[lovetolaugh]

Hi,
I am new here. I am happy to have found this place and hope to be able to support others as well as get some support. I am going through some tough times and my panic disorder acts up of course. I also have Generalized anxiety disorder, OCD, agoraphobia mildly, and some days are not fun, mostly when I am not feeling well. Today is a day I don't feel well. I have GERD (acid reflux) and my symptoms are getting worse and I have to have a test done that SCARES me a LOT. I have children and worry I will die. My hubby is not supportive at all. When we have tough times and argue he runs home to mommy and daddy and leaves me with the kids to be alone. Luckily my kids are not babies anymore and so even when I am having a tough day I can manage fine with the kids. But it sure would be nice to have someone be supportive and help me to get through this time. I am always the friend who listens and supports but don't seem to have friends that listen to me. Also I just feel like an idiot when I tell people how worried I am. I know worrying creates only stress and nothing good. But somehow I can spend a lot of time doing it. I laugh at myself a lot because I feel it is better than crying. But today I find it hard to find something to make me laugh. I have never had any kind of surgery and just worry I will be allergic and die. I just want to be normal and healthy and live a long life. I am going to see my Dr. in the morning...which seems like forever. I am afraid to even eat real food because it gets stuck sometimes or it feels like it anyway. Ever since I took my pill yesterday It has felt stuck and I just want it to go away!!! So......because of that I just keep worrying and am having a hard time not thinking the worst.
I hope I have not rambled too much and that it makes sense. I would love to hear from anyone any suggestions that they have.
THANKS

Welcome to PC! Sorry to hear you are going thru a difficult time. I was diagnosed with GERD a few years ago and have gone through a few tests. Do you know what type of test you are having done? Perhaps it's something I can share my experience with if I've had the same thing. I also have generalized anxiety.

[lovetolaugh]

I am having an endiscopy?? They put a tube down into your stomach and look at your stomach and esophagus. They said the procedure is about 5-10 minutes and then I will be in recovery for 1 1/2 hours. I worry will I die???? Choke?? Or when i awake will they tell me oh...you have two weeks to live! In reality I will be fine and feel better....right?

Yep, I had that procedure done. My experience would probably not be considered the usual experience. Normally patients are sedated to some degree but I was completely awake and received no sedation. I have my own issues with not being totally aware of what is going on, so that is why I chose to do it this way. My procedure was less than 10 minutes I think. I could go into all the details of what it felt like being that I was awake but I'm going to opt not to right now. I felt it was a safe procedure and I never felt I was not going to make it through. The positive thing about having this done is that your doctor will be able to see what's going on inside and hopefully be better able to treat your GERD.

My suggestion would be to talk to your doctor about what the risks of the procedure are and how you can be most comfortable. I think it is completely normal to be anxious about having a medical procedure you have never had and anxious about what the results might be. I am guessing here but I think this procedure is probably less risky than some conditions might be if left undetected.

If you want more details about what it was like for me being awake perhaps I could send you a PM. I'm not sure if it would be wise to post details in a public forum.