Posts by Karen Hall40

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve dealt with this constant chest pain... I must have had a hundred EKGs done, and they never found a single thing wrong. Then, when I was sixteen, I ended up in the emergency room because the pain was so intense I literally couldn't breathe... They gave me some little green pill, and about two hours later, things settled down. Looking back, it was probably Xanax or something similar. During my pregnancy, my blood pressure spiked, so I had to take medication, and between that and the constant pain, I was constantly ending up in the emergency room... Everything seemed fine after I gave birth, until just a few months ago... I woke up one morning with this excruciating chest pain and shallow breathing—I could barely take a full breath without it hurting. Once again, it was an emergency room visit... My husband had to drive me... They gave me a combination of meds, and my pulse was hitting 115... Things calmed down physically, but then the panic attacks started. Now, I'm terrified to even step outside with my little one; I'm scared to do anything because I feel like I'm going to have a heart attack. So, I went to my doctor... all the tests came back perfectly normal, so then I saw a psychiatrist... She didn't even listen to me for ten minutes before just prescribing antidepressants. I haven't taken them yet, but here I am... I can't even leave the house because of the fear... it's terrifying... sometimes I take a little bit of Xanax, but it doesn't even help. I have an appointment with a different psychiatrist on March 1st, so I'll let you know how it goes... Sorry for venting to you all, but I've become such a burden to my husband because he has to handle all the shopping now👎and I feel so guilty; I feel terrible that I'm unable to do basic things because of this cursed, horrible fear.

I'm looking for some help here... I've been searching for a place where I actually fit in, but I haven't had any luck yet. I'm new to this group, so please bear with me 🙂 Basically, I was diagnosed with panic attacks five months ago. I was prescribed some antidepressants, but I didn't take them because I foolishly thought I could just power through this on my own... Unfortunately, that clearly wasn't the case. I can't even step outside normally without feeling this intense brain fog or dizziness, which then triggers this overwhelming terror—this crushing fear that I’m going to die, or pass out right there in front of everyone. I feel truly desperate... if anyone knows how to handle this, please help!