Ruby, I have the same anxiety. I used to have anxiety & panic attacks but I now have them under control & this anxiety is different, like you said. I feel like I am really anxious about something but there is nothing I am anxious about. I used to live a very stress filled life but now I live a very sedentary life. I think it is CFS because it seems to happen mostly when I am crashing, as is the overwhelming need to lay down. I feel it when I am overtired too, if I don't get some sleep when my body says it's bedtime. Take care, hugs, Denise

I've had a different kind of anxiety-ish related to cfs.

Sometimes with cfs I get overwhelmed. It happens when I am more fatigued than usual.

One time my boyfriend wanted to talk to me about something and persisted after I told him a few times I couldn't talk to him right now. What I meant was that I really couldn't handle it. I ended up sitting on the bathroom floor and breathing really hard.

If I'm on a phone call and am asked for information that I need to find on a piece of paper and I have to look for it, that will cause a reaction. As I'm looking I'm embarassed/worried I can't find it and then I have a little crash where I have to sit down right where I am. That has happened a few times.

And if my teens start talking very loud or arguing and there is other stuff going on (I'm very fatigued, the t.v is on, there is a radio on in another room) I start freaking out. I'll tell them to go outside or just stop because I can't take it. If they won't it will get to be too much and I will yell. Not as in I decide to yell. Like I can't take it and I start yelling at them to stop. It's very embarassing. It's an awful way to act. But if I'm pushed too far I can't help it, I just get overwhelmed. If they didn't stop I wonder if I'd start hyperventilating or crying. It makes me feel like an ill mannered little kid.

Oh FlyingChicklet, I could have written your post. I so agree with all that you said. Being on the phone & needing to give somekind of information is the worst, I panic & get upset. I have to calm myself down & focus on what is needed to get through it. Lots of noise is a real trigger of mine. Denise

Hi Ruby,
I get the same kind of overwhelmed feeling that FlyingC. talked about, although I get very emotional. I get near-to-tears even at work, which is quite embarrassing, but it is a sign to me that I seriously have to get some extra rest or a crash is imminent. Perhaps that's the same thing you're experiencing, a signal that you have to get more rest ASAP.
Dar

Ruby, first, describe what you feel. Shortness of breath? Tingling? Fatigue? Racing heart? Breathing hard?

The need to lie down is what you do about it. You haven't described what it is.

I always tell people I don't have anxiety because it takes too much energy; I'm too tired to be anxious.

Sometimes I think of it as stress-overload, or stimuli-overload. Too much sensory input at one time, or too many demands on my various senses.

It helps a lot if you keep the sensory load low--turn off the music, keep the room temperature at a comfortable level, leave the ice out of the water, etc.

Oh my! Exactly how I feel especially when I'm extremely fatigued. In fact today, I felt that way. I was so tired and by the time dinner came around, I was feeling anxious but had no reason. After dinner, I took a relaxing bath and felt a bit better. I'm glad you brought this up. It has helped clear this all up.

Exactly! Yes!..... It's a strange kind of anxiety. Not the typical panic or anxiety attacks. It's like something is happening in your life to cause it but in reality there's nothing!

I regularly take 1 mg. Klonopin at night but when I feel like this I double the dose, 1mg. in the afternoon and 1mg. at night and it goes away after 3 or 4 days. Then I go back to my regular dose. Klonopin also helps with my temporal lobe epilepsy.