Severe anxiety symptoms please help.

[GTO67]

Hello everyone, I have been browsing this site for a while now and its helped me during my attacks.

Fisrt let me start out how this started, i am currently 17 years old, 5' 10" 175 lbs. about 4 years ago I had a panic attack out of no where, my first one, this included major chest pins and impending death. Ever since that day i wold have an attack at night, i was afraid of being alone at night for some reason. This all started after my fathers leg surgery was botched and he got blood clots. I started to feel pains in my leg thinking i had blood clots myself, he would get chest pains, i would get them too every pain he had i had. Ive been in and out of the hospital, had numerous tests done (my doctors said i was in 100% perfect health) this included x rays, ekg's blood tests, echograms. They said i couldent be in better shape. But i kept on worrying, this dident help one bit. ive visited doctors, physhyatrists, nothing helped, ive taken zoloft, and buspar. But the meds made me feel weird so i ended them. Now, years later i keep having constant reaccouring problems, i visited this website: "http://www.anxietycentre.com/anxiety_symptoms.shtml"  and read the symptoms, and my jaw dropped. i had literly, no lie, about 95% of those things. One of the most recent is this derealization/depersonalisation feeling, everything feels weird. Years ago, i used to have attacks, at night only, now i get these symptoms all day, all day long i am dizzy i feel so weird like at a mall, it feels like nothing is normal like im embarassed about anything and everything and (CONTINUED BELOW)

[Bodylove222]

I I am glad to hear that others suffer from obsessive irrational thoughts and sever anxiety!! At a young age! Everyone I know doesn't understand how I feel! They think you can just stop it I'd you want to. If that was the case I would be in good shape!  When I was a child I suffered from slight OCD and migraine with aura which comes from genetic of my fathers side but never interfering with my life, until about 2 years ago I started getting other neurological physical symptoms where my legs and arms felt numb and my legs were weak. Then I started to get severe fatigue and memory loss with blurry vision and a stiff neck that was so painful I could barely keep. it up. rashes on my chest and seeing spots in vision. I also began developing a slight mild dementia getting lost in familiar places and not recognizing people easily or myself This is not normal for a previously healthy 26 year old female.
The drs did all of the bloodwork to check for lymes,lupus infections disease, anemia thyroid, Wilson's disease, B12 defencies  and every disease out there. All resulting negative, which just a high bilirubin which is benign condition drs said and many people test high for in the liver enzymes. Then I got a MRI of brain, neck, and back all negative. The drs were thinking of doing spinal tap. But I am being referred to a big university for second opinion. 
I have a huge career and now needs to be put on hold. I want to rule out severe neurodegenerative  disorders but all the drs have really given up on finding a real illness confirmed by a test.
After all these symptoms started a year later I started developing irrational thoughts and fear of dying and I began to overbreath constantly and think about it every moment. This has left me home bound filled with severe anxiety and paranoia, I can't sleep well, I get nightmares,, and feel like I'm looking thru tunnel vision,.my body feels numb and my mouth so dry,my face feels numb as well which is hard to tell cause I am a migraine sufferer originally  and I feel like if I don't consciously breath I will die or something so then I over breath constantly and it puts me in a state of shock it seems. I am fainting and the vertigo is so bad I can barely stand. My eyes are dry and my appetite is gone. I cannot enjoy anything? Do you think my prior health symptoms activated a severe anxiety disorder? Or was it that all along manifesting on different symptoms, the breathing symptoms just started recently so that's when the really scary symptoms of feeling like I'm going crazy started. Could it still have been anxiety all along and now chronic hyperventilation  in later stages?  Any help is so greatly appreciated! I really loved my life and don't know why this would start gradually and worsen  i never suffered from depression before and now am getting worse out of nowhere? Thanks for your help in advance. 

