Aa
Successful Stories Please..
Please give me some successful stories to calm me down..
IDK why but when people start to say that anxiety disorder is curable really helps me ease my anxiety.
So any successful stories?
Thanks--
IDK why but when people start to say that anxiety disorder is curable really helps me ease my anxiety.
So any successful stories?
Thanks--
Oops, sorry, I copied and pasted most of this from my post last year. I am now 24 BTW, and this all started when I was 22.
Well, needless to say it made my head attacks TEN FOLD!! Sometimes they were mild and bearable, like before. And there were days I went without attacks. But when the bad ones struck, they left me PARALYZED in certain limbs, my head felt like it was going to go into convulsions or something, and it was just like PURE HELL!! I was completely conscious during these attacks, so you can imagine the FEAR I was under during this time.
After about a month 1/2 or so, and after starting on a mult-vitamin since I thought maybe I had some vitamin deficiencies that were attributing to my problems, my problems not only began to dissipate, but the head zings almost vanished COMPLETELY!! I still got the dizziness/lightheadedness and my head would feel quooky/odd still at times during some of my Panic Attacks, yet NOTHING like I had to endure before!! And sure, I still got heart palps and anxiety, but NOTHING like the torment and torture I had to go through getting ON and then OFF the Zoloft!!!
I am now seeing a Psychiatrist, who prescribed me with Lorazepam and also prescribed me with Lexapro, even though I TOLD him about my reaction to Zoloft. He was STILL convinced, however, that it was just Zoloft and that another SSRI should do the trick. Well guess what happened???
I took it on a Saturday, and for most of the day I was fine (aside from feeling a little tired). I thought maybe I was HOME-FREE and found a med. that would work GREAT!! I took it at NOON along with the Lorazepam, which I take 2-3 times daily. After 6 HOURS of the med. being in my system (Lexapro), I got ANOTHER head-related attack of the electrical vibrations, ten-fold pins and needles feeling, and getting sweaty and clammy, then cold. I immediately called my doctor, and STOPPED taking the med from there on out.
My doctor called me back ASAP on that Monday, and just agreed with me to STOP the med. He told me to continue the Lorazepam and see how that works, as so far there has been no adverse effects, aside from a full-blown attack when first popping the med. one day, but I think that was because I hadn't had the drug in my system all night long, and thus was just prone to a panic attack.
But now, I have upped the Lorazepam to 2MG 3 times a day, and am also taking a beta-blocker, namely the Toprol XL 50 MG I may have briefly mentioned before, which I started that last November.
It has not only lessened my attacks, but made me feel like I can finally enjoy life again!! I was in remission last year for about 2 months, and am still taking the Lorazepam and Toprol long-term. Once my doctor and shrink (psychiatrist) feel it is time for me to get off the meds., then they will SLOWLY ween me off of the meds.
However, I also have an update. When I posted this I was engaged to my now EX fiancee... well I broke up with him after a lot of psychological torment he put me through (long story), so needless to say I am back at home with my parents, and I again had a bout of horrid panic attacks....brought on by the turmoil and trama he put me through (my ex).
I am now seeing somebody else, and he has helped me to turn my life around again for the better. He too gets occassional panic attacks and gets spasm-like symptoms (where he will have uncontrollable jerks/muscle and arm spasms that will last 30 seconds tops and whatnot), so we nurture and share each other's experiences and help each other through the worst. He has been like a gift from God truly, I dunno where I would be without him. He has listened to my story and always lended me a shoulder when I would cry out in tears from the frustration, sadness and trama my ex put me through and the recurring panic attacks.....but I am now close to remission again (almost completely) thanks to him!! He has been my saviour....truly....
I am again in almost complete remission, and I hope that my story has helped you. I know it is kinda long, but I have a lot to share.
