New member - hello to all

[Antgomm]

Hey every one, my names Anthony and just came across this site while looking up anxiety problems. I've suffered for about 6 years now with anxiety. I started with panic attacks but learnt to control it so it is possible! I still have different problems now such as pressure headaches, numbness of arms, chest pain, weird pain sensations in my head. I think it all started for me after a series of events in my life and eventually my body has to cope some how and anxiety kicked in. I do get angry as I used to be such a happy person but not so much now as I do sometimes feel this holds me back. I have a good understanding family and friends which does help a lot. Hoping to meet some nice people on here and also I want to help people by reassuring them that this can be controlled, you can beat this! Anyway look forward to speaking with you. Ant

[midgey]

Hi, and welcome. You'll meet lots of lovely people on here.
I too have anxiety....agoraphobia and some health anxiety. I am feeling quite good at the moment. How have you dealt with your anxiety over the years?
Keep intouch, :)

[nomorepanic]

Hi Antgomm

A huge warm welcome to nmp.

You'll get loads of advice and support here and make some lovely friends along the way.

Best wishes

[Antgomm]

Hi Michelle and Nicola

Thank you for your welcome :) Michelle I'm happy to hear your feeling good right now! Many more of those good days to come! It's so reassuring that I'm not alone in this. Obviously I wouldn't wish it on anyone but it's good to be able to share hehe

Well when this all started for me, I firstly went for tablets to help from the doctors which I'm sure many people do at first. Of course they helped me but they wouldn't get to the root of the problem. I got hold of a very good book about panic attacks which did help me to understand what was happening and kept telling me that this will not kill me! Over the years I've taken more control of my brain purely by telling it to do one lol it sounds silly but effective. If I do start feeling anxious I say to myself NO! Sometimes speak it out loud and say I'm in control. Tell it to go away and most of the times it does, I try hard to tell myself it's only anxiety and it will soon go away again and it does! I also don't give in where ever I am, sometimes I'll be somewhere I feel anxious and instead of leaving, I stay there until I feel better as not letting it beat me. Breathing plays a massive part too, I always put my hand only stomach to make sure I'm breathing properly, stomach should move, not your chest.

If you want to share how you feel and how you cope I'd love to hear :)

Sorry if there's mistakes in this but I'm at work writing on my phone lol

Hope to speak soon
Ant x






Hi, and welcome. You'll meet lots of lovely people on here.
I too have anxiety....agoraphobia and some health anxiety. I am feeling quite good at the moment. How have you dealt with your anxiety over the years?
Keep intouch, :)

[Bravedart]

Welcome Anthony.:D

[buster_uk1967]

Welcome Anthony. Nice to hear your story.

[Vanilla Sky]

Hi and welcome to NMP :welcome:
Paige x

[paula lynne]

Hi Ant, welcome to a fantastic supportive forum, its good to know you. :welcome:

[midgey]

Hi Ant,

I'm half way there.....not quite all the way there though. I started having anxiety about three years ago and in an attempt to get through it alone, I bought every book going on Amazon.....They helped, but I did find it difficult to put it into practice. I was avoiding situations in which i felt anxious, so I didn't have many situations in which I could put the advice into practice.
I also had CBT, counselling, some relaxation and hypnotherapy and some NLP......You name it, I've had it !!
I started on medication in December....I started as I got to a stage where I was so panicky, I thought I was going mad. I'm not pleased I'm on meds...it's something I've avoided....just because I know it doesn't tackle the route of the problem.
What I have found, on a positive note, is that I am able to see the wood for the trees so to speak, and I'm able to attempt things that I found so hard before.....My aim is to come off them within 6-12 months.
I found it interesting to hear you say "when you feel anxious".....have you accepted that it will always be with you.....thats something I've really struggled with.
Anyway, enough about me, good to hear from you,

[bluesparkle]

hi ant
welcome to nmp
it is great to know you are not alone isnt it, and that alone helps a great deal.
it does get better and it sounds like you are doing all the right things, i like what you say about not giving in and staying in a place until you feel better.
rach
x

