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Hey everyone, I’m new to the forum but not new to anxiety. Unfortunately, my anxiety started a year ago when I started my new job as an EMT. It began with me having random panic attacks while driving to or from work, and almost a year later, has evolved into something that is literally destroying my life. At this point, I believe I’m a borderline hypochondriac. I’m pretty sure my doctor thinks that as well, with the amount of times I’ve called over over the last few months. It all went down hill after I had my first physical in about 6-8 years (I’m a 23 year old female). Got blood work taken, physical, whole 9 yards to establish patient baseline. Everything apparently looks great, besides a wonky blood test that has been improving over the last few weeks. (wbc was a little elevated, it has since went down closer to normal range) The problem is, over the last few weeks since my physical I’ve pretty much convinced myself that I have every type of cancer under the sun, despite my doctors and the ER physician (yes emergency room, I’ve visited there twice in one week thinking I had Leukemia) telling me everything looks okay and not to worry. I’ve been googling hard core, that’s also a mistake I made. I’m an utter mess. This anxiety has been causing me so much stress to the point where I’m not sleeping or eating right. My doc prescribed me buspar, which is helping a tiny bit but not much. I was just prescribed Prozac today, and after taking my first pill had a really bad reaction to it mentally. It basically felt like impending doom, and I’ve been crying pretty bad. I don’t know what else to do. I have an emergency appointment with my doctor in a few days where I’ll voice my concerns and hopefully get some peace of mind. Anyone else here have extreme health anxiety? I just don’t know how else to get over it.

Hi everyone, You can call me Z. I'm new to all of this and I'm not even sure if I'm doing this correctly but I wanted to find a place where I didn't feel alone. As I'm writing this, my eyes are actually tearing up and I can feel tension at the back of my throat. How strange. I haven't even interacted with anyone yet but after reading some pieces, I feel like I've found others who just might understand and that makes me very excited. I was recently diagnosed with PSTD and Panic Attack disorder. I've been dealing with attacks since I was 16 but I never sought help for it until this year (I'm 21). I just hope to make some friends who genuinely understand what it's like to live with severe anxiety or the likes and care. I also love hearing people's stories and how they came to be who they are today. Hopefully I'm doing this correctly lol. Z

Hi! I'm a college student who has been dealing with ADHD, anxiety, and depression for many years. In the last couple years, I began to exhibit symptoms of excessive daytime sleepiness, in a way that is very characteristic of narcolepsy without cataplexy. However, getting any answers in finding a diagnosis of what is causing my sleep issues has been difficult, and it may be a year or more before I am able to even try again to get answers. I'm currently feeling quite a bit alone in my struggles with sleep issues, and this is exacerbated by my anxiety. Hoping to find some common ground among others here!

Hello all. My name is Maddy. I’m 19 and about 2 months ago I was at work when I had a strange “wave” got though my body, my heart rate immediately went up and I began to sweat and couldn’t gather my thoughts properly. My arm felt tingly and I began Worrying that I could Be having a stroke. I went Into the ER, they ran an EKG, blood test, urine test, and it all cam back normal. They chalked It up to panic disorder and generalized anxiety. I still felt off for the next few days and like I was Not in control of my thoughts and my mind. I went To follow up with my primary care doctor, as I was Scared there was something we were missing. She examined me thouroughly and didn’t find anything wrong, she sent me to get blood work done to see how my lipids, thyroid, cholestorl, etc, all we’re. They all came back perfectly normal. I had No appetite for days and my vision felt slightly off. The best way I can Describe it is like I was Constantly high and experiencing this weird out of body experience. I made An appointment with a phsychiatrist near by, and she diagnosed me with a panic disorder, and generalized anxiety as well. I was Prescribed Zoloft and currently take 100mg daily, and clonazepam .5mg twice daily as needed. About a week and half of taking the medication I sarted noticing results and feeling much better. I was No longer waking up to a panic attack and increased heart rate, I could live out my days relatively normally. I started seeing a therapist and doing cognitive behavioral therapy with her and so far it’s been helpful. Within the past 2 days though I’ve been feeling quite awful again. It is very discouraging because I’ve been feeling good for about 2 weeks or so now, and I’m scared that I’m starting all over again and that I have To go through this all again. I’m sorry for the lengthy post I just want to be as detailed as I can with you all. Not to mention that I have A constant fear that this isn’t anxiety and that these symptoms are something else and I’m worried that they could mean I have A brain tumor or something like that. I made The mistake of googling brain tumor symptoms and other things and got myself deep into a rabbit hole and started thinking “holy s*#t!” These are all my symptoms what if their mimicking something more serious such as a brain tumor. I get Slight headaches from time to time but nothing seriously major or horribly painful. Consciously I know That it has to be my anxiety. Subconsciously it Is so hard for me to believe myself and the facts in front of me. I cant Get this persistent thought out of my head and it’s causing me more and more panic attacks. Has anyone else been here? I’d really appreciate it if y’all took the time to read this lengthy post. Thank you all. -maddy