I hope my story enlightens some of you, and makes you feel like you are not alone and that there IS hope at the end of the tunnel. You just have to keep reaching for it, and eventually you will get there! Trust me, I never thought I would with all of the hell I had to go through to get to where I am today! Now I am living life larger than ever, and proud of it!! :)
~Crystal P.~
After about a month 1/2 or so, and after starting on a mult-vitamin since I thought maybe I had some vitamin deficiencies that were attributing to my problems, my problems not only began to dissipate, but the head zings almost vanished COMPLETELY!! I still got the dizziness/lightheadedness and my head would feel quooky/odd still at times during some of my Panic Attacks, yet NOTHING like I had to endure before!! And sure, I still got heart palps and anxiety, but NOTHING like the torment and torture I had to go through getting ON and then OFF the Zoloft!!!
I am now seeing a Psychiatrist, who prescribed me with Lorazepam and also prescribed me with Lexapro, even though I TOLD him about my reaction to Zoloft. He was STILL convinced, however, that it was just Zoloft and that another SSRI should do the trick. Well guess what happened???
I took it on a Saturday, and for most of the day I was fine (aside from feeling a little tired). I thought maybe I was HOME-FREE and found a med. that would work GREAT!! I took it at NOON along with the Lorazepam, which I take 2-3 times daily. After 6 HOURS of the med. being in my system (Lexapro), I got ANOTHER head-related attack of the electrical vibrations, ten-fold pins and needles feeling, and getting sweaty and clammy, then cold. I immediately called my doctor, and STOPPED taking the med from there on out.
My doctor called me back ASAP on that Monday, and just agreed with me to STOP the med. He told me to continue the Lorazepam and see how that works, as so far there has been no adverse effects, aside from a full-blown attack when first popping the med. one day, but I think that was because I hadn't had the drug in my system all night long, and thus was just prone to a panic attack.
But now, I have upped the Lorazepam to 2MG 3 times a day, and am also taking a beta-blocker, namely the Toprol XL 50 MG I may have briefly mentioned before, which I started that last November.
It has not only lessened my attacks, but made me feel like I can finally enjoy life again!! I was in remission last year for about 2 months, and am still taking the Lorazepam and Toprol long-term. Once my doctor and shrink (psychiatrist) feel it is time for me to get off the meds., then they will SLOWLY ween me off of the meds.
However, I also have an update. When I posted this I was engaged to my now EX fiancee... well I broke up with him after a lot of psychological torment he put me through (long story), so needless to say I am back at home with my parents, and I again had a bout of horrid panic attacks....brought on by the turmoil and trama he put me through (my ex).
I am now seeing somebody else, and he has helped me to turn my life around again for the better. He too gets occassional panic attacks and gets spasm-like symptoms (where he will have uncontrollable jerks/muscle and arm spasms that will last 30 seconds tops and whatnot), so we nurture and share each other's experiences and help each other through the worst. He has been like a gift from God truly, I dunno where I would be without him. He has listened to my story and always lended me a shoulder when I would cry out in tears from the frustration, sadness and trama my ex put me through and the recurring panic attacks.....but I am now close to remission again (almost completely) thanks to him!! He has been my saviour....truly....
I am again in almost complete remission, and I hope that my story has helped you. I know it is kinda long, but I have a lot to share.
I hope my story enlightens some of you, and makes you feel like you are not alone and that there IS hope at the end of the tunnel. You just have to keep reaching for it, and eventually you will get there! Trust me, I never thought I would with all of the hell I had to go through to get to where I am today! Now I am living life larger than ever, and proud of it!! :)
~Crystal P.~
Now, I want to relate to you my experience with doctors and SSRI's:
I was at first given Zoloft, since I was complaining of having heart palps and racing heart beats and of course, Panic Attacks. My GP promptly wrote me a script for Zoloft at 25 MG, and told me, "take this, you will be fine and it will do you wonders!"
So I left, of course stupididly believing every word she said. I went and filled the prescription, and the next day popped my first pill...
