Woman who thought she was having a panic attack ended up being given sinister diagnosis years later

A woman who was constantly experiencing incidents of high adrenaline, sweating and 'hysterical crying' was told she was having panic attacks, but the reality turned out to be something much more serious.

At 22, Madeleine Dippnall was first diagnosed with a variety of mental health problems, including anorexia.

And after she broke off a ‘traumatic’ relationship and left London to move in with her parents in Cornwall, she suffered from constant panic attacks.

"You have the adrenaline equivalent to being on a roller-coaster. Everything sweats. I'd have to go to the toilet to be sick,” she explained.

"I'd be hysterically crying. You have this fear of God in you that something awful is going to happen.”

Dippnall described how her mum would put her head under cold water and she’d sometimes ‘get catatonic’. “I couldn’t move. I’d go within myself,” she added.

She was told it was mental health issues. (SWNS)

"But if you were looking at me you wouldn’t really know what was going on."

The graphic designer went to see a psychiatrist who diagnosed her with PTSD, anxiety, depression and anorexia.

But an anorexia specialist she also went to see told her she didn't have an eating disorder.

Dippnall was given a variety of medication, but said they only helped with about 20 percent of the issues she was facing.

Then, six years later, in April 2023, the mum woke up with the insides of her mouth bleeding. The now 29-year-old had had a seizure.

“The next night I woke up on the bathroom floor. I said to Chris, my husband, ‘oh my God I think I’ve had a seizure’,” she said.

She was diagnosed with epilepsy. (SWNS)

The woman was put through on an urgent referral by the GP and was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy.

"I felt relieved that I wasn’t crazy,” Dippnall said. "I was angry at all these authoritative people who told me I had mental problems. If this went untreated, I could have really had issues.”

She explained how she felt like something was wrong but ‘no one was listening’.

Since being diagnosed, she's been taking lamotrigine, a medicine to help with her condition and said her depression has ‘literally washed away’.

Dippnall’s been able to enjoy her life again since getting diagnosed and is building up a new graphic design business from her off-grid cabin where she lives.

She added: "I’ve made something positive out of this and the business which is doing really well. Since being on the epilepsy medication I haven’t had a single episode and my depression has literally washed away.

"My husband says the difference is like night and day."

If you're experiencing distressing thoughts and feelings, the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) is there to support you. They're open from 5pm–midnight, 365 days a year. Their national number is 0800 58 58 58 and they also have a webchat service if you're not comfortable talking on the phone.

Topics: Health, Mental Health

Jess Battison

Jess is an Entertainment Journalist with a love of all things pop culture. Her main interests include keeping up with the Twitter girlies, waiting for a new series of The Traitors and losing her voice at a Beyoncé concert. She graduated with a first in Journalism from City, University of London in 2021 and has previously worked at MyLondon.

@jessbattison_