Hi! I am a 41 year old female who has been struggling with anxiety since 1999. My first ever panic attack happened when I was alone in my car one afternoon. My hands were sweaty and trembling, my top lip was paralyzed, I felt like I couldn't see to drive and had to pull over and call 911. Off the ER I went. My mom could look at me and see my top lip was paralyzed, but that was all that was different. At the ER they gave me typical neurological exams in the hallway of the ER..(It was the weekend of July 4th) and sent me on my way to follow up with my family doctor. Since my mom had a history of migraines, he said I may be having auras and sent me to a neurologist. The neurologist did bloodwork and scheduled me for a MRI. The MRI showed nothing, but the bloodwork showed hyperthyroidism. I was sent for more testing and was finally diagnosed with Graves Disease and had radioactive iodine treatment and began the long road of titration for the correct level of thyroid medication. During all this time I drove normally sometimes and other times I was scared to death. I was scared that it would happen again. I wasn't scared of going to the ER, it all boils down to having the panic attack and feeling like I am going to pass out and there is no one there to help...the fear of not being able to control what is going on. Then began social anxiety, generalized anxiety, anxiety over every different thing going on with my body...and the thyroid can cause many different issues! Over the years I have gotten better and I have back slid. I have finally gotten to the point that I can drive 17 miles each way to work, but not without effort. Over the past few weeks, things have gotten much worse. I do have a lot going on in my life. I am planning a wedding, I am having problems at work, my thyroid gets out of whack, life happens....but it has happened before. I went through some of the toughest things in my life and handled them way better than I could have ever imagined.
I feel my anxiety taking over again and know that I need to fight it with all that I am, but most days it wins. I am hoping that by joining this community, you guys can give me advice on how to keep up the fight. What helps you? What medicine works best with the least amount of side effects? I am on Celexa and I will admit that I had missed some doses. I also take Klonopin and rely on that daily. I have been so exhausted, anxious, dizzy, all of the normal things that go along with anxiety and I am looking for any ideas that I or my doctors haven't thought about. I'm ready to take my life back! I have an appointment with my therapist and my psychiatrist week after next! Thanks for letting me take this time to vent and I welcome any and all suggestions while I peruse the past posts!