About a few hours into taking it, I had the WORST feeling in my life (well, it only got WORSE from there). I felt severely woozy and lightheaded, and had to sit down to balance and keep myself together. It felt like the entire room was spinning, and my head just felt BLAH all together, like I was getting a head illness or something. I was in a store that day, since I assumed everything with the med. would be fine, and was getting ready to check out when it just HIT me like a ton of bricks. Now, I have had lightheaded spells TONS of times in the past as well as Panic Attacks and Chest Pains, and it was NOTHING like those I had experienced before!!
After that ONE day of taking the pill, I deviated away from taking it again! My symptoms improved, and I no longer had any more of those light headed spells after that one day..
However, as I was STILL suffering from the severe heart palps and anxiety/panic attacks, my mother convinced me to give the med. another try, since my "sis was on another SSRI for her GAD and it was working her WONDERS." Still skeptical about taking the med., but DESPERATE to get rid of my other symptoms, I again popped the med...
Now, the first day I was fine, and this was on a Friday. I was back in the apartment with my fiancee, and it was late one Saturday night, and I was just lying in bed waiting for my man to finish getting ready for bed so I could follow up as well. I then all of a sudden felt this ELECTRICAL SURGE seem to vibrate throughout my head/brain, along with a ten-fold pins-and-needles feeling that surged through my head. I then felt the electrical surge feeling continue to surge through me, even going up and down my spinal cord. I PANICKED, of course, not knowing WHAT was happening to me. I started seeing blotches, and I PANICKED that I was going to pass out, have a seizure or SOMETHING!! I ran around the apartment, the feeling still going on through my head. I then tried sitting on the bed to calm myself down and regain myself, and it seemed like it started to pass. Then, I felt ANOTHER attack, worse than the first, which truly caused me to have blotchy vision and just go into utter chaos.
My fiancee drove me to the hospital in case by the time we got there my symptoms worsened or progressed. Eventually, the off-and-on symptoms DID pass, after about 45 min. to an hour of pure hell.
We just went back to the apartment, and I went to bed that night.
The next morning, I woke up, and probably a mix between me having the attack that night and due to the fact I didn't get much sleep, I felt completely SLOW and BLAH the entire day. I could barely bring myself to speak, I dragged myself slowly across the room, and I just overall felt like a complete pile of ****!!
I called the doctor-on-call (since it was a weekend) and told him about my horrific experience. You know what he did?? He "Poo-Pooed" me away and told me "Oh, it's not the medicine, just you. It was probably just a bad Panic Attack." I was SO mad....he also told me to "continue on the med." >:(
I continued taking the med., and that following week, on a Wednesday, I had ANOTHER milder, but more PROLONGED attack that lasted off-and-on for about 2 HOURS!! :( :( It kept me up until like 1:30 a.m., so needless to say I slept in late the next day...
The problems FINALLY seemed to dissipate, for about 2 weeks. However, after those 2 weeks were up (and I was still on the med.), I AGAIN began getting the weird head attacks!! Most were not as severe as the first, but they were still attacks nonetheless. Now, I have had Panic Attack, and know what those were like, and sure these caused me to have Panic Attacks also, but moreso since I didn't know WHAT THE HELL was going on!!! :(
I was then getting head-related zings/buzzings/electrical sensation attacks EVERY DAY, sometimes mild and bearable and other times not.
I eventually STOPPED the med. after having it in my system for a month, but my stupid GP (she is a good doctor, but not for things like this) told me to QUIT IT COLD TURKEY. She said I should not experience too much side effects, if any.
I was at first given Zoloft, since I was complaining of having heart palps and racing heart beats and of course, Panic Attacks. My GP promptly wrote me a script for Zoloft at 25 MG, and told me, "take this, you will be fine and it will do you wonders!"
So I left, of course stupididly believing every word she said. I went and filled the prescription, and the next day popped my first pill...
