Hi Shane,
I wanted to reply to your posting because I used to have panic attacks all the time when I was in class. It is weird because I took a ton of college classes over a period of several years before going to class made me panic. That said, I have had panic attacks & anxiety since I was in elementary school, but not constantly. I might go through a month or so where I struggled with anxiety and panic, but it would always abate & then I would be fine for a long time. When I was younger, most of my panic attacks occurred at school. Anyway, starting in the middle of the fall of '06 semester, I started getting the attacks again. I would get them during class & at work. Also, my stomach was upset all the time, and I never wanted to eat for fear of getting sick to my stomach while I was at school or work.
In 4 or 5 months I lost about 15 lbs. (This was especially not good for me, because I have had "food issues" in the past as well, that is, an obsession with food and a compulsion to restrict my eating). My doctor confirmed that my stomach problems were not the result of an illness or disease, and that they were probably stress related.
I stopped going to almost all of my classes during the spring semester, and I quit my job because the panic & anxiety had even spread to work, even tho I loved my job. Right now I am working from home, & I really want to finish school but I feel like the only way I could do it would be an online degree. Since I don't go to school or work, now I get panic attacks when I go to the grocery store or other stores where I have to stand in line; I get freaked out when I think about going to a restaurant, or other places like that where I'm out in public. I'm not afraid of people watching me or judging me, so I don't think it's social anxiety. I guess it's more like agoraphobia & just general panic. I dunno. I am new to this site & just wanted to share a little bit about myself & my situation. Talking with others who suffer from this sounded really comforting, so if anyone wants to talk about anything, I'm always willing to lend an ear.
