Hi everyone... I'm new to the forum. I have been dealing with panic/anxiety since at least 1995. It's come back in a big way over the last two or three weeks. The post I replied to is similar to how I feel right now.
I went to the ER the day after christmas, because I'd been having squeezing pains in my left arm, shoulder, and the left side of my chest for several days, and finally couldn't take anymore. I have high blood pressure, so I was doubly concerned.
I had an EKG, a blood test, and was told it was likely a pinched nerve from a recent bout of coughing.
I think that coughing was panic related, and the medicine I took for it (Sudafed Severe Cold) helped the cough, but likely led to the recent bout of panic.
The other day I was playing with a neighborhood dog, and she licked me on my face and on my arms where I had a few cuts that hadn't healed. I took a nap, and woke up to a full bout of depersonalization, and haven't really recovered from the ensuing panic. I have obsessed that the dog, whose health seems fine, could be a rabies carrier, and I almost went to the health dept. to get shots.
My doctor told me the symptoms I attributed to possible rabies (and a sure death if it was) really were signs of panic, and I've confirmed that. It doesn't completely soothe me, but I feel a little better. Now I only think every [i]few[/i] hours (instead of every five minutes) that I will soon be dead. :gasp: