Welcome to the anxiety board at DS.

You've taken the important first step in writing it out.

A lot of things you mention can create chaos in your normal anxiety management method. Writing out the feelings, the emotions, the thoughts and the words will help you sort through information and find your better balance.

Yeah I had sudden onset anxiety and its was really bad then it went away and reared it ugly head 7 years later and I was fine again the last couple years and now its starting to come back especially this month it gets easier to deal with and easier to calm yourself with time and experience. Especially when you know the feeling as bad as they seem are temporary and will pass and are just anxiety and uncomfortable but not life threatening even though it feels like it

Hello Scotty. Welcome to DS.

I was born into situational anxiety and remain quite vulnerable to both situational anxiety and anxiety contagion. Being around anxious people will make me anxious just from the exposure. The pandemic yaddahs have been a feeding frenzy for both. I'm still not afraid of The Virus, but the anxiety pandemic is scaring the unholies out of me.

Since I have suffered anxiety for my entire silver-streaked life, sudden onset anxiety remains a mystery to me, but? ? ? Gentle support while you sort your own. Welcome aboard. Sort freely. Sort often. Listening. . .

Thanks for responding...I really appreciate it. I am going to get some more extensive blood work done in about a week. I'm going to check my hormones and see what is going on....I've always had a little bit of anxiety, but what has thrown me for a loop so to speak is the brain fog. I'm hoping that the detox/cleanse will help with that...if I can think clearly, I feel I can deal with the anxiety a little better. I'm just curious if, over time, it goes away. And yes, talking about it does help!! Thanks!

I would talk to your doctor about detox/cleanse. It might not
be the best thing for you.

Don't accuse me of experting, but as just a patient, I subscribe to the theory that anxiety is a hard-wired and beneficial part of most every species on the planet. It is an essential element within the survival instinct which gives us the enhanced ability to respond to clear and present danger. Don't cure it. Train it.

By this theory, the gift of a survival instinct becomes a problem when the anxiety is sustained over long periods of time. In my own case, those survival instincts were over-developed at an early age, and sustained over long periods of time. I was addicted to the chemical releases of anxiety long before I was old enough to have a vote. To this day, I consider myself a recovering chaos junkie.

Is 9 months and counting of COVID anxiety long enough to create an anxiety disorder pandemic? Dunno. . . It's just a just-a-patient theory.

Que sera sera. . .

Thanks for the feedback. Does anyone deal with a "foggy brain"....can't concentrate or focus? I feel like that is where some of my anxiety comes from.

Posilutely I deal with ^it^. "Brain Fog" is but one of my many names for ^it^. "Dissociation" is the name my shrinks seem to prefer. By whatever name, my brain fogs to the point where I do an anxiety inventory before I allow myself to make any significant decisions, whatsoever. My long-term affliction has normalized anxiety to the extent that I can't always tell.

In my personal case file, all evidence indicates "brain fog" is a symptom, not a cause, even when my anxiety is over whether or not I am too anxious to be thinking clearly.

I get brain fog partly because of ptsd but stress and anxiety drives it as well. Yes, caused by my life situation. Cognitive function tests are perfect so there’s nothing to worry about in that case. I hope you find a way through this. Good luck

Any chance the cleanse/detox is the culprit for some of this? Just curious. Three months seems hardcore. I would say I’ve always been a little anxious since childhood but I get periods where it really rages, seemingly out of nowhere.

Hi Scotty!

Welcome! You are not alone.

I struggle with both:
fatigue & "head fog".
And onset anxiety.

I've always had a somewhat anxious personality, so I've always been able to cope with that to a decent degree.

Only twice in my life I've struggled with intense (and sometimes debilitating) anxiety & panic attacks- way back in 2005 and most currently, the last year. These longer and more intense periods revolve around health issues, so they are very much onset.

I actually started having massive fatigue/head fog in mid 2019, and went down a lot of paths with doctors trying to figure it out. Ive had every blood panel and test you could imagine. This search sort of fizzled out as I became very ill last February 2020 (maybe Covid) and have been struggling with post-virus issues ever since. I feel your pain over the frustration of onset anxiety.

I also VERY MUCH know the frustration of brain fog. It is so demoralizing at times and it's something that is hard to connect with people on. Most people sort of roll their eyes or think "oh, he's just lazy/lacking sleep/partying too much/yadda yadd. Its not something people understand or tend to be very compassionate about. Even doctors.
CFS is a possibility when you've turned every stone, but its one of those "eye rollers" for doctors, as many don't lend it much credence. Stay strong through the process, as you will need endurance for the marathon. You're doing the right thing by getting those blood panels done. CPC, thyroid, D, CMP(?), Ferritin... there's a ton of ground to cover with blood work alone.

Like many have mentioned above: sometimes the anxiety itself and even the methods of exercising control of the anxiety (when you get to that point) can create fatigue and brain fog too. So sometimes, it can actually be the culprit with onset.

Please add me and DM me if you want to chat and bounce around solution-oriented stuff!

Take care!

Thanks for all the kind words and encouragement. I having been reading a book called "A Weary World" for advent this year. In one of the daily devotionals it talks about "borrowing hope". The idea is that we all need to have hope and sometimes we need it from others. Hope can be a scary and vulnerable place, but we all need it. All that being said, if anyone ever needs to borrow hope, please let me know. I know that I have had to do it from time to time. Have a blessed and joyful day!

You have already lent considerable hope in the courage of allowing your vulnerabilities to show through this struggle, Scottymacc.

The way we can lend hope while at our weakest and/or without even knowing it be my personal fave of the daily miracles of peer support.

Well done, my healing warrior. The healing of one is the healing of us all.

One other question, any thoughts on getting on medication? I'm not currently on anything. My anxiety, with diet and other things is not as bad. I am trying to avoid it if at all possible. No judging anyone who may be taking them, but just wanted to see different opinions about it. Thanks!

My personal opinion is: avoid it as long as you can. There are SO MANY different, natural ways to try and experiment with to help us with anxiety. TONS. The problem with anxiety (thats a little different from other issues), is we are freakin' ANXIOUS, so we tend to lose patience with the experimentation of the natural path.

We are only human, and anxiety can be absolutely miserable and debilitating if left unchecked and exasperated. Sometimes that calls for meds. Especially if you've tried everything and/or your struggles begin to impede detrimental aspects of life.

There is no judging. We are all different and find different ways to cope and manage the struggle.

I've tried different medications over the years, and generally, it opens up other doors to new symptoms to deal with. It's just balancing out if potential side effects are better or worse for you than the anxiety misery level in your life. But again, everyone is different, so different meds affect people differently.

Hang in there, Scotty!