[kazz112]

I know exactly how u feel, I suffered terribly for 9yrs, my world felt like it had been turned upside down an I got to the point where I didn't know if I could handle it anymore. It all started when I became a mother an the feelings of having this new life to look after over whelmed me.  Things started to progress, thoughts in my head, feeling like I was having a heart attack all the time, my heart would race so I was for ever going in an out of hospital thinking maybe they were missing something.  I had so many tests at the doctors an as soon as I entered the doctors my heart rate would rocket sky high, in fear that they would tell me that I was going to die. When I got a headache or any sort of sickness yet again I convinced myself it was something more. I would look up my symptoms on the computer an what came up terrified me, so I would think omg I have this terrible disease.     Its amazing all the symptoms you have from anxiety, the sweets, hart racing, numbness, headache, an omg the feeling like u are going to pass out, the list goes on an most ppl cant truly know how u feel until they themselves are or have gone through this.  Knowing that u are not alone in this some what gives your relief.  I broke down bad one day an went to see a nurse an I tell u what from then on my life has improved 100%.  I was put on antidepressants, it took about 3 weeks then one morning I woke up an felt so good.  I was put on these not for depression but for anxiety.  I know a lot of ppl are against these tablets an it may take a few different types before you find the right one for u but at the end of the day I feel like I am living again.  I really hope this has helped someone, knowing that u are not alone an your life can improve!!! I wish u all the best :)              

[jessicaleigh1231]

I have horrible anxiety and the worst part is - I don't know why.  I think that's why I constantly try to find something wrong with me.  I really am having a problem with my left arm veins swelling up.  But, I am seeing a doctor and he is doing a nerve test.  He says it's not serious.  Well...I go to webMD and all sorts of sites.  Now Im thinking it's my heart...it's my veins... I'm thinking I'm going to get a blood clot.  I think about dying like 20+ times a day.  I just started Celexa.  I sure hope it kicks in soon.  I miss feeling normal. :(  It's a horrible disorder and I wish people could understand how depressing it is to have these symptoms.  It's like everyday is a fight to get through.  And then every morning I wake up, I'm so happy I made it another day.  I'm so scared.  I just wish I could get better right now.  :(  I hope all my heart test turn out okay. That is worrying me the most.  Oh and I don't want a blood clot. ugggh.  Im only 30.  Im super healthy.  I don't understand...why me? :(

[hkchii]

I have suffered from two serious anaphylactic shocks. I'm afraid to take anything. When I do, I convince myself it's happening again, and the symptoms of a panic attack feel exactly the same as anaphylactic shocks. I can never tell. I need help, someone that can relate to me?

[guest176]

