Help I cant stand this anymore.

[uzumati]

Hey guys I am Lee I'm 19 and have had anxiety and panic attacks since the age of 17. I'm getting very worried now as i keep finding things on google making me think i have various cancers and diseases. I was just wondering if my symptoms are caused by anxiety or by something else? I have chest pain every now and then and occasionally my heart starts to twinge like theres no pain but its just a scary uncomfortable feeling. I also get palpatations and very rarely the muscle on my upper arm starts to spasm. I'm really scared that I am dying and it is getting so bad that for days on end i'm sat in my room through fear of someone seeing me in such a paranoid state and of having an episode in front of them. I do not take any medication as from my experience it made the panic attacks worse so maybe I should look into that. But I just can't take it anymore its driving me mad. I've also noticed that recently it has got worse due to my housing problems so maybe stress plays a part. Anyway thank you for reading and please let me know if anyone here has experienced anything similar :).

[bottleblond]

Hi Lee

Welcome along to NMP!

Yes you are right in saying that stress can play a very big part in anxiety BUT please don't google health symptoms hun. 9 times out of 10 it will throw up the biggest load of rubbish and set our minds into a massive panic.

Have a read through the site and i am sure you will find alot of helpfull information.

Take care
Lisa
x

[bencooper1977]

Hi mate. You sound like me!! I have been in a state of panic again now for about 3wks but badley for the last 2 days. I have been on citalopram for 10yrs now but still get ups and downs. Dr.Google is the worst in the world and i am the worst for googling symptoms and diagnosing my own death. Its like an addiction, you just have to look but you know you shouldn't! Hold tight mate and see your doc about getting some help for your panic.

[Jaco45er]

Hiya Lee :)

Google, hey man that's a school boy error, I should know, I do it too much lol

The good news for you my friend is that statistically, you are far too young to have the health problems you are googling, I just wager you googled heart attacks and read about tight chest, left side, etc etc and associated with them in a flash, and BANG, the next hours are spent inwardly looking and convincing yourself you have what you have been reading.

Now by a cruel twist of fate, that good ole (physically harmless) anxiety has all those symptoms that you have googled, and has led you to stress about heart attacks, cancers, and all those other nasty things in life. But what google forgot to tell you is, your anxiety symptoms can mimic all of them.

Now here's a wee suggestion and it might just do the trick. why not book into to see your GP just for the once over. Once he has given you the all clear (and he will), then you should hopefully feel a little weight coming off your shoulders.

Once you put them thoughts to bed about it being a real physical problem, then you can start to work on the mind, for it's the mind that's fooling you into thinking you are ill.

Subconsiously or not, with anxiety, the thoughts start the physical symptoms, but with the right help, the thoughts can stop the anxiety too (a reference to CBT me thinks).

As my dear blondy has said above, have a read around, youare not alone mate.

Good luck

Jaco

[den68]

I have made the mistake of googling and had advice to dial 999 off these websites they have said it could be stroke, heart attack, brain tumour etc and guess what it is just anxiety, stress and panic dont look on google it will make you think you have every deadly illness out there. Look through this site its amazing what symptoms anxiety gives you.
Take care
Denise