Please help, anxiety, shaky, tired etc

[MichaelDCoogan]

Hi I'm Michael, i'm 19 years old almost 20 in a few weeks.
This is my first post, i found this site on google and thought i'd post as i need some help.
Well firstly i'd like to say i have made an appointment with my GP which is for June 28 as he's on holiday. Basically i have suffered with depression before, attempted 2 overdoses and self harmed, thankfully i'm past that stage of my life and know that life is worth living. I love my life and my family and want a normal and healthy one.
I have had various symptoms the past few months that have gotten worse and quite honestly are scaring me. I suffer from anxiety, breath shortness, been very anti-social, shakiness, lack of motivation and i'm very self conscience of how i look and how others think of me.
I also have a stammer which makes this worse, i was always a very outgoing person, always happy and with friends and family and now i feel myself avoiding almost everyone. I can never think straight, also i do not abuse alcohol or take illegal drugs.

This has been scaring me for a while now and i just want to know that i'm alright, i've been very scared thinking i have a health problem. I can't even ask people general questions without feeling nervous or hazy, even in college i just finished my first year and have not made any friends, even at lunch time i sit alone and isolate myself from everyone and it's just very worrying. Also i tend to get sleepy very easily and sleep for very long periods, too long.

Please help me i just want my life back :-(
-Michael.

[MichaelDCoogan]

Anyone?

[Stu82]

Hi Michael,

You'll be alright. Everything you said you are going through are typical symptoms we get from anxiety. I started with it when I was about 23 and I too was and still am a very loud and outgoing person but when I first started with anxiety for the first few months I just went quiet and sort of hid myself as didn't understand what was happening to me and was scared. You'll 100% learn to cope with it in time and will actually make you a stronger person but it's a bumpy ride :)
I still have my bad patches but nothing like 7yrs ago or even 4yrs ago. Exercise I really believe helps after a few weeks then just keep at it. It's true what they say about it been good for body and mind but I think there's less active people around nowadays.

Hope this helps a bit :)

[Kim51]

Hi you are not alone with the symptoms you feel, I have exactly the same when I am going through a bad period of anxiety and panic attacks as I am at the moment I have trouble controlling my breathing in panic mode, I used to be able to but with this episode have lost that control. I also shake which I find embarrassing if out. You are not alone and hope you will find comfort in that there are others out there like you. :)

[MichaelDCoogan]

Thank you both so much i was starting to seriously worry myself i was even thinking of a hospital visit but this has made me feel at ease, i'll just take it as it comes and hope for the best

[Stu82]

That's best thing to do, take it as it comes, it's tough but in time the more you deal with and understand the better you'll feel.

Still see your doctor because it'll make you feel that little more better :)

[carousels]

Hi Michael,

Sorry to hear you're feeling that way - but if it's any consolation I have had very similar symptoms with my anxiety. I'm very self conscious and always putting myself down, and with a holiday coming up it's got a lot worse cos of "bikini bodies" and all this! Constantly looking for reassurance from people and fishing for compliments and this is such a hard habit to break. I've been avoiding friends and social gatherings for a long time now and I'm slowly trying to rebuild relationships with people I've pushed away during this time.

Try some exercise sweet :) The gym has always been my "safe place" so to speak - time to myself and a workout really does make you feel good, felt much more full of life and confident once I've been, and obviously it's really good for you too!

It sounds simple but do things that make you happy, regardless of whatever other people might think of it! Find your "safe place" or similar and use it to clear your mind and relax yourself when you feed the need :)