Anxiety Support Group

Anxiety is a physical condition marked by intense and persistent feelings of distress, fear, angst or dread. General anxiety caused by routine day-to-day stresses usually passes quickly and is experienced by almost everyone at one time or another. However, such feelings that linger over time and are very difficult to cope with, and which lack a clear cause, may indicate...

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Anxiety Disorders
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20 and tired

Alexandra0817
Alexandra0817

If your not in the mood to read a whole vent, just skip. 


I've been feeling like crap my entire adult life so far. I'm starting to wonder if I'm a hypochondriac. From breathing issues to trouble swallowing it never ends. I began having panic attacks and bad anxiety symptoms in highschool and they get worse every year (not so much the classic panic attacks just overall anxiety). I don't know if I have ashma or not but for a while I've been experiencing trouble breathing such as weezing and shortness of breath. The allergist I went to prescribed some inhalers but I tend to overuse them and nothing drastically helps. For eating I thought I was done w those troubles until a few days ago. Back in 2020 thru this year I went through months of difficulty swallowing (doc said I was fine tho and went thru tests) and it was pure torture. But I slowly, very slowly got better and recently have been eating fine, like I said except for the past few days and I am beside myself. I can't stop crying and crying I can not beleive I'm experiencing this again. I have to somehow pull it together for work and I don't know how. I'm scared and miserable and yes I still live at home bc I'm in college but my parents are fed up w me being so miserable all the time and not really going anywhere or doing anything besides school and work because of it. I'm almost 21 and have no idea what it is like to live a normal healthy life. I just don't know how ppl do it. I'm tired. I'm scared. I know literally no one at all experiencing what am I or anyone who gets it. What am I supposed to tell my friends when they want to hang out "sorry guys I have to stay home today bc I'm having trouble swallowing" or "sorry boss I'm afraid of passing out at work today I can't come in" like wtf? Honestly what if my symptoms are all made up from anxiety. God I am so so so so so done. Meanwhile ppl have actual problems like death, terminal illness, ect. and I'm here in bed all day feeling like absolute GARBAGE when I'm supposedly a healthy 20 year old. Wtf wtf wtf I haven't even explained everything I think. Idk. I feel like absolutely no one gets it. There's just so much suffering. 

mtd
mtd
There are a whole lot of people who “get it”. I see you were checked out by a dr, that’s good. Issues with breathing and swallowing are common with anxiety. I’ve experienced both. My breathing problem has almost completely resolved. What caused it is that my body was so tense I couldn’t use the normal muscles needed for inspiration and could only take in air shallowly. My swallowing issue was caused by the same problem, body tension. It’s better too now. I’m in recovery. You really need to face what is making you anxious, acknowledge it to yourself. There is no fault or blame here, we all have fears of one kind or another. Try therapy with an anxiety specialist, They can teach you tools to use. Also relaxation breathing/meditation helps, and a technique called acceptance. I figure you are fighting your anxiety and that only makes it worse. Look up “it’s only anxiety” on the net, the author also has a book worth buying. But read the info on the site, get started ASAP. As you have probably noticed, anxiety robs us of being able to live, period. We just exist with our anxiety and that’s about all. Anxiety is treatable, and educating ourselves about it is half the battle. The other half is putting to work all we have learned with diligent practice. It is a process, doesn’t happen overnight or in a month or two, but with diligence and practice we can overcome with time. We didn’t get this way fast, we won’t heal fast, but we will get there.
Alexandra0817
Alexandra0817
Thank you for your response mtd. It is helpful to know there is someone out there who had experienced some of the same things. I think I really have to find a therapist once and for all bc these symptoms are taking over my life. I hope I can get better like you have.
ready2live
ready2live
@Alexandra0817 you are definitely not alone. There are many days where I feel like I can't "breathe" and there are some days where I feel like my throat is going to close up. I've had days where I've been fearful of passing out, having a heart attack, or just fearing that something is really wrong with me. As mtd said fighting the anxiety only makes it worse. To wonder if something is wrong only makes you more fearful/anxious and the cycle repeats itself. Last year I visited the er and my primary doctor many of times. Now I'm learning to accept that what I experience is in fact anxiety, well at least trying my best to. Learning my triggers has also been very helpful. I to am in search of a therapist meanwhile I've been doing as much research that I can to help until then. It really is hard when it feels like life is passing you by. I'm 30 and should be enjoying my husband and kids and yet there are many days that I struggle to. You are not alone I know you are tired but keep fighting. We can definitely beat this!
Community LeaderMid
Mid
Welcome to the anxiety board at DS.

You've taken the important first step in writing it out. Keep writing daily in a private journal to help you sort out the feelings, emotions, thoughts, and words.

Anxiety is natural and it is a 'helper'. To get it back into normal range, you will have to work on the basic calming breathing exercises with gentle motion to reduce the physical sensations to a calm balance.

To reduce the muscle tension, relaxing and tensing gentle motions allow the sensation to change quickly naturally, providing relief in the moment.

Finding the calm balance naturally will help you as you process the changes to find your better balance.
arfie
arfie
Welcome back, Alexandra. You are far from alone with this phenom. In my personal herstory, I've experienced every symptom you described and have come to believe they really are **just** anxiety symptoms. I put an emphasis on the **just** because there is nothing justy about anxiety. I have yet to find a simple fix for the symptoms, much less the anxiety behind them. Well just it all! ! ! Where's my magic pill?!?!?

I haven't found a cure for my anxiety, but I have found not so justy ways to manage the symptoms. There are tons of anxiety management tools which help toward leading a full, rich and responsible life, despite my chronic condition.

Gentle support while you find the tools which work for you. You are not alone.
rmb
rmb
If your symptoms are a result of anxiety, and I suspect they may be, that doesn’t make them less real, less significant, less uncomfortable, etc. So much of anxiety manifests itself in physical ways. It’s very common.

Over the years I have developed a little bag of tricks to help manage the anxiety and the sensations that come along with it. Breathing exercises, certain types of meditation, mantras, exercise, finding distractions, etc, can all be helpful. Therapy can be helpful too

Trying to fight anxiety feels like a losing battle to me. Things are always better for me when I try to work with it vs against it.

You are ok!
Alexandra0817
Alexandra0817
Thanks for your responses guys. I hope I can figure out something to help manage these symptoms.
hyperpgal
hyperpgal
Don't minimize the fact that anxiety and depression ARE true illnesses. SO to fix the other stuff you will have to deal with the anxiety and depression. I've found help in a variety of places--therapy, medication, yoga, deep breathing, tapping, this website, check youtube for free sources of help. Nothing will change until you start working on the problem.

My friends gave me a printout of a person saying, "I'd love to hang out, but I have to go home and sit in my house by myself." lol---they know me! I'm pretty honest with them about my issues. You know-we all have some kind of issues...
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