Vicki
16-05-08, 13:04
Hi there :byebye:
My name's Vicki and I stumbled across this site after one of my oh-my-god-I'm-dying-better-look-up-my-symptoms-on-teh-interwebz sessions. It's so reassuring to read other people's stories and know that I'm not the only one feeling this. After a couple of weeks of anonymously browsing I thought I'd register :)
I had my first panic attack when I was 17. I'd just started taking the contraceptive pill and as advised, had read the leaflet that came with it about possible side-effects. One night I had a tiny twinge of pain in my leg while I was in bed. I decided it was a blood clot. Then of course the chest pain came, and I was convinced the blood clot had moved to my lungs. I remember rushing to my mum's room and having her tell me I needed to calm down and sleep but I just couldn't. The chest pains and shortness of breath got worse and worse. I went to the doctor who said it was a panic attack but she didn't give me any more advice than that. I didn't believe her. For a week I suffered bad chest pains, I stopped going to college, I thought I was gonna die. Of course there was no blood clot, I didn't die, although perhaps switching to another pill did help.
Since then (I'm now 24) I've had spells of what I now know are anxiety. Chest pains, shortness of breath, palpitations, constant thoughts of my own death and the inevitable terror that brings. I had a 24-hour ECG on my heart, and an ultrasound, and have nothing wrong with my heart, except a very slightly irregular beat (apparently common for my age) and ectopic beats.
Since christmas this year has been a particularly long spell of anxiety, causing the skipped heart beats several times a die, one trip to A&E because one ectopic was particularly painful and made me dizzy (and of course set off a full-blown panic attack). I went to my doctor because I was worried after my periods became extremely light, to the point of almost stopping completely. She did a pregnancy test of course, then asked me questions about my thoughts and gave me a questionnaire. She then told me I suffer anxiety.
I was quite shocked to hear that it is thought of as a medical thing, similar to depression. My mum has depression and I never thought fear of death (which I get) could be thought of as just as bad as wanting to die (what she feels). Anyway I had an assessment appointment with a psychologist and I'm now waiting for the sessions to start. Until then I'm finding distraction, keeping a journal, and reading sites like this, are helping me find a perspective.
Well i've rambled on for quite long enough now :lol: Thankyou to anyone who managed to read it all :)
Vicki
My name's Vicki and I stumbled across this site after one of my oh-my-god-I'm-dying-better-look-up-my-symptoms-on-teh-interwebz sessions. It's so reassuring to read other people's stories and know that I'm not the only one feeling this. After a couple of weeks of anonymously browsing I thought I'd register :)
I had my first panic attack when I was 17. I'd just started taking the contraceptive pill and as advised, had read the leaflet that came with it about possible side-effects. One night I had a tiny twinge of pain in my leg while I was in bed. I decided it was a blood clot. Then of course the chest pain came, and I was convinced the blood clot had moved to my lungs. I remember rushing to my mum's room and having her tell me I needed to calm down and sleep but I just couldn't. The chest pains and shortness of breath got worse and worse. I went to the doctor who said it was a panic attack but she didn't give me any more advice than that. I didn't believe her. For a week I suffered bad chest pains, I stopped going to college, I thought I was gonna die. Of course there was no blood clot, I didn't die, although perhaps switching to another pill did help.
Since then (I'm now 24) I've had spells of what I now know are anxiety. Chest pains, shortness of breath, palpitations, constant thoughts of my own death and the inevitable terror that brings. I had a 24-hour ECG on my heart, and an ultrasound, and have nothing wrong with my heart, except a very slightly irregular beat (apparently common for my age) and ectopic beats.
Since christmas this year has been a particularly long spell of anxiety, causing the skipped heart beats several times a die, one trip to A&E because one ectopic was particularly painful and made me dizzy (and of course set off a full-blown panic attack). I went to my doctor because I was worried after my periods became extremely light, to the point of almost stopping completely. She did a pregnancy test of course, then asked me questions about my thoughts and gave me a questionnaire. She then told me I suffer anxiety.
I was quite shocked to hear that it is thought of as a medical thing, similar to depression. My mum has depression and I never thought fear of death (which I get) could be thought of as just as bad as wanting to die (what she feels). Anyway I had an assessment appointment with a psychologist and I'm now waiting for the sessions to start. Until then I'm finding distraction, keeping a journal, and reading sites like this, are helping me find a perspective.
Well i've rambled on for quite long enough now :lol: Thankyou to anyone who managed to read it all :)
Vicki