About Me

Welcome to Fretters Unite: My Journey with Anxiety and Heart Health

This blog was created out of a deep commitment that motivates me every day. My name is Carole and I am a 63- year-old woman with a pretty special hubby, a beautiful daughter, a great son-in-law, and two funny, amazing grandkids (no bias here, of course! ☺️).

But a significant part of my story is that for the last few years, I have lived with debilitating anxiety and ongoing heart health issues. Between managing these conditions and caring for two elderly relatives, I ride a rollercoaster of emotions and logistics every day.

Now that I understand anxiety better, I realise I’ve lived with it for many years. I decided to start Fretters Unite to say, "Hello, this is me." My goal is to capture the emotional and physical connection between mental health and heart health.

Whether you are navigating health-related challenges, personal relationships, or emotional trauma, I hope this space helps the sun peek through the clouds for you, even if just for a few seconds.

Please note: I am not a healthcare professional. These are my personal thoughts and experiences shared as a peer, not as medical advice.





Popular posts from this blog

Here Goes My First Blog

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Not sure how someone starts a blog but thought I would start with telling you a bit about me and why I have decided to start mine.  So I am a 62 year old woman, with a pretty special hubby, I am a proud mum to a beautiful daughter, a great son in law and I am a grandma to 2 funny and amazing kids. (No bias here of course ☺️). But one of the biggest things about me is that I suffer from horrendous and often debilitating anxiety. The last few years have been pretty challenging. On a practical front - hubby and I live with a somewhat unappreciative and demanding elderly relative and have another in a care home who has dementia and an alcohol problem. Then from an emotional front I have a number of health issues mainly around my heart so let's just say most days I ride a rollercoaster of emotions and logistics. One of my friends recently said I should write a book and when I mentioned this to one of cardiology nurses she said she had the perfect title - I should simply call it “ It...
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Normal is overrated

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As a member of a number of forums and help sites one word I come across a lot is the word “normal”. But it is usually associated with a feeling that because we have any sort of anxiety, be it social anxiety, panic attacks, health anxiety, GAD, OCD, the list can go on and on, then we are not normal. The Oxford dictionary defines "normal" as something usual, typical, or conforming to a standard.  According to research there an estimated 301 million people worldwide suffer with anxiety. And overall approximately 1 billion who suffer with some form of mental health issues.  And that doesn't include all those who suffer in silence for fear of judgment because they may worry about being judged or misunderstood, leading them to keep their experiences private and simply suffering in silence. The path that may have led us to our pain will differ for all of us but the consequences are precisely the same. Those feelings of being alone, the constant worrying, always waiting for the ...
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Daily Challenges

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I would like to chat today about dealing with emotional trauma or health-related challenges, and how this can profoundly impact a person's levels of anxiety. My own experience includes a long term heart health condition which began a few years ago and is still with me today. Although my story may not be the same as yours, I believe that the connection between anxiety and our overall wellbeing, both emotionally and physically, is the same.  The best way I can describe it, from my perspective, is like being on one of those giant ferris wheels that just go round and round constantly and only stop long enough to let someone off and a new person on. Only for anyone who suffers with their mental health it's not a person getting on and off the wheel, it's simply a new worry that takes up that space. The anxious thoughts that hinder our progress merely transform into a different form of anxiety once we believe we have settled the original disconcerting feelings. I am certain tha...
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