Trev
05-08-05, 23:11
Firstly, hello to all and I hope you are ok,
I only found this site a few days ago while trawling the net at work after a "dodgy" day. Glad I did as it has already been very helpful and it also seems really well laid out and organised to me.
I received a welcome mail asking me to introduce myself as well as provide a bit of background of suffering / medication etc. I'll try to do this without boring you all too much. I'll try to keep it as brief as possible while giving a good picture of what has happened to me. Hopefully it might even help somebody in some small way?
What I suffer from........
About 18 months ago I was parked at the roadside on my motorbike when I was hit head on by another vehicle. I was thrown off of the bike and landed on my head / back about 15 feet away. Luckily I was physically OK (I think!) but I felt very weird at the time. I had a few pains from the impact, mostly left shoulder, arm and wrist and my head took a bit of a whack. While going to phone for a recovery vehicle I returned to find somebody had stolen what remained of the bike! I didn't really take any time off to recover as I thought I was OK but I now believe this event laid the seed of my current problems.
To cut a long story short, a few other events occured over the subsequent year or so which were also very stressful.
Last Novemeber while at work I had a dizzy spell followed by what I could only descibe as an icy feeling creeping over my head. I paniced and thought I was having a stroke. I then got pains down my left arm and in my chest and assumed it was a heart attack. I was carted off to hospital only to be told I was OK. I had no other explaination. A few days later I was out in the car and got a weird feeling that I might forget the way home. Bizarre! Next thing all of tha pains came back and I then had my first full blown panic attack which really freaked me out. I was then constantly dizzy and lost the ability to think rationally and lost all confidence. I then spiralled down until I couldn't even be bothered to eat. I then started getting a bit agrophobic. I went from hardly knowing my doctor to virtually living in the surgery.
What medication.......
I was diagnosed by a neurologist as being in an "anxiety state" and given betablockers. This helped at first but later I became worried about taking these as they made me lethargic and dizzy. I then got anxious my heart was beating too slow and would stop. I had more bad panic attacks.
What help........
1) Someone gave me a copy of Claire Week's book "Self Help For Your Nerves" which was a massive help. At first I couldn't read it but once I did things started to become clear and I felt some reassurance.
2) Referred to a therapist by GP which I was dubious about at first but which was a big help. She took me off betablockers and used CBT over a 2-3 month period.
3) Did a Stress Management course which again I was dubious about but was a massive help. As much as anything it was good to talk to other people in the same position.
4) I've had acupuncture and Chinese herbs for about 6 months now (ongoing). I always feel better after.
5) Cranial massage which has been brilliant. (Again ongoing).
6) Joined "No Panic" which I'm sure you all know about.
7) Taken alot of time off work and gone on holidays away whenever possible. Forced myself to do things socially when I could barely hold it together at first. Now it's loads easier.
8) Tried to get back into exercise although I still worry about overdoing it and dropping dead! But each time I do a run or bike or swim it gives me confidence that I must be ok. It's just getting this feeling to last that's difficult at the moment!! I still can't believe that it wasn't that long ago I used to swim every day. Now I worry if I get a chest pain at it stops me swimming.
9) Friends have been brilliant in the main.
10) This site hopefully.....
Currently, I'm loads better than 9 months ago but just when I thought I'd turned the corner I had my biggest panic attack about 2 weeks ago. It's knocked me back and I just find
I only found this site a few days ago while trawling the net at work after a "dodgy" day. Glad I did as it has already been very helpful and it also seems really well laid out and organised to me.
I received a welcome mail asking me to introduce myself as well as provide a bit of background of suffering / medication etc. I'll try to do this without boring you all too much. I'll try to keep it as brief as possible while giving a good picture of what has happened to me. Hopefully it might even help somebody in some small way?
What I suffer from........
About 18 months ago I was parked at the roadside on my motorbike when I was hit head on by another vehicle. I was thrown off of the bike and landed on my head / back about 15 feet away. Luckily I was physically OK (I think!) but I felt very weird at the time. I had a few pains from the impact, mostly left shoulder, arm and wrist and my head took a bit of a whack. While going to phone for a recovery vehicle I returned to find somebody had stolen what remained of the bike! I didn't really take any time off to recover as I thought I was OK but I now believe this event laid the seed of my current problems.
To cut a long story short, a few other events occured over the subsequent year or so which were also very stressful.
Last Novemeber while at work I had a dizzy spell followed by what I could only descibe as an icy feeling creeping over my head. I paniced and thought I was having a stroke. I then got pains down my left arm and in my chest and assumed it was a heart attack. I was carted off to hospital only to be told I was OK. I had no other explaination. A few days later I was out in the car and got a weird feeling that I might forget the way home. Bizarre! Next thing all of tha pains came back and I then had my first full blown panic attack which really freaked me out. I was then constantly dizzy and lost the ability to think rationally and lost all confidence. I then spiralled down until I couldn't even be bothered to eat. I then started getting a bit agrophobic. I went from hardly knowing my doctor to virtually living in the surgery.
What medication.......
I was diagnosed by a neurologist as being in an "anxiety state" and given betablockers. This helped at first but later I became worried about taking these as they made me lethargic and dizzy. I then got anxious my heart was beating too slow and would stop. I had more bad panic attacks.
What help........
1) Someone gave me a copy of Claire Week's book "Self Help For Your Nerves" which was a massive help. At first I couldn't read it but once I did things started to become clear and I felt some reassurance.
2) Referred to a therapist by GP which I was dubious about at first but which was a big help. She took me off betablockers and used CBT over a 2-3 month period.
3) Did a Stress Management course which again I was dubious about but was a massive help. As much as anything it was good to talk to other people in the same position.
4) I've had acupuncture and Chinese herbs for about 6 months now (ongoing). I always feel better after.
5) Cranial massage which has been brilliant. (Again ongoing).
6) Joined "No Panic" which I'm sure you all know about.
7) Taken alot of time off work and gone on holidays away whenever possible. Forced myself to do things socially when I could barely hold it together at first. Now it's loads easier.
8) Tried to get back into exercise although I still worry about overdoing it and dropping dead! But each time I do a run or bike or swim it gives me confidence that I must be ok. It's just getting this feeling to last that's difficult at the moment!! I still can't believe that it wasn't that long ago I used to swim every day. Now I worry if I get a chest pain at it stops me swimming.
9) Friends have been brilliant in the main.
10) This site hopefully.....
Currently, I'm loads better than 9 months ago but just when I thought I'd turned the corner I had my biggest panic attack about 2 weeks ago. It's knocked me back and I just find