General anxiety disorder- anyone have it, anyone willing to admit they have it? [Archive]

View Full Version : General anxiety disorder- anyone have it, anyone willing to admit they have it?

ram29jackson

11-08-2011, 04:52 PM

I dont know that I could be officially diagnosed, but for the 3rd time in 10 years, I went to the hospital because I thought I was having heart or other problems.....they find nothing, say all vitals are normal...gave me Larazepam ( ive had 2 of them in 7 days) and now, just constantly afraid of my heart taking off at any time....? the week before was a max out stress of sleep deprevation and worrying about starting a couple classes etc...how long am I stuck like this ? I'm suppose to need to see a heart specialist and a shrink at some point... Palpations are are more noticable now and you try to just ignore them in a manner of speaking..........

ram29jackson

11-08-2011, 07:56 PM

I of course talk to my friends about it...but still seeing if theres another account/perspective out there ...?l

bdoughty

11-08-2011, 08:54 PM

Sounds like you are having panic attacks. I have had this for 15 years. Lorazepam 2mg 3x a day, Buspar 15mg 3x a day and Zoloft 100 mg a day. I also have OCD so the medications are for a combination of these issues.

When I had my first panic attack, I did the same thing you did and went to the hospital. It does feel like a heart attack as you pulse is racing, you are sweating, have a tightness in the chest and feeling like you are going to pass out. The meds have helped over the years and panic attacks are less frequent. They still happen but far less often. When it starts I just kind of try to work it out by walking around and taking a bunch of deep breaths and long exhaling.

Go see a family practice doctor and get on some meds to help with it. Stay away from Xanax as it is extremely addictive (was on them for 5 years and it was a pain getting off of them). Buspar (Buspirone) is a great substitute as it is not habit forming. Generally a shrink is not necessary as this condition is more understood and controlled by meds, compared to 20 years ago. I assume when you went to the hospital they did an EKG and some blood work to ensure it was a panic attack and your heart was on good condition. Do you have a history of heart disease in the family? If not stick to the doctor and go from there.

ram29jackson

11-09-2011, 12:49 AM

bdoughty

11-09-2011, 01:12 AM

No, they said I was ok generally speaking...i had ekg etc.,... but I dont know that I have full on panic attacks.. I dont think its that extreme, its bad yes, but I dont think i'm that bad...as bad as i feel right now.....i feel uneasy now though,sounds like youre taking some strong dosage though.. I just have the .5 ml size stuff.

If it is strong enough to send you to the hospital, I would still call them Panic Attacks. I am on high dosages due to having this problem amongst others for so long.

Take a look at the symptoms and see if it fits (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001922/). You will notice that most cases of panic attacks end up being diagnosed with an emergency room visit.

Just read up on it as it give some suggestions on how to reduce/prevent these. You have only had 3 episodes in 10 years which is a pretty rare occurrence. When they started hitting me I would have a panic attack almost every other week. Then after each panic attack I would feel terrible for the next few days.

If all you have are occasional panic attacks, take some solace in that. It could be much much worse.

Go see your doctor, if you do not have one, get one. Let an expert tell you what is wrong.