Hello

[artistguy]

Hello everyone. My name is Allan and I am 37 and live just outside of Manchester. My problems started back in August 97 when after a series of very stressful events I think I finally had a panic attack while eating, which caused me to gag. This has developed into a food/gagging/choking phobia as well as anticipatory anxiety and of course depression. Of course having been seen by three psychiatrists and given three different diagnosis ( G.A.D., choking phobia, moderate depression, anxiety and depressive illness, choking phobia, anticipatory anxiety and mild depression resulting from not being able to do what I used to do before all this happened ) as well as being given more anti-depressants and tranquillizers than you can shake a stick at, which haven't really made a dent in anything so I have decided to do it myself and get off my latest anti-depressant ( Mirtazapine ) and sort myself out. I taught myself to eat again after the trauma so I can overcome all this crap in time. I have no desire to stay on medication forever. Contrary to popular belief, choking phobias are quite common and apparently are very treatable. So just because you don't see much about it on the internet, doesn't mean that it is rare. There is always a solution to any problem if you are prepared to do the work and not give up. Stay positive, even when the days seem dark because everyone can recover.:yesyes:

[heidi]

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd152/heidi51/hello-5.gif

Welcome to NMP, you will get loads of advise and support here and make many friends along the way...........Don't forget to visit the chatroom !! :hugs:

[trac67]

Hi,

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

Take care

Trac xx

[pooh]

Hello! Nice to meet you!

[jill]

Hi Allan :)

:welcome: welcome to the site,

There are lots of nice people here who will help and support you

TAKE CARE

LOVE JILLXX

[nomorepanic]

Hi Allan

:welcome: aboard and lovely to see you here.

Glad you are accepting things now and good luck with coming off the meds.

[kate]

Hello and a big :welcome: to the forum

Kate

[chalky]

Hi Allan,

Welcome to the Forum!!

:hugs: :yesyes: :hugs: :yesyes:

You have given a very powerful,hopeful message.
You will get loads of support and advice here.
Best wishes,
Chalky

[groovygranny]

Hello Artistguy:welcome: to you!

You have a great positive attitude there!:yesyes:

I'm sure you'll have plenty of opportunity to give, as well as receive, help and support here.

Pleased to meet you!

:)

[Nibbles]

Hi Allan and :welcome:

You'll get loads of support and advice here while making new friends along the way. It's great to hear your positive attitude.

Take care,

Mike :)

PS I'm on the borders of Manchester too :D

[sagey]

Hi Allan and welcome.
I'd be interested to know how you coped with eating again and if you can give any advice to a fellow sufferer. Thanks from Sagey.

[artistguy]

Hi Allan and welcome.
I'd be interested to know how you coped with eating again and if you can give any advice to a fellow sufferer. Thanks from Sagey.

Thank you all so very much for your welcomes and your kind words of encouragement. I will try my best to help out anyone I can. In response to Sagey's question, I believe that all phobias and obssessions can be overcome. It may take some time, a great deal of hard work and self-belief but you can do it. There is no miracle cure because anxiety is not an illness. There will never be a miracle pill that takes away anxiety because it is a natural feeling and the only people without anxiety are dead. Some people are more prone to anxiety than other people but the important thing to remember is that if anxiety killed you then there would be about six billion corpses to climb over and the human race would have ceased to existed long ago. Anxiety is not a serious medical condition but just like a bad habit that your body has got into and that people who suffer with anxiety are as normal as the next person. Okay I have rambled on a bit so " How did I cope with eating again? " I just did the opposite of what my fear was telling me. I could say that FEAR stands for FALSE EXPECTATIONS APPEARING REAL. It is your mind trying to trick you into believing that you will choke or gag if you eat anything. I just decided to follow the lesson of if you fall of your bicycle get back on as soon as you can. For one month I lived on nothing but bananas and chocolate mousse, but slowly I re-introduced more food into my diet. I originally gagged on a piece of bread but now I can eat bread without any anxiety. Of course I have quite a long way to go before I can eat as I used to ( without anxiety ) and of course it will be hard but I believe that it can be done. :yesyes: You can re-train your brain.:yesyes:

[Lilith1980]

Hi Allan
Welcome to NMP hun, you'll get lots of advice and support here :smile:

Jo xxxxx

[Lindalou64]

Hello Alan And Welcome ......i Wish Ya Well.........linda

[kellie]

hiya allen :welcome: to nmp its great to have you here :yesyes: . you will get lots of support from all the great ppl here and i hope we can make you feel better about things. dont forget to visit the chat room. take care :hugs: :hugs:.

kellie.xxxxxxxxxxxxx