About a few hours into taking it, I had the WORST feeling in my life (well, it only got WORSE from there). I felt severely woozy and lightheaded, and had to sit down to balance and keep myself together. It felt like the entire room was spinning, and my head just felt BLAH all together, like I was getting a head illness or something. I was in a store that day, since I assumed everything with the med. would be fine, and was getting ready to check out when it just HIT me like a ton of bricks. Now, I have had lightheaded spells TONS of times in the past as well as Panic Attacks and Chest Pains, and it was NOTHING like those I had experienced before!!
After that ONE day of taking the pill, I deviated away from taking it again! My symptoms improved, and I no longer had any more of those light headed spells after that one day..
However, as I was STILL suffering from the severe heart palps and anxiety/panic attacks, my mother convinced me to give the med. another try, since my "sis was on another SSRI for her GAD and it was working her WONDERS." Still skeptical about taking the med., but DESPERATE to get rid of my other symptoms, I again popped the med...
Now, the first day I was fine, and this was on a Friday. I was back in the apartment with my fiancee, and it was late one Saturday night, and I was just lying in bed waiting for my man to finish getting ready for bed so I could follow up as well. I then all of a sudden felt this ELECTRICAL SURGE seem to vibrate throughout my head/brain, along with a ten-fold pins-and-needles feeling that surged through my head. I then felt the electrical surge feeling continue to surge through me, even going up and down my spinal cord. I PANICKED, of course, not knowing WHAT was happening to me. I started seeing blotches, and I PANICKED that I was going to pass out, have a seizure or SOMETHING!! I ran around the apartment, the feeling still going on through my head. I then tried sitting on the bed to calm myself down and regain myself, and it seemed like it started to pass. Then, I felt ANOTHER attack, worse than the first, which truly caused me to have blotchy vision and just go into utter chaos.
My fiancee drove me to the hospital in case by the time we got there my symptoms worsened or progressed. Eventually, the off-and-on symptoms DID pass, after about 45 min. to an hour of pure hell.
We just went back to the apartment, and I went to bed that night.
The next morning, I woke up, and probably a mix between me having the attack that night and due to the fact I didn't get much sleep, I felt completely SLOW and BLAH the entire day. I could barely bring myself to speak, I dragged myself slowly across the room, and I just overall felt like a complete pile of ****!!
I called the doctor-on-call (since it was a weekend) and told him about my horrific experience. You know what he did?? He "Poo-Pooed" me away and told me "Oh, it's not the medicine, just you. It was probably just a bad Panic Attack." I was SO mad....he also told me to "continue on the med." >:(
I continued taking the med., and that following week, on a Wednesday, I had ANOTHER milder, but more PROLONGED attack that lasted off-and-on for about 2 HOURS!! :( :( It kept me up until like 1:30 a.m., so needless to say I slept in late the next day...
The problems FINALLY seemed to dissipate, for about 2 weeks. However, after those 2 weeks were up (and I was still on the med.), I AGAIN began getting the weird head attacks!! Most were not as severe as the first, but they were still attacks nonetheless. Now, I have had Panic Attack, and know what those were like, and sure these caused me to have Panic Attacks also, but moreso since I didn't know WHAT THE HELL was going on!!! :(
I was then getting head-related zings/buzzings/electrical sensation attacks EVERY DAY, sometimes mild and bearable and other times not.
I eventually STOPPED the med. after having it in my system for a month, but my stupid GP (she is a good doctor, but not for things like this) told me to QUIT IT COLD TURKEY. She said I should not experience too much side effects, if any.
Hello, let me introduce myself. My name is Crystal, and I am a 23 yr. old female, and for the past 1 1/2 yearss I have experienced bouts of clenching chest pain, head vibrations/tingliness, my face feels like it goes numb, there is usually pressure or pain in one spot of my head, I get extremely lightheaded, the numbness/tingliness usually spreads to other parts of the body, and sometimes there is knot pains in the back of my neck and even middle and lower back. The clenching chest pain seems to have subsided in the past month, yet the other symptoms (particularly the head vibrations/tingliness, numbness and severe tingliness/numbness in other body parts) continue. The problems come on sporatically/spontaneously at any time of day..
