Panic Attacks

I am not doing well. My anxiety has been ramped up, my panic attacks have been pretty bad lately.

The cost of living is becoming really burdensome. I have already felt like I am a burden because I cannot work and only have an income less than $1,000 a month from SSI. I’m 39 years old and want nothing more than to manage my conditions and return to work in some capacity.

I have been trying to do a few different approaches for trauma therapy and my trauma therapist is amazing. Unfortunately she doesn’t work within the insurance system. We were able to afford the private therapy for awhile but now we cannot. I have luckily been able to get a grant to cover the last several months, but that will run out soon.

I am going to have to stop or significantly reduce my trauma therapy. I don’t know how I am going to be able to work through my trauma, but I’m just going to have to.

My bf asked to borrow some money from his mom and she lectured him about how I need to work or move in with my mom (and if you saw my more recent post about my mom- we all know that is not an option). He has never borrowed money from her before, and we have told her in great detail my health problems. I had a feeling she wasn’t listening because she never really acknowledged what I said, and would just make a comment about something else.

I cannot tell you how infuriating it is to be seen as an object that can just be moved so me and my disability are someone else’s problem. Obviously and thankfully, my bf is not going to stand for that. But the hurt is still there because people don’t see my worth and haven’t seen I became disabled. The stigma is really bad for people with disabilities and it’s honestly getting so much worse.

The idea that I should just move somewhere else is a common refrain I have heard since being disabled. My friends and their families kept deciding what was an option for me and often would just tell me to move somewhere else, which would not fix my problem at all. It’s hurtful, so hurtful, that this is coming up again. I am so tired of not feeling like a person because I have chronic conditions. I’m tired of the way people have treated me. I’m so upset that this is coming up again.

Before I became disabled, I was respected by my friends and family. I have no idea how my value seemingly did a 180 because of my disability status. And honestly- if health insurance wasn’t as big of a deal here as it is, I would have significantly less things to worry about. I would be more likely to return to work sooner because I wouldn’t be worried about how much it costs to keep me alive and if the job I take will provide adequate and affordable health care for someone who will still need treatments, medicine, and support on a consistent basis.

Not only that, as a previously unhoused person, I am very triggered about the comments and policies that are happening around the United States about the unhoused population. I am so scared I’m going to end up homeless again. So scared. And this time, I wouldn’t just go hungry and without adequate living conditions. Social safety nets and programs to help people like me already were lacking (especially with housing) before these cuts. Now there is talk of sending the National Guard to other cities, including in my state.

I went downtown with my boyfriend this weekend and we saw people who are unhoused sleeping where they could; and i couldn’t help but feel so scared for them, and for people like me. I am so scared.

Please note this is not a political post. I am not engaging in a discourse about how my triggers are related to politics and what my reality is. I am also venting and will talk to my therapist about this, as she has a bigger picture of my circumstance and options.

While i appreciate advice, today I need support.

#MentalHealth #ADHD #Anxiety #Agoraphobia #PanicDisorder #ChronicVestibularMigraine #Migraine #ComplexPosttraumaticStressDisorder #AutonomicDysfunction #PosturalOrthostaticTachycardiaSyndrome #Disability #ChronicIllness #Trauma #CheckInWithMe

Hello, my name is Devin! I am new here. My mom recommended the mighty to me. I struggle with connecting with others in real life, and right now, I am having a really hard time.

I have been hospitalized 11 times since April of last year. One of those hospitalizations was for recovering for the surgery I had. I have Superior Mesenteric Artery Syndrome. It is a vascular compression of my superior mesenteric artery. TW: There is some mentions of vomiting.

I used to vomit violently and loudly. I became intolerant to every food and liquid. Every thing means things like water, apple juice, ensure, and pedialyte. Last April, I was unable to eat for a month. I was IV dependent. I lost a good amount of weight. I was admitted to 3 different hospitals in that month. They were dismissing SMA syndrome even when me and my mom knew that the presentation matched.

I recently got discharged from the hospital 3-4 days ago. And now, I'm becoming intolerant again. I have other things at play. I'm grateful that the big thing I had is treated. But now, it's something else. I also have POTS, so that is something else I need to balance

It is so isolating. Even though I have people in my life that care about me so much, it feels like I'm constantly on auto-pilot. I feel singular. It's as if my body can't just feel okay for more than a few days at a time and I go right back. I hate this so much. It's an out of body experience watching people around you eating the things you wish you can eat, but you can't because you know that will make things worse. It really is a waiting game to a degree. I have panic attacks every night. I fear that if I go to sleep, I won't wake up. I also fear that when I wake up, the people I love will be gone. I stay up until 1:30-2:30 am because of how much the anxiety/panic is there. I end up falling asleep because my body becomes tired from feeling very anxious. I'm so tired of this. I just want to feel okay.

