Introducing...myself.

[excusemydust]

Hello everyone. I just wanted to give a rundown of my experience with anxiety and why I'm here.

First, the basics: I'm 23 years old and male.

I have always been a nervous person--as a child I was told that I was too serious, too conscientious, a worrywart. My worries have always been out of line with reality, but I never had what anyone would have considered a serious issue until I was a teenager.

Around the age of 15/16, I had my first panic attack, although I didn't know what it was at the time. My heart raced, my head swam--at that moment I had to rush and wake up my entire family so that I could be surrounded by other people, because that was the only way I could feel safe. This episode led to my first expedition into cognitive-behavioral therapy, but we never actually broached the incident, because at the time I was also manifesting characteristics of obsessive-compulsive disorder, and so the panic attack was never addressed.

Fast forward to March 8, 2010, I decided to head to the store to purchase a gift for my grandmother's birthday. I felt a little dizzy and nervous before I even got into the car, but I didn't think much of it. As I drove, I suddenly realized that I was getting dizzier, that I was having chest pains and my heart was racing. I couldn't breathe. I felt like I was going to black out. My mouth went completely dry. My stomach was cramping. My fingers and arms were tingling and going numb. I turned around in the next available driveway and drove home (God only knows how), and ran into the house, demanding that someone call 911 because I was having a heart attack. Instead they gave me a sedative to calm me down, and I arranged to see the doctor later that week. After much discussion and medical tests, it was determined that there was absolutely nothing wrong with me. My doctor prescribed Zoloft and a short-term prescription for Ativan, then referred me to a psychiatrist.

Since then, I've been going through CBT again, with moderate success at learning various coping techniques. I still have out-of-control worries and occasional physical symptoms, but I've reached a point where I can breathe my way to calm, even if I can't think my way there. :)

There are no anxiety support groups in my area, so I felt that joining a forum like this would be helpful--to know that there are indeed other people out there who face similar problems and to learn from these individuals how they cope and to share how I do.

[Cuchculan]

Welcome to the forum. Good to have you as a member. Here you are with like minded people. People who understand. As we all suffer from something or other. So feel free to ask any questions. Our members are always willing to help others out. Good chatroom too. 3 posts to enter the room.

Find the correct section of the forum that suits your condition and create a new topic on it. This is just a welcome section. Never really get the same amount of help in this section as you would on the other sections of the forums. So whatever one suits the questions you are asking. Get much better answers.

All users of the chatroom must be 18 years old or over. The room is off limits to anybody under the age of 18.