Anxiety after hospital stay - new member in need to help

[Fianna]

Hi all,

At the start of August I was quite ill with a kidney infection while on holiday with my family. I was throwing up and fainting and had an extremely high temperature. I managed to fly home and was admitted to A&E the same day. I stayed in hospital for a few days while I was recovering from the kidney infection and was also treated for sepsis.

During my stay in hospital I became very anxious one night and tried to get myself discharged. After a walk outside and a sleeping tablet I calmed down, and was able to get through the rest of my stay without issue.

After arriving home, last Monday, I felt quite low, despite being keen to get home. Over the last week or so I've becoming increasingly anxious, with recurring worries about death, about how I will die some day, and being diagnosed with a terminal illness. I spend most of my days in a state of anxiety, with a heavy feeling of dread settling on my chest, and patterns of thought that I can't break out of.

I am aware that it is a reaction to being in hospital but I find it very difficult to break out of this pattern of thoughts. It's making it extremely difficult to go about my day normally.

To make it worse I am signed off work for the next two weeks, and have very little distract myself from these thoughts. I have tried numerous things, such as seeing friends, talking to family, watching tv, reading books, going for walks as ways of making myself feel better, writing down my feelings and so on but nothing really works for more than half an hour or so.

I suppose I was hoping people could offer me advice about self help, ways of breaking out of these cycles of thoughts and any natural remedies that might help. I already have Rescue Remedy, but I'm in such a state sometimes that it doesn't really work at the moment. My feelings and thoughts just return very quickly, and it's rather exhausting, particularly as I am also still physically recovering.

Any help or advice would be gratefully received.

[BobbyDog]

If you have a look on the No Panic (not No More Panic) website they offer telephone group recovery and one to one mentoring also over the phone and the waiting time is only a few weeks, worth a try. I don't know if you have been to your doctor, but that may also put your mind at rest. Better to nip it in the bud as soon as possible.x

[jackieann3]

Hello fianna very sorry you are going through this but I am going through the exact same thing , I was in hospital last June with an abscess in my bowel for 3 weeks after I got home I was very ill still for about 3 or 4 months cut a long story short when I started feeling myself again all what I went through and all what they done to me in hospital started to go round in my head and I just could not stop thinking about what had been wrong with me and the other people that were in my ward , my stay in hospital has left me with health anxiety and feel like a different person and to this day I am still affected by the traumatic time I had in hospital and still am because every day all I do is worry what's wrong with me or have I got or am I going to get something wrong with me , things got so bad I'm waiting to see a psychiatrist my consultant at hospital referred me to see if it would help with the way I feel and to overcome my fear of hospital doctors and being ill . I wish you well x

[Fianna]

Thank you both for taking the time to respond.

I asked the surgery today about seeing my doctor but I wouldn't be able to get an appointment until the 17th September. I can see a nurse today, instead, so that is what I'm going to do, and go from there.

I'll also have a look into No Panic, and see if I can get any help from them.

I had a terrible night of worrying and my heart has been racing away all morning, so I think it's definitely something that I need to sort out before it settles in and becomes a long term problem. It's certainly exhausting already and I have only been dealing with this for just over a week.

[jackieann3]

Yes nurses can be just as helpful sometimes and easyer to talk to I think it would be great if she can sort something out for you to speak to someone or she might have a word with the doctor to get you referred to someone who can help you .good luck x

[Fianna]

Yeah, the nurse was helpful. She said they could put me on medication but she wasn't sure that was a good idea. So she gave me some tips on what to do and said to call back on Monday if I wasn't feeling better, so she could refer me for some CBT. So hopefully that will help, or I'll start to feel better.

I keep going up and down at the moment, and can feel the dread and anxiety creeping back in. I'm trying to distract myself but it doesn't work as well as I would like it to.

[jackieann3]

I'm glad the nurse was helpful I'm determined not to have medication I want to get through it myself and talking to somebody , yes you can feel the feeling coming on it's horrible you just have to try to keep busy it's really hard and hard work the way I get through is to keep thinking it's just a feeling it will wear off and will go as quick as it come let me know how things go x

[Leem]

Sorry to hear about your situation Fianna. One of the ways that I have found that dramatically reduced (not stopped!) my anxiety is by learning that thoughts consist of nothing. Yes, thats right, they are just thoughts, empty and generally not helpful. They gain strength if we let them, but on their own they are nothing. Not even scary, just made up in our minds. It becomes a problem when we believe them as the truth, but are they really the truth? Or is it just the way that we perceive a situation? You know that we all perceive situations differently, hence why some people appear more confident under pressure than others for example, they probably deal with negative thoughts more efficiently. http://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/resources/consumers.cfm <- this is a good site with good info.


I have found 20 minutes a day meditation has helped me a lot. What it does is train you to become aware of thoughts and observe them. Then you can let them go (ignore) them comfortably without fuss, thus breaking the 'doom and gloom' cycle before it even starts. Once you spend a while learning this 'tool', it will automatically kick in without you even knowing it. Its not for everyone, but after being sceptical, I am now seeing the benefits (takes time).

Distraction never works by the way, if it is your aim to merely not think by watching TV, work, walking etc... it wont work I have found. The thoughts remain idle and hit you when you are not looking (meh :) ). The good news is, all that you have said is fixable (hoorah), with a little hard work, study and meditation you'll be boss and stronger than ever! Good luck and all the best.

[aggiecuttler]

hi i think going over things in your mind is a type of coping mechanisum, your stay in hospital was very recent so it will take time to move away from it, its still raw in your mind. i was in hospital for 2 weeks in feb this year, when i had a crainiotomy it was on my mind for a while after but now i am able to move away from it, time is a healer, re the death issue its unfortunate but its a path we are all on, you may never become ill you may fall victim to an accident you will never know, live your life and enjoy it dont waste time worrying about things which may never happen blessings

[Leem]

live your life and enjoy it dont waste time worrying about things which may never happen blessings

+1 to that!

[Fianna]

Thanks for your replies Leem and aggiecuttler. I am completely aware that I should be enjoying my life and not worrying, but unfortunately at the moment that is easier said than done. I can't really think past my own anxiety at the moment, and I seem to be in a constant state of distress, as much as I keep trying to.

I just can't really see beyond this time. I feel like I'm going to be like this for the rest of my life. I can rationalise it all as much as I like, but unfortunately it's having no effect on my mental state at the moment. It's exhausting. I'm just trying to keep going, to keep doing things and engaging with life, but it's such a struggle right now. Everything I do feels ultimately pointless.

I will be trying techniques for calming myself, though, I'm not going to give into this, and definitely look into meditation, as you suggested, Leem. Thank you for the link, I'll certainly check that out.