Hi!
I have a question for other people with chronic illnesses who see a number of specialists.

I have two therapists, a psychiatrist, a case manager (finally!), a primary care doctor, a neurologist, and an autonomic specialist. Most of my symptoms come from unrelenting panic attacks and high anxiety which trigger severe intractable migraines. The autonomic specialist is helping with the symptoms more related to pots- movikity, nausea, lightheadness, dizziness, fast heart rate, etc.

I’m on a number of medications to treat multiple conditions. I am medication hesitant; my providers know and I discuss my fears with the people who prescribe anything so I can feel comfortable taking it.

There have been far too many times where someone (a medical professional) who doesn’t understand the complexity of my conditions and the severity of my symptoms try to tell me I’m on “too many meds.” Which just starts the fear all over again. I end up spending my sessions trying to talk to my therapist about if I “really need it” or if I am “damaging my brain.” I talk to my psychiatrist about seeing if I can reduce my medication yet (I cannot, we still are trying things out). Not only that- probably almost half of my meds are as needed- especially for panic and migraines.

I may have told this story on here before, but last year a pharmacist wouldn’t let me pick up my adhd medication unless I explained why I need it. (BTW- I specifically request the psychiatrist test me for this because I’ve had the diagnosis but never was tested, and i wanted proof before I started meds again). I told him to talk to my psychiatrist because she advocates for me and I’m tired of explaining over and over again why I am on what meds. I was able to pick up my meds by the end of that day and my psychiatrist reported him because there was no interaction and I have been taking these meds for awhile and picked them up from that pharmacy.

Last week , someone from insurance asked me to explain my meds and why I am on them. And now I’m recycling these fears and know that my trauma therapist and I are going to have to work through that fear again.

I’m going to type out a document with all of my medications and what they are used for because it really does activate me and make me less likely to take my as needed medications like I’m supposed to.

My question is: Does anyone else experience this frequent request to justify their medications to not just all the service providers, but also other people who are “involved” but don’t know me (pharmacist, insurance people, intakes to get new services)? Does anyone else get triggered when this happens? Is it just me?

Thanks to anyone who read through my long essay on being afraid to take my as needed meds, again. ❤️

#ComplexPosttraumaticStressDisorder #MentalHealth #Agoraphobia #PanicDisorder #ADHD #AutonomicDysfunction #PosturalOrthostaticTachycardiaSyndrome #Migraine #ChronicVestibularMigraine #ChronicIllness #Disability

So when I was 20 I went to rehab for my mental health. I was just sa ed. The treatment sucked everywhere how is sitting In a room helping? Anyways. I got sent to the hospital for a panic attack after a staff touched me and was being inappropriate with me and they took my switch and my phone and all my clothes I was left with only the clothes on my back. I tried calling to get it back but nothing I called so many times and they don’t answer worth anything. It’s been a 2ish years and I still try calling but nothing helps I never knew what to do and I feel as hopeless as I was in there. #Depression #PTSD #MentalHealth

I am not telling many people I know about this, but I decided to study to see if I could pass the exam to renew my school psychologist license.

I still am not able to work, as I am still working through various things and I have a lot of symptoms. I am still disabled.

However, I do want to see if I can get my brain to start performing more work/school tasks, if that makes sense. I have weird gaps in my functioning that I am hoping that EMDR will help (mostly things tied to trauma from being homeless and violations of medical rights). I still struggle to concentrate on things, and understand things. But if EMDR works like I hope, my panic attacks will be reduced significantly, I won’t have as many flashbacks, and I won’t be as dysregulated. This will obviously take time. I also have no idea what is going on with my physical health conditions.

I don’t know if I will be able to return to work any time “soon,” or if I want to return to the same field. However, it is a profession that is high in need and it’s kind of a protective factor for me, as well as a test (literally). But one step at a time.

#CheerMeOn #MentalHealth #Disability #ChronicVestibularMigraine #Migraine #AutonomicDysfunction #PosturalOrthostaticTachycardiaSyndrome #ADHD #GeneralizedAnxietyDisorder #Agoraphobia #PanicDisorder #ComplexPosttraumaticStressDisorder