Paulf, You have come to the right place! Please continue to share your thoughts with us. There are many people within this support group that share the same questions and concerns as you. We are all a group of individuals who support each other. Everyone is here to help and you will find a world of knowledge within our support group. Drawn strength from others, and from within yourself. If you look to the left of the screen under "TOOLS" you will find many supportive tests. These tests are not diagnostic tools and are not a replacement or substitute for a physician's advice. The purpose of these tests is to prepare you with information that you can present to your physician. When you're finished the test, you can either print your Final Report or email it directly to your doctor. We also have developed a Panic Program. This program is 12-weeks and involves the tools mentioned above. Each session is based on the previous session, so we strongly advise that you work slowly through the program and not jump ahead. These tests may or may not be for you but they are "free". If you have any question or concerns with our €œTOOLS€, you can contact Susanne or me at support@paniccenter.net. We are the Support Specialist for The Panic Center and are open to any questions or concerns you may have. Looking forward to hearing from you soon! Josie

Hi Paul, I really feel for you mate. My first introduction to panic was at night with it waking me up all hours , trembling , shaking , peeing loads even though i had not drunk much - i know how u feel and it sucks big time. When your feeling like u r its so hard to even know where to start. I was on sleeping tablets for 4 months , risperdal tranqulizers (just come off) and effexor still on. I gradually got back round to sleeping peacefully and better in the day , theres nothing worse than not sleepin or recharging yourself. You will get better but when ur in deep like i was its not gonna happen overnight but slowly when you believe ur gettin better it does. Wish u all the best. Maybe you can take some medication if ur not already , it can be good for the shortterm and theres no reason why u should have to take it for the rest of your life. Just till your head starts doing things normally again , which it will.

I just found this board today. I am a 34 year old male that just this past weekend had to have my wife (and three young children in tow) bring me to the ER because I thought I was having a nervous breakdown. I have been fighting chronic back pain for about 7 months from some injury in Sept 03 I cannot pinpoint and just when I thought it was gone, it came back with new symptoms. During pysical therapy for the back I found out I had a hernia and am recovering from that surgery three weeks ago. When I returned to work two weeks ago my back problems started up worse than ever and I started to "loose it." It started with waking up "in a panic" several times a night with that sick to your stomach jolt of adreneline. It has gotten worse and worse. Repeated attempts in the past two weeks to get better answers from my Drs about what's going on with my back have gotten me more stressed since they are dismissing anything "serious." They gave me Ambien to help me sleep and it doesn't work well, after two or three hours Im back to my panic awakenings. I dream constantly when I do sleep and I cannot concentrate at all. At the ER yesterday they sent me home with a 'script for 5mg of Valium three times a day and although I slept a bit better and am not AS ready to breakdown, I do not feel "well" either. I have always been an "anxious person" and had one similar episode about 10 years ago when I though there was something life threatening with me pysically. It took counseling for a few months and the realization that I was "OK" to break the cycle. My new wife stuck by me and we made it together. Other than that I have controlled my anxiety naturally and have led an active happy life. But now, things are changed in that I also have the three most precious children in the world and I fear I am going to loose them to this, and my wife as well as she is already starting to feel affected by the strain. I fear I will lose their love, their respect, etc and they are my world. The Drs ask if Im feeling suicidal to which I answer emphatically "NO! - Im feeling that I want to get better!!" But if I lost my family over this, YES, I would not want to live. My job is suffering, and I am also depressed. Depressed than a year ago on a beautiful spring day like today I would work al