Anxiety and panic disorder taking over my life, just want it all to end I can't cope anymore

Posted , 14 users are following.

So I'm new to this. I rarely talk about my anxiety but it has gotten so much worse this past year. 

I've always had anxiety, but it was so mild. It was just social, like at school or college I avoided situations where I would have to socialise with others or talk in front of others because it made me feel uncomfortable. 

I've been through a lot of stress this past year, my Nannan died and she was like a mother to me but I feel that I have come to terms with this. I've also been homeless (luckily had friends places to stay at) as I lived with my Nannan and when she died I had nowhere to go. Now I'm finally on my feet, got my own place and I did have a job in the care sector but my anxiety suddenly plummeted out of control and I couldn't work anymore. 

It all started July this year when my thigh felt numb and my mind just went all irrational on me and I thought I was having a stroke, had a major panic attack & took myself to A&E because it was the only way I could settle. Anyway, I wasn't having a stroke, my thigh was just numb and probably because I was wearing tights and leggins on that day. But somehow I experienced the symptoms, I felt my arm and legs going numb and my face felt numb. I understand that these are all symptoms of anxiety. 

It hasn't got any better since then. It seems that whenever I am stressed I have an episode. I have thought that I need my legs amputated or am having blood clots because I suffer from restless leg syndrome occasionally. I have suffered from this all my life and have never had such irrational thoughts. These were always occasional occurrences though so I dealt with them really well. 

I eventually went to my GP After my anxiety led me to lose my job. My GP diagnosed me with general anxiety disorder and prescribed me with 10mg of citalopram. I felt so hopeful, my Grandma takes citalopram and my mum used to (long history of mental illness in the family- bipolar and anxiety) and they swear by them. Unfortunately I had such horrible side effects (head aches, waking up in panic, night terrors, muscles spasms) they triggered my health anxiety, one night I thought I was having a heart attack and I had to call my dad for him to calm me down. The panic attack was so much more severe though, usually i panic and it's over. But I just had panic attack after panic attack and it all lasted for about 4 hours. I wanted to escape from my body, I wanted to detach from the world, I wanted to die. I had never felt that bad before. The weirdest thing is, the reason I believe I have health anxiety is because I'm terrified of dying in general, at all. So to want to die because I hated how I felt was very distressing. After all that, I decided to stop taking citalopram. I couldn't take it anymore, I was only on 10mg and I had only taken them for a week. 

I felt better straight away for about 4 days but now I feel worse than I have ever felt before. I am constantly anxious and I have about 5-6 panic attacks a day. I am always on edge and I panic about nothing. I could be having a cup of coffee and I will break out into panic. I get cold chills, I shake, I feel light headed and my legs turn to jelly and I have to force myself to get over that. I have tried breathing techniques but they just don't seem to work. I just wait for the episode to wear off and pray that I will survive. Sometimes I panic about panicking and that makes me panic. I can't deal with this anymore, I don't know if the citalopram has made me worse or if it's just a coincidence. I don't know but I need help because right now, I would rather be dead than feel the way I do. I'm just thankful that I am able to sleep because that is literally all I have been doing lately. It's the only thing that helps but I can't live in my bed forever. 

Any advice would be wonderful. Typing this out has made me panicky but I'm holding onto hope with every inch of me. I'm making an appointment with my GP on Monday but she's very booked up and she's the only GP that I trust to talk to. 

Justine xxxx

1 like, 25 replies

25 Replies

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  • Posted

    I noticed u said u didn't know why u were put on citalopram because u weren't depressed, citalopram isn't only for depression it's for anxiety too. I was on it for years for anxiety. All these medications for anxiety treat other things too especially depression. Don't be put off medication because of the side effects of citalopram, u can try different medications as u can react in different ways to each one. Personally I have tried a few, it just takes time to find the right one. Explain to ur doc what happened on citalopram and hopefully u can try something else!
    • Posted

      If Citaloprm is a SSRI the treatment for bringing you down off a selective serotonin syndrome is XANAX !, SSRI can, will and do cause panick attacks, not in everyone but in some, LOOK it up and look at incidences per 1,000 cases
    • Posted

      They can also cause sui ideal thoughts. I'm grateful that I haven't got these that often. I only get them when I'm having a really bad panic attack. I'm feeling a little better today anyhow. Although i am having trouble getting to sleep and this is usually when the panic starts 
  • Posted

    The problem with anxiety treatment is that they treatments are usually anti-depressants. Sadly thou they all have a period of at least 2 weeks where your body has to get used to them. Unlike taking a pain killer the changes the drug make are more complex and as such the body has to adapt.

    We all different and you are the key decision maker in recovery with your GP. Work with your gp and not against them. You know your body, they are trained on look after and prescribing the right treatments 

  • Posted

    Or you could get to the meat of the matter as many companies come out with bad drugs and decide to settle in claims court rather than recall a bad drug, if memory serves this is one of them, look up lawsuits over it
  • Posted

    Justine I just wanted to see how you are feeling ? Did it all go well with GP ? 

    One thing That i had suggested to me was to update my CV, for 2 reason it forced me to think positive and it also allowed me to get the CV out for consideration

  • Posted

    Everything that U are going thru with ur anxiety me 2 its horrible i hate anxiety , its the worst , I hope u get better
  • Posted

    Hi Justine,

    It's been two years that you wrote this post, but I just read it. I too am having severe anxiety. I was wondering how you were feeling. You are not alone in this. We are all alike in this world. some people are just better at hiding things. Anyway, let me know how you are doing.

    Mary

  • Posted

    I know this was 3 years ago abut I would be really interested to know how you are feeling now?  I am going through the very same thing and I would love to know how you got through it x
  • Posted

    I Varieties Of Anxeity Relief Meds,Pain Killers Opiates,Cough Syrup, Download the wickr App from Playstore or Appstore and contact me @tjacked

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