Anxiety

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Chris344 said:
Did anyone have increased blood pressure readings during their long term anxiety?
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I got rushed into hospital, (A one off it appears.) shaking, heart beating out of my chest, feeling light headed and with chest pains.

Blood pressure was optimal..... It certainly is a weird affliction.
 
valkia said:
I find that before when I got them I noticed really unusual things, or I would see something really strange during it - this always made it worse.

As i'm still not diagnosed properly, I have been to the doctors who palm me off, I did have a blood test as I said I was always feeling dizzy. I'll list my symptoms here and see how many relates to this.

• Dizziness
• State of feeling far away, 3rd person mode as I'd call it
• Sudden jolts as if i'm coming back into reality
• Sometimes going very tense and feeling an unexplained pressure building inside
• Feeling like the world is seen at a slight angle, this also means lack of balance
• A feeling like i'm moving backwards sitting down still
• Sometimes fast heartbeat but not always


Places it can happen

• Gym
• Shopping centres / Food shops
• Busy streets in cities / towns
• Work


What I do to cure it

• Call of Duty 4 or any games I can concentrate deeply on
• Driving as it takes full concentration

From this it seems that it could be large areas or lots of people, but it doesn't happen if I go out to a club with friends where you would expect it to happen due to the large volume of people. I think part of the issue is that because I haven't been told by an official I have a panic disorder/anxiety attacks that it makes it worse because I self diagnose, which never ends well.
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Have you tried diazepam? Those symptoms are not necessarily anxiety. I get very similar dissociative symptoms as a result of hypotension and the vasovagal response.
 
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Energize said:
Have you tried diazepam? Those symptoms are not necessarily anxiety. I get very similar dissociative symptoms as a result of hypotension and the vasovagal response.
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I don't really want to use any medicine, it's not the right way to go. If I can be ok in the past, I can be ok now, it's learning how to channel these effects the right way.

I'm pretty sure if it was anything else the effects wouldn't just go and come it would stay more constant.
 
I get all of what you state too Valkia. I once had what I can only describe as what felt like a train go through my head and wipe my brain out totally. I slumped to the side in my chair, almost fell out of it then snapped back to the real world and threw myself upright before hitting the deck! most bizarre. Those odd feelings in the body are annoying as they just make you think what the hell is going on inside me. Last time I had those it was after a long haul flight so I thought I must have a blood clot or something making its way to my heart....that wasn't a fun time.

I ended up back at the docs today. I've been feeling off for the past week and a bit and I've been getting slower and slower on my bike which isn't like me as I'm a pretty fit chap. I knew I was getting postural hypotension and after last nights ride home which nearly killed me and I felt like throwing up a fair bit I thought I best call the doc today. I popped up to my works on site nurse and got her to check my blood pressure and it was only 82/50! off they sent me to the docs. It had picked up a bit by the time I got there to 100/50. Blood tests for me this week, it could be anxiety causing this or the pills I'm on. So the fun continues! joy....
 
I honestly thought this thread would have died a death by now.

I went to the doctor's this morning and said I want to talk to someone about anxiety.

Within 10 seconds, no exaggeration she started asking me if I'm depressed. I said no I'm not depressed, I've been depressed before this isn't it.

And just from then she was just acting like I was calling depression anxiety, she kept cutting me off and in the end prescribed me citalopram and told me to ring some number to arrange to talk to someone.

I can appreciate that doctors are busy and while some 25 year old man sits there and says he gets a bit edgy from time to time someone could be sat in the waiting room with an aneurysm that's about to rupture but still.

Another thing I've noticed lately which I think will apply to a lot of people on here, I don't come on much any more but I know a lot of people are quite techy and like their sciences and whatnot, sorry to generalise there but bear with me.

The thing that tipped me over the edge and pushed me to make this thread was that freelance work I was doing, which was to find the answers for all the questions in this new A level maths textbook.

I haven't done maths in ages and I've been out of anything remotely scientific for a couple of years now, I write scripts and work in media now.

So anyway I was doing this maths and while the stress of it all was probably the major thing, I found myself thinking in absolutes, like this has happened therefore THIS is definitely going to happen, everything was black and white. I found myself looking at shapes and numbers and adding them up etc. just because that was my routine for a short while.

Normally on the tube or whatever I'll look at people and try and guess things about them, create back stories or something whereas instead I was adding up how many stops there were left and stuff.

As soon as I noticed that I was thinking like that, I calmed down immediately, it was like instant relief.

I've wound myself up again in bits since and like I say I think that's only a contributing factor but some people on here sound like they could do with thinking about their thought patterns, and not just "I need to stop thinking like...." but engage in a different mental activity that isn't playing games or something.

Try doing something, anything for artistic merit and see how you feel. I write all the time and it works for me.
 
Thought id chime in here with my own experiences.

