View Full Version : How many of you feel your anxiety has triggered benign conditions?
Just out of curiousity.
Two years ago I was diagnosed with pelvic floor dysfunction of the "hyper tense" kind. Meaning my muscles were so tight and rigid that they were causing an unbearable amount of pain that typically felt like constant burning, dull aches, and stabbing sensations. Of course, hand in hand with that came bladder issues (feeling the urge to go very frequently and painful urination occasionally). Yoga, physical therapy, and mindfulness eased the issues and I keep them under control with yoga. Antidepressants and anxiety medication seems to help as well.
Ever since then, I've had migrating pains through my muscle groups along with other symptoms (fatigue, twitching muscles, pain, feeling weak and exhausted even when I get a lot of sleep, etc). Fibromyalgia seems to match a lot of my symptoms and a lot of symptoms I see on here (I get stomach issues as well but I've had those since I was a kid due to anxiety). It seems to me that chronic sufferers eventually put their bodies into such bad overdrive that these benign conditions begin to occur and we wig out (fibro, cfs, bfs, etc).
I've pressed down on the "tender points" that point to fibro and all of them flare with a soreness and pain. I'm not diagnosing myself with anything, but from everywhere I read, all articles say that conditions such as chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, and benign fasculation syndrome come from pre-existing anxiety and depression or go hand in hand with it.
Crazy what the brain can do to the body.
I think that's fair to say.
I have thought for a long time that I have " chronic" symptoms. Nothing's getting worse and it's a lot better than during the "acute" phase.
But yeah. Still have a few things that are just hanging around. Back pains, tremors and "brain fog" are just part of my life now.
I'm alright about it really.
Makes sense. I developed GERD for awhile because my anxiety was causing me to over-produce stomach acid. Before my bout with PTSD, I could count on one hand the number of times in my I've gotten heartburn.
I know that's my problem. I went 3 years basically in a constant anxious state. I can no longer relax. When I do get somewhat relaxed my brain says "Hey buddy you sure are chill, let's look for lumps or twitches", and that's my Sunday! If anyone taps me on my shoulder or touches me I jump. I twitch all the time and when I'm in an anxious state my twitches are amplified. I'm pretty sure I did this to myself. If your experiencing health anxiety for the first time listen to these people stop chasing a terminal diagnosis and get control of your real problem anxiety.
Chronic is a good term for it. Acute phases seem to be the time hypochondriacs really play with some inner fears. After a while, when symptoms subside, they seem more assured that anxiety is the culprit. I've had so many acute phases of anxiety where I would endure new symptoms for weeks or perhaps months. Others I've endured chronically, such as muscle tension and pain.
Vee, my mothers acid reflux flares like crazy with anxiety. She's had minimal issue in the past but when she was in her twenties and very stressed she developed pretty terrible GERD that would make her feel like she was having a heart attack. Now it seems to strike only with anxiety and very rarely certain foods. She's also had chronic stomach problems related to stress that no doctor has found cause for.
Niv, I know how you feel. I went four years after an abusive relationship and an overdose without seeking any help for my anxiety in the clinical sense. I believe it's done some damage to my body in a more permanent sense, nothing severe thankfully but severe enough that I am bothered by it (like you stated). I'm at a constant state of hyper awareness and it's garbage, haha. Like you said, every twitch and every pain brings your mind to a heightened state of anxiety and panic, and thus it creates more symptoms. It's a never ending circle.
Solid advice though, health anxiety is just that: health anxiety. It's hard to accept that there's nothing sinister going on in our bodies but the sinister has a tendency to present itself in a more horrid manner.
Le sigh. They should just invent a magic pill for our brains to keep their traps shut.
My opinion on this is that benign conditions due to anxiety disorder can be eradicated by treating the underlying issue which is the anxiety itself. Remove the stress and you remove the consequences of the stress induced symptoms.