Also hypothyroid, and hypertensive. Have only been to ER a couple of times, once for chest pains. Released 3 days later after stress test and angiogram where my heart was pronounced 'clean and green' and I was sent for a gall bladder scan. My digestive disease doc said that wasn't it. Still have symptoms but only in winter - was diagnosed with SAD about 4 years ago, too. I hope to find a way to come here in here when I'm having a panic attack, and at some point help others when they have them.

Hello, My name is John. I am 43 yrs of age and have suffered with anxiety, and ocd for as long as I can remember. I was on anxietyzone a time ago but its seems to be gone now. I'm looking for a place to vent and help others. Thanks for having me

Hello my name is Kayla, I'm 27, a mother of a very handsome and active 9 year old and a wife to a man who trys so hard to comfort me. I'm new to this group but I'm so happy to have found y'all. I have been feeling so alone in my new found health anxiety. I have been to the E.R. 3 times in the past month had blood work, EKGs and chest xrays all to come up healthy. I wish this would bring me peace but I only seem to create new symptoms for myself. I'm so tired and scared. I was used to social anxiety and knew how to cope with it but this is a new found hell I can't seem to excape, always so afraid that this will be the last time I see my loving family. My doctors and therapist say it's the anxiety and that it will be easier once I accept it but I don't know how. I am trying massages, exercise and now I'm starting an anxiety journal. I also hope being here will help so I can see I am not alone. Thank you for taking the time to read my post and letting me apart of this group. Much love and peace to you all.

Hello! I'm a 19 year old female and I just finished my sophmore year of college! Though I feel as though I've suffered from anxiety and panic attacks since I was a kid I was recetly diagnosed with GAD and maybe Panic Disorder a month or so ago. I had suspected it for a while, especially since both of my parents suffer from anxiety and depression themselves. For a while I was doing okay (okay meaning no panic attacks) until a week ago. I noticed some swelling in my lower right abdomen accompanied with severe gas and chest pains and turned to Dr Google. Since then I've been on edge and constantly in and out of panic mode. While I'm seeing my doctor about everything now my physical anxiety symptoms are out of control. My leg muscles and left eye are twitching like crazy. And while I've always had sharp pinching sensations they seem to be more intense now. I also can't sleep without waking up every one or two hours with a racing heartbeat! This is all very worrying and frustrating, especially since I'm supposed to get on a plane and visit family next week. I just want to feel better by then and know what's going on with my abdominal issues before I leave so that anxiety won't completely get in the way. I decided to join this site because, honestly, reading the threads here has been the only thing keeping me sane. That and I also feel like I'm developing a pretty bad case of health anxiety. It has always been a huge fear of mine to get a blood clot in my legs and now I feel as though I can't sit down for more than five seconds without wanting to stand up and walk around. My muscles spasms and sharp pains certainly don't help. Anyway, I'm happy to be here and I'm glad to no longer feel alone.

Hello everyone. I am an admitted hypochondriac and I hate it. I am 49 years old. In the past 5 years I have convinced myself I've had prostrate c****r, colon c****r, kidney failure and ALS. At this point all of those have thankfully been shown to be incorrect. Now my fear is both lung c****r and pancreatic c****r. I will post topics on both f those fears in hope of getting help from the community. Thank you all for reading this introduction.

