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...
37yr old male. super active and fit. weight lifting, cycling, yoga, boxing, hiking, etc. super healthy.
I have had little bits of anxiety throughout my life and several panic attacks over the years, but never anything super serious. My dad died 4 years ago and for 3 years I was doing ok. About a year ago I began having panic attacks again (I hadn’t had them in many years). About 2 months later I had some headaches and the absolute worst migraine of my life. The following day I was really dizzy. The dizziness turned to true spells of vertigo about a week or so later and I sought medical attention. Bloodwork was done and I had an MRI. Everything was completely normal. I saw an ENT and they did a hearing test, a caloric test, and a few other tests. They showed a discrepancy between the 2 ears, but nothing major. I was diagnosed with having had a viral inner ear infection that caused some damage. I started vestibular rehabilitation therapy, which did not help the dizziness at all
About 2.5 months go by, with me continuing to have panic attacks. A holiday rolls around and I was feeling a bit stressed out because of not having dad around and my in-laws coming in to town. I attempt to do some yoga. About 20 minutes in to the class, I basically collapse. My muscles were fried. I literally couldn’t do anything. This triggers a massive panic attack for me.
Well…The physical symptoms continued to get worse and worse. Sore and painful muscles, cramping when I attempted to be physically active. This increased my anxiety levels to astronomical heights. I sought the care of every doctor imaginable. Primary Care visits, rheumatologist, lymes disease specialist, endocrinologist, neurologist. All with the same results. I’m the picture of perfect health. zero inflammation in my body (SED rate of 2, CRP .6), absolutely no autoimmune disease markers whatsoever, lymes tests and all of the other tick-borne bacteria tests, done 5 times, both before and after taking doxycycline for 30 days (The 1st time I ever took an antibiotic in my life), blood panels perfect, CK levels perfect, neuro told me I was stressed and that my symptoms weren’t indicative of anything in particular, offered to do whatever tests I wanted, and even send me for a 2nd opinion to the neuro that he would see if he needed a neuro.
I’ve been going to therapy for 6 months now and practicing mindfulness and meditation daily. The panic attacks have basically subsided, but I have really bad GAD now. I’m basically fearful of everything.
The muscle pain and cramping has not changed a bit. I mean, maybe less twitching and no more muscle spasms. My exercise and active lifestyle is destroyed. I can muster up about 20 minutes of yoga or tai chi and then I’m exhausted and sore for days. I do it anyway. And I take walks. My entire body is tense and tight and I have knots in my muscles and tender spots all over. Massage and acupuncture help, but only temporarily.
Could anxiety/stress/emotions really have broken my body down this way? Is this fibromyalgia? Will it ever get better?
-
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...
-
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...
I have been going to the doctor basically everyday for a month. They are doing all kinds of studies, today I have to do a CT Scan. Every doctor says something different but I cannot get a real answer to what is going on. Some part of me wants to believe it is anxiety, but some part of me is scare that is not. If you thing is anxiety feel happy because there is a solution. It happened to me two years ago and with mediacation, treatment and support I got over it. Sadly it came back this year, but if I discover that what I have is anxiety I will celebrate because I know that in the long term is not harmful and I will win the battle. The tricky part is identifying that is just anxiety, it takes time. That is the bad part but it cannot last forever, at some point you will now. Best wishes for you!
Obviously you have seen Many doctors and gotten many opinions, tried many things, etc - have you ever considered alternative practices such as Reiki (energy) healing? That's a step further 'out there' than acupunture or more traditional holistics, but what do you think?
Keeping a journal will help you see what works when, where, and give you a starting point for making choices.
As Doormawss mentioned, grain of salt with what we share. What works for one person may work differently for another person.
The physical symptoms of fibromyalgia when worked together with anxiety symptoms often reveal a method of pain release that will give you more range of motion.
Keep in mind, your anxiety level often will raise up in doing the different things, so staying hydrated, using magnesium potassium rich foods will keep the muscles from cramping longer.