Anxiety related symptoms (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/articles/symptoms) are many and quite real and often can cripple the sufferer. Again, treating the root cause treats the symptom associated with it. The ball is in your court. How you proceed is up to you.
Positive thoughts
Fish, just out of curiousity because I'd love to hear your opinion, what if the person suffering from the anxiety disorder doesn't have any underlying stress? In my case, I have a decent job, a lovely fiancée, a nice little home we can call our own, a puppy I spoil like my own child, and a family that is close and love each other immensely. Over the years I've taken care of the things I thought to be the underlying issues: past abuse, feelings of unworthiness, anger and aggression, etc. I was still left with constant anxiety relapses no matter how hard I worked at fixing my "issues".
So at that, what does an anxiety sufferer like myself, and I'm sure many others do? Most of us are rational enough to understand that our anxiety is crippling and can hurt us in a multitude of ways and yet we feel helpless in overpowering it permanently.
I just haven't found a permanent solution, unfortunately. And I've done a lot of searching. So far the only real fix has been medication but it doesn't necessarily solve the problem completely.
Just curious on your take.
My opinion on this is that benign conditions due to anxiety disorder can be eradicated by treating the underlying issue which is the anxiety itself. Remove the stress and you remove the consequences of the stress induced symptoms.
Anxiety related symptoms (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/articles/symptoms) are many and quite real and often can cripple the sufferer. Again, treating the root cause treats the symptom associated with it. The ball is in your court. How you proceed is up to you.
Positive thoughts
Agreed. When I started attending grief group and therapy and taking medication, my anxiety lowered significantly and my GERD went away. If I eat a bunch of spicy foods now, I'm more susceptible to heartburn now, whereas before I could eat all the curry I wanted, but it's nothing like the reflux I had when I was in anxiety hell.
---------- Post added at 16:50 ---------- Previous post was at 16:44 ----------
Fish, just out of curiousity because I'd love to hear your opinion, what if the person suffering from the anxiety disorder doesn't have any underlying stress? In my case, I have a decent job, a lovely fiancée, a nice little home we can call our own, a puppy I spoil like my own child, and a family that is close and love each other immensely. Over the years I've taken care of the things I thought to be the underlying issues: past abuse, feelings of unworthiness, anger and aggression, etc. I was still left with constant anxiety relapses no matter how hard I worked at fixing my "issues".
So at that, what does an anxiety sufferer like myself, and I'm sure many others do? Most of us are rational enough to understand that our anxiety is crippling and can hurt us in a multitude of ways and yet we feel helpless in overpowering it permanently.
I just haven't found a permanent solution, unfortunately. And I've done a lot of searching. So far the only real fix has been medication but it doesn't necessarily solve the problem completely.
Just curious on your take.
I know I'm not Fish, but I think for some of us, anxiety will be a life long battle with hills and valleys. At least that's how I view mine... I can get it to go into remission with therapy and meds and lifestyle changes, but I'm not naive enough to think that if I were to go through something again or have significant changes in my life, that it wouldn't rear it's ugly head.
I seriously think yours was brought on again by the change with your meds. I think you're going to have to stay on them. If you're concerned about having kids while on the Paxil, then cross taper to Zoloft. That's what I would do.
Fish, just out of curiousity because I'd love to hear your opinion, what if the person suffering from the anxiety disorder doesn't have any underlying stress?
Just my opinion.... I base this on my own experience with my personal struggles and those of my daughter and sister, both of which are on meds and go to therapy (my sister more of "tune up" sessions).
I go back to my statement about anxiety:
Anxiety is like a campfire. When you're in the midst of a spiral the fire is burning bright and hot. When the flames die down, there's still a bed of red hot coals burning away just waiting for some more fuel. Your body is still on high alert and has a bed of hot anxiety coals inside just waiting to flare up. Just like a campfire, the hot coals of anxiety take a long time to finally go out.
