I can't feel anything, and it feels strange.

[KatiePink]

This is by far my most random post and i'm going to try my best to explain what i'm feeling.

The last 4-5 days there has been a massive change in my body but i'm absolutely stumped as to what has triggered it or whether it's in my head. Basically i can't feel things the way i used to, as it my entire body feels partially numb. When i'm touching my skin anywhere i can feel it with my hand but my body barely picks it up, everything feels different, skin all over, head, scalp, mouth everything. It's not a bad feeling, it's just unsettling as i can honestly say it feels like a trigger has been switched and my whole body has changed overnight.

I've been doing very well recently and the last few weeks i've had next to no pain, no stiffness, no symptoms. So i can't see this being my anxiety causing it, although i am getting anxiety slightly over not feeling anything, funny isn't it!

I sort of feel like i'm walking around on a cloud everything feels smoother, slower and less sensitive, could this be my recovery? Would like to know if anyone has experienced similar.

Thanks

[Catherine S]

Hi Katie,

With you saying in a previous thread that your anxiety was becoming less of a problem, it could be that perhaps your body is healing itself? When anxiety is at its highest and doing its worst to us physically we feel everything. All our senses are heightened and even the gentlest touches can feel painful.

Our nervous system is in constant overdrive and we're aware of every breath, every heartbeat and every muscle ache. As we recover from an anxious mind, so our nervous system and body functions slowly recover too and become less sensitive.

It just feels strange because we forget what 'normal' feels like.

ISB ☺ x

[ServerError]

This sounds like depersonalisation. Or possibly derealisation. It can sometimes be hard to know whether a symptom fits more into one than the other.

It's a common anxiety symptom. Sometimes antidepressants can cause it, although this tends to be during start-up or after a dosage increase. It's also fairly common in depression.

The thing to remember is that, even if it seems like it can't be psychological, it very much is. It's also temporary, harmless, and passes in time, although this can take a while.

If it persists, talk to your doctor. Naturally, I could be wrong as I'm not a doctor, but I'd put money on being DP/DR.

[KatiePink]

Thankyou both. Honestly I have considered it being some depersonalisation although I don't know much about it its the first thing I thought, but then I've been so well lately apart from being worried about upcoming surgery I've been miles better.

I can't feel my heart at all my breathing is barely noticeable to me, and although I can feel when I touch myself it feels so dulled down. When I put my fingers through my hair it's as if I'm touching someone else's head because I'm not feeling it properly.

Like I said I don't feel bad but freaked out and i know me worrying about this will make things worse.

[MyNameIsTerry]

My first thoughts were DP. That's Depersonalisation, nothing rude, honest :winks:

De realisation (DR) is disconnection from the outside world where as DP is internalised instead. I agree with SE though, they often occur in part together and it can be difficult understanding which is which in threads sometimes. They often get overlaps into Solopsism, Nihilism, etc so it can be complicated.

For some, these are a main symptom and very distressing as they can be there most of the time. For some I've known, it happens as a result of high anxiety periods or panic attacks. Essentially it is a process where the brain is trying to detach itself from something painful, a lot like Dissociative Disorder but these are more complex. .

So, there are various forms things come in but there can be a common theme of the escape from mental stress of the time.

You don't have any of that, you may just be having some DP as a symptom of your anxiety disorder. If you have been under a load of stress, that could be a cause as the escape could be the reaction to it. DP/DR can come as a distinct disorder but it's rare. DP/DR is very common for us lot, as can be see on it's subboard on the Symptoms board.

But when you mentioned your lack of breathing focus and heartbeat I also wondered about what Cath said. When at my worst stages I could hear it in my ears so loud and feel it in lots of places. As I started recovering, that just seemed to go just the issues with noise being amplified and sunlight being brighter. I just didn't feel this fits with the other things you mentioned which do fit into the DP camp.

It's certainly nothing to worry about. At worst, it's just a new anxiety symptom.

[swajj]

It is your anxiety. Somewhere along the line you picked up information about an inability to feel your skin etc etc and the conditions that are related to that symptom. Your HA stored it away. Now it has come to the surface. That's how it worked for me anyway. I hope you feel better soon.