Found out I have MS in the middle of a panic episode
I am currently in the middle of my worst panic episode ever. They start out with a panic attack and then my thoughts spin out of control to the point where I am having anxiety every waking second (and now, it seems, every sleeping one). I went to the hospital andndnything was finally diagnosed with panic disorder, although my regular therapist says I also have GAD. I had been undergoing testing for multiple sclerosis, and the psychiatrist in the hospital decided it was necessary to get my results back. They came back positive. This is really tough for me because my anxiety always latches onto something inevitable, like my own death or thr death of a loved one. Now I have an unpredictable disease and it has fueled the fire. I'm having a hard time doing everyday things like eating or playing a video game, which is making me feel physically bad and is adding to my anxiety symptoms. Work feels so overwhelming that I wake up and start throwing up on work days. I feel like I'm just waiting until my anxiety medication kicks in, but time is moving so slowly right now.
@WhataDime713
I am sorry to hear that you were recently diagnosed with MS. It must be really scary to think that you are going to be impacted by something that is not within your control. It sounds like your anxiety was related to something else, but that the MS diagnosis definitely set it off and/or made it worse. You will probably get a lot of different information adn I am not here to go against anything that your doctor and/or therapist says, but eneralized Anxiety Disorder typically means that a person has a bunch of anxiety related to several different things. Panic disorder usually means that someone has panic attacks. Someone with generalized anxiety disorder can still have panic attacks. Sometimes those two diagnosis are given together, or sometimes a practitioner will feel that a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder will suffice because panic attacks do not seem frequent enough to give a diagnosis of full blown panic disorder. Anyway, it sounds like depression might be something to be concerned about as well since things that might have been simple before like playing a video game or going through your day are becoming more difficult. Depression tends to feed anxiety and anxiety tends to feed depression and it tends to be a downward spiral. I wanted to encourage you because sometimes when we have a medical issue that feels out of control, something that can help us is focusing on the things we *can* control. Practicing self kindness. Keeping a certain routine. Even cleaning. Ideally switching our focus to what is in our control instead of out of our control will hopefully bring some kind of peace. All the best to you.
