View Full Version : Have I got anxiety?
Hi everyone, not sure if I have anxiety or not but for the last few months I have been feeling generally unwell and tired all the time and get a few physical symptoms also - my IBS seems to be worse, I sometimes feel shaky, get palpitations in bed at night and other strange odd aches & pains, the strange thing is, is that it is all at it's worse in the mornings and very gradually eases off during the day and by evening I can sometimes feel normal. I do have type 2 diabetes which is very well controlled and have just had a series of blood tests which all came back negative. I suppose the the question I am asking is could all this be due to anxiety and does anyone else feel generally unwell with it.
Thanks for your help.
Sparkle1984
05-07-15, 19:33
Welcome to the forums. :) It sounds like it could be anxiety, especially if it tends to be worse in the mornings. This is a self-test you can use to see if it's likely to be anxiety, and if so, how severe it is: http://patient.info/doctor/generalised-anxiety-disorder-assessment-gad-7 Then if you are concerned about the results, you can speak to your doctor.
According to the test above I could have moderate anxiety but is it usual to get all these physical symptoms and feel generally unwell & tired. I have an appointment with my GP on Wednesday so hopefully will find a bit more out.
MyNameIsTerry
06-07-15, 13:45
Hi and welcome to NMP Nick :welcome:
Many people say that anxiety is worse in the mornings. Cortisol is highest when we wake and starts to gradually reduce from there on. If you have been under a lot of stress then it can mean having raised levels anyway.
The symptoms you area describing can be experienced with anxiety. If you have a look at the articles on the main site it will show you just how many we can experience and many of them can be present at the same time.
Tiredness can be experienced because constant stress puts more strain on the body and we burn through nutrients quicker. We don't sleep as well so we get aches & pains too as well as from muscular tension.
You will see all sorts of symptoms on the Symptoms forum.
It's certainly worth getting your GP's opinion though and ruling out any connection to your diabetes to be sure there are no issues with meds or other possible root causes first.
Hi Terry & thanks for listening, my diabetic nurse did slightly adjust my medication as she thought my blood sugar levels may be going a bit low sometimes but after 2 weeks has not made any difference.
MyNameIsTerry
06-07-15, 22:33
Has there been anything else going on in your life recently? Any periods of stress that you can point to? Feeling these strange feelings & sensations or a sense of panic or insecurity?
I have been feeling stressed about feeling not well and by nature I do worry about the smalest things and can get very on edge and inpatient about things, I took early retirement 2 years ago and currently live on my own and last year did alot of traveling but this year due to feeling generally unwell & tired have not done much.
MyNameIsTerry
07-07-15, 11:17
So, there is the possibility that its worry about health as opposed to a disorder because it has reached that stage yet or it could be a disorder developed out of ill health.
If your GP found a legitimate reason for your health problems and tackled it, do you feel that the worry would subside? Does the worry feel as normal as it has been before or more intense?
It can sneak up on us over time but with you having diabetes (and maybe taking meds for this?) there could be perhaps a physical reason to resolve that will make you feel better. So, hopefully your GP can determine if there is something, even something minor that is making you feel unwell, and he/she may choose to monitor before diagnosing an anxiety disorder. This may reduce your worry enough for you to feel you have returned to where you were before.
If he/she does decide this is anxiety, then its worth tackling this now before it gets further because right now you can nip it in the bud. So, learning about anxiety and trying something CBT cold help you to work through this period. Maybe something like an online CBT (CCBT) programme or a book prescription for CBT from your GP so you can make that start?
Hi Terry, thanks for all your help, I am seeing my GP tomorrow so hopefully will have a better idea what is causing all this although I am not sure what she can do in 10 minutes. I have had blood tests in the last 2 weeks and kidney, liver, thiroid, diabetes and red & white blood counts were all OK. My IBS has been worse lately but this always seems to happen during times of stress.
MyNameIsTerry
07-07-15, 12:00
Hi Nick,
Its worth trying to pin down any patterns. You've spotted one for mornings which is a really common one in anxiety but are there any others e.g. does food make it worse and if so are there any types of food that seem to be a bigger trigger or cause more intense side effects. Things like that.
Can you notice an increase in these symptoms due to a stressful event e.g. going out for a meal or to an appointment. These can point to anxiety.
There are certain foods I avoid as they can make my IBS worse but as yet food does not seem to effect my "Anxiy" (IF that is what I have got) i have cut out caffeine and cut right down on beer try and stay outdoors as much as I can but the only thing I can say is I usualy feel alot better by late afternoon/early evening and I generally sleep very well (i just wish it could be evening all day !!)
Hi nick,
Excellent advice by terry,
All your symptoms COULD be anxiety
But
Because you have an underlying heath problem they could also be related to that.
Hopefully your doc will be able to advise you and if it is anxiety you will find lots of useful info on here.
