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Mindy
15-08-09, 00:58
Hey guys,

My name is Mindy, I just wanted to introduce myself and tell you a bit about me. (Lots of I's and Me's :blush:)

First of all, this forum is fantastic and great for anyone suffering the eternal battle with anxiety and panic. At first you feel like your the only one who has these sensations and ailments, and this forum confirms that there truly are others who can understand the inner core of anxiety!

I am a 27 y.o married mum of 2 boys, living in Melbourne, Australia. I had my first panic attack at the age of 18 after smoking some pot (at that point I had been smoking regularly so a puff on a billy wasn't out of the ordinary for me) but this time I started noticing what it was doing to my heart rate and then my breath got shallower and fast, soon I had pins and needles through my whole body, my hands and feet involuntarily stiffened up and I lost the ability to speak. My mother, (who smoked her fair share of drugs too) started screaming at me and asked me if I had taken any other drugs (I hadn't) so she drove me to hospital. They did the usual tests, EKG, physical exam and knew it was a panic attack. They gave me a shot of valium and I instantly relaxed, went home and slept for 15 hours!

At the time, I was living at my mother's house, in my first semester of university which was a 1.5 hour train ride away 5 days a week, and her house was chaos. She had her drug dealer living there with her 3 kids, ,my younger sister and her druggo friends were there and my younger siblings who were at primary school. It was pretty hectic, and I guess the trigger was a build up of years of suppressed emotions.

I had a major setback when at 22, my partner of 3 years took his own life and turned my world upside down. I found the panic at the time was suppressed until a few months after his death. Then it was worse than ever! I have since overcome my grief and my life is much better! :yesyes:

I have been battling panic and anxiety ever since. Although these days it is much more manageable. I do not live near the chaos any more and have a loving husband and 2 beautiful little boys. I still have daily struggles and issues with driving- sigh- that one is really annoying! But on the most part I am doing well and I understand more and more about this challenging illness.

I look forward to being part of such a supportive community! :shades:

chantelle
15-08-09, 01:10
Welcome to NMP - you'll get all the support you need here and people who really understand anything you talk about!!!
Good luck and take care
Chantelle

Veronica H
15-08-09, 18:43
:welcome: Mindy. Glad that you have found us. This is a very supportive place with great advice.

Veronica

Mindy
21-08-09, 11:13
Thanks so much for your feedback, I have been to the docs again and he was really cool, understood that I have been through the whole CBT thing and gave me a script for valium to assist with the worst symptoms and told me to come back in a few weeks for another chat to see if the CBT is working combined with the valium, so fingers crossed I can get into a more manageable state by then.

rich303
21-08-09, 11:32
:welcome: Mindy, good to see you have an understanding Doctor, I hope the CBT and valium help. :)

jill
21-08-09, 22:31
Hi Mindy :D:hugs:

:welcome: to the site.

As you can see hunny, there are lots of nice people here will help and support you, this site is such a great place to be, you can even go into chat and talk to people who understand as well as venting on the forums.

TAKE CARE

LOVE JILL XXX

skw1208
30-08-12, 10:52
Hi Mindy. I am also from Australia and battling with some severe health anxiety and fear of dying. I have panic attacks about these things almost daily. I live in north east Victoria but used to live in Melbourne (Richmond). I hope you find some good help and support on this forum and wish you all the best. I too look forward to finding people who are going through similar experiences