Everything was fine up until mid November, I was on my way home from work when all of a sudden my heart rate shot through the roof , I was breathing heavy getting hot feeling faint and light headed , a drive that normally takes 10-15 minutes took me almost 2 hours.
Ever since that happened my life has been In a downward spiral, I have this nagging feeling of impending doom like im going to die, constant crying because of this feeling, I'm convinced I have oral or throat cancer and a bad heart.
Can't get in to see a doctor until March 29th , I'm scared to death of how I'm feeling and even more scared of what the doctor might find. I have been home bound for almost 2 months now.
It is so depressing to have this thought that im dying and won't be around to watch my kids grow and not being able to grow old with my wife.
Every day is a constant struggle for me.
My wife keeps trying to reassure me that it is bad depression mixed with anxiety but it is hard to believe it's just that.
I have had anxiety since I was a child so I have been living with anxiety my whole life but it has never felt like this.
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I can identify with the feeling of impending doom. That’s my anxiety talking. I can’t do without counseling and meds. I need all the support I can get.
I’m sorry you’re going through this. I also use meditation and quiet time to help get through the day. And I practice mindfulness a day at a time. If I can stay in the day I’m in much better shape.
Keep posting and sharing what you are going through. Talking about it helps.
Thank you for the response.It has been a rough year, lost my grandfather in June then my uncle to a vehicle accident not even a couple months after my grandfather passed.
I started going down a rabbit hole of symptoms and such about a month ago , convincing myself I may have oral,throat, pancreatic , and nasal cancer because I have been a smoker for 20 years or so.
I also discovered that my biological father's dad died of a massive heart attack at 37 years old and with it being 2 months before I turn 37 is triggering my fear of that being passed down to me through genetics
Like I said. Take it a day at a time and deal with what’s real today.
My daughter died in January of this year and we’re coming up on the anniversary. My husband is sick and I’m afraid I’m going to lose him too. So I understand.
I’m the same in the last 3 yrs I’ve convinced myself I have ms the brain tumour then throat cancer now I’m on womb or ovarian cancer my mum died at 39 from a heart attack I was 18 but when I hit 35 the health anxiety started I’m now 40 n it’s just one thing after another I’m realy struggling to cope I have 3 children the youngest is 4 and I can’t even enjoy being a mum because of this so just know ur not alone ,
Hi. I've had panic attacks a couple of times. It made me feel like I was going crazy and couldn't breathe. I had to stop and think carefully, wondering what triggered this??? The first time it happened I was driving and I was very stressed out. It was rush hour traffic and I was trying to follow some strange directions to get somewhere to meet my mom. I wasn't sure where I was going. I tried to call my mom's cell phone and got no answer. I started hyperventilating and felt like maybe I was having some kind of heart attack or something. I kept trying to call both of my parents and they weren't answering their phones. Then I felt like I just couldn't breathe. I pulled over into an apartment complex gasping for air. I didn't want to call 911, but I felt like something was happening to my heart. So I called them and talked to the dispatcher for a little bit. She decided to send out to the local fire department and hospital. I really didn't want her to, but she said that's protocol. So here comes this fire truck with it's sirens going off!!! I felt really embarrassed, but a couple of the firemen were very nice to me, they wired me up so I had oxygen coming in my nose, I started to just take deep breaths and after about 10 or 20 minutes I was much calmer, the oxygen helped. I explained to them that I don't have any history of heart conditions and that I must have just had a panic attack. They didn't get angry at me or anything like that, they just looked concerned, and they called off the paramedics who had yet to arrive there. They helped me figure out some directions and I thanked them and got back into my car. End of story. The other time this type of thing started to happen I was in a small grocery store where I felt like the walls were closing in on me. I had to wait forever in line to check out . I just kept taking deep breaths , told myself that this is distressing but not dangerous, and when I got out of there, I was all right. Take the time to try to figure out what triggered you, then you know what or who you need to avoid if you can , and do some deep breathing.
It is really debilitating.I had a really bad attack a couple years ago while working , my supervisor had called EMS , they hooked me up to a heart monitor while I was laying on the office floor , my blood pressure was super high and my pulse was roughly 115 120 BPM
Once at the hospital they hooked me up to an EKG , the doctor told me I was dehydrated so they gave me an apple juice and sent me on my way , my health insurance through my job wasn't active at the moment so once they discovered I didn't have medical at the time I was pretty much dismissed , they were going to do other tests as well as blood tests but I was just dismissed as being dehydrated.
The medical establishment here in northern MN is not a very good one, all they care about is being paid and pushing pills.
Every other time I have gone in everything I was experiencing was attributed to anxiety and panic like no doctor would take me seriously and I was getting so fed up with it.
Yh that’s not fair to be treated like that I live in the U.K. so we have free nhs treatment but with Covid u can’t realy get to see a doc and everything is a waiting list
March 29 th is too long to wait to see a doctor, not necessarily because you have a serious medical problem, but because it is cruel to force anyone to wait that long and to remain in a state of high anxiety for three months. Try to move the appointment up. Express the urgency of your situation to the doctor's office. If someone suggested that I wait 3 months for an appointment I might consider looking for another doctor. x
Can you go to an urgent care facility? I have gone a few times and have found the doctors to be quite good and helpful. They can do some tests and also some people use them as their primary care doctor.
I would say yes but urgent care is a joke, it sometimes takes up to 4 hours to be called back to a exam room even when the lobby is mostly empty.
Last time my wife and I were at urgent care when she was having signs of appendicitis buckled over in severe pain it took almost 2.5 hours for them to get her into a room then into surgery.
