can your body take all this and live

[jackie]

i know i have spoken about this before but i have had such a bad day of panic and anxiety. in fact the last few weeks have been torture with the symptoms being at their worst.

but today is especially bad, after the panic comes anxiety and tiredness, and again and again it is bad

so now i have a terrible pain all the way down my left hand side and into my chest

so i was wondering can your body take this battering for years and live. what if i have a weak heart that cannot take it, afterall my dads had his heart attack at 42

and can anxiety kill

im so worried about creating what i fear the most with the fear itself

anybody not sick listening to this from me please respond

jackie

[manmoor]

Hi Jackie,

Poor you. Its crap what we have to put up with. Ive thought like you loads of times. Our poor bodies are bound to be shattered with what we put them through on a daily basis. I promise you will be ok. xx

Mandy xx

[ConfusedByLife]

There's no doubt constant worry and anxiety have negative effects not only on mental health but physical health too. I am 23 but I feel about 35 (I think) with the punishment my anxiety gives my body. Like you I worry about the effect it has on my body and fear it will take years off my life and mean my quality of life is diminished.
Some things can help though. Regular exercise, taking time to relax (relaxation tapes) and trying to just keeep stress to a minimum, without avoiding the issue completely and storing up problems for the future.
Just to say I think you and me will be fine. It may effect us a bit, but at the end of the day if you are relatively healthy it shouldnt make too much difference.

[jackie]

my quality of life is great apart from this anxiety. it seems to slightly take the joy of everything but i am lucky enough to have a loving family and friends and a good home

i just fear that my only fear in life is gonna kill me eventually

and i dont take meds because i dont like them and their side effects etc and i have bad side effects. so glad you dont but meds just dont work for me

i suppose im just looking for reassurance that anxiety doesnt kill so that i can regain controll of my life. a guarantee that cannot be given i know

thanks for your replies

jackie

[ceecee]

hi jackie so sorry you are having a bad time of it all.i always wonder too about the toll this has on our bodies,but my dad suffered from anxiety for 12 years (he used to think he was having a heart attack on a weekly basis!!)but now he has come out the other side and is the healthiest 60 year old i know!!!also my gran had anxiety and depression extremely bad and she lives to 83!!!!take care jackie feel free to pm me anytime rachel x x

[molly15]

after reading your reply to jackie 's cry for reasurance i thought i must write my thoughts on this.like health anxiety u can also have a fear of meds exactly the same feelings and fears as worrying about your health.people who hav both health anxiety and fear of meds often weigh up the pro s and cons and decide that meds is not the way to go for them. that does in no way mean they are not going to get better sometimes it just takes a liittle longer.i have been on many meds gave them every chance to work but unfortunatly did not work for me.so they are not always the answer for everyone.jackie feels her fear of taking meds would make her anxiety much worse that it would send her in to extreme panic which as u can appreciate is not somthing anyone would want to risk as they go through so much trying to avoid it.i can assure u also that im sure jackie listens to her doctor each time she goes and trys very hard to follow his advice.but it never is that simple .it seems u are saying if u dont take meds then u should not complain of your anxiety but this site is hear to help all who take meds or not .we are all in the same boat we just all deal with it differently. marcia x

i have to do it for my kids if not for myself marciaxx

[clickaway]

In my case I tried meds, but they had no effect! I am not allowed certain ones as they interfere with other drugs I take, so have gone down the therapy route.

At the end of the day, it's how you *think* that lessens the stress and anxiety. If you can respond to therapy, that may re-program your thought processes more permanently.

Our life expectancy is dependant on so many so many factors, so I don't think we ought to get ourselves into a stew about that, as that will make our anxiety worse. Someone has also stated how their mother lived well into their 80's with a history of anxiety. I'll add that my mum had brain heamorrages at the ages of 39 and 45, and suffered ulcers through stress in middle age. She lived to 85.

My advice is to enjoy life as much as possible too, but I know how difficult that is. But sometimes it is worth considering to see if we can step out of the anxiety culture for an extra hour. Reading Claire Weekes is very good, as is this forum, but it is a constant reminder of our issue. We need to have distractions such as TV, gardening, or whatever is good for you.

Take Care,


Ray
http://www.anxietyrelease.org.uk/

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance.
~Mark Sanders and Tia Sillers

[whatisitnow]

Hi Debb
I agree with everything you said up there. There is way too much stigma attached to taking meds and there shouldnt be! People have meds for diabetes, high blood pressure etc, why not Anxiety???
I had awful side effects from one drug i was put on though. There was no way i would have been able to look after my kids if i had carried on taking them so i stopped but i dont believe those were the right drugs for me anyway. They were anti depressants and im not depressed and like you, at the moment i am as fine as anything and not suffering from anxiety, but im sure it will be back like it has before & thats when i need something to break the cycle, Diazapam is the only drug that has worked at doing that recently & thats what im hoping he will give me more of next week
Caz xx

Pete to win Big Brother! He is Daddy Fantastic with pants made of elastic!

[nomorepanic]

Debb

I think you are a little argumentative in your replies. Jackie does not want to take meds and I agree with her. I have overcome my problems by dealing with the issues rather than masking them with drugs.

Most doctor's don't understand anxiety so cannot offer their personal opinion on issues like the members here can.

Just my thoughts anyway.

Nicola

[whatisitnow]

I cant personally overcome the anxiety when it kicks in myself nomorepanic. Ive tried, i had counseling with a psychologist 12 yrs ago yet i still get it from time to time. I just cant get my head round being locial when a health anxiety kicks in, no matter how hard i try. I think to be honest it would be dangerous for me not to take meds now. I only needed one diazapam just over a week ago to snap out of the anxiety i had that time for 3 weeks, i guess its better not to rely on drugs, but i know i cant see logic when im anxious & i really have tried to honestly. Some people drugs are ideal for. That one pill last week gave me back my life...for now until the next time anyway lol But that will happen to someone that doesnt use meds, i want the anxiety to stop asap and if that means popping a pill, i will do.
Caz xx

Pete to win Big Brother! He is Daddy Fantastic with pants made of elastic!

[jackie]

thanks to everyone for their smart comments and i have taken them on board

i hope i get stronger than this again but just going through a bad time with it at the moment and when the symptoms are at their worse then i fear the worst

thanks again

jackie