New here. Think I am suffering from anxiety. Desperately seeking a cure.

[equitiesdarling]

I'm a 23 yrs old male and recently returned to the UK after a few months travelling. It was while I was away that one day that I felt a bit weird and detached, my eyes felt very sensitive to light and a few minutes later I had, what I believe to have been, my first panic/anxiety attack.

At the time it felt very much like a heart attack. These panic attacks continued on a daily basis. I was obsessing over my health. Concerned I had heart disease, I was dying etc etc. It was only after visiting a doctor a few days later and being told that it was a panic attack did I start to calm down and began to return to normal.

The panic attacks stopped. However, I was left with a number of other symptons. My eyes were particularly sensitive to light, I felt disconnected and also noticed a change in my attitude. I was a very social, outgoing individual. But all I now wanted to do was stay inside. Not go out.

Anyway, I returned to England and had a few blood tests done but the doctor has yet to unearth anything (well apart from a higher than normal haemoglobin level). I am starting to think maybe its time to accept that perhaps all this is caused by anxiety.

Some days I obsess over my health (blurred visions, aching bones at times, headaches, fatigue, memory loss) but this just makes things worse. I convince myself I have cancer or a brain tumour. I know I sound like a hypochondriac. But I didn't use to be like this before.

When I keep my health and anxiety issues out of my head and distract myself instead I generally feel much much better. However, I just can't seem to get rid of my sensitivity to sunlight and derelisation issues. Furthermore, I am more antisocial than ever before.

What are the best steps I can take to return to normality? Should I just pretend everything is fine and get on with things like I use to do. Should I go out with friends, get drunk, etc like I would have before had I not been feeling like this.

I would love just to feel and be the same person I was before. A week before this all started I was actually thinking about how perfect my life was. Perfect job lined up. In a long term relationship. Really happy with where my life was headed.

[equitiesdarling]

I can control my anxious thoughts to an extent now. The only lingering symptoms I suffer is the light sensitivity and derealisation.

The headaches, memory problems etc only usually occur when I am obsessing over my health/anxiety.

[Bill]

Stress and pressure are normally the triggers for panic attacks and I think your pressure may stem from this thought...

A week before this all started I was actually thinking about how perfect my life was. Perfect job lined up. In a long term relationship. Really happy with where my life was headed.

You would have thought than when we feel everything is perfect, we'd be content but sometimes what happens is we then feel we have everything to lose which creates fear leading to a worry causing a panic. In other words, the more we have, the more anxious we feel about losing.

Imagine a tennis player serving at match point at an open final. That's when he'll feel the most pressure and his opponent will relax because he'll feel he has nothing to lose.

It's therefore important to learn to relax when we feel we have everything just right or you'll never enjoy the good times.

What are the best steps I can take to return to normality? Should I just pretend everything is fine and get on with things like I use to do. Should I go out with friends, get drunk, etc like I would have before had I not been feeling like this.

Yes. If you dwell on what has happened and keep focusing on your worries, the more anxious you'll feel and the more you'll worry about the symptoms that your anxiety creates.

If you can get back to normal asap by doing all those things you used to and try to forget and ignore your anxiety by enjoying yourself then anxious symptoms will forget you too.

If we catch a cold, we feel bad at the time but we don't keep worrying about it once it goes and that's how we should treat panics because they are just a natural reaction to too much stress caused for different reasons depending on what our thoughts are or our situation at the time.:)

[snowgoose]

hello :)

just wanted to say that the same thing happened to my son while away travelling ......first panic attack happened in Bangkok ..think the culture shock got his adrenaline rushing. we get it when excited [tummy butterflies etc ] and I guess it is the way our minds process this rush whether it is perceived as excitement or anxiety ..if we feel scared too then it can escalate of course.and wham ! ........the first panic attack which is so appallingly scary. and our minds remind us when adrenaline hits us again that this is something to fear .
my take on it anyway .

he is fine now .with a bit of health anxiety left .
read ,read and reads some more on how anxiety affects us so much with body symptoms that mimic heart attacks etc . education is the key and a safe place like this forum to ask questions to people who know exactly how you feel .
you will be fine ..........think you have nipped this in the bud I HOPE by using this wonderful forum .
for your first step .............learn the breathing technique using your abdomen
it is on the self help pages to the left of this page .
and try hard not to avoid going out and doing your usual stuff . if you feel anxious do the breathing .get some air .and sip cold water .
you are not alone .:)

[snowgoose]

forgot to mention :doh:

it seems from cruising the forum that a lot of us suffer from light sensitivity .
I wear dark glasses a lot ............supermarket lights really bother me and make me feel unreal and spaced out . if anyone says anything I just say I have very light sensitive eyes and have been advised to protect them .
They also make me feel safer somehow ......hide my fear I suppose . another addition to my armoury ....but better than not going out at all .

