AppleCinnamon
14-05-17, 20:30
Hello all, years ago I was diagnosed with a panic disorder and agoraphobia. Overall, what I have experienced over the last couple of years however, during several periods, seems rather different and might suggest that more is going on with my brain. My doctor said it is panic disorder and not GAD, but perhaps it could be both?
What I experience are prolonged periods of intense anxiety with accompanying symptoms: shaking heavily, sweating, tensing muscles to the point where I get muscle cramps, hot flashes, goosebumps, difficult and irregular breathing, rapid heart rate and extrasystole, nausea and weight loss, feeling faint and so on ... typical anxiety symptoms. These periods can last for weeks and I will feel physically and mentally exhausted, all of the time. The symptoms will start as soon as I wake up and tend to be worse in the morning/afternoon but I experience symptoms such as shaking and muscle tension all day long. They can also cause panic attacks and when I have one, I am more prone to getting more in the next days/weeks causing a vicious anxiety cycle that I cannot escape. During these periods, I cannot leave my house and I have a strong feeling of dissociation which seems directly related to the anxiety level that I feel. I even feel as if my vision changes, everything becomes darker and I cannot tolerate sunlight. I have been taking a benzodiazepine for 9 years and this, to some extent, helps me get through these periods; but they are obviously no solution. What I would like is to prevent these periods from happening to me, or to learn to deal with them.
My question would be if this can be understood as GAD? According to the definitions that I find panic attacks are sudden intense feelings of anxiety that come out of the blue. I have had many of those over the years, at home and outside, but most of the panic attacks have occurred at times when I am already in periods of high anxiety as previously described. What I read about GAD however is that it is related to obsessive worry; I do not recognise myself in that. The anxiety seems physical and not caused by thought patterns or constant worry. Rather, it seems completely out of my control; I think the fact that I wake up and start having all of these symptoms is illustrative of that.
That having said, I do believe that I have health anxiety (and anxiety for the anxiety) and that this might cause more anxiety but only through an unconscious process.
Thanks :)
What I experience are prolonged periods of intense anxiety with accompanying symptoms: shaking heavily, sweating, tensing muscles to the point where I get muscle cramps, hot flashes, goosebumps, difficult and irregular breathing, rapid heart rate and extrasystole, nausea and weight loss, feeling faint and so on ... typical anxiety symptoms. These periods can last for weeks and I will feel physically and mentally exhausted, all of the time. The symptoms will start as soon as I wake up and tend to be worse in the morning/afternoon but I experience symptoms such as shaking and muscle tension all day long. They can also cause panic attacks and when I have one, I am more prone to getting more in the next days/weeks causing a vicious anxiety cycle that I cannot escape. During these periods, I cannot leave my house and I have a strong feeling of dissociation which seems directly related to the anxiety level that I feel. I even feel as if my vision changes, everything becomes darker and I cannot tolerate sunlight. I have been taking a benzodiazepine for 9 years and this, to some extent, helps me get through these periods; but they are obviously no solution. What I would like is to prevent these periods from happening to me, or to learn to deal with them.
My question would be if this can be understood as GAD? According to the definitions that I find panic attacks are sudden intense feelings of anxiety that come out of the blue. I have had many of those over the years, at home and outside, but most of the panic attacks have occurred at times when I am already in periods of high anxiety as previously described. What I read about GAD however is that it is related to obsessive worry; I do not recognise myself in that. The anxiety seems physical and not caused by thought patterns or constant worry. Rather, it seems completely out of my control; I think the fact that I wake up and start having all of these symptoms is illustrative of that.
That having said, I do believe that I have health anxiety (and anxiety for the anxiety) and that this might cause more anxiety but only through an unconscious process.
Thanks :)