How to recover from stress/anxiety burnout?

[GingerFish]

As you all know, i suffer from anxiety, panics and OCD so naturally, I'm a very highly strung person 99% of the time. A lot has happened lately that has increased these conditions plus, maybe tmi but - I'm on the pill and for the first time in years on it, I've had three 'periods' in less than a month which has drained me physically and mentally as one period knocks the stuffing out of you, let alone three.

I believe I am suffering from burnout. My anxiety has been high for say the last 3 weeks, almost constant and in the last 3 days I've had the worst panic attacks I've felt in this phase and ever since those attacks, I've just been absolutely floored. Physically everywhere hurts, I have constant butterflies in my stomach, churning stomach, diarrhea, loss of appetite, nausea etc and mentally I have insomnia, hopelessness, depressive feelings, keep thinking I'll never get over this or that I'm on the verge of taking a full on nervous breakdown, anxiety is through the roof - especially health anxiety, no notion for much, crying a lot etc.

One minute I feel that I can cope and I just have to make some changes and take things easy for a wee while and I'll recover and then the next I feel like I can't cope at all and need to see a doc or therapist, or even drive to my local mental health hospital just for reassurance. I don't have any thoughts of harming myself or anything, I just feel a bit overwhelmed and reassurance and understanding is what I crave, if that makes sense?

My family and bf are understanding but I feel like they don't truly understand how bad I feel but I suppose that's normal in this kind of circumstance. I have made an appointment with my GP but the soonest I could get was for next week so I'm just looking to see what I can do to help myself in the mean time.

[rachelkookoo]

you poor thing, it's really horrible to be suffering so massive hugs go your way :hugs:

i think knowing and truly believing that things will not always be this hard makes me feel better on a daily basis. and it's true, what gets worse must eventually get better.

take the week to really take care of yourself, spoil yourself and make yourself feel loved and special, because you are!

try some mindfulness meditation and some deep breathing. this always makes me feel great.

maybe go out for a walk and get some fresh air? make sure to eat well and feed nourish yourself because food is medicine too.

hope you are feeling better soon, things will get better x

[Carnation]

I am where you are at the moment. My Forum buddies call it a 'Blip'.
I have had the full blown nervous breakdown 18 months ago and pleased to say that I am around 80% recovered; with the occasional 'Blip'.

The things I can tell you that makes me feel worse, is;
lack of sleep, lake of food, lack of fluids, alcohol, too much stress, too much work, travelling from A to B, grey miserable days, Public Holidays, (specially Christmas), people around me ill and staying inside the house too long.

The things that make me feel better, are;

Sleeping through the night, someone to talk to, yoga, dancing & music, walking, gardening, sunny days, doing something I haven't done before, holidays and my cat. :)

I have probably missed out a few here and there, but it may give you some ideas.
But, it is important to remember that the way you feel is not forever. Your Life can change and so can your outlook on Life.
Someone told me that Anxiety in a strange sought of way is a protective sign to tell you to rest/slow down/chill and re-charge yourself.
I know it is a lot more than that, but I sought of get their drift.
Try and think of the 'Positives' and try and turn the 'Negatives' in to 'Positives'.
And if there is something that is out of your control, then there is nothing you can do about it, so it is pointless worrying. (Says me, who worries constantly!) :ohmy:

I see you have a cat too and they can bring you much joy. So if there is a little happiness, then there can be a lot more. :)

[GingerFish]

Thanks for your replies. Its really helpful to talk to people who are or have been in the same boat, though it sucks at the same time too. Wouldn't want anyone else to feel like this. Its horrible.

I'm still not 100% but today while playing a video game, I actually felt 'normal' again for about an hour which is the first I've felt normal again since this blip began which km taking as a good sign. My back and chest pain is gone too and my appetite is here one minute and gone the next but eating small bites regularly and drinking water and smoothies.

I also went out and was anxious as hell and felt panic attacks bubbling all day but each time a wave came I managed to take a time out for a few secs and breathe and it went away. I've had to do that a lot today but no panic attacks have came so I must be doing something right I suppose. Just going to try and get some sleep now.

Yes I have four furry bundles of joy :) my cats are my life. They are what keep me going tbh

[MissyMischief]

Hey GingerFish,

I've been where you are on and off for a while. I'm having an okay time at the moment, but I know that it's very possible to dip back down again, so I'm trying to not let that happen.

I've actually felt that journaling has helped me a lot.
in another thread, MyNameIsTerry recommended this book, Mood Mapping, and it's really helping me! It mainly shows me that I always recover from my setbacks, and even if I start the day with a low mood, it's possible to pull myself out of it. It reminds you that you can change a bad mood, which is empowering to me.

Also, I bet hormones are playing a HUGE role in your low mood right now. I'm sure it will level off soon.

Take care!

[GingerFish]

What a night. The nursing home called my stepdad to say his mum is dying and she may not make it through the night. Feel absolutely awful for him, he's up in Scotland and she's in England and after that car accident him and my mum were in last week, they have no car to get down. They are hoping to rent one tomorrow so fingers crossed. If it's not one thing it's another lately.

