does anyone

[bluewoman]

remember having wierd symptoms (dizzy spells, heart palps, etc) before they were diagnosed with full blown anxiety disorder?? even before they continually felt anxious and did not know what was causing it?

[Dazza]

yes - I was having palps and shortness of breath for many months.. i was especially getting the palps at night when in bed.

I thought that it was a bit wierd, and i was only midly worried about it. But then when I had my first attacks (both times I ended up dialling 999, convinced that I was having a heart attack) it all spiralled from there.

[Liverbird67]

You have hit the nail on the head for me hun, it was the feeling weird, dizzy spells etc that started my panic attacks off, I would defo say that the physical side of things brought on the mental things, I would worry thinking that I had some subtle disease that the DRs had missed.

Now I think that I have some weird mental illness that has not been diagnosed, I know deep down that it is crazy but still that little demon in my head says "What if?" I can blow things all out of proportion with this, and I can really feel for you hun, the only things that work for me is distraction sometimes I cannot even do this but try and stick with it even if its the worst crap on the telly anything to try and stop thinking of it.

Lots of Love

Debbie

[polly123]

Hiya
Yes believe it or not, i was having palpitations for 2 years before it all blew up into ..... well GAD or ANX DISORDER, lol not sure which it is because different docs use different phrases, all this happend a year ago and looking back it was the most frightening time of my life i felt so so ill, but a year on and yes the odd setback iam feeling so much better so as they say, there is light at the end of the tunnel
TAKE CARE POLLY XX

[diybabe]

Hi
Yep me aswell!!! I had dizziness, breathlessness, chest tightness and days of feeling away with the fairies, i had these symptoms for years before knowing what they where and because of the unknown i worried more and made myself feel worse. This site has helped incredibly, better than any advice my doctor has given.

[CONS]

Lol looks like im an exception to the rule maybe but no i didnt,

Hardly got ill at all in every sense of the word, maybe thats why when i had my first panic attack it lasted 2-3 hours of continual attacks as my head could not comprehend what was happening.

Numbness from fingertips to both elbows and dry mouth?

Paramedics saying "try to calm down",

Imagine how that felt :(

CONS