Anxiety

Hi,

I suffer with this too. I went through a very bad patch a couple of years ago. I was absolutely convinced I would drop down dead. This gave me terrible anxiety and panic attacks. I kind of feel a little better now, but unfortunately it has robbed me of my ability to do every day tasks alone. I can't just go out of the door any more without feeling stressed. It gives me bad physical symptoms too.

I don't really have much advice, but your not alone. My partner doesn't understand either, I just don't think people understand how scary a panic attack are

I was depressed and sad before I even knew what depression was, because I was just a kid and I had no one to talk to about my feelings. I went through a pretty rough time which caused me to go into a diabetic coma. Then I tried changing my life after that and it didn't seem like it was going to work out, so I got depressed again and now I have a problem with constantly eating and eating my feelings. I've always had social anxiety and a phobia of people. I hate being seen by others and I hate being around others unless I'm comfortable with them. I don't get out very much because I hate being around people I don't know. It's not as bad as it used to be but I still don't like leaving the house. I was supposed to have a doctor appointment on New Year's Eve a couple weeks ago for my diabetes, but because I was seeing a doctor I had never met before, and because doctors are terrifying, I got sick from an anxiety attack before I left home and I ended up missing my doctor appointment. Now they won't stop harrassing me because I haven't gone since June and I have diabetes, it's making things really difficult for me having anxiety, but I know if I don't overcome it I won't live a normal life. I need to be able to support myself. Depression and anxiety is what led me here because I gained a lot of weight these last few years, and now it's something I'm going to try working on.

I've suffered from GAD for almost 12 years now. That's close to half of my life! My symptoms go up and down all the time. I would get debilitating migraines and tension headaches extremely often. The one thing that helped me most with those was chiropractic treatment. And with those happening less often, I felt some areas of my anxiety lessening.

I wish I had more advice for you in the other areas. My primary physician told me years ago that every one is different, and his best directions for me was to keep trying different avenues until I found what works best for me. Cooking has been one of the best outlets for me (not so much for the fit of my pants though!)

Good luck and know, you're not alone!

I struggle with anxiety too. I've woken my husband in the middle of the night, certain I was having a heart attack! I try to stay off of WebMD and the like because anything I read makes me sure I've got that and my days are numbered. Heck, I had to quit watching Grey's Anatomy because everyday I woke up with a new disease!

I am not and have never been on medication so I can't comment on what works or doesn't in that area. I can tell you that figuring out some of my triggers was very helpful. For example, I cannot eat anything with artificial sweeteners in it. I don't know if it's all of them or just one or two of them as I didn't really pay attention to which ones were in the foods I realized were triggering me, I just cut them all out. I'm apparently so sensitive to it that even chewing gum a few days in a row will cause anxiety in me.

I also make sure I get enough sleep and don't drink too much caffeine. A recent on I discovered is that I can't take synthetic B vitamins! I had been taking a b-complex and was getting worse and worse and couldn't figure out why I was having so many issues and panic attacks! I mentioned it to a friend who commented on the synthetic nature of the vitamins and suggest I stop them. I quite taking them and things got better within a week. Tried them again out of curiosity and sure enough, anxiety through the roof! Now I take a methylated b vitamin and have no issues with it.

Exercise is extremely important for me in managing anxiety. I try to keep the stress down and eat well but sometimes life gets in the way. When I am having an anxiety issue, working out almost always calms me down and gets the anxiety to a manageable level. My husband is also really helpful because he's made himself available to me when I'm having an attack. Just being able to tell him that I'm feeling anxious takes some of the power out of it. I know there is someone who will walk me through it if it gets bad and if I am in fact having a heart attack, he's aware of that too and knows CPR. If you can find a friend who will be that calm person for you, it's very helpful.

Natural Calm is a powdered magnesium supplement that I also find very useful. I take it once in the morning and once in the evening and it really helps me relax and mellow out. Nettle tea or hibiscus tea are both calming as well as chamomile tea. I don't have the answers or a magic "fix it" (I wish!!) but I do manage mine without medication pretty well these days. I hope you find some relief and at the very least, know that you're not alone and not crazy (at least not anymore than the rest of us! )

Have you considered blood tests to see what your adrenal function is doing? Your symptoms sound like adrenal fatigue. I've just begun to read about correcting this problem using diet, it's called Adrenal Reset Diet by Alan Christianson NMD. He says that improvement is within days, healing and complete return to normal is in weeks to months.