Hi everyone, You all can call me Elfy...I wasn't so sure about putting my real name out here. I'm 19...a girl... and that's the fundamentals. A little bit about what brought me here, is that throughout my life I was always a worrier. I became entirely stressed by little changes, my sister reorganizing the bathroom so that I cant find my things, crumpled up papers effecting my grades, and other seemingly miniscule things. the older I got the more things worried me. To the point some nights I wouldn't and couldn't sleep. This carried on for years. Last semester in college I had a lot happen to me leading to many a complete breakdown, and panic attack on top of my day to day anxiety that piled on to p of me. Some days it was hard to pull myself out of bed, let alone out of the house. My new boyfriend fairly recently pushed me to talk to my doctor about my anxiety. I have yet to get to a therapist for various reasons, but I thought a good start was to join a chat forum of some sort to bounce questions off of and learn experiences from. I tried another forum but they were less than helpful and I didn't feel quite welcome. I hope that you all can find space in your heart to accept me...and I hope I fit in here.

Hello, everyone! I would like to start out by telling you a little bit about me. You can refer to me as Speechless. I am a young college student just trying to make it through my final year of undergrad. I am studying Social Work and Spanish (I have two majors). I would like to work with and counsel children and young adults who are facing psychological issues. Some of my hobbies include hanging out with friends, painting, scrapbooking, writing. In case you can't already tell, I really enjoy anything with art. I have always had issues with anxiety. I went through a traumatic event when I was 15 and almost lost my mother. Fortunately, she is still with us today. However, I learned at a very young age that things can change in an instant even when you least expect it. After that, I started having panic attacks and I developed some hypochondria. It took a lot of counseling and support for the panic attacks to stop. I thought I was good until 2013 when I had an anxiety relapse. I had a panic attack after 3 years of being nearly anxiety-free and it sent me into a year of uphill battles. Once again, I received counseling and I really believe that without the help of my counselor, I have no idea where I would be. Today I do get anxiety from time to time but I am better able to manage it than I was before. I used to really struggle with anxiety because even though I knew I wasn't alone, I sure felt like it. As part of one of my Social Work classes, we are required to join an online group and participate for 5 weeks so that is why I am here today. I wanted to pick a group that really pertained to me personally so I chose this one. I would like to help others who are going through something similar because when I was going through my anxiety high's and low's I felt like I had no one. With that being said, I am really looking forward to being a part of this group. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask me. I am not easily offended and I really try to get along with everyone.

Hey! I'm Health Anxiety Nut. Lets start with this, I'm a mess. I am a member of other forums, but I have seen this one mentioned so many times. I'm a 22 year old who is a bundle of depression, anxiety, and health anxiety. I have gone through so many different symptoms, and Dr. Google has diagnosed me with so many horrible things. Everything from c****rs, skin diseases, blood clots, all the way down to parasites. Yeah... Dr. Google is a fun doctor isn't he? or she? Not to sure what Google would me. I have been going through a plethora of symptoms at the moment, but that will need to wait until I post.

Hello to everybody out there, my name is Nikki and I have been suffering with health anxiety since I was around 10 years old. I am 30 and now and over the years I had managed to contain it but in 2007 after I gave birth to my second child (and having an awful experience with labour) I experienced my first panic attack. I then experienced multiple panic attacks daily for about a year until I saw a therapist and we did CBT. It worked and I thought I was cured. I went anxiety and panic free for 5 years until 2013 when my Dad passed away in front of me (luckily the ambulance was quick to get here and bring him back) - turned out his kidneys were not functioning properly and the tablets he was taking pooled in his kidneys which resulted in him dying. He is now doing great and is on home haemodialysis in which I care for him and help him. Me on the other hand I am not doing so well, I started experiencing panic and anxiety symptoms again. I came good again until most recently when my Effexor XR medicine stopped working and I had to wean off it to start Paxil (the withdrawal symptoms when coming off Effexor XR was the worst imaginable). Now I have only started taking Paxil (my second week) and I still feel scared and anxious - i have all types of symptoms ranging from Chest pain, headaches/confusion, blurry vision, shortness of breath, aching muscles, sore arm etc, and all I seem to worry about it heart attacks and strokes. I keep visiting my doctor for reassurance which only lasts a short while and then I start freaking out all over again, I also see a new therapist who is really nice and wonderful, I'm just hoping that I can start to learn again how to rationalise my fears and stop adding more fuel to the fire. Thanks for taking the time to read a little about myself. I hope we can all be able to manage this anxiety and very soon.

