Stav_98
02-01-11, 09:15
Ok...so obviously the most important thing to do when joining a new forum is to check out the smilies on tap. One of my personal favourites is :wistupid:
:buttkick: is a new one on me
:whiplash: ...by now I'm starting to wonder what kind of place this really is!
I digress...I guess I should get on with the introduction.
I'm in my early(ish) 30's and have suffered panic and anxiety on and off for the past 4 years. Here's a little chronological introduction of the events which I believe are relevant to where I am today.
Back in June 2006 on a lovely hot Sunday, I'd spent the day helping my dad (58 at the time) maintaining a fence. He'd not been feeling too great for a while and had been put on antibiotics by his GP and was feeling much better. I left dad to have a rest that afternoon whilst I tottered off to the supermarket to do the weeks shopping. On my return I found my father had collapsed. There was no way I could revive him; he'd had a massive heart attack.
It was a shock but not unexpected in a way as my father was a heavy smoker and didn't live a particularly healthy life (e.g. ate nothing but junk!).
All was quiet until New Year 2006 where we were entertaining my G/F at the times family. I was suffering shortness of breath but just put it down to having a chest infection of something. Typical male really! It seemed to pass later that week.
On my birthday in April of that year I was walking through town to get my haircut when I felt a MASSIVE "bounce" in my chest, felt breathless and nearly passed out. I sat on a wall for a few moments and things seemed to return to normal except the breathlessness remained. Again this lasted a few days and was soon forgotten (I was pretty stupid really).
A few weeks later I was suffering pain in my leg behind my knee. Pain like I'd never experienced before; like somebody was holding a poker to the back of my leg. SO as any man does...I strapped it up and headed for a weekend with the other half to Longleat. When we returned it was off to A&E where I was diagnosed with DVT.
All of a sudden it became obvious that the breathing problems has been quite serious as I'd been suffering Pulmonary Embolism. The death rate for this is up to 60% which was quite sobering.
So along came New Year 2007 - 2008 and I'd finished my treatment...then come down with the Flu. During the first week the breathlessness appeared yet again so it was off the the Docs. He told me I was over weight and sent me home. I wasn't happy with this after another day or so, so it was time to head to A&E. A week later I left hospital after having another (significant) Pulmonary Embolism and was put on life long anticoagulation therapy.
It was during these few weeks of leaving hospital that I started to feel anxious most of the time to the point where returned to work as I couldn't stand being at home along. These feelings (although not panic) lasted until around April time. Then there was nothing...
...until November time when I went to see a concert in a local theatre. I had a massive panic attack.
That's sort of how it has been since! I get much fewer panic attacks these days but they are there; I'd had a good few months without anxiety but it returned due to lack of sleep (the wide recently gave birth to our first).
There seem to be few triggers for my panic as far as I can tell. Most attacks seem to happen in the car but not all.
My anxieties seem to be more around health than anything else. I think I've had all the best known organ failures recently; probably the majority of cancers also!
I tend to think the worst of everything and am completely risk adverse. I don't like travelling on tube trains, I don't like crowds, flying is no longer fun. I will push myself to do these things but my God does it make me feel ill. I get a tension in the back of my neck which makes the world rotate...not nice.
I've been to see my GP about my symptoms and it's simply acknowledged that I'm an anxious person. It makes me feel run down but I don't believe I'm a sufferer of depression. I don't take any medication for it due to potential issues with my anticoagulation therapy. Instead I try to swim, go to the gym or crack on with my hobbies.
I have to say that for me personally, I can deal with the feeling of anxiety. I get more fed up with the little other bits (the feeling of dizziness etc) which only last for a few moments. It's they that triggers the health worries.
Any who...I think that's more than enough about me. Those of you with sleep problems may just have been cured :)
Stav
:buttkick: is a new one on me
:whiplash: ...by now I'm starting to wonder what kind of place this really is!
I digress...I guess I should get on with the introduction.
I'm in my early(ish) 30's and have suffered panic and anxiety on and off for the past 4 years. Here's a little chronological introduction of the events which I believe are relevant to where I am today.
Back in June 2006 on a lovely hot Sunday, I'd spent the day helping my dad (58 at the time) maintaining a fence. He'd not been feeling too great for a while and had been put on antibiotics by his GP and was feeling much better. I left dad to have a rest that afternoon whilst I tottered off to the supermarket to do the weeks shopping. On my return I found my father had collapsed. There was no way I could revive him; he'd had a massive heart attack.
It was a shock but not unexpected in a way as my father was a heavy smoker and didn't live a particularly healthy life (e.g. ate nothing but junk!).
All was quiet until New Year 2006 where we were entertaining my G/F at the times family. I was suffering shortness of breath but just put it down to having a chest infection of something. Typical male really! It seemed to pass later that week.
On my birthday in April of that year I was walking through town to get my haircut when I felt a MASSIVE "bounce" in my chest, felt breathless and nearly passed out. I sat on a wall for a few moments and things seemed to return to normal except the breathlessness remained. Again this lasted a few days and was soon forgotten (I was pretty stupid really).
A few weeks later I was suffering pain in my leg behind my knee. Pain like I'd never experienced before; like somebody was holding a poker to the back of my leg. SO as any man does...I strapped it up and headed for a weekend with the other half to Longleat. When we returned it was off to A&E where I was diagnosed with DVT.
All of a sudden it became obvious that the breathing problems has been quite serious as I'd been suffering Pulmonary Embolism. The death rate for this is up to 60% which was quite sobering.
So along came New Year 2007 - 2008 and I'd finished my treatment...then come down with the Flu. During the first week the breathlessness appeared yet again so it was off the the Docs. He told me I was over weight and sent me home. I wasn't happy with this after another day or so, so it was time to head to A&E. A week later I left hospital after having another (significant) Pulmonary Embolism and was put on life long anticoagulation therapy.
It was during these few weeks of leaving hospital that I started to feel anxious most of the time to the point where returned to work as I couldn't stand being at home along. These feelings (although not panic) lasted until around April time. Then there was nothing...
...until November time when I went to see a concert in a local theatre. I had a massive panic attack.
That's sort of how it has been since! I get much fewer panic attacks these days but they are there; I'd had a good few months without anxiety but it returned due to lack of sleep (the wide recently gave birth to our first).
There seem to be few triggers for my panic as far as I can tell. Most attacks seem to happen in the car but not all.
My anxieties seem to be more around health than anything else. I think I've had all the best known organ failures recently; probably the majority of cancers also!
I tend to think the worst of everything and am completely risk adverse. I don't like travelling on tube trains, I don't like crowds, flying is no longer fun. I will push myself to do these things but my God does it make me feel ill. I get a tension in the back of my neck which makes the world rotate...not nice.
I've been to see my GP about my symptoms and it's simply acknowledged that I'm an anxious person. It makes me feel run down but I don't believe I'm a sufferer of depression. I don't take any medication for it due to potential issues with my anticoagulation therapy. Instead I try to swim, go to the gym or crack on with my hobbies.
I have to say that for me personally, I can deal with the feeling of anxiety. I get more fed up with the little other bits (the feeling of dizziness etc) which only last for a few moments. It's they that triggers the health worries.
Any who...I think that's more than enough about me. Those of you with sleep problems may just have been cured :)
Stav