I would like to introduce myself. I am a 26 year old male that has suffered from panic attacks since my first one when I was 15. I have been sitting on the sidelines on this website for over a year now and decided it was time to jump into the game. I come from a family that suffers from anxiety. We are very vibrant, sociable, and enjoyable people, but we are high strung and panic prone. I am the youngest of 10 children ranging from 56-26 years old (older father that has been married three times). Of the 10 children, 6 of us have had panic attacks and my sister and myself have anxiety/panic attacks frequently. My mother had her first attack when she was 42 and has been medicated with xanax for 16 years now. I have a half brother that has a different mom and he suffered through his 20s and 30s. i.e. it comes from my father's side as well. My first attack was induced by "something I did" and I called 911. When the ambulance arrived, I felt safe and quickly came off the attack. Through high school I continued to "do this" and have attacks, but my friends that smoked with me were important and I just suffered. I developed a heightened sense of my heart beat during this time and was always worried I was having heart attacks.
I went to University of Tennessee and developed attacks during class since I felt I was trapped in a situation where it would be embarrassing to seek refuge during an attack and leave class and not come back. I then got medicated for the first time, 100 mg of Zoloft. It worked, but I was a zombie. I came off after eight months and was panic free for two years. I met my wife at school, quit smoking pot for good, graduated, got married, and now am expecting our first child ( a boy! ). I am now having frequent anxiety along with the occasional code red panic attack. I tend to visit the doctor frequently for strange symptoms and about
twice a year I take a trip to the ER. I developed hypochondria over the years and am ultra-sensitive to any changes in my body and I always assume the changes mean something catastrophic. I have a great job and wife (we have a westie that we love too!) and I am functional, but I have my days. I currently take .5 mg of Klonopin every morning and that is working right now. I also love to read (history major) and have become a self proclaimed expert on anxiety disorders with all the books I have read. With such a wealth of information out there, I have learned many coping mechanisms and will come off Klonopin after our first child arrives and gets settled. I love to play golf and am close to scratch and I also love music, wildlife, history, and family. I am sorry if this is too long, but just about
everything I have been seeing on this website I have experienced at one time or another. In a matter of fact, my regional VP of sales rode with me yesterday and the day went great until the end I had a life or death panic attack that I survived without him even noticing!
I look forward to posting on this forum and maybe helping others when they are suffering. God Bless and MERRY CHRISTMAS.
Please read the forum rules #1 in particularPost Edited By Moderator (normalsnofun) : 12/22/2006 10:37:45 AM (GMT-7)