In my late 20's - early 30's I was pretty much house bound and would shake with terror outside just hanging out the washing. I eventually plucked up the courage to go to the doc who referred me on to a psychologist. He gave my terror the label agoraphobia and I read many books on the disorder and did improve to be able to go places with my husband but was in a high state of anxiety the whole time and could not / would not go further than a couple of hours in the car. Planes or public transport where i had no control and could not just turn around and go home were out of the question. That has not changed and I have just turned 60 and have been divorced for 20 years I am now relatively comfortable driving myself pretty much anywhere but I do take anxiety medication first ( xanex) My life has been so limited because of this, but I guess I am grateful that unlike many others I am no longer housebound. One of my children lives overseas but I could no more visit her than fly to the moon. I keep myself fit and attractive but have never looked for another relationship because of all the things I am unable to do. I cant participate in fun activities like holidaying boating or skiing and so many others things others do with no thought. I do lots of homecrafts, have taught myself many things around the home like wallpapering, tiling etc but life can get so boring. I have a couple of small dogs that I walk daily but how I wish I was "normal"

Hello everyone, My name is Sharayah. I've been diagnosed with depressive disorder, panic disorder w/ agoraphobia for about 6-7 years now. I've been in a sort of denial about my illness, not telling people, trying to pretend that I don't have it, etc. Who am I fooling. I don't hide it very well, even though I try really hard. I am unable to leave my home most days, hold down a job, see friends, and interact with the outside world in general. Of course this makes for a very lonely and isolating existence. I really want my life back, and I feel that the only way that's going to happen is if I come to terms with and accept my illness for what it is. The first step to recovery is to admit that you have a problem. Yes, it sucks, but my denial of it is not making it go away. If anything it's made it stronger. So there you have it. I have panic disorder. I've never just flat out said it. Thinking about how many people might read those words makes me cringe lol. Regardless, here I am.

I'm Michelle, I was a completely laid back boring person till I had a rather large seizure. Since then I have suffered almost daily, sometimes more than once daily anxiety/panic attacks. So here I am, trying to find some friends that understand and can help and support and maybe I can help and support. So, here we go...

Hi everyone! My diagnosis at the moment is GAD, and I've been struggling with anxiety for as long as I can remember. But it was only when I was 18 that I got a real diagnosis. Over the last few years, of being in and out of college, I've been discovering more and more about what I'm struggling with: a mood disorder, most likely dysthymia, and very low self-esteem. I'm 22 now, and after experiencing various different types of counsellors and therapists, I have finally found a service and a counsellor I can really talk to, which is amazing. I honestly thought finding a service was a hopeless task, especially due to how hard I find it to actually get out of the house and attend in the first place, let alone the actual service being provided. I've tried many medications, xanax, prozac, cymbalta, effexor and lexapro are the ones I remember, but after being on effexor for over a year, I'm off it since August. I haven't had a full blown panic attack for quite a while, now. What I'm struggling with most now is my self-worth and mood disorder, and trying to attend college (and pass) while putting my mental health first. I've never been very good at finding a balance. So that's a summary of where I am/what I've been though, and if you guys have any questions I'd be glad to help! I'm feeling quite positive today as I left the house for the first time this week, to go for a walk. And I've been meditating. Also, I don't have work to do, so that's probably a big factor Anyways, thanks for reading! I'm sending good vibes your way, remember, all you have to achieve today is to not give up.

