Need a friend to talk to about my severe anxiety!

Hello everyone, my name is Abigail and I suffer from severe GAD. I'm looking to talk to someone about things because I feel so alone and scared. I get so many different symptoms and its very scary. My biggest issue is my shortness of breath. Lately its been an all day, everyday thing and I'm worried that there is something else wrong with me. I would like to maybe compare symptoms with someone out there. It would be helpful and maybe make me feel a little better!!!!

Hey Abigail,

I guess that my first concern is to distinguish between shortness of breath due to anxiety and that due to any possible physical ailment/condition. Are you certain that it is due to anxiety? I'm just wondering.

I think that it is very important to attempt to understand why you may feel anxious in the way that you do. Usually, there is an event or events in the past that may make put you in a mental state of fear, in certain situations, which drives anxiety. If left unmanaged, it can of course become worse.

So, are there any events in your past that you believe could have resulted in this? Keep in mind that it would have started off as minor symptoms but then have grown.

Kind regards,
Kevin

Dear Abigail"

I don't mind sharing my past to the present anxiety symptoms with you"

1. Tics, vocal and motor (Tourette Syndrome), ongoing.

2. Obsessions and compulsions (OCD), ongoing.

3. Holding my breath throughout the day, having to pay attention and intentionally breathe in and out fully, ongoing.

4. Spikes of fear throughout the day: hearts beating fast, great distress, alarm, multiple triggers, ongoing.

5. Dissociation, usually as a response to number 4: feeling weird, like I am faking (whatever), that I am not real, serious spacing out. Less recently.

6. Extreme exhaustion, fatigue. Some improvement lately.

atina

Hmmm...I have this one.

Feel like you need to leave the room, or even your own body if you could.
Feel like you are dying, like there is some underlying medical condition...which makes the attack worse.
Feel like you cannot breath, or something is taking your breath.
Maybe feel a bit paranoid
Feel of impending doom
Feel like you are going or already have gone crazy
Tight feeling in your chest
Acid taste in your mouth
Heartburn (from the stomach filling with acid)

Having one at 10,000 feet is not fun, nowhere to go.

Hi darl. So sorry you are going through this! I can relate 100% but please believe me when I say don't let this ruin you it is ALL ANXIETY. I will share to reassure you a little more - my anxiety got really bad about 6 months ago I had a striking pain in my left chest with shortness of breath constantly and dizziness/ numbness head tension you name it I had it! I went to the hospital every day for a week, had lung clot CT scans I have ECGS numerous blood tests I went through so many painful tests but in the end it all came back to anxiety. Of course if you're concerned go and get it checked but when one doctor says your breathing is fine trust in them and trust that anxiety mimics heart attacks and serious conditions etc even more so when you focus on them! Do you ever get time in the day when you are busy and forget about the breathing at all? Trust me it's anxiety. Go and see someone about ways to deal with it before it takes over your life!