So, IMO, there's still an underlying stress related issue that keeps the coals burning. Any little bit of fuel ignites and there you are... back into the spiral. My opinion is that there still is a level of underlying stress. Getting to the root of it, whether it be an experience or habit and modifying your behavior to change your perception, conscious or unconscious is the way to alleviate it.
Positive thoughts
Vee, you know I always value your input and I completely agree with you. I think I'm just one of those people where the root cause my have been some sort of trigger, but my chemicals are so jacked that I need medication to balance them out. And you're right, I used to be desperate to "fix" this, because I felt like I would never be able to be happy as long as anxiety and depression kept coming around. I acted as if it was a leak in the roof, not a a bullet that lodged and shattered into parts of my brain and can't be picked out, no matter how good the doc is at performing the surgery (crude examples but they were the first to come to mind, haha). I now have realized it's not as simple as just trying to work on it and journal, it's much more complex and I will die with my mental illness(s), but I can keep them in remission with hard work and medication as long as I don't have the expectancy to be "cured".
Also thanks for you input on pregnancy. I've had really bad reactions to Zoloft in the past so switching to that one kind of scares me. I think I'm just going to need to be incredibly prepared and practice a ton of mindfulness and yoga and all that good stuff for nine months while I'm carrying because I know there's no way I can be on Paxil while pregnant. That's a discussion for the future though, as me and my fiancée agreed that right now isn't the right time. Between the move and my recent mental health relapse, he doesn't want to push me to the edge.
Fish, I really like that comparison. It makes a lot of sense. Even though the fire is out, the coals are still cooking and if we even push them around a little bit they'll stay lit. I think the only way we can be rid of the physical effects of anxiety is if we keep our systems in a state of a calm for a prolonged period of time (let the coals burn themselves out and cool). But I suppose there may be some stuff within me that still needs work, I guess I just have to start digging deeper. Especially the modifying my thoughts part, as I have a problem with morbid and violent intrusive thoughts in relation to OCD, so I think that keeps me on the edge as well.
Thanks for your guyses input. I always love hearing what you guys have to say.
PanickyGuy
16-01-17, 02:11
Yeah it's funny you brought this up, Hancock. Because just recently, my CB therapist and I think a lot of my little physical ailments might be due to a condition known as psychosomatic. I often get all kinds of weird sensations going on from stomach disorders (OMG I got cancer!) to numbness on the left side of the face (OMG I'm having a stroke! Or mouth cancer!). Lol. But each and every time those things have happened over the years, they never turned out to be anything sinister.
It's like the mind harness our thoughts and produces some symptoms of dreadful diseases, because we keep worrying about major killer diseases, again and again. It's almost as if the mind stores up the information and then produces the effects, because we kept thinking about such negative things, as if we've reprogram our brains.
It's fascinating to learn how strong the mind can be on the body like that. I've been thinking that if I reprogram my mind to think healthy, then maybe it will do away with these annoying little ailments I get.
It's fascinating to learn how strong the mind can be on the body like that.
Just think what it can do if you work on thinking positively as opposed to negatively.
Positive thoughts
I'll have some good months where consciously I'm ok, but I'll have horrible dreams where I'm having a panic attack. I'll wake up and I'm ok. This show subconsciously I'm still very anxious. Who knows it could be my job or maybe I need a new 70 inch tv that my fiance tells me I don't need...lol. Point being I haven't had a panic attack while awake in years just some anxiety. I've learned not to let things get too bad but I still obsess about it. Even though I seem ok subconsciously I'm a wreck. Meds and therapy have really helped me out. I'm not on an anti depressant, but I take xanax when needed.
It's like the mind harness our thoughts and produces some symptoms of dreadful diseases, because we keep worrying about major killer diseases, again and again. It's almost as if the mind stores up the information and then produces the effects, because we kept thinking about such negative things, as if we've reprogram our brains.
