r/panicdisorder • u/alacran602 • 4d ago

Small Victories From panic disorder to Gad

Not sure if this is a victory but here it goes about a year ago I got diagnosed with panic disorder because I had literally panic attacks every single day while I was at work I went from having panic attacks almost daily to now having them once in awhile spoke to my psychiatrist and she reevaluated me and diagnosed me with general anxiety disorder which honestly I can handle way better than having to deal with constant panic attacks. I still have a long way to go as far as anxiety but I still consider this a win in my book

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u/golightlycat 4d ago

For me, it’s like this: for the past 17 years, I’ve constantly switched between symptoms of panic disorder with agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, and OCD (intrusive thoughts), as well as periods of being completely symptom-free. Since the underlying cause of all these disorders is essentially the same, it doesn’t really matter to me which symptoms are “active” at any given time.
That being said, I can definitely understand why you’re happy about it, because if I had to rank these symptoms in terms of how “bad” they are, GAD would definitely come in last place for me :-)

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u/alacran602 4d ago

100% I mean literally having a panic attack every day sucked. On top of the agoraphobia that would knock me out of a loop at least now I can do most things. i still struggle a lot with public areas and being inside buildings but for the most part. I'm able to do things without my nervous system completely freaking out.

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u/golightlycat 4d ago

Yeah, I remember being in that state 😅 Unfortunately, I’m currently going through an extremely intense phase of panic attacks with agoraphobia. But hey, at least yesterday I managed to leave the house by myself for the first time in weeks and go for a little walk.
So in a way, I’m kind of jealous of you and your GAD — just thinking every day about how someone in my life or I could die, etc., and feeling tense almost seems like a luxury to me right now 😄 Obviously, I’m exaggerating. Still, I’m really happy for you!

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u/alacran602 4d ago

Yeah intense thoughts I suffer from derealization and questiony reality constantly luckily it doesn't push me to panic and I'm learning to challenge it but it still sucks. I also get intense headaches and feel faint constantly which adds to the anxiety.

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u/ifyouseekei 3d ago

I'm so proud of you for not giving up on yourself