So fed up & down

[missgaga]

Hello, my name is Dani & I'm new to this forum. I'm sorry if I've posted this in the wrong thread.

I have suffered anxiety since I was about 9 & that was nearly 11 years ago. I can't take this anymore. It used to only happen at night when I was alone & occassionaly but now it is all the time.

I've had counselling, medication & I've had so many tests done but nothing will help!

It started with chest pain & the odd panic attack. Then it was chest pain everyday & I went to hospital to have tests on my heart. At this point, I suffered from insomnia & I missed a lot of school as I was just too tired.

When I got to secondary school, I still have the chest pain but I developed a problem with my stomach. I've been diagnosed with IBS, anxiety has bought that on most likely.

Now, these days I don't mind the chest pains as I've learned to live with them but I'm having so many problems with my head. For the past year, on & off, but everyday for the last 3 months, I have suffered from tension headaches, blurred vision, dizziness, feelings of unreality, "pins & needles" in my head, loss of concentration & tiredness. I'm struggling to sleep again. I guess I have to note that I have a health anxiety & when I feel like this I do make myself worse. I have convinced myself that I've got a brain tumour or that I'm gonna have a haemorrhage. I can't convince myself I'm fine. Its hard to believe I'm OK as I've never had a scan on my brain or any proof. Just my doctor's word.

I just don't know what to do. My friends & family have stopped listening cos "its all in my head" & my doctor won't take me seriously. I'm only 19 & I feel so down as I can't imagine spending the rest of my life like this.

Otherwise I'm happy. I've been with my fiance 3 years & I've got a good job. I've got good friends & I don't understand why this won't go away. I'm sick of crying. http://www.anxietyforum.net/forum/images/smiles/icon_sad.gif

[cattia]

HI Dani,

Welcome to the board! I have not been here long myself but I have found this a great place where people are friendly and supportive and will help you through tough times.

It sounds as though you have anxiety that has been going on for a long time. The fact that you HAVE had it for so long and nothing serious has happened to your heatlh, should hopefully reassure you that this really is just anxiety. Most of us on here find it hard to believe that our symtoms can really be 'normal' or caused by anxiety, but if you read through some of the posts here, you will see that people have pretty much every symptom imaginable and all of these can be attributed to anxiety or to normal things that happen to the body and are not serious.

You say that you have had medication and counselling - have you had CBT at all? THat is meant to be the most effective form of counselling for dealing with health anxiety. There are also lots of different types of medication that work for different people, so it might be worth trying something new to get some relief.

All of us here know how you feel and how hard it is to fight these thoughts and feelings. You will find lots of support here. Things will get better and there will be brighter days ahead.