I have also experienced severe panic attacks. The fear is very real and the explanations for the feeling can seem real during the days of panic attacks too.
Personally, during my panic attacks I worry I'm a threat to others, that I know in a better state of mind I am not. The fear response really just goes in overdrive and paints everything like a threat, for me, it can even include myself.
Coping mechanisms like 5,4,3,2,1 breathing exercises, self care, and accepting help from others were very effective for me.
As for your situation, maybe you might be ill and you'll get more information about that on the 29th of March.
Until then the likely alternative is that your experiencing panic attacks, fear around your health and that your actually in a safe environment with your family, and in good health. You can remind yourself of this and reinforce this by taking the care of yourself required.
Hi I get these on a daily basis have suffered with them for many many years! Yet every time I have them I just freak out and can’t mentally accept it’s a attack. I also fear if diying I don’t do things I want to as they stop me and don’t like taking kids out knowing I could have one at any moment.
Only thing that takes the edge of is diazepam! If it makes you feel better go to hospital for a checkup, this could be your anxiety giving you panic attacks. Hard as it is to deal with try and tell yourself it’s a panic attack. Heart attack are similar symptoms but like my doc said try and push through them if you fear the worst like a heart attack go hospital and they will check you over.
I feel your pain! I have no quality of life down to my panic disorder and anxiety I had 4 of them yesterday and I just couldn’t stop them. It’s the dizziness and struggling to breath I can’t handle. Hold I’m there
I’ve had anxiety and depression since I was a kid and the older I get the worser it’s getting for me hopefully things will get better just try not to stress and worry
You know this feeling is reel and horrible, I went through these panic attacks and feeling of impending doom for 20 years..
I have recently started seeing a counsellor and she asked me a question.. so how do you feel about still being here? Anxiety is difficult to which I wish you all the best health and happiness!! And yes I am still here
Just because you have been dealing with anxiety for most of your life, if doesn't disqualify it as being the main reason your currently feeling the way your feeling. It is very likely that your wife is spot on. Your current feeling of impending doom and death is initiated by what people like you and I have been dealing with for a long period of time. Think of it as the anxiety is taken it to the next level. This next level step can happen due to several other circumstances that is going on in your life. For me it was a combination on Covid and work related stress, sprinkled in with some relationship challenges. For you it is likely some other bad cocktail of life challenges. I know its easy for us to say but it is the anxiety playing with your thoughts. If you have not done so please visit your preferred behavioral specialist for counseling and medication. Hang in there, lean on your wife until you get through this. My prayers to you and your family. This too shall pass.
Hi about 10 years ago I had a similar experience, I was stressed a bit lonely and starting a new job and then as you described it led to a panic attack while driving and I can relate to the nightmare of feelings and thoughts that followed for a while. Looking back I realized how much I was going through at the time financial stress, an ill brother, caring emotionally for my mother. My self-care was lacking and although it did not get solved over night. Little by slow I learned how to manage my stress, learned more about anxiety and now my symptoms might creep up to a high point once a year or so if I don't manage to take care of myself. This is just my story and my strength for me the anxiety was more of an over exhausted stress response from a lot of childhood trauma being a care taker and it was as if this panic was a signal to take better care of me. I can tell you that you can get a better understanding by talking to a PCP or I used Barry McDonough's DARE program or claire week's. Wishing you all the best
I understand child hood trauma, I had watched my mom be abused physically and mentally for 15 years by my step dad I was also a used as well, I was abused by his brother and a niece as well in a physical way.
We have a lot in common. I lost 4 family members since 2011, and 2 in 2018. Couple that with a traumatic childhood and mysterious medical problem, I had a meltdown in 2020 (Covid did not help). So I tried several things, and found a combination of lexapro and clonidine pulled me out of it. The clonidine stopped the fast heart rate. It’s a blood pressure med. (I first tried propranolol but it made my fingers tingle).
In 2014 my PCP put me on atenolol (beta blocker) for high heart rate , my pcp didn't do any investigating into what was going on with me , just looked at me straight faced and said you have anxiety , here are some pills , any question I asked that was health related were just laughed at.I'm hesitant on taking meds as I had a friend pass around 08 which I believe was due to being prescribed a medication he didn't need .
So sorry to hear that you are going through this terrible time! Based on what you have said, I truly don't think this is a physical problem, at least not one that puts you in serious danger. I know that intense anxiety can be something of a physical problem -- I have a friend who is going through something similar, and she is very worried about her heart rate, but this has gone on for a while, and she can still ride her bike and do her work.
Also sorry to hear that your medical services are not very helpful. I am in the UK, where we can get help from the doctors for free. But unfortunately, due to Covid, we currently have to wait for hours and hours to be seen.
I have anxiety which cripples me, but I am lucky that it is not as bad as yours, or my friend's. I also have AF, and I am taking extra heart medication that I don't usually take, just to try and avoid having to go to hospital for any reason.
These are difficult times -- I'm wondering whether that could be one of the reasons that you are feeling that there is impending doom? I hope things get better soon.
Had a panic attack bout 3 months ago due to smoking strong weed which I’ve shouldn’t had been doing but every since that day I never feel normal I always have chest pain or my left side of my body would get these weird sensations soo I went to different hospitals and doctors and they was all telling me the same thing but some time I still convince myself it’s something else I’ve had ekg,x-ray,blood drawn multiple times and they found nothing😏sometimes I just wonder what if they missing something I mean I’m only 19 but I feel like I’m 35 all this stressing and stuff I’ve been doing since that very day I just hope it nothing serious and it’s just my Health Anxiety like they say it is
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