Still with me? Well done. I won't go into my story
about how Ive suffered with it and stuff like that.
I'll just generalise it and tell of some of the
symptoms and how they've affected me in certain
situations.

Much of what Ive learnt it to be is worry. The
body reacts thinking there is something to be afraid
of..when there isn't. You could just be sitting down
watching TV when an 'attack' happens. The
symptoms include cold sweats, dizziness, fear of
death/dread, chest pains, palpitations. A general
sense of doom my occur and its just like being in a
very nervous situation. Breathing my become
difficult, and it becomes hard to calm yourself.
Some people get pain in the neck or a lump in the
throat.

The symptoms can last seconds, minutes or hours
after an attack. I sometimes get chest pain for even
days after an attack. Especially when the attacks
are persistent. The chest pain seems never to go
away. Once the person with the attack is calmed,
most of the symptoms disappear.


Another issue that affects people suffering from
anxiety..of which there are many kinds, is social
anxiety. Fear of going out to social occasions, or
just out anywhere. At my worst, I would not leave
the house in fear that I would stop breathing and
collapse. I knew that if I left the house..(where I
felt safe), I would get anxiety symptoms. So for a
while I was a hermit. I just stayed indoors unless I
had to go out.

Anxiety's symptoms can be perceived as a lot but
anxiety. Many people..(including myself) visited
the doctor on numerous occasions believing there
was something seriously physically wrong, when in
fact there is not. This may lead to a case of
hypochondriasis.

I, after a while, reading up on the subject on the net
and diagnosing my symptoms came to the
conclusion that, indeed what I was having was
anxiety related. I was shocked at first. The
implications that came with it filled me with a sense
of dread. I thought Id never be able to cope. This
wasn't the case.

I discovered that many people were feeling the
same way as I was. I learnt to cope with my fears
and deal with the symptoms I was getting. Change
of lifestyle and diet can dramatically reduce the
anxiety attacks. For instance..dropping caffeine and
chocolate from the diet can lessen the attacks.
These contain chemicals which may bring on the
attacks to sufferers.

One important point to mention to you if you are
reading this as a sufferer is that no matter how bad
the symptoms get..you CANNOT die from them.
You may feel like you are suffocating or unable to
cope, but you will. Breath deeply and slowly.
Keep the thought in mind and get on top of your
fears.

One thing I did was to write my worst fears from it
down and read over them at one point in the day.
Whenever, throughout the rest of the day I found
myself thinking of these fears I forced them away.
I knew what was happening. Although I'd feel
terrible for a little bit. I'd feel fine after the attack
had stopped.

Find the root of where the stress and anxiety has arisen from and make changes to combat your fears.

One situation which is the hardest to deal with I
find, is trying to explain to friends and family how I
was feeling. By my family it was more or less
dismissed as me faking my illness really I have had
to fight this on my own.

Explaining to friends why I would never go out
anywhere with them was another hard thing. I
found it embarrassing to tell them. What I said I
suffered from seemed stupid. Feeling like I did..in
everyday situations just didn't make sense to them.
It is very real sense of loneliness for sufferers.

This is partly why I am writing this. If you know
someone who may be feeling like this..try and
sympathise and help them. Explain that you know
how they must be feeling. It will give them great
comfort. Knowing that someone else knows how
they feel will diminish some fears of social anxiety
and give them more confidence.


Before I finish, Id just like to say to anyone who is
feeling the way I have been..and feels that the
situation won't better..it will! For months I felt like
I was the only one who knew what I was going
through. I struggled through and I now know there
is light at the end of the tunnel! Don't give up.

Also, I would like to give a big thank you to
everyone who has helped me get through this.
Your support is greatly appreciated.

I'll post a few links at the bottom here to advice and
support for anxiety disorder sufferers.

Thanks a lot for reading.

Take care, Andrew.

About.com's Panic Disorder section.

A sufferers site. Good links to support.