Anxiety and panic-any advice MUCH appreciated!

[clair7]

Hi, iv been having panick attacks and bad anxiety for about a year now. Im anxious every day and it makes me too scared to go out. When i do go out i need to take herbal pills just to steady my nerves.
Im really scared of going to the doctor for no particular reason other than that i faint really easily. The last time i went i fainted when he took my blood pressure as im really squeemish and i get very nervous about going and having medical tests.
I did get the doctor to come out last yr when the anxiety started but he looked at me like i was a nutter when said that i didnt (then) want to take medication, and he spent all of 5 minutes with me and made me feel bad for getting him out because he didnt see me as really ill. My anxiety involves a fear of fainting in public and im just too scared to visit my doctor at the surgery.
Its just so frustrating, i feel as if im constantly checking in with myself too see if im ok or not and even when i try to take my mind off it i feel anxious. It makes me feel depressed too, like im just no use to anybody like this and i should be out enjoying myself but im just wasting my life.
I know that i need help but dont know how to go about it. Does anyone have any advice? Thanks for reading!
P.S. what a fab site this is!!!

[shakey1961]

While it may or may not be a comfort to you, I remember being told years ago that if you're panicking you CAN'T faint because you blood pressure is raised, and it's when your blood pressure drops that makes you faint.

You still feel cr@p though.

Are you on any medication for anything else? Herbal stuff? If so check that as perhaps some of then side effects could be that it lowers your blood pressure.

The worst that is going to happen is you'll keel over and people will come and help you. I know I would and not think anything bad of you.

Hope it helps

[janny63]

Hi Clair sorry to hear yu are feeling this way. Here are some things tha help me, Kalms tablets from health shop, listening to a relax tape, Uncommon knowledge do a good panic prevention cd, eat health regular meals (no choc or caffeine) exercise abit everyday. I never take meds as I think they just mask the prob. You need to bring your anxiety levels down so your mind can start to think rationally again. Have you ever fainted in public, what was the worst that can happen? I used to and sometime still do havepanic attacks when driving especially on motorways, I always thimnk I can't breath nd what if I have an attack and die. I never hav in 14 years! It will get better but try to see the Doctor just to put yourmind at rest and this websit helps because you know you are not alone xxx:)

[sprookey]

hi clair , i am epileptic and the fact that you are fainting alot , could be due to another problem , please go and find the strength to go to the doctors and get it checked out properly, go with someone you can trust , it took me 10 years to go to the doctor and i suffered alone alot of the time , now i have a fantastic doctor had loads of test done and has found more problems but now i look at it as on the road to recovery , i agree with what shakey said , there could be a problem causing you to faint and it really needs to be check out good luck

[pink daisy]

Hi Clair

A lot of people do worry about fainting with anxiety so dont worry!! I used to faint alot when i was younger, I exspect you passing out at the doctors last time has just made you worry even more. Doctors make everyone a bit nervous but try not to focus on it to much.

You could look up on the internet for the organisation (Mind) they have people who you can go and talk to or they can talk to you in your home... Normally they are people that has suffered from or work in the field of mental health and can advice you, and could even talk to your doctor to see about what therapys are available on the NHS in youra area. But you could go private aswell you can look up cbt which is cognitive behaviour therapy which is very efective.. Hope i have given you a little help.

Daisy xx

[clair7]

Hi guys,

Thanks so much for all your help and advice, it really is a comfort to hear from others in similar poaitions. I think i worry about fainting so much because my first panic attack happened when i all of a sudden felt like i was going to faint in the car on the motorway. I havent actually fainted since iv been having panic and anxiety (touch wood!!) but the fear of it is causing anxiety and stopping me from doing things. I think that the worst that could happen is that i panic and just forget how to breathe and loose control of what im thinking and feeling when im not in a safe place. The thought of going out and panicking just terrifies me and i know that i need to just forget about it and get over it-but how do you do that?!?
I agree with you janny that medication may not be the best approach because although i take kalms and valerian herbal pills, i would like to come out of this without having proper medication. I would really like to try talking therapies but the waiting list on the nhs are really long and cant really afford to go privately.
I've completely cut out caffene and alcohol to try and minimise the anxiety but think the choc might be too hard to give up lol!!
Anyway, thats enough of me rambling, im not sure that i have made any sort of sense!! Thanks so much again to all of you that have read and responded. If anybody ever wants a chat im always here for a PM.

xxx :D

[Breatheon]

Hiya

I used to worry about fainting especially because I travel on the train a lot and on one of my first days when the train doors opened somebody fainted right in front of me.