ok, i know i mgiht sound like a jackass to some of you, but i want you to realise one thing, i went through the EXACT same thing, for almost 2 years, and honestly, it was quite severe. like, a cancerous, 3rd person, borderline constant hallucination, and in a panic attack 16-24 hours/ day ( depending on how much i slept) anxiety. and it got to the point to where i said im either going to find a way to make this **** liveable with, or im gonna end it. and i was 17 when it started, 6'3" 220 lbs. and the only reason im doing this, is because i only wish someone would have done this for me while i was reading blogs on anxiety almost all day, to help me cope. What you need to do, is actually read up on anxiety, what it is exactly and what causes it, the cycles that you send your mind on, that never end, producing your all day anxiety.. and i say all day anxiety, because anxiety is a normal healthy thing, just not when experienced all day every day. so thats one thing down, anxiety is fine, you are most likely not ill, and do not need medical attantion or medicine, just some good old willpower. for the record, i neevr took any medication at all while i was struggeling with my anxiety. so, as im sure most of you are aware, anxiety is not viable, without depression, meaning you can not have anxiety without first having depression (again, another completely normal healthy emotion, just not when experienced continuously) and there are many many things that can have an onset of a deep depression, some of them subconcious. and what i found, throught a lot of my research and readings, is most of the younger people that have a sudden onset of anxiety, is almost completely home to them "growing up" just in a more intense, rapid sense. which could be caused by problems as a child, past experiences or w/e. but what it seemed to be to me, was figuring out that i wasnt invincible, and was vulnerable to the same things everyone else is. i just didnt know that at first. because think about it.. what is it that keeps your anxiety on a roll? the fight or flight response. what is it that causes you to take to the fight or flight response? your mind over exaggerating pains that you feel, your depression, and many other things, causing you to dwell deeper and deeper into that until you convince yourself something is wrong. and one of the worst things is, is you catch it sometimes, your like.." why did i panic over that?" which makes you start to question you own mentality therefore sending you on the same cycle. so, next time you start to panic, when you feel an attack coming.. try your hardest to figure out why, and try to make sense of it ask yourself "is there a reason to panic over that?" "was that actually what i thought it was?" and try to convince yourself to not go on the cycle, because thats how i broke it, i would find the reasons for my panic, and break them down until it seemed silly of me to think anything of it. because the thing is, they are the same feelings youve been feeling your whole life, you just never stopped to think that hard about it, because it seemed so miniscule, but when your alone and/or depressed, your mind works in a different way, and exaggerates everything you feel, giving you a very xenophobic outlook on life "what was that pain? i need to google it, something must be wrong with me" and i know, most of you are thinking.. take advice from some1 thats 17? uh, no. but ill tell you, one of the biggest helps i had ( although frustrating as hell) was my dad, telling me to get over myself, and to grow up. which obviously at the time, i just thought he was a jackass, and didnt understand, until i talked to a few of my older friends/acquaintances, and almost all of them said they went through the exact same thing, just a stage of life to overcome, only making you a stronger person morally. which is funny, because you can point out the people that you know have never been through anything as such, and i gurantee you will call them a jackass, because they are loud, obnoxious, and full of themself, because they have never grown up. and so by the time i started putting all of the peices together myself, i started completely agreeing with my dad, that i really did just need to get over myself, because.. there are far more importat things to worry about in life, especially the pain you are putting other people through with your cycled mentality, because i watched my mom and sister cry over me too many times, because they just figured i was a lost cause, because i basically turned into a shell of a person, i showed no emotion ever, never laughed or smiled, and had some mild suicidal thoughts. which i also got over.. because, i figured out, that suicide was the easy way out.. which also was a big boost to morale when i overcame my anxiety. and for the record, i had virtually no personal help or support in overcoming my anxiety, most of my friends thought it was something that could be shrugged off, obviously never having been through it themselves, and none of my family, because none had went through it besides my dad... which made a lot of sense to me, why he didnt try to help that much. although, he is quite old (was almost 60 at the time). so basically all i had to rely on was the blogs i read, and the research i could do. but , as of now, i am almost normal now, and definately able to function within society quite normally. i just still have a terrible memory, and my vision is still askew (3rd personish) but i have learned to deal with that, also, i will often have to grab my head, to remind me what size it actually is, lol. because it just feels liek a big hot air balloon mosrt of the time. but, anyways im tired, and i hope inthe long run, this might help some1, because i do understand that everyone is different, and this probably wont reach understanding with more than 5-10% of the people that read it.but anyways, hope i helped.

[Canadagirl26]

I am at the peak of my anxiety.. i feel like i have no control over my life at all anymore. I am 26 years old, i have an amazing bf who thankfully has put up with me. I had to stop my job because i was feeling trapped in situations. Almost clausterphobic, in the smallest situation. Then onetime i didnt feel well and i almost got sick infront of a huge crowd... ever since then im now afraid i will get sick infront of people and when i go out i almost make myself feel so sick. I have tried to take natural calming pills but i was eating them like candy and they still didnt do anythng. I also will eat gum or a mint to try to distract me but it seems its getting worse and nothing can stop them now. I just want to feel normal. My family is huge and so is my bfs so everyone is always asking us over for dinner and i always make up some reason not to go. So i try to have people at my house more so i dont have to leave. Thankfully i just picked up a work from home job that consists of talking on the phone, i hope this helps me get talking to more people. I feel for every single one of you with anxiety!!! i dont wish this apon anyone! I am crying writing this because im fed up, and want to feel normal.. people dont realize how lucky they are to not have anxiety..