First-person account of an individual experiencing sudden hair loss, new-onset anxiety/panic attacks, and progressive joint stiffness after childbirth; the speaker sought medical evaluation (cardiologist ruled out cardiac cause and diagnosed panic attacks) and describes functional impairment (difficulty rising, knees and joints stiff) and a perception of accelerated aging.
Hair was falling out and not growing back. Like, even, you know, my whole hairline was moving back and on the sides. It was really, really bad. Then I had anxiety attacks all of a sudden, and I didn't even know what's going on. So I got my heart checked. I went to the cardiologist. I said, like, do I get a heart attack? And he's like, now you're perfectly fine. You have panic attacks. I was like, why do I. Am I having panic attacks? I'm happy. I don't understand. You know, my life is okay. I don't know why I have panic attacks. Then other things that occurred were, like, very stiff joints. Then, you know, like, not being able to move easily. Totally weird. I would sit down with, like, I had my second child, then I would sit down on the floor with her to play. And when I get up, I was like a grandma. Like, I couldn't move my body, and my joints were stiff and my knees were hurting and stiff. And I was like. I felt like my body is 20 or 30 years older than I actually am.