Hey everyone. I'm hoping that I can find a community who understands through this website. Thanks for reading!

Hello, I've joined this forum after reading an excellent post by jonathan123 about the teachings of Dr Claire Weekes, which I found here: I'd like to thank jonathan123 for this exceptionally helpful post, and I look forward to joining the discussions on the forum from time to time. My wife and I live in Norfolk, UK, and I have bipolar disorder. I'm hugely inspired by the approach of Dr Weekes, who wrote her books fifty years ago and was way ahead of her time, and especially by her insight that 'willing acceptance' of my thoughts and mental discomforts holds the key to my recovery.

Hi everyone! My name is Jo and I am a single mom from Asia. I have the most adorable 7 year old boy and definitely one proud mama! I'm glad to have found this site. It gives me great comfort that I'm not the only one suffering from health anxiety - sometimes I feel so alone because of it and now I'm not. I know I'm knew but I will be here to listen to anyone who needs the same comfort. Thank you in advance everyone! See you in the other forums! Jo :-D

Good morning, I am newly diagnosed with GAD with Panic, although I have been suffering from the symptoms and attacks for almost two years now. I joined this forum so that I have people to talk to that understand the feelings and emotions that are beating at me every moment of the day and night. I look forward to sharing support, thoughts, and ideas with alll of you.

Hi My name is Jonna and I'm currently 16 years old. I suffer from mental depression and anxiety and have been since I was about 13. I grew up in Sweden with my parents and two sisters, my family is basically normal and I love them, although I don't really have a connection with my father. I don't know why, we just don't understand each other at all. My family is aware about my condition but they refuse to accept it, they kind of ignore me and think it might go away if they do. They are not very supportive but I don't blame them. I don't like me either. My anxiety started because of self hatred I suppose, I started to realise a few things that I didn't like about myself and then they grew stronger and now I can barely look at myself without the urge of crying or screaming. I don't know why but I detest everything, my appearance, the way I thing and the way I act. When I was 14 I started self harming, I feel joy when I feel pain and see the blood from my wrists. I know it's stupid but yeah. A few months after I started I tried to kill myself, or I didn't try but I almost did and I'm not sure if it was an accident or not. The sad thing is that my parents still don't seem to care, or they do care, I know they do. But they don't know what to do so they just stay quiet, but they care. I really wan't to believe so anyway. Today I feel worse, my parents told me about a week ago that they're getting a divorce, it makes me kind of sad because my father doesn't really have a steady job and I'm worried that he wont be able to take care of himself while living alone. My parents decided that me and my sisters should only live at her place and just visit my father sometimes. As I mentioned before my bond to my father is really weak and sadly I'm afraid it will become even thinner when he moves. I'm messed up, I know I am but I think I've had enough of this. I wan't to get better and I guess that's why I'm here, to start my way up. Bye

