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Harper
15-12-07, 15:37
Sorry I’ve just realised I’ve written my life story!

Hi everyone,
I’ve been reading through this forum for a few months and find it very helpful. I’m kind of nervous about posting because some of what has triggered my anxiety is my own fault and I’m ashamed to post it.

I’m a final year uni student, I’ve got a lot of work to do at the moment, I’m worried that I won’t ever get round to doing it all, I’ve been under pressure for the last few years, but up until now all the work has always seemed “do-able”. I think part of my worry is that I don’t know what I am going to do next year, I’ve got no plans and am frightened that I may have lumbered myself with a load of debt for a degree that I ultimately won’t do well on.

A couple of months ago my first serious relationship broke down, up until then I’d always been a generally happy person but in the week that followed that I felt so down, I can’t remember ever having felt so sad-which is probably an indication of how good my life has been up until then-I’ve never experienced the loss of a loved one or anything like that- I know that a relationship break up is nothing in comparison to what many people have gone through. A couple of weeks after that I had a “health scare” which helped put all of that into perspective a bit.

This next bit is the bit I’m ashamed of; as an attempt to forget the past few weeks I went out with some old friends, they were taking “stuff”, I’ve known about this for a long time but never wanted anything to do with it before, but that night I thought “who cares” and tried something. I wasn’t pressured in to it, it was down to me. I can’t tell you how much I regret that decision-the next day I didn’t feel bad physically, but it played on my mind what I did, I couldn’t stop thinking about it and how stupid I had been. Most of all I felt guilty, I have a family who love me and to think what I could have put them through if something bad had happened to me, made me feel sick.

Six days after this I was working, when I kind of had a “blip”, I was working at the computer when I had a sudden head rush, I couldn’t concentrate on anything for 5 seconds and the only thing I could think of to do was run to be with other people in case something bad happened. I was fidgety and panic-y for the rest of the evening, I couldn’t keep still or concentrate on anything, I was scared to go to sleep in case I didn’t wake up.
The next day we went out and although everything was still playing on my mind I tried to distract myself with other things, except the feeling of needing to run and fast heartbeat came back. I tried to relax, when it happened the next day (although nothing like the first time it happened) I called the on call service (it was a weekend) and was told to go to A&E. I’ve never been to hospital before and that in itself scared me, but I really thought I was about to die. I told the doctor everything, he said that anything I had done would be out of my system now but he did some tests and everything came back OK. I was told everything was down to anxiety.

The reassurance from the doctor helped, since then I’ve only had a couple of the “head rush” occurrences and knowing what they where I breathed through them, other symptoms like the lump in the throat and lack of appetite have gone. I’m finding it less of an effort to breathe too, if that makes sense. This happened about 7 weeks ago and since then I’ve had about 3 days where I kind of feel like my old self but for most of the time my head feels foggy and “heavy”, I wake up feeling tired and I think my university work has suffered because of this.


So that’s my story. The cause of my panic and anxiety is mainly self inflicted. On the positive side it’s taught me some lessons and made me appreciate life more and empathise with other people-I never really though about how frightening panic attacks and anxiety was until it happened to me. However I’m worried that this is something that I will always have now and I feel sad when I think back to how I was six months ago and realise how much my life’s changed.

Thanks for reading x

chalky
15-12-07, 16:11
Hi Harper,
It's good to hear from you.
Please try not to go down the road of apportioning blame.You have enough to deal with without that.
Be positive.You are doing something about your problems.
The future.Who knows? Try to live day by day and let the future sort itself out when it becomes today.
Best wishes,
Chalky

