Anxiety issues.

Meiz

Well sort of.

Nobody's flat out went out and said, yep, what you have there is anxiety problems. I've been to the hospital and 3 different doctors, none of which up and confirmed what people have been telling me. I'm starting this thread more so to see if there's anything I've missed because frankly, it's starting to affect my work and people are asking questions in regards of why I'm not there most of the time.

Rewind to about 3 weeks to a month ago, me and some friends go to see some mufuggin Transformers kicking the shit out of each other. All of a sudden it's like the life got sucked out of me and thrust right back in. My heart rate skyrockets and I try to remain calm and enjoy the movie for roughly about 20 minutes. I bolt near the end and get my friend to take me to the Emergency room.

I'm there for 9 hours and finally, they decide to let me see an actual M.D. The fact of the matter is they ran an EKG, a chest X-ray, bloodwork (4 vials, I forget what they were for) and nada zip, bupkus. They let me go after they see if I can walk around for a bit and schedule a follow up with the heart clinic for a 24h monitor.

Thing is, my symptoms remain, although not as bad as that night. I take the liberty of seeing a doctor after this is getting unacceptable and he prescribes me some Lorazepam. Things are chill until said medication runs out. I try to quit smoking and, there they are again. Pressure on the chest and the appearance that I'm having difficulty breathing.

Go see another doc and this one gives me cipralex, a form of antidepressant. Man, this stuff rocks, well except for the first couple of days where I wanted to kill myself. After about 5 days I really started noticing a difference. Then today, heart starts racing again and I feel a pressure point near the right side of my chest. Go to yet ANOTHER doctor and he gives me more cipralex and Lorazepam(something I was told is highly addictive and habit forming).

So the boss wants me to see some specialist over this and I'm like, no, I'll be at work tomorrow.

I also took the liberty of calling an anonymous support line with the company who's set up a phone session in order to assist.

There's also the matter of me seeing a psych but the one I spoke with wants to gut me for 170$/h. I only get 500$ a year with the benefits I have so that would be a rather brief session.

The thing is that these anxiety attacks, if that's what they are, are rather crippling and are having an impact with my performance at work, as in I have to leave to go get some drugs.

They say however, that it will take some time before the benefits of the medication kicks in.

SatanIsMyMotor

It sounds like what happened to you is a panic attack at the movies (which I'm sure you've already realized). Is there something in particular that sets you off? If you can identify even one trigger it can help you a lot. Once you identify a trigger its important that you not avoid it, instead you can confront and make it less severe. I've experienced the exact same situation as you before and since then I've done some reading on ways to heal myself. One thing I read which helps a lot when you identify your trigger is to train your brain to associate with the trigger in a different way. The short answer to this is to always "think good thoughts" but I find if I know why I need to think those good thoughts it's a touch more effective.

Second, find a friend you can talk with about it. Whether they truly understand what you're feeling or not doesn't really matter -- as long as they understand how it makes you feel. Literally not a single one of my friends knows I have a severe anxiety issue aside from my girlfriend. My GF doesn't understand the feeling itself (in fact she finds the concept of an anxiety attack baffling) but she does understand what it does to me and as such she's a huge help. It's to the point now where she can see when I'm having a spell and has even helped extricate myself from situations before.

Anxiety's #1 weapon is making you feel like you're alone. If you have someone that can support you when you need it you can remove the edge from that weapon.

Butterfly4u

Hun you have either Panic Disorder or Generalized Anxiety Disorder or both. You need to go to your regular doctor and tell him/her all of your symptoms. Then you will probably be put on a medication. Here's some articles to better inform you. http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/Generalized-Anxiety-Disorder-Topic-Overview http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/tc/Panic-Attacks-and-Panic-Disorder-Topic-Overview

Meiz

Is there anything else other then being set up with a counselor, letting people know about the disorder and being put on lorazepam (temporary) and Cipralex that I could be doing?

Feral

First off, get with a regular doctor, and start going to him for your medication. Getting a continuity of care from the same physician helps a lot when dealing with difficult issues.

Then, call your county health department and ask for referrals to low-cost therapists. There's no reason you should have to spend $170/h for therapy, that's astronomical. Depending on your financial situation, you might be able to get therapy for free or cheap through the county. Therapy is like the gym - it doesn't matter so much whether you go someplace cheap or you go someplace fancy. What matters is that you go.

And as for lorazepam being habit-forming, I would discuss that with your doctor (once you get one) if I were you. That said, the risk of developing addiction is low as long as you take your medication as prescribed. If it says "twice a day," take it twice a day, no more, no less.

Feral

Huh, didn't see that post when I started writing mine.

Meiz wrote: »

Is there anything else other then being set up with a counselor, letting people know about the disorder and being put on lorazepam (temporary) and Cipralex that I could be doing?

The biggest things are to see a physician and a therapist on a regular basis. Assuming you have both of those taken care of, make sure you get regular exercise (it helps, trust me) and avoid large amounts of caffeine. Also, meditation and breathing exercises help a lot of people with anxiety disorders, but they're no substitute for real therapy.

Sci-Fi Wasabi

Yeah, this all seems pretty normal, Meiz. What you describe happens to me every few years, except last march, when I started getting it bad and things turned for the worse. I've never had medical attention for it (maybe a bad idea), and things can get really scary sometimes, but it always goes away.

The one thing anxiety does that is really stupid is that it makes you sweat the small details. Most of the time, that keeps you from seeing the important things. Just try to keep a clear mind and remember that it can never kill you.