I have loads of questions - can anyone help?

[lass]

Sorry, this will be a really long post! I'm relatively new to all this and I am hoping that someone out there may be able to shed a bit of light as to why I am feeling like this and what I can do.

I was feeling so much better after my appointment with consultant on Thursday evening. I had a fantastic day yesterday, really positive and felt much more like my old self. I felt I could put my anxieties over my bowel/tummy symptoms to one side whilst I await a sigmoidoscopy (6-8 weeks).

So why have I woken up this morning feeling so low again?

In my bid for "self help", I have completely cut out alcohol and caffeine. I don't smoke or take any drugs. I am taking St John's Wort, and Fibogel for my IBS symptoms, but that's all. I eat a really healthy diet; loads of organic fruit and veg, wholemeal everything, chicken, fish, not much red meat. I drink 1.5 - 2 litres of water each day, plus herbal teas (peppermint and camomile).

I did have some chocolate last night (quite a big chunk!) - can this affect anxiety?

Does anyone have any informed information about 5HTP - I have been considering this for a while, but is it dangerous if you take something, even herbal, if it's not what you need?

Also B vitamin complex - any recommendations for this?

And can I continue with St Johns Wort if I am taking 5HTP?

At the moment I am contemplating returning to my GP to see what else she can suggest. She gave me sertraline to try, but I took 1/2 tablet for 4 days and it had a really bad effect on me so she advised me to stop. I'm thinking that if antidepressents aren't right for me, then maybe 5HTP isn't right also. (By the way, I stopped the St Johns Wort when I was on the antidepressents).

I have ordered Claire Weekes book, which will hopefully arrive early next week. Meanwhile, any other recommendations of anything I can try will be very gratefully received.

Also, by this afternoon I was feeling really anxious, low, tense, tired, irritable. I cooked tea for the family and didn't feel hungry myself; but I made myself eat some and felt much better for it. Is there a link between low blood sugar and anxiety?

I usually love my grub but when I am very anxious I can't bear food, I have a real problem with it - don't want to look at it, cook it, touch it. It's really weird, I've never felt like this before.

I really want to understand WHY I am feeling this way, what causes it, so that I can try to find the right solution for me. I've always been a worrier, but either I have never had symptoms as worrying as these, or my anxiety has got out of control; because this is taking over my life and I hate it. I feel like I have no fun anymore (I used to love a glass of wine or 2, but it makes me so depressed now next day that I have cut it out for a while).

And to top it all, I'm abnormally superstitious - a single magpie can completely wreck my day. I'm convinced bad things happen in 3's (I lost one friend 2 years ago to breast cancer, and I have another who is terminally ill now, so I am thinking that I am next ...). There is something so negative going on in my head that I just can't seem to be rational anymore.

Can anyone help or offer any advice or info?

[anxious]

Hi Caroline and welcome :)
When you have health anxiety you seem to constantly need reassurance, i don't really know how it works but it is very common to be reassured and feel content etc - then the next day you start all over again. Its just how anxiety works.
Its like if i get one thing sorted out, within a day its something
else.
I take anti d's and vitamin b tablets. I've tried St Johns wort before the anti d's but they didn't do much for me. My friend thinks the 5HTP's are good but she takes them more for depression than anxiety. I'd check with you GP before taking both.
How you are feeling seems to fit perfectly with anxiety, you seem to be doing all the right things. I'm sure some others will have more advice for you,
hth,
anx
You say you are superstitious?? That part of your post rang a bell with me but i also have OCD. I do everything in 3's. Is it a problem you have or is it purely superstition?

Laughter is a tranquilizer with no side effects

[lass]

Re the superstition thing - I don't know, I guess it's a problem when it starts affecting "normal" life. In a good frame of mind, I might see 2 magpies and think "that's lucky". In a bad frame of mind, one magpie sends me over the edge!

When I'm particularly anxious I count things - I get a number in my head and think "if I can find X amount of whatevers, everything will be ok". Or if I'm playing solitaire on the computer, I think "if I win this game, it means everything's ok" (then I tend to go and lose, and get in a right state).

Now I feel silly for bringing this up as it sound irrational even to me! (At the time it doesn't, it seems completely ok. Weird!).

Is this OCD? Don't tell me I have something else to worry about too LOL!

[ceecee]

hi caroline and welcome to the forum.its true that we as health anxiety sufferers do need lots of reassurance!when i go to the doctors i feel ok after for a few days and then the what ifs creep back in again!it was uncanny reading your post about superstition as im too very much like that when i think if i do a certain thing and do it right then i will be o.k!!!i know its hard especially when we have children(i have two children)and i,m alwways afraid they are going to pick up on my anxiety,but the only advice i can give is to take one day at a time and try not to think to far into the future.i have just started reading the claire weekes book too.take care and feel free to pm me any time rachel x x x

[chucklehound]

Hi Caroline and welcome to the forum!
You will get lots of support here:D

Take care

Chuckle

xxxx

[giddy]

Hi Caroline
Welcome to the forum. I'm superstitious about magpies too, I always make sure I salute them (hubby thinks I'm bonkers!). I always feel worse if I don't eat too, I think low blood sugar produces symptoms similar to anxiety. Try to eat regularily even when you don't feel like it. People seem to have different reactions to alcohol and chocolate - some can tolerate it and others can't. Maybe you're sensitive to it at the moment. I'd recommend taking Vit B complex though as these vitamins get used up quickly when we are anxious and need replacing every day.
Take Care
Love Helen