Let us know how you get on with your doc x
Hi dally, yes Terry has been very good and I very much appreciate his advice and anyone else's on this wonderful forum. Hopefully I will get some answers from my GP tomorrow although I think I am starting the wory about that.
Hello Nick
The fact that all your bloods came back within the normal range is very reassuring so your GP may well go down the anxiety route.
Physical symptoms are varied and can change on a regular basis. As you pointed out, IBS can flare up and be troublesome, all adding to the anxiety.
I hope your GP appointment is helpful and that she can direct you to appropriate local services should she think it appropriate.
Most of all, I hope you will feel reassured and will start to feel better mentally and physically as soon as possible.
Just a quick update, have just come back from the doctors and she thinks I may have "Health Anxiety" but as I get palpitations as on of the symptoms wants to send me for an ECG and I think this is getting me even more worried.
An ECG is a non-invasive, quick and painless procedure but it's best that your heart should be checked out first just to eliminate an obvious problem.
I understand that you're worried about the test but hopefully you won't have to wait long for it and ECGs can often be done in the surgery.
It's just best to have one before going down the Health Anxiety route. Just to put your mind at rest?
Having an ECG tomorrow hopefully, I just turn up at the hospital with a note from my doctor between 9 and 3 thirty, mon-fri. and my GP will then think about some kind of therapy if nothing shows up with my heart.
Do hope you can get it done as soon as possible then your GP can refer you onto the relevant services and you can feel that you're making progress.
MyNameIsTerry
09-07-15, 04:54
Hi Nick,
Health Anxiety is a broad term which covers various anxiety disorders, even ones not in the same group. Its like how for years my GP wrote "chronic anxiety" on my FIT notes when I was off work and on my notes later when I was back. "Chronic anxiety" just means longer term and is not the name of an anxiety disorder. It could mean any of the disorders, just over a longer term, hence its no a diagnosis. Maybe a sloppy partial diagnosis though.
So, HA can mean GAD, OCD or Somatoform disorders. In order to understand it more, you need to understand the triggers i.e. is it just your health or do you feel action in other scenarios too which may point to GAD, is it contamination based which may point to OCD, etc. Those are just examples.
Had my ECG done last week and now my doctors surgery has rung me to say they want to see me about the results (will not tell me over the phone) and I am now worried sick, got to wait nearly a week till the appointment
Maybe talk to your doctor to check your thyroid more thoroughly. Your t3,t4,ft3,ft4, TSH levels and thyroid antibodies for Hashimoto thyreoditis.
Had my ECG done last week and now my doctors surgery has rung me to say they want to see me about the results (will not tell me over the phone) and I am now worried sick, got to wait nearly a week till the appointment
That's a long time to wait if there was an urgent problem showing on the ECG. I think the doctor would want to see you as soon as possible.
Were you told by the hospital what to expect in terms of feedback from the ECG?
The nurse that did the ECG could not tell me anything at the time, she said the readings are checked by a doctor and sent to my GP, all she said was that nothing MAJOR had flaged up.
I don't think that nurses can comment on ECGs in great detail-that is down to the doctor-but she did say that nothing really bad had shown up. Due to your anxiety you may well envisage all sorts of less major heart problems as having been revealed but the time span since you had the ECG to when you have been asked to see the doctor suggests that you have a routine follow-up appointment next week.
It's a shame that results can't be delivered on the day of the ECG itself and then the horrible waiting could be resolved.
MyNameIsTerry
16-07-15, 05:36
The longer you wait, the better when it comes to your GP and results. If anything was flagged up that was serious you would have been swiftly contacted.
They don't even always bother following them up but given you have diabetes and they do good healthchecks with you and you have a partial diagnosis in anxiety, it sounds like you have a good GP who is following up for you. My surgery don't call or anything with results, you have to call them to be told everything is ok.
It is very unusual for my doctors surgery to ring me, I always have to ring them for results of tests even when there have been problems and even trying to get an urgent doctors appointment can take up to a week, think that's why so many people round here end up going to A & E or NHS walk in centres, still I will have to wait till next Wednesday.
Again thanks everyone for all your help.
Just a quick update, been back to my GP and my ECG was fine apart from my heart rate being slow (50 bpm) this is probably due to Atenolol which I take for high blood pressure.
The doctor has reduced the dose and said my symptoms could be because of the slow heart rate.
I'm very pleased that nothing major turned up on the ECG. I hope that an adjustment to your beta blocker will make you feel better all round but you may still have some underlying anxiety to address?
Wishing you well-this week must have seemed an age?
Thanks Pulisa, will see how it goes over the next few weeks, they want to check my BP in 3 weeks and if necessary adjust my other medications.
At least they are keeping an eye on you. I sincerely hope that things start to improve for you very soon.
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