Massage the area between your eyebrow and the bridge of your nose to help you reduce the pressure, and that may help with the ear balance.
Best wishes.
my limited physical ability, tension and pain is also adding to my anxiety. It's like, I can't trust my body anymore. i've been a great athlete my entire life and capable of anything and now I feel like an 80 year old man all of a sudden. which is hard when my life, with my wife and 2 year old daughter, is an active and on the go lifestyle. we love to be outdoors and making the most out of life.
a couple of questions for anyone/everyone.:
is it possible do heal from this without medications? I am holding out hope tha tI can do this on my own and /or with natural supplements
has anyone used 5HTP in order to help their symptoms?
for the fibro people: what does your fibro pain feel like? where is it located? was the onset of your issues sudden or gradual? success with meds or 5HTP?
thank you all so much
I think anyone with anxiety should try to stay positve, if you are religous pray to God to heal you, and don't give up. I am starting physical therapy next week for my physical symptoms and hope that will help if not I will keep trying other things. I know it can be frustrating and sometimes I feel like giving up but as parents we can't. Stay strong everyone!
Hope you find your relief soon.
The sleep was a huge issue for me for over 2 years now. It was obviously disrupted pretty heavily when my daughter was born. Then when I started having panic attacks about a year ago, my sleep all but stopped. I have been better with it for about 2 months, thanks to taking benadryl or lemon balm to help make me drowsy, but there was a 10 month period when I literally slept for no more than 2-3 hours per night. And that was if I slept at all. But like I said, I've been getting anywhere from 5-7 hours nightly for the past 2 months or so, and that has made a huge difference in my life. Also, for the past 2+ months, I haven't needed to use the benadryl or lemon balm at all. I just go to sleep normally, wake once during the night for a few minutes and fall right back to sleep easily
Just imagining your adrenal gland has got switched on and not switched off, causing your muscles to constantly spasm? ie have you tried antidepressants/antianxiety to switch all that adrenaline off, and see if this allows your muscles to relax?
I would suggest chiropractic, as well as massage and swimming and REST. Lots of REST.
I am getting a picture of someone who's very stressed, possibly does not self-analyse a lot and so that stress is pushed into the body. You can get away with that for years - but you can't get away with it forever. And the pain can be incredible.
I'm reminded of my second labour when I put the pain into my legs. I strained them without knowing, without noticing. The muscles hurt, badly, for a long time after.
when you have severe anxiety you push your body in bad ways. You don't notice. You bust your body from it because you're so distracted by your emotional pain you don't notice your body being pushed beyond its acceptable limits - like being drunk, you're anaesthetised.
I am of course going to this place because I can't think of any other ideas, and an idea that's wrong is better than no idea at all... So if I'm completely wrong on the facts I apologise. But if I'm not, look to learning how to relax and rest, expressing and resolving your fears, and doing some introspecting and self-analysis.
:p
I have not tried any anti-depressants or anti-anxiety drugs. I was curious about 5-HTP and anyone's experience with it, but haven't gotten any replies about it yet.
I was prescribed lexapro and xanax and was also recommended to try cymbalta because it helps with pain. I've wanted to heal myself as naturally as possible. Yes I know it's the hard way, but as long as I make progress, albeit slow progress, I'm ok with that.
I had been seeing a chiro regularly, but haven't been in a few months because my neck and back are actually feeling great.
I did massage and acupuncture, and it does help, but it is also pretty expensive and my insurance does not cover it at all.
My sleep has improved drastically, although I'm still not getting as much as I would like. Through daily mindfulness and meditation practice I'm really learning to embrace my anxiety and the way I feel. This has helped me tremendously. Panic attacks are basically non-existent, and if I do feel it coming on, I'm able to not panic and just dispel the feelings. Therapy has also helped me deal with the emotions and repressed feelings from my dad's death and many other traumas from my younger days.