We moved in together and that’s when I think we both began to realise that she was suffering from something that she needed help with. For absolutely no reason at all, and this is a common theme amongst anxiety sufferers — there doesn’t need to be a reason for an attack to happen — she would be overcome with anxiety. The best way I can describe it is that you’re faced with someone who is just paralysed with fear, unable to communicate effectively and on the verge of total panic. In my wife’s case when she suffers from an anxiety attack she struggles to sleep such are the severity of physical symptoms. Laying next to her you can feel her shake as adrenaline pumps through her body. Often freezing cold, or boiling hot, she tosses and turns desperately seeking comfort. Then there’s the chest pains. She describes these as someone standing on her chest — a tightness so intense that she feels like she’s having a heart attack. In fact, in the early days, that’s exactly what we thought she had. We even went to the hospital on three separate occasions such was our concern. She had ECG’s, heart monitors and other apparatus fitted to her all of which showed nothing. The lack of sleep was becoming greater and greater.

posted 2707 days ago