They are NOT CONSTANT: they usually lasted in bursts from anywhere from 10 min. to an HOUR or more! As you can imagine, it was EXTREMELY stressful when I fely the physical symptoms come on so abruptly! It made me return to my parents' home several times (I am living in an apartment with my fiancee), I took trips to the doctor's and emergency room, where I was hooked up to TONS of EKG's, had both head and chest CAT Scans, lots of bloodwork, and even an echo. I started getting the head numbness, tingliness, lightheadedness, dizziness, etc. about a month ago after 2 days of starting on Zoloft, which my doctor had put me on when she assumed I had panic disorder.
BEFORE starting on the Zoloft, the problems were situated more with the heart clenching pain. It was then that I was put at FIRST on Toprol XL since I had been previously diagnosed with Mitral Valve Prolapse, and my doctor, assumming possibly the MVP would be causing my symptoms, put me on the Toprol.
It seemed to work GREAT for awhile, and there was maybe a whole week I had NO PROBLEMS since the start of the symptoms. However, the problems continued, so they UPPED my med. to 50 mg of the Toprol from 25 mg. Again, the problems seemed to decrease, yet STILL the problems continued...
This all started back in November, and the heart related problems continued well into December. It was at this time that my doctor recommended being put on Zoloft, since ALL my bloodwork, echo, and EKG's were coming back fine, so she assumed it was Panic Disorder or Anxiety. The ONLY thing that had come up was a slight hear murmor, along with my minor case of Mitral Valve Prolapse.
I started on the Zoloft sometime at the beginning of Jan. About 2 DAYS of taking the Zoloft is when I began experiencing my FIRST symptoms of the head dizziness, tingling, numbness, my body and limbs would shake, my hands would get clammy, the tingling and numbness spread to other parts of the body, etc. Of course, I PANICKED, since all that was knew for me, and I was wondering WHAT THE HECK WAS GOING ON!!! It was all completely new for me, and totally petrified me.
Since then, I started getting problems maybe once a week. The SAME symptoms would occur. It also makes it hard to walk/wobbly in my legs, and I also get electrical surges, pain, and tingling sensations up and down my spine during episodes. The episodes last for maybe as short as 10 min. (usually the more minor ones) to OVER AN HOUR!! :(
The symptoms then INCREASED, and I was getting it EVERY DAY for about a week!!! :( Sometimes it wasn't so bad, but other times it was UNBEARABLE!! :(
I got taken OFF THE ZOLOFT, and boy was that hell.
A few times it led to fear/panic, yet most of the time it was just the pure physical symptoms which debilitated me. After the first episode I got, I felt EXTREMELY tired, blah, and like I had NO energy and I could barely do anything!! I felt like tha the next morning too!! :( I would walk slowly, felt like I could barely talk or want to talk, etc. However, rarely does it result in that.
Sometimes (also rarely) I felt weird emotions during attacks, anywhere from anger, depression, fear, etc. Yet I acknowledged the emotions weren't real, even though it seemed to try to convince me they were. I experienced the anger one time after waking up from dreaming, and I felt the anger and anxiousness and then an attack came on. :(
Usually though, as I said, the attacks are more PHYSICAL. It can sometimes lead to fear/panic, yet only in rare instances.
But once I quit the Zoloft, I thought I was in a living hell before, but it just became MORE of a living hell after quitting the Zoloft cold-turkey!
They are NOT CONSTANT: they usually lasted in bursts from anywhere from 10 min. to an HOUR or more! As you can imagine, it was EXTREMELY stressful when I fely the physical symptoms come on so abruptly! It made me return to my parents' home several times (I am living in an apartment with my fiancee), I took trips to the doctor's and emergency room, where I was hooked up to TONS of EKG's, had both head and chest CAT Scans, lots of bloodwork, and even an echo. I started getting the head numbness, tingliness, lightheadedness, dizziness, etc. about a month ago after 2 days of starting on Zoloft, which my doctor had put me on when she assumed I had panic disorder.
