Happy new year ! Need Reassurance

[Boydo]

hey there everyone happy new year I hope everyone had a good night.

Basically posting because I have good and bad days, am on sertaline and diazepam for when am really on edge .... My anxiety started shortly after I quit drinking, weed and even smoking as I notice I'll have little panic attacks, scine then I have been so ill at the beginning it was unbareable, I wouldn't sleep more the a hour without night mares, had bad sweats, constant fear or serious illness even took myself to hospital who then did full test on me ... Bloodwork urine stool X-ray etc etc nothing wrong more health is flawless.... Now the bit I have trouble trying understand is every morning I wake up sometimes realy anxious convinced something wrong others with slight dry mouth and able to say it is just anxiety hang in there boydo your going be fine......
I get odds pains in legs arms head on various days then others I'll feel extremely nauseous, get dizzy spells occasionally or other days bad fatigue and I sometime get the word cancer stuck in my head convince myself that I've been misdiagnosed because I feel ill 24/7 anyone else feel odd all time because there anxiety at it peek last night I thought I couldn't breath out of no were, but am having trouble accepting my mouth dry, I feel nauseous or sometimes weak/tired for no reason can anxiety really play with you that much ?!

Be thankful for any response and have a happy 2015

[.Poppy.]

Oh yes. Anxiety can be just that awful.

I always think of an episode of House (don't know if you're familiar with the show) where they are on an airplane and a man gets sick. Turns out, he is sick because he went scuba diving and then immediately flew (which is a no no) but of course you don't find that out until the end. In the meantime, he's getting rash, trouble breathing, fever, etc. And then other people on the plane develop the exact same symptoms because they know what's going on and their minds trick them into thinking they are sick too. Even one of the other doctors on the plane develops the symptoms and believes she's ill! Obviously no one else is actually sick because the man isn't contagious.

I know it's a fictional show, but it's a testament to just how powerful our minds can be.

My terrible journey with HA actually started with me waking up one morning and believing that something was just really, really wrong. I went years with various symptoms, sometimes repeats, and just awful anxiety. It was terrible. Eventually my "symptoms" repeated enough that I was able to convince myself that if there were something really wrong, they wouldn't go away and reappear months later and I'd be more ill after all these years.

So, what ultimately helped me was the "no, not today" mentality. If I had a twitch, for example, instead of going down a spiral of thinking I had MS, I'd say "nope" and do something to distract myself. If I felt crummy, I'd make myself go out and do things with friends. Every now and then I'd let myself lie in and have an easy day, but I was actively trying to move on. And you know what? It worked! I still have anxiety, but I feel much better and don't have the health component. And even when my anxiety does make me feel tired or run down or queasy or whatever, I've found I've gotten much better at coping with it.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with talking to someone (in fact, it really helps) and getting therapy or meds or some combo of everything. Anxiety is tailor-made to each of us, so each person is going to recover differently. And there's no shame in that.

Happy 2015 and I hope it's your year to beat down anxiety!!

[gemdrop84]

Poppy, what a terrific post, I only just started suffering from panic attacks/anxiety a wk before Christmas, due to it being a very stressful time and I lost my mum in April. She was 49 and died suddenly. It has shaken me to the core and suddenly convinced I will die at any point now, leaving my children. I have recently thought to myself am I going to suffer with this for the rest of my life?! I have been diagnosed with reactive depression/anxiety and am on day 4 of meds. I have conjured up an image in my mind of a monster, this thing that is bringing me down, is a monster but I do not want to feed it anymore. I refuse. Some days have been more sucessful than others and the meds are helping me sleep (it all kicks off after dark when laid in bed) but I hope I can come off the drugs eventually and be ok.

[.Poppy.]

Poppy, what a terrific post, I only just started suffering from panic attacks/anxiety a wk before Christmas, due to it being a very stressful time and I lost my mum in April. She was 49 and died suddenly. It has shaken me to the core and suddenly convinced I will die at any point now, leaving my children. I have recently thought to myself am I going to suffer with this for the rest of my life?! I have been diagnosed with reactive depression/anxiety and am on day 4 of meds. I have conjured up an image in my mind of a monster, this thing that is bringing me down, is a monster but I do not want to feed it anymore. I refuse. Some days have been more sucessful than others and the meds are helping me sleep (it all kicks off after dark when laid in bed) but I hope I can come off the drugs eventually and be ok.

Good for you. Sending you hugs and well-wishes. :hugs:I'm sorry about the loss of your mother, that's an impossible thing to face, but it sounds like you've faced it with great strength and you'll defeat the anxiety demons as well.

Anxiety can be really strange. I went two years where I would have panic attacks when I ate in front of other people and had to use utensils because I was afraid my hand would shake. It's something that started because I was really hyped up at one meal and then persisted because it was always in the back of my mind. I honestly thought I'd have to deal with it forever. Then this Christmas, I decided I had to stay calm and do my best to face it at the family meal, because most family holidays I wouldn't eat anything and I hated that I'd get comments about that too. It was really hard, there was some panic and I only ate a few things but my hand didn't shake and I gained confidence from there. *knock on wood* but the problem seems to have alleviated, and I'm grateful.

One of the best lessons I've learned from anxiety is that, while I'll probably have some form of anxiety for the rest of my life, the really bad and unbearable parts don't last forever. And as we go on battling this, we learn that and the bad battles become a little easier because we've been there before and know we can get through again.

I wish you both the best of luck. Anxiety can really bring you down, but when you conquer some part of it, it is really a fantastic feeling. :yahoo:

[Boydo]

Thank you !! This has reassured me and good on you for facing your fear!!! It weird as somedays am ok but I can still feel the anxious feeling in my feet and I want tense them :( the only bit that scares me is when I wake up feeling seriously ill or start having cold shivers etc it only been 2 month but at the start I wouldn't even go outside and just hid in my house feeling cold, drained, feeling sick, not real and always tired ..... Each day getting better somedays are backwards and then I start the whole ( what if I do have this ) but story's like yours determine me carry on and get the old me back I was so fearless back in the day and now got scared of my shadow ...... I just never know something that can make you so Mentally ill and physically that in itself scares me lol, keep on fighting thank you for your support I just helps knowing there others out there the same ..... As I find it hard believe my doctor when I put my symptoms into Google and all they say is cancer Which btw I stop googling as it shit sorry for the language but it is ,

Happy new year x