How long have you had anxiety problems??

Posted , 9 users are following.

Reading through posts on this site I see people who have only had anxiety issues a short time and others that hat survived living with it for years. Thought it might be good to have a post where people can see the experiences of others ..

l'm 42 and have been battling health anxiety for 10yrs after the birth of my daughter, Have been utterly convinced I've had every terminal illness there is, but guess what??? I'm still here. Xxx

3 likes, 14 replies

14 Replies

  • Posted

    Hi Frinsey,

    Like you, my anxiety kicked in early 30's after having my daugther. Something in me just changed afterwards. I'm now mid's 40's and have spent a good portion of that time on a very low dose of medication, however, i'm off it at the moment. As long as I can exercise regularly and get good sleeps I feel OK. Knowing my stressors are a big thing also so I can plan for them and let my hubby know if I'm feeling overwhelmed.

    All the best, nice to read your story and know I'm not alone smile

  • Posted

    Since my 3rd baby at 31, I have had the worst panic attacks....Ive suffered with health anxiety for 10-15 years....Do any of yall long time suffers have heary palpitations, high blood pressure? My bp would shoot up, but now, I have had heart palpitations where it just flops 2 or 3 times then stops for 3 or so hours just to do it again. Any one else felt this? Please Help.....I had a holter monitor on for 24 hours and I was told they were PVCs and and can very normal....It sure doesnt feel normal. And i had an echo on my heart and the dr didnt say much about it, as if nothing was found, but the lady that did the echo said "the dr will talk with you about your results" Insinuated something was wrong but I got a "looks good" in a terrible accent I could barely understand.

    • Posted

      Yes I get heart palpitations and my blood pressure is usually all over the place which causes symptoms that then lead to me being more anxious !! It's a vicious circle. I try to do breathing exercises daily which does help ( if I remember to do them ). If you've had tests then I'm sure your symptoms are all down to your anxieties, anxiety causes over 100 bodily symptoms and heart palpitations are one of the most common xxx

  • Posted

    I'm 45, and was diagnosed at age 23 or so. My daughter was about 2 when the hardest of the symptoms hit. The same thing happened to my sister after her first pregnancy.

  • Posted

    There definitely seems to be a link between anxiety after having children. For me I think that the hormonal changes my body went through was possibly my trigger along with severe sleep deprivation, my daughter only slept for 1-2hrs at a time for the first year. A lot is talked about post natal depression but post natal anxiety doesn't seem to recognised as much. At first I was treated for depression, thing was I wasn't depressed !! It took 6yrs before I was finally put on anti anxiety meds, by then my body was so use to being anxious it would go into panic mode involuntary even when I wasn't consciously anxious !! 

     

  • Posted

    Hello. Wow there defo is a link here. I didnt have the best childhood due to a alcoholic father but it didn't really affect me. But after having my first child I had my first panic attack when he was around 6 weeks old and I remember it as clear as day. I went to the doc as I thought I was going to die and was told then, don't worry it's just a panic attack, go home and take paracetamol and don't think about it!! That was in 1988!! So I have had this since then. I don't have panic attacks often but for me now it's anxiety and depression. I have two younger children from my second marriage and all I want is to be able to manage this better. Don't get me wrong.. I work full time from home and I do keep my feelings to myself but if honest I feel I'm dying inside and just want this gone. I'm 48 😑

    So good to hear I'm not alone .x

    • Posted

      Oh Jay, you sound very similar to me. I grew up with an alcoholic parent and I didn't think it effected me. The more I'm learning about my anxiety disorder though I think that maybe it did effect me more than I actually consciously realised. I too use to keep everything to myself but I've learnt to be more open about things. I read back through my diary the other day and I read a part that reminds me of what you've said " To the outside world I'm fine and getting on with it but what no one see's is that inside I'm dead ". I do think talking to friends about how I feel has helped somewhat xx

  • Posted

    Since i was child many things happened that untill now i am thinking about but my first panic attack that really put on the floor was when i was 18. Then off and on until i become agoraphobic 5 years ago. Then worked with med got my life. I relapsed again and become agoraphobic last year and i am working on it now.

    I am 32 ....

  • Posted

    I've battled anxiety for as long as I can remember. I am 46 now. I have periods of respite and then long hard periods of serious anxiety. Have self diagnosed myself with many serious illnesses.(almost all cancer in the last 20 year) I lost my mom and brother in law to cancer and seem to be in a groove with my thinking about it.

    • Posted

      I was raised in a wonderful home. Was loved and cared for. But my mom was often ill and then she died at 48. Her illnesses stressed me seriously while growing up. I was so deeply attached to her. To top that, I had health issues periodically while growing up. Seems it all came together into this health anxiety. Heath issues/ anxiety runs in my mom's side of family.

    • Posted

      I definitely agree that health anxiety can run in families, my mum ( though never had any treatment or acknowledged it ) definitely suffers from it which is where I think my brother and I get it from. My brother is a bit like my mum and struggles admitting his problems or getting help. I lost my sister and husband within 18mths of each other and that has certainly worsened my health anxieties but I'm determined to keep fighting back xxx

  • Posted

    September 16... after a minor digestive problem... I did the very stupid googling my symptoms even after i had seen my GP.

    Google was the culprit as it convinced me i had something terminal:

    So i banned myself from ever googling a health problem .

    I got it under control, then needed an op for the problem and it came back about 2 weeks after the OP.

    Now i am 95% better but still have the odd panic/worry if i feel something strange.

    I am 57  and i love life and all my family so i think it's in the back of the mind that im getting older ? but i want to be around for at least another 40 years xx lol 

  • Posted

    Took my first panic attack at age 35..i'm now 62 and still get them, though not as severe..Have anxiety symptoms every day..was on meds for years, that left me very off balanced and dizzy..came off them, because I was told, they were old A/Ds and weren't being prescribed any more...tried a lot of other ones, but none suited me, just left me more anxious..I am now taking nothing, but the odd xanax, when times gets real bad..but HI , as you said, I am still here...xxxx

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