Aa
help me!!!!
I am a 22 year old college student from montana and a little over a month ago i got a sinus and ear infection which i had to antibiotics for which i had to take 3 kinds and finally i can feel they are starting to go away. But i around the same time i started to get the feeling that i had cancer and i would get really bad panic attacks that i was going to die or that i had some terrible disease so i would look at all the websights on the internet at various disease such as cancer and lupus and thinking i had all of the symptoms associatted with these diseases and cant get them out of my head. It is really bothering me beings that i can not concentrate during class and have missed important bits for assignments and when i go to bed i am still tense and wake up with night sweats variously throughout the night and I cant sleep. My father has this same problem which he takes lexapro for. What should i do i am freaking out and need to concentrate as i am a senior gettin ready to go out into the real world. And every little thing i get such as a runny nose or a cold flash i get seems to set it off again and there i am again on the internet. And this constant fogginess doesnt ever seem to go away! What should i do?!!!
Excellent move, dude!
JS is, naturally, right on with his words of wisdom and the fact that anxiety runs in families. I inherited mine from my Mum. Did I get Aunt Josephines emerald ring? Nooooo! I got the panic attacks. Talk about feeling jipped!
I don't mean to make light Cole. I know your fear all too well, as does everyone on this forum.
The fact that I raised two boys, well, three if you count "the husband," which I STILL DO.........I found that even as very young kids at the pediatrician, they would tend to downplay their concerns. (I think it has something to do with your testosterone) What I'm trying to say here is that being a guy, you guys tend to.........well, not exactly lie, but you DO tend to not talk about "feelings" and "emotions" and stuff like that. Especially the younger ones and at 22 you fit that description, so when you see the doc tomorrow, I want you to SPILL YOUR GUTS! Tell him how scared you are. Cry if that's what you feel you want to do. Doctors have seen and heard it all. FOR SURE tell him about this latest hypochondriacal jag your on! HE will pick up on it immediately and if you don't own up to it, tell him you are having a problem with it, then he will scribble in your chart that your a raving hypochondriac, give you way more meds than you need and get you out of his office ASAP. If you tell him you own this problem, then it's his sworn duty to help you in any way he can, which most certainly should include helping you locate a therapist. Some temporary meds will help calm you down enough to think straight, which I think you need to do really soon. You're working your knickers into a knot my friend, so reach out, don't hold anything back. You don't have anything that can't be fixed. I'm pretty dang sure about that!
Let us know what the doc says tomorrow. Keep on posting. We're here, we care. The few, the proud.................
Peace
Greenlydia
JS is, naturally, right on with his words of wisdom and the fact that anxiety runs in families. I inherited mine from my Mum. Did I get Aunt Josephines emerald ring? Nooooo! I got the panic attacks. Talk about feeling jipped!
I don't mean to make light Cole. I know your fear all too well, as does everyone on this forum.
The fact that I raised two boys, well, three if you count "the husband," which I STILL DO.........I found that even as very young kids at the pediatrician, they would tend to downplay their concerns. (I think it has something to do with your testosterone) What I'm trying to say here is that being a guy, you guys tend to.........well, not exactly lie, but you DO tend to not talk about "feelings" and "emotions" and stuff like that. Especially the younger ones and at 22 you fit that description, so when you see the doc tomorrow, I want you to SPILL YOUR GUTS! Tell him how scared you are. Cry if that's what you feel you want to do. Doctors have seen and heard it all. FOR SURE tell him about this latest hypochondriacal jag your on! HE will pick up on it immediately and if you don't own up to it, tell him you are having a problem with it, then he will scribble in your chart that your a raving hypochondriac, give you way more meds than you need and get you out of his office ASAP. If you tell him you own this problem, then it's his sworn duty to help you in any way he can, which most certainly should include helping you locate a therapist. Some temporary meds will help calm you down enough to think straight, which I think you need to do really soon. You're working your knickers into a knot my friend, so reach out, don't hold anything back. You don't have anything that can't be fixed. I'm pretty dang sure about that!
Let us know what the doc says tomorrow. Keep on posting. We're here, we care. The few, the proud.................
Peace
Greenlydia
Well, you might as well settle in my friend, because you're going to be with us for awhile. You will find that you are NOT ALONE. As iamfaithful says, time for a visit to your doc; get a referral, if you can, to a psychiatrist for an evaluation. What with Dad having the same kind if issues, it sounds like maybe it runs in the family -which anxiety disorder DOES. I'm guessing that the shrink will prescribe some meds for you, but don't let it stop there -therapy can be extremely helpful. The meds will help you calm down a bit, and the therapy will both give you some helpful techniques to manage the problem AND help you drill down to any underlying causes (such as emotional and psychological issues) which might be putting some pressure on. The, of course, there are the good people of this communiyt who will become like family to you. The collective wisdom and compassion is an important adjunct to what you do individually. Merely looking around at what's going on with other people here -and also seeing how many are getting better- will be very helpful to you. You CAN get better. Please use your experience to help others -join in the conversation!
