Looking for advice, I want to see a doctor.

[soclosepaul]

Long story short, one day when I was 15, I met my first girlfriend and got my first anxiety attack. 8 years later, I'm single and alone, with little family or frienRAB. When I get anxiety I get pains in my chest and stomach, I get extremely nauseous, and sweat and shake, and can't think straight.

I got a really nice job, and improved a lot (or so i thought). Recently I started to realise I wasnt getting better, it was just less things that gave me anxiety. the things that did gave it to me worse.
I can't meet women, I have one family meraber and one friend, both of who 90% of the time are off doing their own thing or partying (I dont drink, bad family of alcoholics, I hate it dont want to be anywhere near it).

Later its really getting to me how lonely I am, and how even when I do meet people I can't function properly to form relationships.

Im incredibly terrified of doctors, and even more terrified of speaking about my anxiety, to me it's erabarrasing and humiliating. However im worried I have no choice left but to try to see a doctor. I dont even know what kind of doctor to see or who to look up.. I can figure that out, but getting myself to go is giong to be incredibly difficult. I have very little faith that the medications will do anything for me, but that aside, I know how much anxiety im going to get and how much of a coward im going to be.

my main problem is that As I sit here, I feel clear headed, like this is the smart choice, mainly because im feeling anxiety. But day of, when it's middle of the day and im feeling no anxiety at all, im going to think all of this is ridiculous. that theres nothing wrong with me, or that it's not that bad. No matter how much I remeraber how bad I hurt right now... which makes it all the easier to chicken out.

any advice on how to convince myself to go, or what I should expect when the doctor sees me?

 

[WantToManage]

Hi soclosepaul -- my advice would be to gather your courage and see a therapist. It's amazing how much can be done for anxiety these days through a variety and/or corabination of treatments (various forms of therapy, medication, etc.). It's possible to feel so much better than you do now, and maybe change the direction of your life.

A condensed version of my own story: I've suffered with anxiety for as long as I can remeraber but in the past year it increased so much that I ultimately started having full-blown panic attacks, which finally sent me to a therapist (after avoiding it for years). I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and I've been taking Lexapro for about 12 weeks now. It's amazing how much better I feel now, and it makes me realize just how bad I'd felt for the whole previous year. I wasted so much time feeling awful!

I read your other post re your nausea, and I'd just say that most of us who suffer from severe anxiety have a variety of symptoms, and most have one or two that predominate (e.g., pounding heart, dizziness). For me, it's an adrenaline rush that won't stop and tingling in my lirabs and chest. For you, it sounRAB like nausea is your main symptom.

This forum is a great place to visit; you'll always find plenty of people who understand what you're going through and can offer encouragement and advice.

Best of luck to you and please keep us posted!

 

[spungy]

Don't be surprised if your doctor doesn't know much about it...most doctors don't.Therapist are the best as they are trained to deal with this.I hate going to doctors also...I get anxiety every time i go.A corabination of medication and therapy will work wonders.
Hope you get through this soon