Possible Anxiety

[TheInjuredBiker]

Hi all, brand new user here.. exactly a minute after signing up I am posting... wheres my medal, I joke! Anywho enough with my bad jokes and onto why I am here and why I am posting. (You may see this exact post on other threads)

I was envolved in a bad motorcycle crash 4 months ago, I was going 60mph and a guy in-front of my on the left lane (slow lane in the UK) suddenly swerved into me and smashed me off my bike. Luckily I came off uninjured (or so I thought) and the guy was very good, admitted fault and gave me all his details. The Police attended and told me to go hospital A&E, I refused. I could feel my fingers and my toes, head did not hit the car or the road and my bike was okay. I didn't feel the need so I said to them "If you think my bike is road worthy (all that was damaged is the brake light and some minor scuffs) id rather continue my long journey home". They allowed me to, fast forward to the next day and I've got the usual aching muscles after an injury but nothing else. Lets fast forward a month and make it simple as this has been diagnosed and is now fixed, cured whatever you want to call it. I had somehow damaged my inner ear which was constantly causing dizziness and nausea. One morning I woke up (about 2 and a bit months after the crash) and the dizziness had completely gone (thank god it was like I was drunk 24/7, not as fun as you think!!) but I tried to breathe through my stomach and it felt like I was bloated, since then till now so like 2 months I've been burping every single day, every single hour, every single minute. Id also have these episodes where my heart will suddenly race and ill feel like I can't breathe. I hate going A&E but I legitimately felt like I couldn't breathe (felt the same as when I got severe chest infections when I was a heavy smoker, 4 months free, quit the same day I crashed... coincidence...). When the ambulance came they connected some machine and it showed my o2 levels were 98%. Skipping the hospital visit as nothing really happened there, they told me to go to my GP. I would get these rapid heart beating and unable to breathe episodes every day, currently having a minor one as I type but I know my o2 levels are going to be normal so I don't focus on it or let it scare me if that makes sense. Anywho this is going on far too long, sorry if I have bored you. To cut a long story short as this is a really long story!!! Doctors have unofficially diagnosed me with anxiety related to my crash, the reason I say unofficially is because they can't say until I see the Therapist and Gastroenterologist. Currently on Omeprazole and Amitriptyline Hydrochloride.

My main question is, has anyone gone through something similar and what was the outcome?

I don't see my accident as traumatic but everyone else is saying it is.

[Sky-dancer]

Hi TheInjuredBiker Last May, we had a car accident. My son was driving, no other car, police call it mechanical failure as we were not travelling at speed.. The car suddenly revved, son lost control as we sped up a bank, on top of the hedge and turned over onto the roof.. The car crumpled around us, windows smashed, I truly felt for just a moment that I had lost my son..

I didn't realise I had blacked out so suddenly came around to see him gone.. I thought he'd gone through the windscreen.. He had already got out and was trying to get me out as the car started smoking.. I wasn't aware of this.. He crawled back through his window, undid my belt and dragged me out. I had frozen in the sitting position up-side-down. He had gone into 'action mode'...

Apart from cuts and bruises and a few sore ribs, we both come out of it pretty well..

I have already been told I have PTSD from other things and apparently, this was the final straw but my son has never been the same since.. His moods have changed, he gets anxious and started having regular asthma attacks.. He has also started complaining of extreme tiredness, something he never suffered before.. He won't see a GP about this though, just the asthma, he hasn't mentioned the accident but I'm sure he's suffering from a form of trauma anxiety..

It's possible you are too, although you don't think so... As the collision occurred, your body released chemicals that cause fight, flight freeze reflexes, quite a natural survival mechanism when your life is threatened... They would have taken over and got you through but might still be hanging around on alert, to 'save' you even though you don't need it right now..

[TheInjuredBiker in reply to Sky-dancer]

Hi Sky-dancer , firstly sorry to hear about your accident and the effects it has had on you and your son.

It would seem I do have trauma anxiety, the doctors have said that for a while. I was reluctant as I was the typical idiot who said "Anxiety is all in your head its nothing" and "PTSD is only ex war veteran". When the doctors prescribed me Amitriptyline Hydrochloride I didn't take it for a week until after a few hours of googling it seemed the symptoms I kept having were panic attacks. I am on my 4th day of taking it so haven't seen any effects yet (apparently it takes 2 weeks to kick in) and got the therapy on the 20th of this month, so we'll see how that goes.

Hope you and your son keep well.

[Sky-dancer in reply to TheInjuredBiker]

I'm glad you're having therapy, I'm sure it will help you as it hasn't been a terribly long time since the accident..

I'm sure the refusal to accept anxiety is very common place.. I ignored it for many years, thinking it wasn't something I would get.. As for PTSD being a military thing, that's another myth I believed..

Trauma can affect anyone at any time and can be caused by anything where for even a moment, your life is truly threatened.. When you can see the physical responses your body has to trauma, it becomes a bit more understandable and acceptable..

I wish you well, TheInjuredBiker .. take care..

[TheInjuredBiker in reply to Sky-dancer]

Please try and convince your son to speak to a doctor. I am the sort of person who hides his feelings from everyone, even my girlfriend. I slipped up and told my doctor I was in a bad crash and thats when he sussed out and basically forced it out of me. It definitely helped.

I wish you and your son the best and thanks for your help

[Sky-dancer in reply to TheInjuredBiker]

Thank you for your kind wishes.. I will do my best to convince him.. All the best to you and a speedy recovery...