AngieJ
20-08-07, 00:26
Hi, I'm Angie, 42.
I suffered my first major panic attack 3 years ago on the train going to work. I landed up in A&E and had an overnight stay in hospital for observation because they couldn't make up their minds if there was a problem with my heart or not. I was put on Beta Blockers, statins and aspirin and told to return 4 weeks later for an exercise stress test. 2 weeks later the same thing happened again, this time I got put on the cardiac ward. I had numerous tests and was told there was nothing wrong with my heart, to stop taking the tablets and go home. There was no mention of Anxiety or Panic Disorder, but no other explanation for my symptoms.
It has only been this year that I have managed to get my GP to take me seriously, Up until January everytime I have been I've been told don't worry, its just stress, you'll get over it.....
Well I got sick of 'Just Stress' and refused to budge from the surgery until something was done. My GP arranged for me to have a portable ECG machine fitted for a week and after a few more tests I was told by a cardiologist that my heart was quite healthy and I was suffering from extreme anxiety. He wrote to my GP who has now referred me for counselling.
My problem now is that I think that it has gone too far, I can no longer travel on a bus or a train and believe me I have tried (my 25 min trip to work ended up taking 2 hrs because I had to get off the train at every stop and wait for the next one), I start to panic if we get stuck in a traffic jam in the car, I can't stand in queues in shops, I can't even sit in the doctors waiting room on my own, the list goes on.....
My GP also prescribed me Propranalol but I'm reluctant to take it after having read the side effects.
I'm sorry to have waffled on but its such a relief to find somewhere where someone may actually understand what I'm going through.
I suffered my first major panic attack 3 years ago on the train going to work. I landed up in A&E and had an overnight stay in hospital for observation because they couldn't make up their minds if there was a problem with my heart or not. I was put on Beta Blockers, statins and aspirin and told to return 4 weeks later for an exercise stress test. 2 weeks later the same thing happened again, this time I got put on the cardiac ward. I had numerous tests and was told there was nothing wrong with my heart, to stop taking the tablets and go home. There was no mention of Anxiety or Panic Disorder, but no other explanation for my symptoms.
It has only been this year that I have managed to get my GP to take me seriously, Up until January everytime I have been I've been told don't worry, its just stress, you'll get over it.....
Well I got sick of 'Just Stress' and refused to budge from the surgery until something was done. My GP arranged for me to have a portable ECG machine fitted for a week and after a few more tests I was told by a cardiologist that my heart was quite healthy and I was suffering from extreme anxiety. He wrote to my GP who has now referred me for counselling.
My problem now is that I think that it has gone too far, I can no longer travel on a bus or a train and believe me I have tried (my 25 min trip to work ended up taking 2 hrs because I had to get off the train at every stop and wait for the next one), I start to panic if we get stuck in a traffic jam in the car, I can't stand in queues in shops, I can't even sit in the doctors waiting room on my own, the list goes on.....
My GP also prescribed me Propranalol but I'm reluctant to take it after having read the side effects.
I'm sorry to have waffled on but its such a relief to find somewhere where someone may actually understand what I'm going through.