MessedUp
15-12-07, 16:46
Hi Harper,
Without knowing what substance it was, it's hard to say whether it could have a lasting effect but I'd take the doctors words for it, if I were you, if they think not.
You've learnt from your mistake, so don't feel guilty, just remember to avoid that next time it's offered. You've grown as a person from having had that experience and lived to tell the tale.
You've been through some heavy stuff at a stressful time, so it's not suprising you're reacting to it the way you are. The stress comes out as anxiety.
IMHO the only sure-fire answer is to assess your lifestyle, remove as much stress as you can, or balance things out with as many good times as you can cram in. If you can find time to enjoy yourself, that will balance out the strains of the studying.
As for the future (your worries about where you're heading) just let that take care of itself, as it will. Deal with today and tomorrow can wait. The most wonderful times of your life are surely ahead, and a bit of knuckling down and getting on with it now really should pay dividends in the long run, giving you plenty to look forward to. Passing exams, better relationships, great nights out, travel, adventure, marriage+kids if that's your plan perhaps, who knows? Life's what you make it and you've a lot of it yet to come.
It will be worth it... one day at a time!
take care

btw, is there anyone in real life you can talk to about it, because although these forums are great there's no real substitute for a face-to-face with someone you know...?

groovygranny
15-12-07, 21:41
Hello Harper:welcome: to you!

If I've learnt anything in life - especially since I was ill - it's to use everything you experience to your advantage.....mistakes and all.

That way, even the mistakes serve to enlighten and teach - if only to show us what to avoid in the future.

So, I hope you'll be able to do this soon and not blame yourself.

You'll find plenty of help and support here - pleased to meet you!

:flowers:

honeybee3939
15-12-07, 23:36
Hi Harper

Welcome to NMP, its lovely to see you here, im sure you will get some great advice, support and make new friends too.:)

Love
:hugs:
Andrea
xxxxx

Lindalou64
16-12-07, 01:05
HELLO HARPER AND WELCOME TO THE SITE.I WISH YOU WELL......LINDA

xBettyBoopx
16-12-07, 01:58
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r307/freecommenttags/Hello/296529600_b4f04316de.jpg (http://www.freecommenttags.com) Harper and welcome to NMP.

You sound like a very sensible 'together' person to me and don't beat yourself up over a mistake that you made, we can bog ourselves down with guilt and shame, when it's not necessary.

Personally I don't think that you'll always have panic attacks as you have seen them for what they are straight away and you have learnt to deal with them. You sought help early and you know exactly what to do when you start to feel anxious. Try not to worry (easy for me to say), many people have one or two panic attacks and never have anymore. Good luck in all your endeavours.

Elspeth

Southern_Belle
16-12-07, 16:09
Harper,

Hello and welcome to the site. Many here have felt like you do and you will find that you are not alone.

Hugs,

Laura

trac67
16-12-07, 18:37
Hi,

Welcome to the forum, you will get a lot of good advice here and make some new friends

Take care

Trac xxx

Pink Panic
16-12-07, 18:48
Hi

Welcome to the website :hugs:

Harper
17-12-07, 16:29
Hey all,
Thank you for replying to me and for all your kind and positive comments, I really appreciate it. I’m trying to take your advice and think positively and look ahead; it’s mainly these negative thoughts that I can’t seem to shake off and the stress and pressure of work that are holding me back.

Messedup- I’m really lucky as there are a couple of friends (and family) I’ve spoken to about this in real life. I just feel really bad about what I think caused it and don’t want people to see me differently for having made that stupid decision. A lot of my friends, having never had panic attacks or anxiety like this themselves, don’t quite understand how scary the experience and symptoms are (I sometimes feel my brain is “trying to shut down”) and to be fair this time six months ago I think I would have been the same as them. It’s not that they’re being unsympathetic or anything, but because they’ve not experienced it themselves maybe they feel I’m over reacting. I’ve tried to describe the feeling of loneliness you get at the moment in the panic attack when you think something terrible could happen and the worry and fear that happens afterwards but it’s hard to explain to them. Browsing through the threads is helpful because it has made me realise that I’m not going mad and other people have felt the same way and had the same symptoms.

Thanks again everyone

x

nomorepanic
17-12-07, 22:12
Hi Harper

Just wanted to :welcome: you aboard and hope we can be of some help.

You will meet some great people on here and get loads of support and advice.