Now, let me introduce you to the forum: Its easy to join -just click the Join Link -enter some profile information about yourself -even a picture if you care to- and anything you think would help us get to know you faster and better, and you can change this material whenever you like. You will also be accessible to receive private messages when other members click the name you've given yourself -sort of a "push to talk" feature. After you've done that, spend some time just using various features of the forum. For example, to see all the posts or responses that someone has made, just click their handle, go to their profile, click Posts, and read to your heart's content. You may also enter search terms -including member names- in the search box at the upper right of your screen and the system will retrun everything matching the term(s) you entered. This INCLUDES a drug database that will give you both user posts about drugs as well as the medical information about the drug. A great way to get quick answers about therapeutic effect, side effects, interactions, etc.
One of the profile categories is your mood, which you may change anytime you like.
Along the right side of your screen is a section of Recent Activity, which not only alerts you to new posts, but new ANYTHING, including journal entries and mood. This is a way to telegraph the community at large without actually creating a separate post. Thus, if you see a friend's mood has changed while you are working on a response or post, it can alert you to send them a private message to learn more or simply let them know you're thinking of them. Likewise, if you are going to be "out," you could enter something like "off line for the night" as your mood, and people would know you're away from the forum for awhile.
If you do this kind of exploring and experimenting right away, you'll be up-to-speed quickly. If you see the message you are reading now as part of a direct response I (or anyone) has made to one of your posts, it was probably copied and pasted from this journal. I hate form letters and auto-responses as much as anyone -but I also hate forgetting to tell people what they need to know, so this is my safety-net. Consider it as part of your "Welcome" kit. So -please join and try things out.
You might also want to read my entries for the "Right Click Trick" and "When in Haste, Use Copy 'n Paste" for some other convenient time-savers.
We're glad you are here!
-Scott
Now, let me introduce you to the forum: Its easy to join -just click the Join Link -enter some profile information about yourself -even a picture if you care to- and anything you think would help us get to know you faster and better, and you can change this material whenever you like. You will also be accessible to receive private messages when other members click the name you've given yourself -sort of a "push to talk" feature. After you've done that, spend some time just using various features of the forum. For example, to see all the posts or responses that someone has made, just click their handle, go to their profile, click Posts, and read to your heart's content. You may also enter search terms -including member names- in the search box at the upper right of your screen and the system will retrun everything matching the term(s) you entered. This INCLUDES a drug database that will give you both user posts about drugs as well as the medical information about the drug. A great way to get quick answers about therapeutic effect, side effects, interactions, etc.
One of the profile categories is your mood, which you may change anytime you like.
Along the right side of your screen is a section of Recent Activity, which not only alerts you to new posts, but new ANYTHING, including journal entries and mood. This is a way to telegraph the community at large without actually creating a separate post. Thus, if you see a friend's mood has changed while you are working on a response or post, it can alert you to send them a private message to learn more or simply let them know you're thinking of them. Likewise, if you are going to be "out," you could enter something like "off line for the night" as your mood, and people would know you're away from the forum for awhile.
If you do this kind of exploring and experimenting right away, you'll be up-to-speed quickly. If you see the message you are reading now as part of a direct response I (or anyone) has made to one of your posts, it was probably copied and pasted from this journal. I hate form letters and auto-responses as much as anyone -but I also hate forgetting to tell people what they need to know, so this is my safety-net. Consider it as part of your "Welcome" kit. So -please join and try things out.
You might also want to read my entries for the "Right Click Trick" and "When in Haste, Use Copy 'n Paste" for some other convenient time-savers.
We're glad you are here!
-Scott
Hi,
My first piece of advice to you is try your BEST not to panic. Why don't you make an appointment with your GP and she can lead you on the best path. Since your Dad has anxiety I am assuming that you most likely have it too, but you need to see your doctor first! In the meantime try not to drink any caffeine, chocolate, fast food...be sure to drink plenty of water. I know it may sound trivial to do these things, but it will help.
Just remember to think positive and breathe properly. Hopefully you can get a handle on this before it starts to get any worse. You will be okay cole07, just keep saying that to yourself! And prayer never hurts, it can only help, believe me!!
My first piece of advice to you is try your BEST not to panic. Why don't you make an appointment with your GP and she can lead you on the best path. Since your Dad has anxiety I am assuming that you most likely have it too, but you need to see your doctor first! In the meantime try not to drink any caffeine, chocolate, fast food...be sure to drink plenty of water. I know it may sound trivial to do these things, but it will help.
Just remember to think positive and breathe properly. Hopefully you can get a handle on this before it starts to get any worse. You will be okay cole07, just keep saying that to yourself! And prayer never hurts, it can only help, believe me!!
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