My name is Charlie and I am from near London.I
am 20, unemployed and believe i have suffered
from panic attacks for 3 years. Not that I have
anyone to compare them to but I would say my
attacks are fairly sever and appear to come from
nowhere. They are always bad after drinking (
which i only do once a week ) and they are
affecting my social life.. i don't feel hopless or
depressed, infact my friends would say I was easy
going i think.... Here is a breif description of my
symptoms in the order they happen:
1) Sweaty Palms/Hands clenching by themselves/
shoulder blades tensing up up
2) shortness of breath and superficial non-
productive cough which is a result of me trying to
get more air in my lungs
3) heart skipping and lump in throat/ general
feeling of unreality
so jeez there ya go. :) As you can imagine until i
had an ECG/Chest X-ray i was pretty scared of
keeling over on the spot. Bit simply knowing it's
Panic has not made me feel any less uneasy
when having an attack, so I'm trying empathy. :)
I hope to make some friends here.
Don't get me wrong I love all my friends... but they
don't know.
So thanks for your time, since my attacks are
regular I plan to be a regular user..
look forward to Chatting =)
Charlie
Firstly thank you all for your warm welcomes.... :) by
the way whats a MVP? sorry I am british :)
So its saturday and I got drunk with my friends last
night again (my only night of the week) and now i
feel terrible.... i don't look for sympathy, lets face it i
only have my self to blame.... just thought i'd say hi
as i'm bouncing off the walls in the house alone.
Do any of you guys feel more comfortable when
theres someone in the house with you?... I do :(....
That sounded real desperate,lol don't worry I'm not
down, I'm just annoyed with the old panic attacks
oh well.... later :)
C
Hey bubble,
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly, I was
hoping for a reply to chill me out a little :)
When i have a hangover I just try and drink water
lots, but when I'm having an attack it's hard to drink
water.... it feels almost like I'm drowning.. Is this
Normal?
Another thing I was wondering was how much diet/
excercise contributes to an attack, any reflection
would be appreciated, an again thanks for getting
back to me so soon.
Another point : I live in london, but was visiting
friends in Manhattan on 9/11, therefore i witnessed
the horiffic events of that day with my own eyes, up
until very recently i didn't think i was that phazed by
it (or had any right to be for that matter- i didn't
loose a friend/loved one) But I've been having
really vivid dreams about it for the last few weeks....
dunno if this means anything.... but i just thought
I'd spill my guts.... Music is a good to reflect to... I
can recommend "In a New York minute" by Don
Henley..... amazing song :)
Oh well
laters!!
C
Hey hey!
To Answer some questions posed in all of your
replies.....
Firstly, as yet I am on no meds, therefore I can
drink without any repercussions (other than the
attacks).
and Maria, I don't think I've talked about dreams
before, you must have the wrong person ;)
Red, I've found it is far more socially acceptable to
be drunk in the UK than in the US, it's practically
part of our culture, I only get drunk (or drink
anything for that matter) one night a week, and
seem to pay the price the next day, although I do
get attacks at other times the ones the day after a
few drinkies are tough.
I don't drive, partly thru not needing to and partly
thru not wanting to have an attack at the wheel....
But, of course I do agree with you, I'm a mug to
keep on doing it to myself.
Oh well take care all!!!
Byeeeeee
hi ya!
Ya maria, I went to the doctor because I thought I
was gonna have a heart attack or something!! they
gave me chest x-rays and ecg, and came to the
conclusion it must be panic, and reading all of the
symptoms of it has made even more confident that
its the problem....
Later
C
Hi Engineer,
this is pound for pound EXACTLY what happens to me... While
thru out the week i sometimes feel a little bit shabby down to my
panic, it's nothing i can't get a handle on, then friday comes and i,
like you, like to have a few drinks with friend. (I'm 22 and have
had panic attacks for about 4 years) I NEVER get any symptoms
while i'm drinking/drunk, on the contary, i feel the best i have all
week, but when i wake up the next morning it's like i've got about
an hour from when i wake up until a full blown attack sets in and I
HAVE to get home as quickly as possible (i usually stay at friends
houses on friday nights) I get the shakes, get overly sweaty and
get a numb face and pain in my temples along with tight
chestedness etc. I don't drive but being a passenger in a car
makes it worse, maybe the feeling of being trapped. Does any of
this sound familiar? you're pretty much the first person on here
that seems to have exactly the same problem as me - Knowing
drinking makes your condition worse, but not wanting to stop it.
Cheers. ;)
Charlie
Hi Simon...
I like you am a 22 year old guy, and have been having Panic
Symptoms on and off for about 4 years. I was in a similar situation
to you a couple of years back - I was severly depressed and didn't
know where to turn, I was agraphobic (which basically means, like
you, I feared leaving my house which I saw as my safe zone) and
was quickly becoming a recluse because i was too embarrest to
admit i had these problems to my friends, yet as you know they
are completely uncontrolable, so rather than go out and risk
having an attack amoungst friends I'd just stay in, get depressed
and wished i'd gone out. I don't know about you, but when I'm
around 'Safty people' like my Dad that know about my Panic
attacks and don't freak out when i have one (because people
freaking out are just going to make it worse, right?) they seem to
pass much quicker and usually not that intense. So what I did was
basically sit all my friends down one by one and said, "look I get
panic attacks... they're nothing to do with me being a nut ball, but
sometimes i'm going to get a little bit uncomfortable and tight
chested and need to go and chill out on my own for a little bit" A
few of them laughed at me until I gave them links to web pages
that explained it a little better than i could, and for the most part
they are all very supportive now. SO I solved my problem by
making EVERYONE i socialise with regulary 'Safety people' that
don't freak out as soon as I grab my chest and start feeling
uneasy. Maybe you would feel more comfortable if you were frank
and told your peers this? Saying you want to end it all makes me
upset and I would like to have a chance to share with you in
greater detail how I've made my life liveable again. Feel free to E-
mail me on cchapman1@mac.com or MSN me on
wsl1959@hotmail.com
Take Care Simon, and remember... There's so much more to it
then you think ;)... get in touch man.
Kind regards
Charlie
Session Timeout Warning
It’s been a while since you were active on this site. Please extend your session below
You have been logged out due to inactivity.
Please sign back in.
We use cookies to help us learn about how our platform is used and how we can improve your experience. To
learn more please see our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