I also used to worry about if I fainted would I stop breathing etc and I went to see the doctor about it but she started saying I can 100%... and I thought she was going to say I can 100% understand how you feel but she went on to say I can 100% guarantee that you will not stop breathing. She said that if you faint your brain automatically kicks in and keeps things ticking over and that reassured me a lot.

I would agree that talking therapies would help especially CBT, it always challenges negative thoughts and says well OK if that happened what would happen next and tries to show that negative thoughts can usually be challenged with a more rationale realistic thought.

Hope this rambling helps!!

[sagey]

Hi Clair, please don't be afraiad of going to your doctor. If you are going to faint/pass out, surely the surgery is one of the best places to be ! Get yourself checked and see if there is a medical reason for your faintness. Don't forget that these G.P.'s get around a 100 grand a year for being snooty and dismissing our symptoms, so get down there and make them attempt to earn all that dosh.

[shakey1961]

Clair..... you said "I think i worry about fainting so much because my first panic attack happened when i all of a sudden felt like i was going to faint in the car on the motorway."

Please if you can remember can you tell me what time of day this was? Were you driving? When had you last eaten? Was it hot in the car? How long had you been driving for? Also anything else about your circumstances that day would be a help.

If you can answer these the best you can I "think" I may have an answer for you!

[clair7]

Hi Shakey,
theres quite a long story to it but i'll try to cut it short. I was taking my brother and his girlfirend to the airport, they were going to live in new york for a year and my dad was driving. We were really close so i was gutted that they were leaving as they had helped me through some really tough times.
It was also about half 4 in the morning and we'd been up drinking the night before so id only had about an hours sleep and only managed to have an apple before we went. When we were on the motorway near the airport i just came over really dizzy and couldnt breathe. We waited for the plane to leave so we were at the aiport for a couple of hours and I spent the whole time panicking that i was going to pass out and create a big scene. I know that all of these factors probably made me feel faint but it just wasnt like me at all and its had such a huge impact. Before all this i had a really stressfull couple of years because my gran died and my boyfriend had OCD which was really difficult to cope with and i was doing my last year of uni. After what happened in the car i went back to uni and on the first night i was there i felt the same as before, i started thinking that i was on my own and couldnt cope with the work and trying to deal with things on my own and just went all faint and couldnt breathe. I thought the answer was just to come home and id feel better but i didnt, i just locked myself away and the anxiety has grown to the point where im anxious all the time and have to take herbal pills to go out.
The thing that worries me about going to the doctors is that its really likely that i will faint. Im worried about the impact it will have on my confidence in going out and doing things when ive had all of this anxiety from just nearly fainting. Does that make sense??
Think iv rambled enough again, thanks for your advice it really does help.

xxx

[shakey1961]

Ok thanks for the explanation... the more details the better.

Point 1.

It was also about half 4 in the morning and we'd been up drinking the night before so id only had about an hours sleep and only managed to have an apple before we went. When we were on the motorway near the airport i just came over really dizzy and couldn't breathe.I will presume you were drinking alcohol.

You were up all night, had one hours sleep and been on alcohol. I'm not saying you were drunk and you'd taken it easy, just normal drinking and had one apple for food.

Clair what you had was a hypoglycaemic episode! See the thread I put up about this:-

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=27868

Blood sugar is at it's lowest around 5am and that's when you're asleep! The time of the morning, plus the alcohol, plus no food plus lack of sleep you were heading for a nasty hypo. Hypos can make you feel like you're going to collapse - I know I've had enough of them in my time.

Drops in your blood sugar come on very very rapidly. One minute you're fine the next you're bad. I recently drove some friends to their car from my flat a distance of just over a mile. I could feel it coming on when I left my flat and by the time I'd driven there less than 3 mins I was a wreck. I had to ask them to stay with me while I downed a bottle of coke!

What happens during a hypoglycaemic episode?

Hypoglycaemia can cause some or all of the following symptoms:
paleness
trembling
perspiration
a feeling of weakness

rapid heartbeat
hunger
agitation
difficulty concentrating
irritability
fatigue (http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/health_advice/facts/fatigue.htm)
blurred visionDoes that describe what you felt like?

Of course you're now worried because you didn't know what was happening to you at the time - but I believe that's what happened to you.

You now need to get your confidence back knowing what it was, and to prove it the next time you feel like you did then have some sugar. It must be a sugary drink, not a diet drink or anything with Aspartame or artificial sweeteners in. Carry some Dextrosol tablets with you. If you feel bad have 3 or 4 and within 20 or so mins you'll feel better.

Stop worrying and start enjoying life again. Any more help and don't hesitate to ask.

Sorry it's been long winded

Also sent you a PM