Hopeful, I'm so glad I could help. You are definitely not alone. I was just like you - I would have dismisssed anyone that described the things we describe before now. It's like you said, unless you have been there it's almost impossible to really understand. This has been a real learning experience for me and my family. Knowledge is power. Get familiar with your illness (GAD/Panic Disorder, Etc.). It helps to know the symptoms, the cures, the meds, etc... YOU CAN'T DEFEAT THE ENEMY UNLESS YOU KNOW THE ENEMY. If you would like more advice, feel free to e-mail me direct at: glenns620@cox.net. I have a lot of great websites and support group sites. Good Luck and God Bless, Glenn.

This message is for glenn & your reply. I cried reading your reply cause I am finally not alone. This is the first time on this site. I found it by chance. I also had this terrible thing come out of the blue. Beforehand, I lead a normal life with no problems. Now, after I started getting scary medical symptoms, I worried about several medical problems I could have. I was/am convinced it has to be something medically cause I still can't beleive it seems to be an emotional problems. Needless to say, it's been tough. I have felt alone and feel that people look at youa neurotic. My husband isn't very understanding either. I don't think people get what it feel like unless they go through it. If I was someone who never felt this before, your message would have seemed trivial but, because I know, I get it. It's scary and it changes you.

Seriously thank you both for the quick replies, I know I hope I can be myself again its just going to take some time for me to get there probably, I am trying different things like breathing exercise and breathing but its just a wierd wierd feeling, I really can't wait for these stress test results and I am affraid of a postive test because of how high my anxiety was prior and at the start of the test. I know the chances of me dropping dead are so remote that I would probably have a better chance to win the lottery but the feeling keeps persisting and its really hard sometimes. The burning in my chest has been there for the last 3 days straight, Im sure from muscle tension in my chest or maybe indegestion/heartburn from the worry. I too am afraid of dying, a couple weeks after the feeling of losing balance incident my wife and I learned we were pregnant after a year of trying. Also a year and a half prior to this incident my father was diagnosed with prostate cancer which he is now clear of thanks to surgery and shortly after that he needed quadruple bypass surgery which he bounced back from in no time. But after this surgery and seeing him in the hospital I knew I never want to be in that position so I am eating alot healthier now and making sure I get at least 30 mins of good exercise a day. I started a new job a couple months before the losing balance feeling incident as well and started in a job that was 1/10th the stress as the other job I had. It was better in every way except the job didnt require much mental effort so now I have alot of time to "think". When I talk about the losing balance thing as well the feeling only lasts for half a second at the most usually when I am looking down or bending my one leg down like I did outside the elevator that day. I don't want to stress my wife out with this anymore because I know that stress and pregnancy are not good so I try my best to keep it together. I feel so stupid some times because I think to myself how can I feel like I might have a heart attack when I can ride the stationary bike 10k in 25minutes. To me it doesnt make any sense but for some reason I cant get my mind to believe it. I totally sympathize with what you were feeling as well I had every illness known to man, aneursym, tumor, hea

Pete, I know exactly how you feel. My story is very similar................ I turned 35 in April, I'm married, I have one 4 year old daughter and another baby on the way in January. Up until 2 months ago I was "Mr. Invincible". I never worried about my health. I hardly ever went to the doctor for anything. Then, one day at work (a few days after a bad cold and a bad leg injury) I felt a little lightheaded/dizzy. It made me very nervous and my heart raced, etc. (you know the panic attack routine). I guess that was my first panic attack. The next few weeks were hell. I had several full blown panic attacks. I broke down and cried several times with my wife telling her that I was afraid I was dying. I thought I had a brain tumor, stroke, aneurysm, cancer, etc. (you name it - I had it). After several "regular" doctor visits (my GP and an ENT) that all checked out fine (blood work, EKG, urinalysis, etc.), I finally accepted the fact that I needed to see a psych. I have had three visits over the past three weeks and have gotten better - no more full blown panic attacks. He always makes me feel better after a visit because he is very reassuring that I do not have some fatal disease. But, I keep telling him that I think I need an MRI or CAT scan for proof, but he assures me that is not necessary. I'm taking 100mg Zoloft per day and .5mg Klonopin twice a day. He said I will probably need to stick with the Zoloft for at least a year and he will try to wean me off of the Klonopin in a month or two. I still have moments of fear and anxiety. My biggest fear is dying at an early age, leaving behind my beautiful family - my wife, my 4 year old daughter, and unborn baby. I think of the pain that would cause everyone. I also think of how much I would miss in their lives. I'm still having some lightheadedness/dizziness from time to time - That scares me the most of all my symptoms. I'm not sure if it's symptomatic of GAD or a reaction to the meds or both. My psych did not seem too worried about it in my last visit. I also have an occasional headache (but they don't last very long), tired and fatigued a lot (probably the meds) and tension muscle aches in the back of my neck and shoulders (feels better after a hot shower or lying on a heating pad).

Hey Pete, your story sounds like mine, email me if you want to chat sometime... Sam, 25 year old male. TOSam25@Hotmail.Com (Email or MSN) Sam S

28 yr old male, 6' 1" 178lbs Well about 3 months ago something really wierd happened, I was one day waiting for an elevator which I had been riding up and down all day. While I was waiting for the doors to open I happened to look down and the ground felt squishy under my one foot. For some reason it took a few seconds but went into a full panic where I thought I was going to pass out until I had a drink, I tried to sit down but the feeling of going to pass out didn't subside till I had a drink, I never passed out. I was definetly affraid something was wrong with me so I went to emerg. They took blood which was normal for sugar hemo, no stroke or cardiac enzymes present and stuff like that and blood pressure was normal, however while I waited there for 4 hours my vision seemed screwed up like i couldnt focus properly, They sent me home thinking my sugar was low and I was working in non airconditioning so they attributed my feeling of fainting to the environment. I had only 2 coffee's that day. Now I drink water like a fish. Anyways for the next few days I didnt leave my bed, I felt off balance and felt like i had to severly concentrate all the time to not start getting dizzy. I thought I was going to die. I went to see my GP the next day complaining of my symptoms of balance issues and vision problem and he said that sometimes these symptoms can carry on for several days after a "faint". I said ok cool, after the first month vision corrected itself it seemed, somedays not as good as others but it seemed to be getting bettera and then finally one day i felt a relaxation between my eyes which I would strain to try to not get dizzy and my vision was now fine. I had crazy tension headaches all over my head though still and my balance was still "off" though, now when I say my balance was off I only got the "feeling" my balance was off however I calmed down enough to realize that hey "I feel like I'm losing my balance but I never do" so I went back to GP and he was thinking possibly inner ear virus so he prescribed Z pak(zithromax), so I take this stuff which is really potent for sure, its a 5 day cycle of meds and has a long half life so the drug stays in the system for much longer then the 5 days. Anyways after the 5th day things had seemed to reall