panicNOTatTHEdisco
Member
Firstly, I'm relatively new to these forums, but I just wanted to say hi to all and it's nice to see so many other sufferers of this crap. Makes me feel easier at times to read people experiencing the same thing as me (not that I enjoy your suffering 
) .
So I'm 24 years old, I've been experiencing anxiety / panic attacks since I was roughly 16 years old. One day in my Western Civ class I had a really bad panic attack that lasted for a LONG time (7 or 8 hours), ended up in the hospital because my blood pressure had went to 210/110. For the next few days it was all I could focus on. I would find myself laying down watching TV and "spacing out" focusing on what had happened and when I realized I was spacing out I would get freaked out and have a little panic attack. Things got a little bit better over the years, but never completely gone. I was on paxil for a few months after but stopped taking it because I felt it made me a completely different person, I'd act out a lot. When I had the first panic attack I had a wicked pain in the back of my neck and I think I thought I was having a stroke or something. Ever since this I can't help but think I have some kind of life-threatening problem with me at any time. I.e. sore arm heart attack, pain in muscle in my chest heart attack, headache brain tumor or stroke. So in a way I feel this has turned me into a hypochondriac. However, the problem I have now is I absolutely OBSESS over this stuff. I'm 22 years old, I don't want this crap to be dominating me for the rest of my life. I have a constant fear that something is wrong with me. I don't really have a "panic attack" a lot necessarily but I think now I have so much anxiety over that there may be something wrong with me that I have an anxiety attack that can lead to a panic attack. Is this OCD? Anxiety disorder? A combination? Soon as I get my life insurance going again I'm going to go to the doctor and try to get this stuff straightened out with me but until then, does anyone have any idea?
) .So I'm 24 years old, I've been experiencing anxiety / panic attacks since I was roughly 16 years old. One day in my Western Civ class I had a really bad panic attack that lasted for a LONG time (7 or 8 hours), ended up in the hospital because my blood pressure had went to 210/110. For the next few days it was all I could focus on. I would find myself laying down watching TV and "spacing out" focusing on what had happened and when I realized I was spacing out I would get freaked out and have a little panic attack. Things got a little bit better over the years, but never completely gone. I was on paxil for a few months after but stopped taking it because I felt it made me a completely different person, I'd act out a lot. When I had the first panic attack I had a wicked pain in the back of my neck and I think I thought I was having a stroke or something. Ever since this I can't help but think I have some kind of life-threatening problem with me at any time. I.e. sore arm heart attack, pain in muscle in my chest heart attack, headache brain tumor or stroke. So in a way I feel this has turned me into a hypochondriac. However, the problem I have now is I absolutely OBSESS over this stuff. I'm 22 years old, I don't want this crap to be dominating me for the rest of my life. I have a constant fear that something is wrong with me. I don't really have a "panic attack" a lot necessarily but I think now I have so much anxiety over that there may be something wrong with me that I have an anxiety attack that can lead to a panic attack. Is this OCD? Anxiety disorder? A combination? Soon as I get my life insurance going again I'm going to go to the doctor and try to get this stuff straightened out with me but until then, does anyone have any idea?