Unlike most of the other people here, I know exactly what caused my first panic attack- chest pain because I was slumped at my desk at university. But at the time I didnt knw that so I thoight it was. something wrong with my heart. Ever since then, 3.5 years ago, with a few ups and downs which correllate with expansion and compression of my comfort zone, I have suffered anxiety about my heart, or any chest pains. If I can feel my heart beating, I get anxious. I was put on citalopram for about 6 months whch did help. I came off it bit had gradually got worse. I can't exercise much or go to clubs or theme parks. I either feel fine or feel terribe when I drink.

What did help was when I graduated, I got a job aty local currys which Is on.my feet all day, and gave me.confidence. my thing to do was to check my pulse on my neck or wrist to reassure myself my heart was ok. I try to not do that though.

I find that distracting myself turns off the thought processes of anxiety. So I play an immersive rpg or drive. Or browse OCUK :P because if I don't I can't sleep, once Im in the anxious frame of mind, I'm stuck there until my mind 'resets'. That's pretty much what I am doing now, so sorry if this thread is dead! Best of luck to the GAD and PAD (that second one I made up!) Sufferers out there.

P.S. please excuse the grammar fails. My phone's predictive text only works half the time. Pro tip- don't buy a Wildfire
 
anksta said:
I honestly thought this thread would have died a death by now.

I went to the doctor's this morning and said I want to talk to someone about anxiety.

Within 10 seconds, no exaggeration she started asking me if I'm depressed. I said no I'm not depressed, I've been depressed before this isn't it.

And just from then she was just acting like I was calling depression anxiety, she kept cutting me off and in the end prescribed me citalopram and told me to ring some number to arrange to talk to someone.

I can appreciate that doctors are busy and while some 25 year old man sits there and says he gets a bit edgy from time to time someone could be sat in the waiting room with an aneurysm that's about to rupture but still.

Another thing I've noticed lately which I think will apply to a lot of people on here, I don't come on much any more but I know a lot of people are quite techy and like their sciences and whatnot, sorry to generalise there but bear with me.

The thing that tipped me over the edge and pushed me to make this thread was that freelance work I was doing, which was to find the answers for all the questions in this new A level maths textbook.

I haven't done maths in ages and I've been out of anything remotely scientific for a couple of years now, I write scripts and work in media now.

So anyway I was doing this maths and while the stress of it all was probably the major thing, I found myself thinking in absolutes, like this has happened therefore THIS is definitely going to happen, everything was black and white. I found myself looking at shapes and numbers and adding them up etc. just because that was my routine for a short while.

Normally on the tube or whatever I'll look at people and try and guess things about them, create back stories or something whereas instead I was adding up how many stops there were left and stuff.

As soon as I noticed that I was thinking like that, I calmed down immediately, it was like instant relief.

I've wound myself up again in bits since and like I say I think that's only a contributing factor but some people on here sound like they could do with thinking about their thought patterns, and not just "I need to stop thinking like...." but engage in a different mental activity that isn't playing games or something.

Try doing something, anything for artistic merit and see how you feel. I write all the time and it works for me.
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Well to be fair Ctialopram is actually used in Anxiety cases, I think it even says so in the leaflet in the box
How much (mg) where you prescribed?
Its one where you need to take it for about 3 months before anything really starts working, ive taken it and parents said they could see a difference, you wont see or feel it, but others can.
 
So I had my appointment with the GP today. He was really understanding and listened at lot. I said as much as I could think of.

I walked out with a prescription for 7x5mg of Diazepam and I'm being referred for CBT.
 
5mg is pretty much the lowest dosage you can take to be honest, but it does help.
Waiting for a spot with councelor can take some time though.
 
cu3ed said:
5mg is pretty much the lowest dosage you can take to be honest, but it does help.
Waiting for a spot with councelor can take some time though.
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Well, the GP before prescribed me 5x2mg. I was not happy with that at all.

I think this will be OK if I can combine the two.
 
I take Cipralex. Due to Anxiety related to my IBS.

I was originally presciribed Paxil/Seroxat. Absolutely ******* awful, made me feel like killing myself and ruined me for two weeks.

I'm a lot lot better now than I was, although I can have severe symptoms If I get trapped in a situation where I feel Ill, or where I can't control what's happening!
 
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valkia said:
I don't really want to use any medicine, it's not the right way to go. If I can be ok in the past, I can be ok now, it's learning how to channel these effects the right way.

I'm pretty sure if it was anything else the effects wouldn't just go and come it would stay more constant.
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I meant more as a diagnostic measure rather than a treatment. A number of conditions eg, epilepsy, hypotension or Ménière's disease can cause bizarre transient symptoms like you describe. It's not something that can be self diagnosed based on that symptomatology.

Lysander said:
Well, the GP before prescribed me 5x2mg. I was not happy with that at all.

I think this will be OK if I can combine the two.
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I usually find 20-30mg diazepam equivalence to be effective based on circumstance.
 
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Thats the thing, no one can REALLY tell how much of anything you should be taking without knowing all the ins and outs that cannot be put across in a forum.
2mg could be fine for all we know.
 
I'm on one tablet of citalopram a day which is 20mg in my case. I'm sure I've noticed a difference but It just isn't a 100% fix, not that I was expecting it to be and I am only about 8 weeks in on my course at the moment.
 
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