I was recently diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder so I know some of what you speak of. Mine revolves a lot around social fears and irrational fears that keep me awake all night. Fears like my house is going to go up in flames or my children are going to stop breathing or a fully armed burglar is going to break in and kill us all in our sleep). My sister has panic disorder and suffers occasionally from agoraphobia. She has the sweaty hands, the quickened pulse, the shakiness, etc.

We now both seek professional help with psychologist's who practice cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). It has helped my sister immensely. She does take medication occasionally but doesn't rely on them heavily. I've only just started but the act of speaking to someone who I know won't think I am crazy, helps even a small amount and it all adds up. It's also helpful that my sister and I, while we have different disorders, can speak to each other about our issues and be compassionate for each other. Many people have a hard time explaining mental disorders to loved ones who can sometimes be unsympathetic.

If it is seriously interfering with your life, perhaps seek professional help. There is no shame in doing so. And you can tell your psycho-analyst that you prefer not to use medications if you'd like. One thing I will say is sometimes they will explain to you that taking medication can be a stepping stone- if it is all too overwhelming to focus on how you can become better, sometimes medication helps to level the playing field until you can get a little control on the situation.

That being said, panic attacks are the result of your body trying to compensate for fear. Often times, a first panic attack is caused and it is actually the cause of every following panic attack- because you fear the repeat incident. Panic attacks can be scary and make you feel as though you are going to die, but they cannot harm you. There is no harm in checking out all the possibilities. But, talk to your doctor about seeing a psycho-analyst and they can help diagnose better than we all can here.

Also, panic disorders and anxiety disorders when left unchecked, can become more serious and result in agoraphobia as well as depression and insomnia. My sister let hers go unchecked and she developed agoraphobia because she was so afraid of having a panic attack in public or that if she wasn't around her husband, she would have a panic attack and die alone. I left my anxiety go unchecked and it resulted in insomnia, severe depression and a mass of phobia developments.

But until you have it checked out, feel free to friend me. It helps to let some of the pressure off by talking to people who understand. As my psychologist explained it, I'm like a shaken up cola bottle every time I stuff all of this stuff down further and don't deal with it. The littles tiny things now set me off as though that cola bottle's cap was barely twisted and it spits out everywhere. I even blank out during emotional episodes that could trigger my stress, because my body isn't able to handle it.

My stress levels, when they get too high, can trigger severe headaches which cause severe nausea too. So that could explain your sour stomach but it is still best to see someone who diagnoses these things for a living.

Hey everyone! Surprise, surprise I suffer from anxiety too and depression. That's not even the worst part... I gave birth to my youngest son 6 months ago and I have postpartum depression and postpartum anxiety which is just intensifying (particularly my general anxiety) the issues like crazy. I've been having such a difficult time even leaving the house and being in a constant state of irrational worry about my infants health and wellbeing is beyond exhausting. Speaking of being exhausted he has something serious against sleeping and I'm nursing so yeah, Im up all day and haven't slept for more than a 2 hour stretch in 6 months... no bueno. I've been on medication before but personally it didn't help at all, mostly because meds didn't change my life circumstances at the time. I'm trying to avoid another trial, and certainly while I'm breastfeeding. I figure if I can get my body at peak performance and healthy again then my brain will follow suit... fingers crossed! Good luck to everyone ❤️

I know exactly how you all feel. I have suffered from GAD as long as I can remember. I know I was going through it in junior high and high school and I'm now 44. It definitely goes in waves for me. I go through months/years where it intensifies. In fact, it was during a rough two years that my most recent weight gain happened. In 2016 I was able to get a handle on it to a degree in the level of intensity I was feeling it Day to day but by the end or 2016 it started back up again. I've been having extreme anxiety and panic attacks again. The worst is the medical anxiety. Each day I get up certain I have stage 4 cancer somewhere in my body. It's a horrible feeling. Or that I have an aneurysm brewing, or heart attack symptoms, you name it. Lately I am back to feeling like death is imminent every single day. It interferes with everything I do. Oh and my social anxiety is getting worse too. It's a viscous cycle.