Please help - feel stuck in a rut!!

[Shelley900]

Hi, I was really just looking for some advice and to see if you guys are going through similar symptoms!  I've been having bad anxiety attacks for a couple of months now and I seem to be constantly terrified of having a brain tumour - the reason I feel like this is because when I do begin to feel panicky, I seem to get some pains in my head and forehead (which is probably just tension!!) and then this makes me feel really, really frightened and so then my symptoms get worse! I just don't know why I can't shake this feeling - I had got other beta-blockers from the doctor last week and they definitely have helped alot but when I start feeling like this again, I could just cry and always think "oh but what if I really do have something seriously wrong with me?!" Does anyone else get these pains and horrible, needless thoughts?? Many Thanks for your help on this.  

Shelley

[cj29]

Let me echo what nursegirl just said; once you are in the clear medically, which you probably will be, the next step is accepting that anxiety can be doing this to you. I know that it is so much easier said than done though.  In my experience, it is a vicious cycle that can be very hard to come out of if one does not accept and confront it.  But if you do accept and confront it, it is VERY manageable.  I encourage you to talk to a therapist about it and use this forum.  There are so many people here that have and are going through what you describe...keep us posted!

[nursegirl6572]

Welcome.  As peggy suggested, it never hurts to have a physical work-up if you haven't already to rule out any obvious medical cause (not speaking of a brain tumor obviously).

After you get the "all clear" from your doc...then you can start addressing the anxiety.  Assuming everything is fine with you medically, you sound as if you are having classic health phobia symptoms.  Fear of brain tumors and heart attacks are fairly common in people with anxiety, specifically panic disorder.  It's just one big vicious cycle....you panic...the panic causes symptoms like you describe, which convinces you that there really IS indeed something horrific wrong.  You need to seek professional help to discuss treatment which could include therapy and possibly medication to help you to learn how to break that cycle.

It can be done...it just takes a while....stick around here....you are among a lot of people who know what you're going through.

[peggy64]

Ask your dr to check your TSH, fT4 and FT3 for thyroid problems, I have had that for some time and it makes you feel like you are going crazy. I kept telling this friend of mine, I am loosing my mind.

makes you panicky as well....

The dr told me that that is one of the chief complaints when someones thyroid is out of whack....