neilo31
10-09-10, 23:00
Hi all,
I have been coming to 'No More Panic' by recommendation for almost 6 months now but never thought to register and check out the forum. I'd simply used the 'symptoms' page to check that what I was experiencing was normal.
After suffering a panic attack yesterday It only just occurred to me to check online for forums and chat rooms and of course there was one under my nose all along.
So let me tell you about myself...
It all started (Health Anxiety), out of the blue, in december 2009. I guess what triggered it was one evening when I was alone in bed, I discovered what I thought was a lump in my 'trouser department'. Having never really had a health risk before, I panicked and called my doctor's surgery. It was the week before Christmas and I was told that I couldn't see the doctor until the 1st Jan. Great. Naturally over that week I'd built up several crazy ideas in my head about my fate.
So the time comes, I'm told everything is okay but that I can request an ultrasound scan for reassurance if I wanted. This was then a 6 week wait on the NHS. Between then and the time of my scan I had worried myself sick, literally. I was having most of the symptoms described on this website and was making myself worse due to not knowing or accepting that my problems were related to anxiety.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, I have been in and out of my local clinic this year more times than I can count. I have been to GUM clinics (with sexual health worries), several walk-in clinics, a urologist where I had a cystoscopy and more ultrasounds, an ENT where I had an Endoscopy (for a throat problem that was then diagnosed as 'globus pharyngeus'), had blood tests, urine tests, and have been rushed to my local 'on call care' unit twice with panic attacks.
For me, this is not normal. I am usually a confident, rational 24 year old guy who has become a chronic worrier. Since the initial incident I have worried about all the conditions under the sun. But I have also had counselling to improve my cognitive behaviour which ended recently.
Over the last few months things had been looking up. I was feeling a lot better about myself - more confident, less anxious, work was picking up. The only thing that was bothering me was my throat, which i'd been told was either anxiety or reflux. But then, this week I was on a mini-break with my girlfriend and I had been getting a dodgy stomach and really tough chest pains. Then after dropping her off at home, I was almost at the end of the motorway when I got the pains very hard again and suddenly got pins and needles, nausea, clammy hands and was convinced I was having a heart attack. So I pulled over on the hard shoulder and called for an ambulance. They ran some tests and the ECG was fine, but they said I should come back to hospital as I was in no state to drive. So I sat in A+E until a doctor saw me and conducted some more tests.
I really don't know why this has suddenly started to happen again, but here I am and it's important that I speak with others who are going through the same or similar things.
Ever since December there has always been at least 1 health concern on my mind at any given time. Currently, it's that I have a tiny lump under my chin like a spot, which hurts a little when touched. It has also caused a tiny patch of hair from my beard to stop growing around it. The doctor told me a few months ago that it could be a cyst. I'm not so sure anymore because it hasn't disappeared.
The 'C' word seems to be a common worry on anxiety threads, and it is something that's been on my mind for a while since my initial shock. This thing under my chin has me concerned again and I worry too much about it even though I know I shouldn't. I haven't had it checked out again yet.
There are other possible reasons for my health anxiety uncovered in my counselling, like trauma, but I'll go into that another time.
Thanks for listening, I look forward to chatting with some of you.
I have been coming to 'No More Panic' by recommendation for almost 6 months now but never thought to register and check out the forum. I'd simply used the 'symptoms' page to check that what I was experiencing was normal.
After suffering a panic attack yesterday It only just occurred to me to check online for forums and chat rooms and of course there was one under my nose all along.
So let me tell you about myself...
It all started (Health Anxiety), out of the blue, in december 2009. I guess what triggered it was one evening when I was alone in bed, I discovered what I thought was a lump in my 'trouser department'. Having never really had a health risk before, I panicked and called my doctor's surgery. It was the week before Christmas and I was told that I couldn't see the doctor until the 1st Jan. Great. Naturally over that week I'd built up several crazy ideas in my head about my fate.
So the time comes, I'm told everything is okay but that I can request an ultrasound scan for reassurance if I wanted. This was then a 6 week wait on the NHS. Between then and the time of my scan I had worried myself sick, literally. I was having most of the symptoms described on this website and was making myself worse due to not knowing or accepting that my problems were related to anxiety.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, I have been in and out of my local clinic this year more times than I can count. I have been to GUM clinics (with sexual health worries), several walk-in clinics, a urologist where I had a cystoscopy and more ultrasounds, an ENT where I had an Endoscopy (for a throat problem that was then diagnosed as 'globus pharyngeus'), had blood tests, urine tests, and have been rushed to my local 'on call care' unit twice with panic attacks.
For me, this is not normal. I am usually a confident, rational 24 year old guy who has become a chronic worrier. Since the initial incident I have worried about all the conditions under the sun. But I have also had counselling to improve my cognitive behaviour which ended recently.
Over the last few months things had been looking up. I was feeling a lot better about myself - more confident, less anxious, work was picking up. The only thing that was bothering me was my throat, which i'd been told was either anxiety or reflux. But then, this week I was on a mini-break with my girlfriend and I had been getting a dodgy stomach and really tough chest pains. Then after dropping her off at home, I was almost at the end of the motorway when I got the pains very hard again and suddenly got pins and needles, nausea, clammy hands and was convinced I was having a heart attack. So I pulled over on the hard shoulder and called for an ambulance. They ran some tests and the ECG was fine, but they said I should come back to hospital as I was in no state to drive. So I sat in A+E until a doctor saw me and conducted some more tests.
I really don't know why this has suddenly started to happen again, but here I am and it's important that I speak with others who are going through the same or similar things.
Ever since December there has always been at least 1 health concern on my mind at any given time. Currently, it's that I have a tiny lump under my chin like a spot, which hurts a little when touched. It has also caused a tiny patch of hair from my beard to stop growing around it. The doctor told me a few months ago that it could be a cyst. I'm not so sure anymore because it hasn't disappeared.
The 'C' word seems to be a common worry on anxiety threads, and it is something that's been on my mind for a while since my initial shock. This thing under my chin has me concerned again and I worry too much about it even though I know I shouldn't. I haven't had it checked out again yet.
There are other possible reasons for my health anxiety uncovered in my counselling, like trauma, but I'll go into that another time.
Thanks for listening, I look forward to chatting with some of you.