"Short term anxiety"

Hi, at the tail end of last year I started getting concerning irregular beats and palpitations, something I’ve never had, or atleast been aware of. One doctor visit then one hospital visit later and told I’ll be on a wait list for cardio and put on beta blockers. Anxiety started, it grew arms and legs and very quickly I spiralled and could not control my anxiety any longer.

This peaked at xmas and I was back In hospital having a panic attack. Doctor made referral at this point to OT, and I made the decision to go private for cardio as I felt I could not continue for months maybe more than a year for an answer.

I meet my OT Hayley and we chat about my concerns, feelings, anxieties and the mess I seemed to have got myself into, in my head. I was so worried about my future, and my children, and I could not see life moving forward at this point. For reference, I am a very chill person, don’t stress about too much, generally happy and healthy and love my life, very content. This turned my world upside down, the feeling of not being in control any more, scared me, I was running on fear, and sleep was being affected and it all became a viscous cycle!!

I worked with Hayley, she gave me small and very easy things to try, I was willing to do anything to try fix whatever was going on. Hayley is an absolute gem, she is perfect for this job, from her smile, her tone, her ability to listen and show care and compassion, I was only with Hayley for a few months, but that’s all I needed, she helped me massively and my anxiety disappeared as quickly as it arrived.

I’m now 6 months since my palpatations started, I still have no answers, however, I am not worried or stressed or anxious about any of it, something clicked and I took control back, Hayley helped with this. Occupational Therapy has given me the tools to deal with anxiety if it rears it’s ugly head again.

The reason I titled this short term anxiety is because of how quickly this all turned around for me, it may have only been a few months but it was honestly the worst few months the of my life, I could not see light at the end of the tunnel, I didn’t think I could lift the black cloud that had sat on top of me. From not even being able to go out and do a short walk through fear of dying, I’ve been enjoying this gorgeous weather and doing solo hikes up the Scottish hills, life is good 😌