You put it perfectly right there, guy. Psychosomatic disorders are definitely prelevant in our little hypochondriac community. I've met plenty of people who had pure anxiety and that's it, and I've met people who have had anxiety and physical issues because of it. It's like people who have OCD. Some people have the pure O as they call it, just the obsessions minus compulsions. And some people have the full blown mental illness with both. So I guess it's dependent on people and how we react to the relaase of chemicals that produce anxiety.
Fish, I think we can all strive to work towards that.
Niv, I'm totally with you. There's times when my anxiety doesn't necessarily bother me during the day to day but it comes out to play in the form of night terrors or nightmares and midnight panic attacks after waking up. I think repression is the worst thing we can do with anxiety. We can't ignore it, but that's what most people without any mental illnesses tell us to do. If we repress it, it'll just get louder and stronger, find better ways to get our attention.
PanickyGuy
16-01-17, 05:45
Just think what it can do if you work on thinking positively as opposed to negatively.
Positive thoughts
Yep. I've been working on it with some meditation for the last 3 months. I'm getting better it seems and the panic attacks have been far and few lately. :D
You put it perfectly right there, guy. Psychosomatic disorders are definitely prelevant in our little hypochondriac community. I've met plenty of people who had pure anxiety and that's it, and I've met people who have had anxiety and physical issues because of it. It's like people who have OCD. Some people have the pure O as they call it, just the obsessions minus compulsions. And some people have the full blown mental illness with both. So I guess it's dependent on people and how we react to the relaase of chemicals that produce anxiety.
Exactly. OCD. That's another good comparison. :winks:
Really good thread this.
Some fantastic opinions and thoughts.
I've always found my anxiety to be selfish too. I've always thought that I am the only one to experience the little cocktail of symptoms I have. But this thread and others I've read recently have made me realise that that isn't the case at all.
Someone earlier put it perfectly. At the moment it's like I can't allow myself to relax, my initial introduction to anxiety had me thinking I would die at any moment and had strong panic attacks associated to that. No I'm over my fear of instant death I can be sat watching the tele for hours in a normal relaxed state and then for no reason I remind myself that "hey my calf has been twitching all day, let's worry about it" or "my head feels strange again"
It's almost like I WANT to allow myself to keep certain things on my mind. That isn't the case at all, I want rid of this as soon as possible.
I start my second round of CBT at the end of the month (the first was a disaster) so we'll see how that helps with eradicating my allowing of myself to be worried once and for all.
I'm hoping your next round of CBT will be more productive for you!
But I totally relate. Instant death has become more of a daydream for me, haha. I've never been one to fear death, in fact, I believe it to be a release. But suffering is on a completely different level for me. So my mind likes to play with that.
So while I don't think I'll just drop dead from a stroke or heart attack anymore, I fixate on a bunch of little stuff and create messed up scenarios in my head that consist of long term suffering and a slow death.
Like you said though, I don't want those thoughts in my head. They're intrusive and not tied to reality at all. But when my mind drifts and it's unhealthy, that's where it drifts to. I think it's one of those things where we can't "unsee what we saw". We read things, hear about things, see things, and all the sudden they've all left imprints on our mind. And since our minds tend to be obsessive, it's like a broken record player. Just keeps spinning the same line of the same track over and over again without relief.
I believe I have recurring neck spasms due to anxiety and general stress.
I also have had a myriad of different "conditions" such as heart skipping beats, feeling dizzy, feeling like I'm going to pass out, nausea, and lately a lump in my throat/tightness.
It sucks! But having this for most of my life I've gotten a bit better at telling myself that most of it is "just anxiety" and that it will eventually go away and turn into a different condition!
Thinking about how many of these "serious conditions" I had that simply went away only to become a different "serious condition" helps to reinforce to me that I will eventually forget about it once I become distracted enough by a life event. If I can successfully get my mind of these things for like 72 hours by becoming distracted enough, they often go away. Some are a bit stickier, but I find the key to be distractions. The distractions have to be BIG distractions though - you have to really not think about it for a while. (this is why a new condition/worry is sometimes the best cure for an old condition/worry).
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