Recovered Anxiety sufferer read here for advice!

[shaunyboi69]

Hello I can finally say that I am back to myself, after all the wierd symptoms i was convinced were not anxiety related. Everything ranging from tension headaches to numb legs. It took a few months to get back to myself because I got into a right panic these are the following problems I had.

Headaches (different types)
Waking up in the night with numb hands or legs.
Frequent urinating
Feeling nauseous.
Feeling completely out of it and my eyes felt so spaced out and really wierd.
Really tense muscles.
Complete overwhelming fatigue.
Achy joints.
Unexplained pains.
Insomnia.
Completely housebound going to my college felt impossible.
Quite a few down days. I felt extremely emotional if my dad would fix my car for me would feel extremely guilty.
I had feelings that I had some terminal illness and nobody knew or cared.
Felt that everyone thought I was mad.

I went to the doctor numerous times and was convinced there was something wrong with me but the doctors were ignoring me. I had blood tests done went to A and E because I couldn't bare waiting for results was so anxious as soon as I was told there was nothing wrong I felt fine. Then give it a few days more I would start thinking again and getting worked up request another blood test. Complete cycle.

When I started meeting up with friends and not thinking about things I discovered things getting back to normal. It is very time consuming to start getting back to normal but staying in is possibly the worst thing you could do in this situation. Truth is if your blood test is normal then in most cases you are pretty much fine. I cant guarantee this because anything can happen to anyone.

Enjoy your life and don't dwell on thinking you got something wrong with you. And another thing if you look up about your symptoms expect your head to explode with worry and anxiety because this is what I done and it would keep me up all night. 9/10 of the time it is not relevant to you.

Hope this helps because I needed people like me to tell me these things at the time I was not very good in the head. Give some feedback if it helps you.


Enjoy your life !
Shaun

[sMINT]

thanks for posting this up.

its great to hear stories of people overcoming their anxiety.

Especially when their so related to me at the moment. I am stuck in this cycle of thinking things really cannot be related to anxiety alone and that something has to be wrong.

Hopefully I can start getting back to normal soon.

[annie pannie]

Hi Shaun

Its so good to hear someone telling us there is light at the end of the tunnel and also listing all the things you were feeling. Everyone has different symptoms and I guess this is part of the problem -that the different ways we all expereince anxiety makes us feel quite isolated. It also feeds our deep seated belief that there is something terribly wrong with us. I often hear myself saying "there must be something wrong" meaning something physical. But one thing we have in common is that we can all share these feelings and thoughts and also that we can, like you get back to how we want to be. I am on that journey at the moment- sometimes it can be very slow but when I look back at how far I have come, it keeps me going. Thank you for your positive message.- especially about enjoying life and not googling!

Best wishes Annie

[lorac]

Hi Shaun

It's good to hear you have your life back on track again and I think many people will find your post very helpful and interesting to read.

Carol

[angietomjimandcass]

The post you write is like me i will try your advice bless you xx

[melody]

It's true. I have my anxiety. I believe the trigger is that I feel lowly of myself. When I hang out with other people I feel heaps better. Then when the fun ends I convince myself I did everything wrong. I don't know why I torture myself this way. When I look to my past I can see how I "learned" to act this way. It is completely irrational & unrealistic to go through life thinking this way. Still, I keep thinking I must torture myself again, am not good enough, don't deserve happiness. All these stupid thoughts!!!

I used to go through life innocently happy, then through various traumas I felt life was harder. Then through some more traumas I felt life was unbearable. I could see some small part I played in the events & decided it was completely my fault! Any rational person would see that most of those times were not under my control at all! Feeling out of control, for me, is a huge trigger for anxiety. Most of the time it doesn't matter at all.

I believe I am halfway to "fixed", whatever that means... I don't take my feelings as seriously as I used to, but they are still very strong & very overwhelming. I also believe it is a huge burden to say "well/not well". Life is full of emotions. There is never going to be a single year in anyone's lifetime when they don't feel afraid, angry, happy, sad, egotistical, embarrassed etc. There is no other truth, that is the way it has to be.

When I can go through a month, & not have that feeling of doom, like I have destroyed everything by being myself... that is my goal... I have achieved all my other non emotional goals so far This is a big one!

[mynameis]

I've got to agree, even though I've had a bit of a wobble lately due to excessive alcohol ! However, I have had over 6 months of bliss after 6 years of hell, so I'm as happy as the proverbial pig in muck at the moment ! No meds in that time either (against my doctor's wishes), but I've got to admit that I'm always aware of anxiety in the background. Now though, I do all the things that docs recommend as second nature. I occupy myself, I write down how I'm feeling, the possible causes etc. I'm far from cured, but is an alcoholic ? I'm quite proud that I confront my issues head on, and instead of trying to avoid a potential problem, I break it down & try to deal with it. Ultimately though, I've just decided that I'm in control of my own life & I'm not wallowing in self-pity anymore, particularly when there's so many people in far worse situations than I, and who would give anything to be where I am. Also, I used to count the days that I didn't have an episode. I didn't fall off the wagon or anything, but it was uncomfortable for a while. Eventually though, I looked back at my calendar and realised that I hadn't taken my meds for 6 months and have been anxiety free for longer and it felt like the blink of an eye ! It's easy to say be strong, I personally think it's better to say, don't give up. It might be a week you go before you think it's starting again, but if you were like me & struggling every day, then that week is pure heaven. Don't be ashamed, my mother smokes, my father drank. That to me were there coping mecahanisms because life isn't easy, I don't do either. So when stress comes calling, I now just visit here and feel safe in the knowledge that I'm not alone. It makes so much difference !