My name is Ali. I am 22 years old and struggle with Anxitey everyday.

[Sincerelyali]

Hey there,

My name is Ali. I live in the hot desert called Arizona in the United States. I am about to be 22 years old and I have been suffering with Anxiety for 5 years now. It all started 2 weeks before I graduated high school. That makes sense right? I was about to start my life, became an adult and I was also moving away from my home town. So of course I had a lot of stress and worry.. But why would all of these symptoms come from just that? And why hasn't it ever gone away? I ask myself that all the time. It has gotten to the point where I feel terrible and sick everyday. Sometimes I don't want to get out of bed, sometimes I can't even eat and wish I had a feeding tube, other time I literally would rather die then deal with this everyday.. I don't want to live like this. It prevents me from working and making money to survive, it prevents me from having fun with my friends.. I am constantly worried about if something is physically wrong with me, or mentally wrong with me. I worry about my health. Anxiety has taken over my life completely. I can't go to the movie theatre, I can't go in elevators, I don't like roller coasters anymore and road trips scare me because there is no hospital near... I have researched everything, tried a lot. My panic attacks are extreme.. I can't even begin to explain. :( My parents don't really understand and neither do my friends. I am absolutely beyond terrified... I have health anxiety, all the symptoms, I feel I am a hypochondriac, I also feel I have OCD.. and definitely depression because of all this. I thought it would be nice to communicate with some people who are feeling the same way. So... here I am. If you have similar feelings. Please message me!!

[SLA]

Hi Ali!

You are not alone, and there is a reason to be positive. You just need to find it.

Lets start by asking you what causes you the most anxiety and stress? Is it a particular set of things that worry you?

[venusbluejeans]

Hiya Sincerelyali and welcome to NMP :welcome:

Why not take a look at our articles on our home page, they contain a wealth of information and are a great starting place for your time on the forum.

I hope you find the as site helpful and informative as I have and that you get the help and support you need here and hope that you meet a few friends along the way :yesyes:

[Sincerelyali]

Thank you. I try SO HARD to be positive. I am grateful that I am still alive and can some what control my anxiety sometimes. Everyday is different.. but it is a constant struggle. My manager thinks I should be hypnotized.. or that I should get acupuncture. For my nerves. What are your thoughts?

[SLA]

The two big things that improved my anxiety were working on my diet, and getting into a good sleep habit.

For me, going on a gluten-free diet was huge, and my anxiety dropped loads after doing that. My daughter is gluten-sensitive, so I stopped too, and never looked back.

The two other main things is realising that your anxiety is not "yours" it is the manifestation of anxious thoughts from your brain. At no point have you chosen to be anxious.

Start to focus on things that you DO want too. Once you do this regularly, you will find that you have a lot better mood, and more energy.

If you constantly dwell on how s**t you feel, you will continue to feel s**t.

Whereas if you focus on making your life better, you will naturally pull yourself out of the hole. It wont happen overnight. It took me months.

But once you start, and you get momentum, you'll feel a million times better.

[Sincerelyali]

What do you eat? I feel like it is so hard to eat gluten free.. You cant really eat out anymore right? You need to prepare your own foods? And what about all your favorite treats and snacks are they gone now? Can you tell me one thing you eat for dinner?

[SLA]

I have loads of treats and snacks (which I enjoy even more now) and I eat loads of different things. Eating out IS harder.

But every time I feel like eating something with gluten in, I remind myself of how awesome I feel, and how s**t and lethargic I would feel if I did.

Tonight I had Cod with strips of thin bacon, potatoes, spinach, and sweetcorn. Yesterday was a Cottage Pie.

I miss Pizza. Gluten-free pizzas get me by though.

What you eat and drink does have an impact on your anxiety levels, regardless of whether it has gluten or not, so find what works for you.