tedkay
25-02-06, 10:52
Hi All :D
What a find this site is - pity it wasn't around years ago, before I went through all the medical rigmarole I have endured over the years because if it had been I could have referred the many ignorant medical 'professionals' I have dealt with to it. [Duh!]
I'm a 57 year old man and I have suffered panic attacks for most of my adult life, with all the typical symptoms reported by so many in this forum. It is comforting to realise how common this problem is (and puzzling that so few doctors are aware of it!), and that the next time I am suffering the horrible breathless dizzy impending doom feeling, when I am trapped in a traffic jam for instance, I may not be the only one.
As the years have gone by I have managed to cope with my attacks better - partly because the heart attack/stroke that I was always convinced was imminent didn't happen, and partly because I have learnt to avoid the circumstances that I know are likley to trigger an attack. (My wife has become used to eating out in a restauarant in lightning time for instance, because she knows I have this overwhelming need to 'escape' to the outside as soon as possible). [:X]
I think a good deal of the confusion about this illness is caused by its' name 'PANIC ATTACK'. This conjures up a vision of a weak and vulnerable person, unable to deal with normal day to day situations and likely to start 'flapping' at the drop of a hat. So when presented with a person who is completely calm and competent and quite clearly in charge of themself in every way it is dificult for a doctor (or anyone else for that matter) to readily apply the term 'panic attack' to this person. I remember years ago reading an article about panic attacks and mentioning it to my doctor as a possible explanation for the dizzy spells I was having heart and brain investigations for. He said 'what have you got to panic about?' and dismissed the idea out of hand.[}:)] So off I went on yet another round of scans and ECG's and blood tests and hospital stays which could all have been avoided and saved the NHS a lot of resources - and saved me the scepticism of the staff who formed the opinion that I was a hypochondriac![:I][Sigh...]
'Your'e just tired' they would say, or 'It's stress' to which I would reply 'Is it normal for tired/stressed people to go dizzy to the extent they think they will faint; for their heart to beat furiously; for their legs to turn to jelly; for them to turn ghostly white and sweaty; to be unable to lie down and rest because the dizziness increases if they do; to be left totally exhausted by the episode; to be convinced they are going to have a heart attack at any minute?'. I never got a sensible answer. [?]
Congratulations for the excellent site[^]
What a find this site is - pity it wasn't around years ago, before I went through all the medical rigmarole I have endured over the years because if it had been I could have referred the many ignorant medical 'professionals' I have dealt with to it. [Duh!]
I'm a 57 year old man and I have suffered panic attacks for most of my adult life, with all the typical symptoms reported by so many in this forum. It is comforting to realise how common this problem is (and puzzling that so few doctors are aware of it!), and that the next time I am suffering the horrible breathless dizzy impending doom feeling, when I am trapped in a traffic jam for instance, I may not be the only one.
As the years have gone by I have managed to cope with my attacks better - partly because the heart attack/stroke that I was always convinced was imminent didn't happen, and partly because I have learnt to avoid the circumstances that I know are likley to trigger an attack. (My wife has become used to eating out in a restauarant in lightning time for instance, because she knows I have this overwhelming need to 'escape' to the outside as soon as possible). [:X]
I think a good deal of the confusion about this illness is caused by its' name 'PANIC ATTACK'. This conjures up a vision of a weak and vulnerable person, unable to deal with normal day to day situations and likely to start 'flapping' at the drop of a hat. So when presented with a person who is completely calm and competent and quite clearly in charge of themself in every way it is dificult for a doctor (or anyone else for that matter) to readily apply the term 'panic attack' to this person. I remember years ago reading an article about panic attacks and mentioning it to my doctor as a possible explanation for the dizzy spells I was having heart and brain investigations for. He said 'what have you got to panic about?' and dismissed the idea out of hand.[}:)] So off I went on yet another round of scans and ECG's and blood tests and hospital stays which could all have been avoided and saved the NHS a lot of resources - and saved me the scepticism of the staff who formed the opinion that I was a hypochondriac![:I][Sigh...]
'Your'e just tired' they would say, or 'It's stress' to which I would reply 'Is it normal for tired/stressed people to go dizzy to the extent they think they will faint; for their heart to beat furiously; for their legs to turn to jelly; for them to turn ghostly white and sweaty; to be unable to lie down and rest because the dizziness increases if they do; to be left totally exhausted by the episode; to be convinced they are going to have a heart attack at any minute?'. I never got a sensible answer. [?]
Congratulations for the excellent site[^]