[equitiesdarling]

Thanks guys.

Snowgoose....this is so odd. I actually had my first panic attack in Bangkok as well. Maybe it is all the MSG in the food!!! Or maybe the fact that alot of the drinks are laced with speed that triggered it.

I will pick myself up a pair of sunglasses!

[b4eve]

I suffer with light sensitivity. I've had reactolite lenses for the last 18 months and they do help but I think now they may be contributing to a touch of SAD and also they're very annoying when you walk into a dark room and they stay dark for ages!

[harasgenster]

Hi
I just wanted to say that the way you have thought about dealing with this - i.e. just getting on with life as normal - is completely the right thing to do.

If you're feeling anxious and anti-social you may have to force yourself out a bit but it will help.

It's ok, panic attacks don't mean you have a disorder. A huge number of people get them. The light sensitivity - I think, but don't quote me - is to do with adrenaline and will go in time. Same goes for the derealisation. I find that the derealisation goes more quickly the more you socialise and get out and do things - DO NOT DWELL!!

Hope you feel better soon

[snowgoose]

hello again :)

you would maybe not believe it now ................my son now works in Bangkok and in good job there !!
he got over it .............and I know you will too xx

keep the faith that you will be fine .............maybe a bit overtuned regarding adrenaline and anxiety .........then you will always know what not to do .
keep watchful when out and dont get toooooooooo much alcohol cos it makes very susceptable to panic when confused with hangover and low blood sugar.
not being preachy at all .....learnt the hard way :blush:

you will be fine ......just watch yourself and recognise the signs x
and always tell someone if feeling panicky .
so many people will recognise what you are saying ......and feel relief that you understand them too .

[Bill]

Just a thought regarding you seeking a cure. There IS a cure and there is help out there that can help you obtain The cure but ultimately the cure is within your own control because it's already within you. It always has been. Think of how you used to be before you experienced a panic...not a care in the world. Nothing has actually changed other than the fact that you've experienced a panic which has created self-doubt, fear and worry about experiencing more. If you had never experienced the panic, you'd be carrying on as you were.

The panic was just your mind telling you that it had reached its stress limit. Therefore, if you keep within your stress thresholds and triggers, there's absolutely no reason why you should experience more panics UNLESS you keep worrying about them.

This leads me to "the cure" so to speak. Something that Snowgoose has said and also in the actual tone of her post....Be watchful and recognise symptoms. I know what Snowgoose is meaning because if we're to avoid panics we have to remember our limits and how to deal with symptoms. However, looking at it from another perspective, would we avoid going out in the rain because of a fear of getting wet?

Going back to what I said in the beginning, the cure is within us by trying to carry on with life as we were before we experienced a panic. When we sneeze, do we keep a constant look out for situations that would make us sneeze? No, because sneezes don't frighten us but panics do.

That though is the power held within a panic - fear. Therefore, to overcome panic and to cure ourselves is to learn not to be afraid of panics which would therefore mean we don't keep a constant look out for them or be watchful of triggers. If we sneeze, we sneeze and forget all about it and carry on as before. It's the same with panics. They feel frightening but they can't and don't cause any harm just as a sneeze doesn't so we should just carry on as before whenever we do have a panic.

Panics are a natural reaction to too much stress and if we treat them as being natural and don't keep watching out for them or trying to avoid them, they won't keep coming back. We just have to remember that if they do come back it simply means we've had a bad day or days, find ways to reduce the stress, then carry on as before....and that's the cure.

Panics power is in fear by destroying confidence and replacing it with worry and self-doubt but if we say to ourselves "so what", we've just sneezed and carry on, they lose their power and there's your cure.

Sounds easy I know when panics feel so frightening and that's why they feel so difficult to cure because they're like a ghost saying "Boo" which takes away all our courage but if you can learn to say "Boo" back at the ghost, it's the ghost that Always runs away instead leaving you free of worrying about it returning.:winks: