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...
First I want to say hi and thank you for taking the time to read this. Weird to be throwing this out there so publicly. I have dealt with anxiety since I was a young child. A little boy sitting in the locker room afraid to go into the pool for swimming lessons. By the age of 24 and recently married, I started dealing with an illness the doctors couldn't identify. Five years of doctors making rude comments and inferring it was in my head. Did not do a lot for my anxiety. Eventually I got so sick, they figured it out, or so I thought. Called it vascular is and it was affecting my kidneys. About 15 years later they corrected the diagnoses as Lupus. Unusual for a guy, but never the less.
What I found is during flares of my lupus and really any illness, my anxiety becomes higher. Almost a physical reaction,,,which makes the coping skills I learned over the years useless. I have read and reflected on many posts here. My top fears are death, medical tests and procedures and flying.
I know I am whipping through a life of experience, but I don't want to bore you. But I am writing today because of a night f no sleep. You see I have been dealing with a stomach ache for the last few weeks. Went into doctor as I haven't been feeling great. He ran tests and ordered a couple procedures, one being a CT scan of my upper abdomen. I hear about the dangers of radiation exposure on CT scans and I have had a number f them. So that was concerning. I also have been dropping weight, like 10 pounds in two weeks. And my BP was weird low...for obvious reasons it's usually high at the doctor. Then the results of the labs came back and a couple off my kidney tests were elevated. That, I guess you could say, put me over the top. An avalanche of anxiety. Worried about my job and how I am going to get through the week. Suddenly nervous that my wife will be out of town for three days this coming week. Afraid I have my lupus flaring, or worse...something major like Cancer going on in stomach.
I know the Cancer thing seems random, but you see I lst my father at the end of April with a fast battle with cancer which was the hardest thing I have been through.
On top of it, I know I have that weird change that happens when I am ill and suddenly am more challenged with my anxiety. Something is going on. Interestingly, I have been taking Zantac for the last couple weeks along with Flonase for allergies. Both indicate through patient reviews, that they can cause anxiety. I gave up the Flonase, with a hope that might be driving some f this.
Anyway, I suddenly feel the need of support from others who understand what anxiety is like. Thanks for reading!
What I found is during flares of my lupus and really any illness, my anxiety becomes higher. Almost a physical reaction,,,which makes the coping skills I learned over the years useless. I have read and reflected on many posts here. My top fears are death, medical tests and procedures and flying.
I know I am whipping through a life of experience, but I don't want to bore you. But I am writing today because of a night f no sleep. You see I have been dealing with a stomach ache for the last few weeks. Went into doctor as I haven't been feeling great. He ran tests and ordered a couple procedures, one being a CT scan of my upper abdomen. I hear about the dangers of radiation exposure on CT scans and I have had a number f them. So that was concerning. I also have been dropping weight, like 10 pounds in two weeks. And my BP was weird low...for obvious reasons it's usually high at the doctor. Then the results of the labs came back and a couple off my kidney tests were elevated. That, I guess you could say, put me over the top. An avalanche of anxiety. Worried about my job and how I am going to get through the week. Suddenly nervous that my wife will be out of town for three days this coming week. Afraid I have my lupus flaring, or worse...something major like Cancer going on in stomach.
I know the Cancer thing seems random, but you see I lst my father at the end of April with a fast battle with cancer which was the hardest thing I have been through.
On top of it, I know I have that weird change that happens when I am ill and suddenly am more challenged with my anxiety. Something is going on. Interestingly, I have been taking Zantac for the last couple weeks along with Flonase for allergies. Both indicate through patient reviews, that they can cause anxiety. I gave up the Flonase, with a hope that might be driving some f this.
Anyway, I suddenly feel the need of support from others who understand what anxiety is like. Thanks for reading!
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My day...today...misplaced my debit card...didn't realize it until I got to the register after shopping to a full cart. Used a different debit card and pulled apart everything looking for missing debit card before I left parking lot. Got home, dropped keys. So now I have a missing debit card, missing keys. A full cartload to unload and put away. I got everything put away.Dumped purse for a...
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I don't really know how to label this but I having a rough week and I can't say it's one thing.... I have a lot on my plate which is nothing new and I try to cope in many positive ways and do but I still have my moments.My kids more so my daughters talk to me about everything which I know it's cause of comfort and we are close.... however I really struggle with the venting about their dad which...
Thanks for the info about Zantac causing anxiety, I take that and Prilosec and Tums for severe acid reflux. That could explain the extra anxiety I've been having. Also, do you have a therapist to talk to, to perhaps teach you new coping skills? While your wife is out of town, maybe you could ask a trusted friend if you can spend part of the time with them, til she gets back; or if not stay w/ friend, create a list of the people you can talk to when you get too anxious to handle things alone. If no counselor yet, maybe you could try your local crisis center to see if they have any groups for anxiety and perhaps know of one for lupus as well. They may be able to help you when there aren't a whole lot of posts on here.
One step at a time, and you'll be able to address your anxiety in a normal pattern.
When your body breaks down, and requires medical attention, having anxiety along for the ride can make for difficult conversations. I left the anxiety where it was, and focused on the physical symptom that I knew was not coming from anxiety. (I use a journal with stick figures and details to help me sort through the pattern of thought).
Take time to accept your anxiety. I know, it's hard, however, your anxiety is part of you. It's natural. Once you have that step done, you may find your anxiety levels go down when you say to yourself, yep, anxiety, I know you're there, and I am walking, staying hydrated, so drop it.
Best wishes with your healing.