Hi. I'm jemray. I've suffered from anxiety my entire life. It's mostly a social thing. I get panic attacks (almost always) in uncontrolled group converstaions, especially when things get loud. I am very self-cousious. I hardly ever approach poeple to start conversations, and sometimes I don't even realize how anxious I am. I am in university, although I have not made many friends as I tend to keep to myself so I can avoid situations that cause anxiety. This practice, surprisingly enough, is quite conducive to depression. I also get panic attacks for seemingly no reason at all, and I have since I was a child. This is different from that panic I get in social situations which makes it difficult for me to breathe, impossible for me to think, gives me the trembles and heart palpitations and generally makes things awkward all around. This kind of panic sometimes comes on suddenly and is an intense feeling of dread that, once I'm in it completely, can be difficult to shake. I have been treated badly in the past, so I have difficulty opening up to people. It takes me a great deal of time to warm up to people, and I always worry about what they are thinking about me. This does nothing to lessen my anxiety. These days, I can make a great impression if talking to a person one-to-one, but rarely do well in group situations. In high school, I had panic attacks on a daily basis, barely made it through some days, found any excuse to skip class or school gatherings, did not socialize with anyone, and almost dropped out. So high school was a mess of pain, loneliness, and depression, which was lovely. University was not awesome, but was much better. Or is. Becuase I am still in university, for the next couple of months at least. I think something that was really helpful in getting me out of my shell was the program that I am in now; it requires a lot of talking to strangers, which I am now much better at. So I think that social anxiety can be improved, even though it is painful and stressful and seems impossible at times. I have never been on medication to treat anxiety, and have not had any therapy. I have recently started to infrequently see a counsellor which was somewhat beneficial. At the very least, it gives me someone to talk about my anxiety to, as I have no one in my life that I can talk these things over with. One positive thing that has come of my horrible experiences in high school was that I learned that life can get better. When you are going through a crisis--especially when you have not experienced anything similar before, and you know no one else who is going through a similar situation, and you have absolutely no one to talk to about your feelings--you may not know that life can get better. You tend to catastrohpize everything, which makes rational sense becuase your whole world is in pieces and you have lost all control. But no matter how bad you think your life is, and no matter how much it seems like you have no future, you should keep hanging on to whatever little piece of hope you have left, because life does, eventually (and sometimes really slowly) get better. I joined this forum becuase I had an awful day today, and I really need to let it out of my system. But when I think about where I was three years ago, and where I am today, I realize that all I need is a little more exposure to the situations that flood me with anxiety, and I will get better, and anxiety will have to loosen its grip on me. (Please God, let this be true). Anyways. That's all I have to say about me.

Well, I joined the group a couple of weeks ago, I've just been looking around and checking out this group. I finally decided to introduce myself and tell you all a little about me. I've suffered from panic attacks and agoraphobia for about 34 yrs. I didn't know exactly what my problems were, I know others who've suffered from panic attacks that don't share some of my issues. I read the article on agoraphobia and couldn't believe it. It described me to a T. No one had ever really explained it. I was diagnosed at 17 with panic attacks and then a few years ago a Dr. wrote something to excuse me from jury duty that said "panic attacks and agoraphobia". I had heard of agoraphobia but really didn't understand it obviously and didn't realize I am a classic case. I have a very supportive husband who didn't want to see me uncomfortable. He started doing more and more for me, trying to make things easier for me. I think he unintentionally made things worse, at one point I didn't leave my house for over a year. A few years ago, my Dr. suggested trying Zoloft to deal with the panic attacks. I have been taking it every since, I don't think it's helped a whole lot. I've come to a point in my life where I feel like I need to do something to get better. I have raised 6 kids the youngest of which is 20 and thinking about moving out on her own. The thought of an empty nest scares me to death. I can't stand being alone. Basically everything scares me. I don't go anywhere alone, I don't drive, I feel like my world has closed in on me, I'm so afraid of having a panic attack. I guess I'm her for any suggestions anyone can give me and just for support. I don't normally tell people about my problems, they just don't understand. I feel like people in this group are dealing with alot of the same things and that makes me feel like I'm not all alone in this struggle. I'm looking forward to possibly forming some new friendships with people who can really get me.

Hello, I'm a pretty happy knock around sort of guy... Or so I thought. After a recent death in my family, I found my self sitting in a clinicians rooms talking about stuff in my life. After a few sessions, he had a pretty good idea of the course my life had taken, the events, ups and downs. He began with saying that my brain chemistry had probably been altered by years of pretty high stress levels and feeling of powerlessness. Maybe upto 30 years worth maybe longer. I agreed with this. He talked of clinical depression and we discussed medication. Personally I would like to explore more gentle, natural remedies such as exercise and diet. He gave me some info on depression and I looked into it and ended up focussing on neg thought patterns and such, not dwelling as such but standing outside and observing so to speak. Yep. But, my thoughts now are that maybe it's chronic anxiety I'm dealing with and not depression as such. So that's why I'm here. How I ended up there was the death of a child, and the sessions have helped with those feeling greatly. Out of that tree fell this (maybe) depression-or-anxiety stuff. Why do I say I'm a happy-knock-around sort of guy? Well maybe this condition has been so pervasive that it is all I know? Could this be the case? Is it possible to forget what "happy" is?