I don't feel satisfied with my diagnosis of anxiety, does any one else feel like this?

Hi Charlotte , sorry you are plagued with terrible anxiety , is this all the time ? , I think it would be helpful if you could get some cognitive behaviour therapy , this can help you deal with your anxiety issues , if the doctors have found nothing medically wrong with you , thats brilliant .

Are you under pressure to be the perfect mum ? , its very hard , Im pleased you have a happy home and family life , do you have friends or family that you can talk to , or would it help to talk to someone outside the family , go back to your doctors and ask about cognitive behaviour therapy , and counselling , there is help out there , I hope you find some peace of mind

Best wishes

Hi,

I replied to your other post but just wanted to agree with Helen40, Counselling has been so beneficial for me and really helps to understand and control worries

Charlotte, I am very sorry you have joined our group, anxiety is a terrible thing and unfortunately all your symptoms are easily caused by extreme anxiety. While I agree with Helen, my advice is to get the anxiety under control first. Fluoxetine may not be the best at doing that, it didn't work for me. How long have you been on drugs? it takes around three weeks for them to kick in. If its more than that and you still don't find a difference, ask your doctor to move you on to Venlafaxine its a Seratonin and Noradrenaline re uptake inhibitor and has worked absolute wonders for me. Ive been on it for a loooooong time with absolutely no side effects and while I still have panic attacks from time to time, this drug has helped me hugely to lead a normal life.

Good luck my friend, I promise things do get better......

Thank you for your replies. I'm hoping this fluoxetine works, been taking it almost 3 weeks now. Can I just ask, have any of you with anxiety suffered with constant chest pain, pain down the left arm (almost feels numb it aches that much) and pains under ribs? I seems to worsen when I'm walking. It's really worrying me, I've been to the doctors about it and again they offered me no tests and just put it down to anxiety straight away. I am so so scared that it's something else!!!

Just had to post the advise u guy's have given...is spot on..i just had to say that's all

If you are getting numbness/pain down your left arm and chest pain then I would see your doctor again as soon as possible. Insist that they do further tests, or ask to see someone else for another opinion.

Good luck.

All the numbness down the arm the associated pains etc are all very typical of panic attacks if the Doctors

have found nothing then Anxiety is usually the problem often we do not know why we are anxious.

I suggest you ask to come off the fluoxetine and ask if you can have some therapy with a councillor

Tablets will not solve the problem but if you bring the underlying problems out into the open in councelling I guarantee you more success.

It might not stop all the panic attacks but once you will realise you are not having a stroke or a heart attack

you will be able to control them until they become less and less and stop.

I would never go down the medication route again.

I wish you all the best.

Hi Charlotte , sorry i thought you had had various tests done at your doctors , you must go back and ask for ablood test at least , and explain your other pain , they shouldnt just be prescibing , drugs without doing the basics , if your not happy with the doctor ask to see another for a second opinion

Sorry I didnt read your post correctly to start with , you must go back to your doctor

I have had blood tests, not too sure which ones but I know they did full blood count, thyroid, liver function and kidney function. Also I had a ECG at hospital. Do you think this is enough or should I be having further tests? I just don't know what to say to the doctor when he says it's anxiety, don't want to argue with him, obviously it's his job! Would any of you recommend and specific tests that I could ask my doctor for?

Thank you everybody x

Hi its looks like the doctor has been pretty reasonable up to now , id go back and check out , the cognitive therapy side , and counselling Charlotte and if your not happy with the prescribed drugs ask about a different type , but I believe it takes a while for them to take effect , have you spoken to your partner about all your anxieties , he maybe should accompany you to the doctor as well if possible ! I know things seem relentless

at the moment , but Im sure things will improve for you , I hope all he posts to day will have helped you make some informed choices about the actions you may need to take now

Kind regards

Hello

So sorry to hear you're struggling with this, anxiety is such a nasty illness.

To (hopefully) reassure you, I kept suffering with a white hot sensation in my chest and throat, and a constant twinging pain in my ribs at the same time. My GP assured me it was anxiety attacks, caused by stress/anxiety. I didn't believe him, because my breathing pattern never changed, so how could it be a panic/anxiety attack?

But, 3 weeks into taking amitriptyline I havent experienced a single more 'panic attack' and I have also noted that my mood is so much brighter, and I feel generally a lot more happy with myself and my life. I don't think I realised how low I had sunk, because it happened so gradually.

Hi

I completely sympathise with what you're going through. The tests you've had done are exactly what I had - bloods for vitamin B and D, thyroid, kidney, liver, low blood count etc, then had ecg. Tablets take about 3 weeks to kick in, i'm on day 19 so just started kicking in for me, although not every tablet works for everyone. Talk to your doc about the symptoms you are having, they may be related to side effects/ the tablets not working yet. Unfortunately they all sound like high anxiety symptoms.

Def agree to try counselling too x

Hi charlotte! I had and have all symptoms posible starting with chest pain left arm and leg very weak, tingling and numbness even on my face, diarrea, heart pulpation , ringing in my ears, and slerred speach etc if i continue i will have a panic. Done mri of my head checked my ears eyes ct scan of my abdominal, electrocardiogram ,ekg, countless blood test, even tested for scleroderma, done emg on my left side of my body and nothing . I have three small kids i am 33 .and my life is not the same imat the begining was worst now better, i take xanax as needed.good luck .

Hi. So sorry you are feeling so terrible. I too was totally convinced the doctor/hospital were wrong when I was diagnosed with panic disorder , how could there not he something physically wrong when I felt so ill ??!

After many trips to the hospital A&E dept. convinced I was about to die and constant reassurance from my doctor that all my tests had come back normal I decided that I had to accept there was nothing physically wrong and it was as the doctor said , panic disorder.

Once you accept that it is a huge step towards dealing with the symptoms and learning to live with them until you learn how to cope and eventually it will lessen.

I know this sounds easier said then done but believe me I've been through it and it will work.

My doctor put me on citalopram which worked wonders for me ( but you have to work with it ) , I read every thing on Panic disorder and joined the postal group 'No Panic' (brilliant help) , learnt how to breath properly to calm the anxiety down , kept busy and was determined I was not going to live the rest of my life in in total anxiety and slowly it got better.

Some times it feels like it's 4 steps forward and 5 steps back , you will have set backs but don't give up , you can get better .

Hope I am able to offer you some hope with this rely

Good luck