My experiences

[BB MACK]

Hi there,
I'm new here and have been lurking around beforehand. I have suffered from anxiety for over 6 months now. It started in March. I was walking home from work and I began to feel dizzy and lightheaded. Never thought anything of it. Then a few days later I kept jolting awake in the middle of the night. It began to frighten me... then one nigt I bolted out of my bed and my first panic attack happened. I thought I was dying. Usual symptoms... shakes, numbness, felt like I was going to faint.

Over the weeks I became so scared I withdrew into myself. Then the anxiety symptoms came... muscles tightening especially in my neck and back. Vision changes - floaters, sparks in vision, feeling sick, dry mouth...

The doctor put me on Halfinderal and it was helping me but also made other things worse... dizziness, feeling sick.... so I came off them. Currently I am doing a CBT course called Beat The Blues every week. I have got two weeks left. It has helped somewhat.

I have be so paranoid I have went for a diabeties test and an eye check up... both were fine and perfect.

Although I am getting better everyday the three things that bother me the most... is loss of sex drive, shakes all over my body and the one that is bothering me the most is my eyes... I can ignore the floaters most of the time but when I look up in the sky I see constant white sparks... the thing is I have felt like this for so long I have forgotten what it was like beforehand.
Has anyone else experienced the sparks. Although I have had my eyes checked out I still feel wound up about it.

Thanks for your time.

[Veronica H]

:welcome: to NMP. Yes I get the sparks just as you describe. I have panic anxiety. I had my eyes checked 2 weeks ago and they are fine. I am glad that CBT is working for you. There is a brilliant book 'self help for your nerves', by Dr Claire Weekes, which is available from the NMP shop. I can not recommend this enough as it really explains what is happening to us and shows how we can recover.

Veronica

[bellabessnjet]

BB Mack,
Please can you help I'm due to do the Beat the blues course in a few weeks, Does it help and is it emotionally difficult? I too suffer the same eye things, also the dry mouth I'm must drink at least 8 pints of water a day, sickness, tight chest, the shaking etc, etc. Ithink its just my bodies way of coping because my brain is not functioning properly. I've been on citralopram for 3 1/2 weeks due back at Drs so hopefully maybe a change in meds or increase may help.

[krog]

Hi there,

Although it may not help much, take comfort from the fact that everything you have stated in your post are typical anxiety symptoms and although terrifyingly scary, are completely 'normal'.

Having been in your position I know that there is probably nothing anyone can say to help you at this moment, but try not to panic too much.

As time passes, you will get better and you will learn to understand this blight called anxiety.

Just try to stay calm. Visit this forum regularly and get all the support that will help you get through this. Just vent, it really does help :D

Take care and good luck,
krog.

[BB MACK]

Thank you all for the support and the warm welcomes. It's so comforting to hear that I am not alone.

Bellabessnjet - The Beat The Blues course has been fantastic for me. At first I was wondering how on Earth sitting at a PC for an hour was going to help but the things that it teaches you can help so, so much when you find yourself going into deep panic. It doesn't have to be emotional draining but as long as you are open and honest to yourself and admit any problems you are having you'll find a way of dealing with them. Also it is vital that you do the course work set out for you inbetween weeks. It helps you pratice the tools you will learn to cope with any anxiety or depression.

I won't go into too much detail because it is a case of taking one session at a time. You'll be fine. If you feel you want to talk about the course when you are on it or anything you learn please don't hesitate to PM me. :)

Veronica H - thank you so much for the book advice. I will get it when I get paid next. Anything that helps is great.

[Crush]

Hi there,
The doctor put me on Halfinderal


Why oh why do these Docrtors have such a hard time diagnosing, perscribing for something so easy as anxiety?? It really ticks me off that they dont understand something so common.

Halfinderal or Lorazapam or vallium or alchohol will not be a long term solution for your anxiety.

You're constant worrying is cuasing your anxiety. And right now your worrying is about the anxiety itself. What stops this worrying is drugs like Citalopram. Only then will your symptoms go away. I'm only taking 1/4 pills becuase I reacted strong when taking half pills. Also, take them before bed and not in the morning. After a few weeks you'll notice a big difference.

Now I'm back to normal again. I quit drinking daily, don't worry as much about anything, and even got a new job. I dislike my new boss a lot but it doesn't bother me or keep me up at night like it would have.