Panic Attacks Support Group

I have recently read some of the entries and already feel at home, or at least among friends. I am new to panic attacks and haven't talked to many about my feelings/terror. I am still searching for what could have been the trigger to get me on this path. About 3 months ago I started feeling light headed most of the time, went to the doctor and they couldn't come up with anything. Then about 6 weeks ago, I awoke with a start from sleep, thought I was having a heart attack or stroke, all the symptoms. Called 911. Went to the hospital with IV drip, after x-rays and ekg, couldn't find anything wrong. Next day I started feeling the symptoms starting again, went to Johns Hopkins for 4 days, all kinds of tests, no physical problems. After another referral it was determined I am having migraines that cause the symptoms and I'm on a restrictive diet to try and find what is triggering the migraine. Meanwhile I am afraid to sleep, and have panic attacks almost without warning. I look forward to learning more on how to quit thinking I have cancer, a stroke, or other life threatening disease. I have those thoughts all the time. Well, I haven't talked this much about my condition before. Hi everyone.

Post edited by: Davidlj, at: 08/13/2009 05:43 PM

You are in the correct place my friend. everyone here is AWWSUM.

Hi Davidlj and welcome to the group. I am glad that you feel among friends after reading some of our posts, because you are correct, you are among friends. The best thing is that we are friends who understand all too well what you are going through. I am also glad that you were able to talk about your condition, sometimes just finding people who understand and talking to them about it helps.

I hope that you continue to find the group helpful and please remember that we are all here to help.

Hello Davidj, sorry I am a bit late in my welcome but as they say better late than never.

I second everything that Shawna said!

Welcome again.

Mel

Hi David, sorry for taking long to welcome also. U are NOT alone and were all in this together. I just got a panic attack last night... 4 a.m. mild but still so scarry. I thought I was getting a stroke but like all the other hundreds of times...everything was ok.

Welcome Davidj, I'm sorry to hear your not feeling well. One thing I've noticed in my personal experiences is if I'm in pain sometimes even a mild pain but especially severe pain a lot of times I'll have a panic attack because of the pain. I haven't had a migraine headache in years but stress can cause head, neck, and shoulder pains.

God Bless,

Endziel

Welcome David! Panic attacks can cause all kinds of pain, real and imagined. I think the imagined illnesses are the worst!

Advice I give to people who think they may be really sick and get stressed out about it or have panic is...If you have anything wrong on the inside of your body, you would be in great pain and very sick with nausea & vomiting and probably have a fever or some other outward signs. If you have anything wrong on the outside, it would be something that you can see...a rash, a mole, a broken bone. The best thing to do if you have a suspious lump/mole/rash/bit is to take a picture of it and draw a circle around it and watch it for a couple of days to see if it gets worse.

Maybe if you lean on these two things, it will help you to know if you are really sick and maybe lessen your panic that something is wrong. I hope this helps!

hugs, jenn