much else except the task at home. There were times when I felt woozy and breathless but I didn't hit the floor so that's something lol. Toward the end of the day I was feeling really breathless but also just tense in general same with when I first went in. I know I'm focusing way too much on sensations but the anxiety mind says "but remember what if something is wrong? At the doctor's blah blah and this happened here blah blah."

Hi ChildOfTheKing,

I really hope you are doing well. Check out antianxietyaustralia.com.au. The ebook is pretty much how I learnt to implement techniques to recover and is super cheap in relation to some out there. Even just having a chat with them via their webpage would be beneficial for all to try. I still do and they answer always, and it's free. I'm happy to chat with you here anytime.

Wishing you well. Have a great weekend.

[ChildOfTheKing]

Hi ChildOfTheKing,

I really hope you are doing well. Check out antianxietyaustralia.com.au. The ebook is pretty much how I learnt to implement techniques to recover and is super cheap in relation to some out there. Even just having a chat with them via their webpage would be beneficial for all to try. I still do and they answer always, and it's free. I'm happy to chat with you here anytime.

Wishing you well. Have a great weekend.

Thank.you so much. I appreciate the help and will check it out. Doing better this morning though got a little antsy because I had a brief pain of the chest on the left side but it's probably anxiety or muscular since I am using my body in ways I haven't in a while. Weightlifting, working, etc. Hope you are well too!

[snowghost57]

Have you tried the deep breathing exercises that I have seen mentioned here? Breathe in for the count of 7 and out at the count of 11? I too have anxiety when it comes to job interviews. Trust me I can really relate. I have had anxiety attacks so severe prior to a job interview I thought I was going to through up. I did check out the site that pan1c posted, I just don't have any money right now to buy another book. I just wish there was some chat room I could meet people that are working on their anxiety. That's why I like this forum, there is a lot of helpful information.

[ChildOfTheKing]

Have you tried the deep breathing exercises that I have seen mentioned here? Breathe in for the count of 7 and out at the count of 11? I too have anxiety when it comes to job interviews. Trust me I can really relate. I have had anxiety attacks so severe prior to a job interview I thought I was going to through up. I did check out the site that pan1c posted, I just don't have any money right now to buy another book. I just wish there was some chat room I could meet people that are working on their anxiety. That's why I like this forum, there is a lot of helpful information.

I do deep breathing a lot & sometimes it does help. Know what you mean, this forum is great to talk & relate. Not everyone understands the feeling unless theyve gone through it. Interviews are stressful! Sorry you feel so nauseous at times by them, nausea can be an irritating part of anxiety. Never know if you might toss your cookies.

Today was working interview so was frazzled a bit (a lot) as it is a different system than I'm used to, but it is a nice job. Keeps me distracted when I'm really busy, physically can be demanding, and geared toward helping others.

Almost had a full blown attack toward the end of the day. It is a medical office & one of my jobs is to take BP. BP reader (goes on the wrist) was being erratic & showing up strange on the monitor a few times so when I had a few minutes I tried to figure out what was going on. Tested it on myself, mind you if I remember I was on my feet and (definitely) my arms were hanging below me. Was already stressing from the day & getting symptoms on and off all day. It read 158/100 or some crazy reading like that, which I know I've never gotten always have gotten well within normal as far as BP even at the doctor's a couple of days ago, always around 120/80 or usually below that. Anyway didn't have time to sit and take another reading or mull on it as I had other tasks to do. Logically poor positioning combined with the monitor acting weird in the first place would give this reading but no, my anxiety really kicked off big time then lol but I didn't allow it to become a full blown attack. When I got home my omron BP monitor (had to have one for school still have it, I know bad thing to still have with anxiety) read normal. Took one reading and tossed the thing back before I get obsessed. Need to drop it.

The panic attack kicked in when I got home and now I'm tired and feel dull chest pain again but think it's coming from the shoulder as it feels tight & hurts to press. I'm exhausted. Lol.