I'm heartbroken for him and my mum. I'll need to watch their cats while they are away which I love doing, just wish it was under happier circumstances this time. I'm going to sound like a selfish cow here but I can't help but panic over how I'll cope with my mum being away for up to 3 weeks. I feel awful for feeling this way when there's my stepdad losing his for good, maybe its just because I'm in this bad stage atm that I feel more dependent on my mum. I know I'll get through it though. Got to be strong for her and my stepdad.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Hey GingerFish,

I've been where you are on and off for a while. I'm having an okay time at the moment, but I know that it's very possible to dip back down again, so I'm trying to not let that happen.

I've actually felt that journaling has helped me a lot.
in another thread, MyNameIsTerry recommended this book, Mood Mapping, and it's really helping me! It mainly shows me that I always recover from my setbacks, and even if I start the day with a low mood, it's possible to pull myself out of it. It reminds you that you can change a bad mood, which is empowering to me.

Also, I bet hormones are playing a HUGE role in your low mood right now. I'm sure it will level off soon.

Take care!

I'm glad you liked that book. I've only read so much of it with me standing in a book store on a fair few trips :winks: but it looked very relevant to anxiety. At the ntime I was considering whether I was bipolar as my anxiety & low moods have a very predictable cyclical pattern to them but it just doesn't fit and I wasn't like this before I started Duloxetine so I wrote it off. But I did like how the author sections things into 4 mood states and places emphasis on managing them differently and also how to prevent encouraging a bad mood state to appear.

I think I shall pick a copy up now you have stated it is helping you. Thanks.

[GingerFish]

I've been a but up and down the last few days. I admit, I probably pushed myself way to hard a few days ago when I went into town and Glasgow right after that bad panic attack. I should have took it easy for another few days. I feel kinda like I am hungover in the sense I drank too much stress and anxiety lately and the other day there when I had the worst panic, I got most 'drunk' from it and now like a hangover, I have to wait for all the left over 'booze' to leave my system, if that makes sense?

I do feel like my stress and anxiety has reached its peak for this period and this is the aftermath. I managed to get 9 hours sleep last night which was good but it takes me hours to finally drift off. I woke up feeling happy to day with very few waves of that depressive feeling so taking that as a good sign.

[ray.olsen]

Hey GingerFish

I'm sorry that you've been suffering. I can see that you've been through a lot. I admire your perseverance and determination. I've been there, had some moments where I almost call it quits, good thing I'm stubborn. :) I've read your posts and you mentioned that there are days and activities that whenever you are doing those things you feel normal? Are those activities part of your treatment in some way? or just purely coincidental?

You've been really tough. Venting out emotions and sharing experiences really can be of good help so just continue writing and sharing here. You've been inspirational already so don't give up. I hope that your today is better than yesterday and your tomorrow brings more joy and strength. God Bless.

[Rachel2877]

Hi All. I have been suffering the same for a few weeks now with anxiety .Ime taking citalopram proprandol and had to take diazapam at times so I feel tired out in the day . I get all the funny feelings in my body tingling its horrible . Ime going to Iceland on holiday I two weeks time and keep thinking the anxiety will be worse there .

[GingerFish]

Sorry to hear you feel the same way. Hope you enjoy your holiday! I went to Iceland for my 21st. It was my first time abroad and I loved it. going back next year :)


Today was going well to start with. I slept for about 9 hours and I felt quite happy and mellow and then out the blue, I got into an argument with a friend and then I got a sharp pain in my upper back that lasted literally just a second or two but was enough to put me into utter panic and then I got a weird twitch/pulse sensation under my sternum that was so strong, stronger than any pulse I've felt and sadly I google and that came up with abdominal aortic aneurysm and I took a massive panic attack. that was about 3 hours ago and I still haven't fully shaken off the anxiety from it

[GingerFish]

I managed to stay at my mum's myself without even having to call Callan once. I was terrified I would panic during the night so told him to keep his phone beside him all night but we ended up just talking through FB mail for about an hour and them I fell asleep lol. Its always the same with anxiety, the thought of doing something is always a million times worse than actually doing it.

I don't know if this is a good sign or not but I noticed last night and today that some of my old worried such as money are coming back. For the last week I was too deflated to even think or care about them but they are coming back now. Not to the point where they are stressing me out too much but the point I realise I need to be productive and that's what I'm doing.

[GingerFish]

I took a bad panic attack the second I walked back into my own flat. It was horrible. I thought enough is enough, I need to be seen by a doctor finally so managed to get an appointment for an hour later and I got my heart, lungs and pulse checked and he confirmed physically I am in tip top condition and that it's just stress and panics. He was very understanding. That's made me feel a lot better as my health anxiety has been through the roof recently. I still feel a bit rough from that panic and a bit detached but hoping a good meal, a bath and some sleep help and that I'm finally on the road back after being checked out and I'm fine.

[GingerFish]

I think also having a hobby is helping me recover too. I have a spare room in my flat that I've been using as a walk in wardrobe pretty much for years and decided to claim the room as my own little study and relaxation room. I've started stripping off the old wallpaper and going to put the new one on today and then paint the rest of the walls tomorrow. I've got a chandelier for the room. Always wanted one of those :p