[Blueberrybook]

I recently (on Valentine's Day) had a medical emergency. I won't go into details; it's in other posts of mine on various forums. Anyway, it was not psych related, required an ambulance, emergency surgery, 6 days of hosptalization, an awfully painful 3 week recovery at home (still some pain but manageable). Since being home, I now get panic attacks every time I hear sirens. I guess I associate them with the ambulance? This is bad as my backyard runs behind the main street of my town. About one block down, there is a fire station. Just over 2 blocks down in the other direction, there is an EMS dispatch. In addition, during school hours when the school speed zone is in effect, my backyard is a tiny area between the school speed limits of 2 different schools. The city police are very diligent about pulling over school speed zone speeders. It is not uncommon at all to hear sirens in my backyard and even in my house since it was built in the 1960s, and the windows don't have any special sound-proofing or insulation. This is bad because my house used to be my sanctuary, the safe place I could go to lie down, breathe deeply, and try to get the panic under control. The whole situation was so traumatic and painful, I would not be surprised if I get PTSD from it as well.

My anxiety is also not helped by the stack of medical bills coming in as our finances were tight before I even had this emergency. I have no idea what I will end up owing in the end, but we don't even have enough money in the bank to meet our sky-high deductible ($7500), which causes me even more anxiety when I get the mail or think about finances and bills.

Plus, I am getting even more panic attacks just out of the blue, for instance, driving to the vet to pick up flea meds for my cats. I HATE when I get panic attacks while driving. OMG, and now it is happening a lot.

Ugh! I am seeing a new pdoc on Thursday (old one is retiring, awful timing for me on that). I hope he will do something because the panic attacks and anxiety are so bad. I don't think the Klonopin and Buspar are even doing anything for me now. Or maybe they are, who knows? Maybe I'd be even worse if I didn't take them? At any rate, my current meds are not very helpful for me anymore.

[Wild Coyote]

I am very sorry for all you have gone through lately!

It's all traumatic enough without the additional financial trauma.
I've had the pleasure of an ambulance ride, two nights in a row. I am glad they were there for me, but the rest of the necessary ER visits that year (12 total) were by private transport. I took my chances.

The siren situation is extremely unfortunate!
My pdoc is retiring, too, after 20 years of working together.

I hope your new pdoc will help out.

You have been through h***!
I hope you get some major relief soon!

WC