[jessicalittler79]

hey hun ur not alone with teh pressure headaches i have them so bad went for a ct scan and they said all clear ,,but i still cant belive theres nothing wrong as i have pressure on my head everyday for 7 months so i went bad to doc and they are now sending me for a MRI....iam sceard to death to get one but i need answers this scears me so bad iam always dizzy also and my vision is all messed upp if u need to talk hun ill be here for u tc hope u feel better soon

[Antgomm]

Thanks again all for your welcomes and nice words :)

Michelle.....That's great that your doing so well, I know sometimes it feels like your back at the beginning when it first happened but you do have good days and bad. How did you find CBT?? I never did try that but I looked into it at a time when I thought I could learn to control this myself. It was brave of you to try and face this alone, I know sometimes you worry that people will not understand how your feeling so you should be proud of yourself. As I said before I too went for medication help, I had anti-depressants and sleeping tablets because at first I could not sleep which made my panic attacks more frequent. It's kind of a blur to think about time scales but I think I managed to come off the tablets after about 2 years. Unfortunately when I got back into full time work I did start to get anxious in other ways so I am taking some tablets called Amitriptyline at the moment just to help relax me. In answer to your question, I have kinda accepted that I will always have that chance of getting anxiety, the books I have read have always said this is not something that goes away BUT it can be controlled to a point where you can just live out your life normally and be happy.

Rach......Hey thank you for your message! I'm happy that you feel i'm doing something right hehe What brought you to this site if you dont mind me asking?

[Antgomm]

Hey Jessica

thank you for your message......What I will say is you are going to get the all clear again I know it! It is very hard to believe that something major isn't wrong when you experience the feeling your getting in your head BUT this really is just anxiety! I've had this head pressure for along time and it comes and goes in different areas of my head. I also have dents in my head all over but my doctor says this is purely your muscles tensing up in your head. I've pretty much managed to avoid these head pressures ever since taking Amitriptyline.......I only ever get that feeling like someone is pushing down on my head when i'm feeling really nervous about a situation so I know it's just anxiety. I know tablets are not a permanent solution but please please take comfort knowing that it's just anxiety, you kinda have to tell yourself and keep telling yourself and eventually when you get that feeling you'll actually just think "ahhh thats anxiety it will go away later"

Please let me know how your getting on xx





hey hun ur not alone with teh pressure headaches i have them so bad went for a ct scan and they said all clear ,,but i still cant belive theres nothing wrong as i have pressure on my head everyday for 7 months so i went bad to doc and they are now sending me for a MRI....iam sceard to death to get one but i need answers this scears me so bad iam always dizzy also and my vision is all messed upp if u need to talk hun ill be here for u tc hope u feel better soon

[hypochondriac]

Hi welcome,
I only just made my account and came across this, so hi everyone :)

[Antgomm]

Hey welcome to the site, i'm a new member myself and as you can see i've already had some nice people reply so I hope you find some great help here :D



Hi welcome,
I only just made my account and came across this, so hi everyone :)

[hypochondriac]

Thank you, can you tell me how to start a thread please?:blush:

[Antgomm]

When I did this thread I just went to the new members section and there was an option at the top left of the page to post a new thread, I assume that a particular section will have the same option in the top left corner......hope that helps

[Antgomm]

It looks like there are titled sections already created and you can just go into that section and start your own thread based on that subject :D

[hypochondriac]

Thank you, your help is much appreciated
I have done it
My first post
thank you

[Antgomm]

A big sign of stress is teeth grinding and clenching. My ex girlfriend used to say I would grind my teeth in my sleep a lot. It's good that you know about trying to relax, breathing exercises are very good to try out, I was always told to put your hand on your stomach to make sure your hand is moving up and down when you breath and not your chest. I dont think you have much to worry about to be honest as annoying as this feeling can be, if you feel it gets too much to handle then yes go to your docs but i'm sure all they could do is offer you tablets you calm you down. I hope this improves for you :yesyes:

[midgey]