BEFORE starting on the Zoloft, the problems were situated more with the heart clenching pain. It was then that I was put at FIRST on Toprol XL since I had been previously diagnosed with Mitral Valve Prolapse, and my doctor, assumming possibly the MVP would be causing my symptoms, put me on the Toprol.
It seemed to work GREAT for awhile, and there was maybe a whole week I had NO PROBLEMS since the start of the symptoms. However, the problems continued, so they UPPED my med. to 50 mg of the Toprol from 25 mg. Again, the problems seemed to decrease, yet STILL the problems continued...
This all started back in November, and the heart related problems continued well into December. It was at this time that my doctor recommended being put on Zoloft, since ALL my bloodwork, echo, and EKG's were coming back fine, so she assumed it was Panic Disorder or Anxiety. The ONLY thing that had come up was a slight hear murmor, along with my minor case of Mitral Valve Prolapse.
I started on the Zoloft sometime at the beginning of Jan. About 2 DAYS of taking the Zoloft is when I began experiencing my FIRST symptoms of the head dizziness, tingling, numbness, my body and limbs would shake, my hands would get clammy, the tingling and numbness spread to other parts of the body, etc. Of course, I PANICKED, since all that was knew for me, and I was wondering WHAT THE HECK WAS GOING ON!!! It was all completely new for me, and totally petrified me.
Since then, I started getting problems maybe once a week. The SAME symptoms would occur. It also makes it hard to walk/wobbly in my legs, and I also get electrical surges, pain, and tingling sensations up and down my spine during episodes. The episodes last for maybe as short as 10 min. (usually the more minor ones) to OVER AN HOUR!! :(
The symptoms then INCREASED, and I was getting it EVERY DAY for about a week!!! :( Sometimes it wasn't so bad, but other times it was UNBEARABLE!! :(
I got taken OFF THE ZOLOFT, and boy was that hell.
A few times it led to fear/panic, yet most of the time it was just the pure physical symptoms which debilitated me. After the first episode I got, I felt EXTREMELY tired, blah, and like I had NO energy and I could barely do anything!! I felt like tha the next morning too!! :( I would walk slowly, felt like I could barely talk or want to talk, etc. However, rarely does it result in that.
Sometimes (also rarely) I felt weird emotions during attacks, anywhere from anger, depression, fear, etc. Yet I acknowledged the emotions weren't real, even though it seemed to try to convince me they were. I experienced the anger one time after waking up from dreaming, and I felt the anger and anxiousness and then an attack came on. :(
Usually though, as I said, the attacks are more PHYSICAL. It can sometimes lead to fear/panic, yet only in rare instances.
But once I quit the Zoloft, I thought I was in a living hell before, but it just became MORE of a living hell after quitting the Zoloft cold-turkey!
I am better (well mostly) and have been in a similar stage as you. I needed medication though (Paxil). I have to be honest and say I had bouts in between the very bad episodes but have been able to manage through them with exercise and some other things that work for me (not sleeping in the daytime, accepting all invitations to do things).
I think the people who got better and never had another problem are not the ones frequenting this board. They are off living their fabulous anxiety free lives maybe.
I don't like to think about the worst times but I have to say each episode was not as bad as the last one. The worst was when I was 20. With age you recognise what is happening earlier.
Good luck. You will get better.
I think the people who got better and never had another problem are not the ones frequenting this board. They are off living their fabulous anxiety free lives maybe.
I don't like to think about the worst times but I have to say each episode was not as bad as the last one. The worst was when I was 20. With age you recognise what is happening earlier.
Good luck. You will get better.
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Anxiety Community
Find out what can trigger a panic attack – and what to do if you have one.
A guide to 10 common phobias.
Take control of tension today.
These simple pick-me-ups squash stress.
Don’t let the winter chill send your smile into deep hibernation. Try these 10 mood-boosting tips to get your happy back
Want to wake up rested and refreshed?
