pegdog
06-11-10, 17:12
Hi
I'm so glad I found this forum. I'm 47 and in perimenopause and my panic attacks seem to be getting worse. All the things I could do before I'm now terrified of and it's ruining my life. I feel dizzy all the time, I'm nervous about speaking in public which I have to do as I'm studying for a Masters degree. Yesterday I made such a fool of myself (which is how I found this brilliant and reassuring site) at the dentist. I had to have a very tiny filling to prevent a future root canal or possible extraction. My dentist is great and promised me it would only take ten minutes. He also said it was small enough to do without anaesthetic as I'm terrified of that numb feeling (had loads of dental work before - didn't bother me). I agreed but as soon as he tipped the chair right back and my feet were higher than my head I got dizzy and panicked. He was really nice about it but I had to ask him not to continue. Now I have to return in December to do it all over again. I know he's right and it'll get worse but I really couldn't do it. Fifteen minutes later, in the safety of my car, I felt soooo foolish and embarrassed:blush: - and bad that I could have been sitting there with it all over.
I've been getting worse since this started about five years ago and am finding I can do less and less. I suffer badly with claustrophobia and can't go in lifts or aeroplanes or small toilet cubicles - those things I've managed to avoid without much disruption to my life but the dentist thing and other 'out of control' situations that I have coped with before has really upset me.
I've got a lovely and completely understanding husband :hugs:who totally supports me - but I still feel awful about my anxiety all the time.
I'm sorry for the rant but has anyone else got really angry with themselves once they were safely out of the 'panic situation' and felt so stupid. Is there any hope of recovering from this? How?
I'm so glad I found this forum. I'm 47 and in perimenopause and my panic attacks seem to be getting worse. All the things I could do before I'm now terrified of and it's ruining my life. I feel dizzy all the time, I'm nervous about speaking in public which I have to do as I'm studying for a Masters degree. Yesterday I made such a fool of myself (which is how I found this brilliant and reassuring site) at the dentist. I had to have a very tiny filling to prevent a future root canal or possible extraction. My dentist is great and promised me it would only take ten minutes. He also said it was small enough to do without anaesthetic as I'm terrified of that numb feeling (had loads of dental work before - didn't bother me). I agreed but as soon as he tipped the chair right back and my feet were higher than my head I got dizzy and panicked. He was really nice about it but I had to ask him not to continue. Now I have to return in December to do it all over again. I know he's right and it'll get worse but I really couldn't do it. Fifteen minutes later, in the safety of my car, I felt soooo foolish and embarrassed:blush: - and bad that I could have been sitting there with it all over.
I've been getting worse since this started about five years ago and am finding I can do less and less. I suffer badly with claustrophobia and can't go in lifts or aeroplanes or small toilet cubicles - those things I've managed to avoid without much disruption to my life but the dentist thing and other 'out of control' situations that I have coped with before has really upset me.
I've got a lovely and completely understanding husband :hugs:who totally supports me - but I still feel awful about my anxiety all the time.
I'm sorry for the rant but has anyone else got really angry with themselves once they were safely out of the 'panic situation' and felt so stupid. Is there any hope of recovering from this? How?