Hi Ant,
I haven't been on here for a couple of days, but haviong just read your reply from my previous comment, I can see that you are on amitryptelline. SO AM I !!!
I tried SSRIs before, but they gave me fast heart rate and palpitations, so tricyclic AD was tried as less cardiac side effects.
I started at 10mg. It's only now I'm on 50mg that i am beginning to see the wood for the trees so to speak. I still feel anxious, but nowhere near as much as before, and when I think about what I've done over the last few weeks, I know that things are much easier than they were.
I do get a very dry mouth, and some headaches and sometimes feel a little hung over. What dose are you on? Do you get any side effects?
I'm not happy about being onb meds as it doesn't solve the problems it just numbs them down, but I am already seeing that it is giving me the confidence to do things I couldn't do for so long.
Take Care,

[Antgomm]

Yes Amitriptyline have sorted out my head pressures thats for sure!! I take 20mg a day, i went up to 25 once but i found they kinda made me have anxiety feelings so I find 20 is just about right for me. I started off on Citalapram when I first had panic attacks but after coming off them I couldn't go back on them as I became immune to them. It's good that they are helping you! I'm sure gradually you will be able to lower the dosage then come off them completely! I used to have Zoppiclone sleeping tablets, I loved them!! made me feel so relaxed like i'd never felt before but I became addicted to them and relied on them to sleep, for along time once I'd been taken off I found it hard to sleep but soon got used to them! The only problem now though is if I dont take my Amitriptyline then I will find it very hard to sleep at night! :(

Side effects hmmm I guess the main ones are hallucinations in the middle of the night, If I wake up suddenly then I see things all the time, could be people or insects type thing, really strange but now when it happens I kinda just watched them and they disappear......so weird!!

What is it you do for a job? is it stressful?

Hope you have a good up coming week xx




Hi Ant,
I haven't been on here for a couple of days, but haviong just read your reply from my previous comment, I can see that you are on amitryptelline. SO AM I !!!
I tried SSRIs before, but they gave me fast heart rate and palpitations, so tricyclic AD was tried as less cardiac side effects.
I started at 10mg. It's only now I'm on 50mg that i am beginning to see the wood for the trees so to speak. I still feel anxious, but nowhere near as much as before, and when I think about what I've done over the last few weeks, I know that things are much easier than they were.
I do get a very dry mouth, and some headaches and sometimes feel a little hung over. What dose are you on? Do you get any side effects?
I'm not happy about being onb meds as it doesn't solve the problems it just numbs them down, but I am already seeing that it is giving me the confidence to do things I couldn't do for so long.
Take Care,

[midgey]

Hi Ant,
It's weird isn't it, that two people who take the same tablets have such different side effects? I don't have any problems with hallucinations and I needed to go up to 50mg for the anxiety to get better. I didn't experience any worsening of the anxiety either.
I never really had any probs sleeping either, but I have found I'm asleep within seconds now when I go to bed !!
I still have some feelings of anxiety, its been worse this week due to womens troubles lol !! But it's a lot better than it was. I'm not sure whether on medication if the anxiety goes completely or is it normal to still have those feelings of dread?
I'm a nurse....currently working as a health visitor....yep, it is very stressful, but it helps me to go to work.....i find i panic more when im left with my own thoughts.
What about u? are you working? Hope ur doing ok.

[Antgomm]

Hi Michelle

Sorry I've not been on here in ages!! Been so busy at work I've hardly come on my computer. Yeh that is weird! I guess that's why there's always different side effects in the leaflets as people get different ones, so glad I don't get them all!! How's things been recently? Your so lucky that you can sleep so easily!! I just cant shut my brain off at night time, always so much to think about. Oh yeh panic will be worse when your alone as you have time to think about your problems... that's why I've always told people try and keep yourself busy and distracted and it does work! Sounds like you do have a stressful job, I admire anyone in care as I know how tough it can be! I am working at the moment, I'm currently a web editor for Bourne Leisure.....so I've built the Haven Holidays websites and their caravan and camping and at the moment i'm editing about 40 websites for caravan sales so thats stressful too in a different way haha This week has FLOWN by! Hope your getting on alright and look forward to speaking again soon xx