Debt, stress and anxiety

Trajal

I'm a little curious actually.

As some of you will know I've been slowly repairing my credit file and methodically lowering my debts over the last six months or so. In addition to all of that I've been having to fund my own wedding (don't even get me started on that) and cope with a very stressful job.

Anyway all of this added up to a series of anxiety attacks in the last couple of months. I've gotten some help from the doctor and another forum that I use for dealing with stress. However, as a fit and strong individual who is normally very very formidable in the boardroom and assertive in personal life I feel quite weak and guilty that I have been hit by this.

It's incredibly scarey to think that you're having a heart attack or that you can't breath, especially when lying in bed trying to get some sleep and everytime you get close you suddenly exhale strongly because of the feeling that you're not breathing.

Has anyone else run into this? I accept that there is a lot going on in my life, but it feels strange that I should be getting this when normally I'm such a strong person.

(P.s. I've been checked out by the doctor 3 times now and even dialled 999 one time - it's not physical, it's purely anxiety, so no problems with my heart or lungs or whatever).

BigCraigJohn

Id say its extremely common. I was so stressed a couple of years ago it triggered permanent tinnitus as well as frequent panic attacks for a few months, had to ring someone and rushed me to the doctors as I thought I was dying. Ive come to learn that stressing about it is not going to help but doing something about it however small will, make sure you have plenty of me time, watch some funny films and plenty of fresh air.
No point dwelling on things and in time as you realise its probably less of an issue you'll deal with the feelings better.
Now if I get that feeling I just tell myself I can deal with it and get pro active or forget about whats stressing me.

Its actually no surprise that debters dont end up paying debts back once you hit a pretty bad point, you ask for help and get told pay up or else. Hardly going to help. Debtor gets stressed, gets ill, takes time off work, loses job, never pays back debt.

CH27

Everyone has their limits & it's your body's way of saying enough!

Panic attacks are frightening. Look online at Mind Gym for distraction techniques.

moneysavingmonkey85

Its not a matter of weak or strong - but it is really common - and very scary. I get it occasionally, and really horrific nightmares when my stress is too high. In a way, its that you are being too 'strong', and not recognising when you should stop/rest/sleep. Its great that you have had it checked, and hopefully that will start to take away the immediate fear of heart attack symptoms.
If you can, make a note of what you were doing/thinking when it happens (well afterwards) and hopefully you can try to recognise when you are starting to get stressed before it goes fully into an attack.

Best wishes

broker

Anxiety and panic attacks have lots of different symptoms and some people have more than others and one sufferer may not have any symptoms of another sufferer. I was going through a tough time a few years back and experienced:
- shortness of breath as if I couldn't take a full breath and had to yawn to rectify it
- occasional bouts of tinnitus that lasted about 30 seconds
- heat in my chest/around my heart - heart feeling like it was skipping beats or racing pulse but when I took my pulse it was normal.
- insomnia
- body "shakes" - the only way I can describe this is like a wet dog shaking! lol . . not funny really
- sometimes a bit nauscious
- felt uncomfortable/unsafe/paranoid in public and felt relieved when got back to the safety of my house

All of these symptoms disappeared when I emerged from the tough times and like you I was checked and all "healthy" apparently so it must have been stress/anxiety/panic attacks.

Not nice and I completely sympathize with you but try keep your head up and they should vanish when your out of the tough patch. I used to take my pulse whenever had symptoms and it was always normal so that used to reassure me that it was all in my head.

Hope things get better for you soon

dancingfairy

Your body can only cope with so much stress and also it can be cummulative I think.
Planning a wedding.
Saving for a wedding
Paying debts
Stressful job
can all be stressful.

Have a look around - i'd be surprised if there aren't many websites for people with these sorts of problem - try Mind or Rethink, etc. I think the BBC might have a section on stress etc.
Do you have time for any relaxation? even if it's just making time to go for a walk/to the gym/listening to music/having a bath etc - perhaps meditation/relaxation exercises would help?
Anything you can do to lesten the stress? perhaps the debt could be paid back more slowly, perhaps the wedding could be postphoned a bit? Maybe you could get a few days off work to recharge your batteries?
df
Edit: I think they reckon 1 in 4 people will suffer some form of mental stress/illness at some point in their lives - that's a lot of people.

Jules28

I agree that it is more common than you might think. I have had a bit of a stressful time recently and experienced the shortness of breath described above by another poster and also a feeling a pressure on my chest. I too got it checked out and was told there was nothing physical, it was anxiety.

I agree with the others who have said it's your body's way of showing you've tried to be too strong for too long and enough's enough. I am now trying to things to combat this, for example, it works for me when feeling stressed to do some exercise or to go for a long walk in the fresh air. Also, just relaxing with my OH instead of buzzing round the house doing a million things helps. But you'll find what works for you and also, how to recognise the signs that things are getting too much.

copperboom_2

I have suffered with depression most of my life - with or without debt - and as part of that I used to have panic attacks all the time! I still get them occasionally, but not nearly as bad.

My tip would be to invest in some Bach Rescue Remedy - get the type in the dropper bottle, and if you can afford it get one bottle for your home and one for out and about. It's £7.71 for a 20ml bottle in Boots or £6.05 for a 10ml bottle (but you only need about 5 drops each time so it lasts ages) and they're on 3 for 2.

Anyway, whenever you feel a panic attack coming on, or even during one, drop a few drops of it onto your tongue. or into a glass of water to sip. I know it sounds silly, and I was sceptical myself at first but I guess something to do with the essential oils acting as natural remedies - it really does calm you down. I had an anxiety attack almost every time I left the house from age 15 to about 19 and this stuff definitely averted some disasters! The only problem was that if I ever lost a bottle or ran out... I would have a panic attack because I'd be panicking about having one in public without it!!

I know this doesn't really help the underlying problem of your debt but if you're calmer I hope you should be able to deal with it better, and treating the symptom is better than treating nothing at all

Good luck.

mandyl

i too suffer from depression and anxiety and am on medication for panic attacks. big hugs xx

sotonsue

I can really relate to you...ive been in casualty 3 times and even been put on heart monitors.I was petrified of having repeat episodes.I had to learn to go with it ..i'd say to myself "its only that thing again" and quickly put mind onto something else..eventually this started to work for me xx

anxious_mum

I've got a thread about this somewhere, it happened to me a couple of months ago for the first time and I was terrified! It happened again not long after when I was presenting to a room full of work colleagues, and again, I thought I was having a heart attack.

I have been coping with a lot of stress recently (I have two teenage boys, enough said), but I'm also wondering if in my case it was more of a hot flush moment (I'm not suggesting for one moment you're as ancient as me, yours sounds more stress related)

In any case, I hope things look up for you, and good luck with your wedding x