Health anxiety is ruining my body!

[opal133]

So I've struggled with health anxiety in bouts during stressful times (exams, driving test, etc) for most of my life, but since about January '21 it's been almost constant and it's at it's peak right now.

I've spent the last week having anxiety over sleep apnea which I may or may not have, and that began to overlap with my current panic over hearing/inner ear problems. This is all happening in a pretty turbulent period of my life where I'm moving back to uni, starting a new job, dealing with a fair bit of social isolation.

Running on 4-5 hrs sleep, doing long induction days and starting my first shift today, all whilst having constant internal panic over my symptoms has absolutely obliterated my trap (shoulder) muscles and the headaches are unbearable - as well as adding to my list of fears despite there being a rational reasoning for them!

Can anyone else relate to the lack of sleep, muscle pains, and headaches? How do you cope? I genuinely feel on the brink of a breakdown and my therapy waitlist is still so far away :( I'm really struggling.

[StarsDie]

Yeah I can definitely relate. In April I fell apart after having the worst panic attack of my life when I thought I was having a stroke -- only to find out that I was coming down suddenly and harshly with the stomach flu (norovirus). That panic attack was so bad, that I developed depersonalization/derealization disorder. I recovered from that in about 15 days with help from medication and lots and lots of exposure therapy, meditation and 'wet noodling'. But things didn't end for me after recovering from that, as now I have been diagnosed with Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome. Which often presents itself as Nonbacterial Prostatitis. You can develop this condition from tightening your pelvic muscles and nerves. So it's something that often effects people with anxiety disorders because they are tensing their muscles so much. The condition is not fun, and can become debillitating if left untreated, and there's no guarantees that it will ever really go away.

Through all of this my sleep has been atrocious. I spent an entire night experiencing what is termed 'psychomotor agitation', as I paced in my room back and forth and got absolutely no sleep at all. Couldn't even lay down.

The best advice I can give is just trying to find time to meditate and/or try 'Progressive Muscle Relaxation'. PMR is one of the best relaxation techniques you can try for anxiety.

If the time isn't available, just make sure that throughout your days you un-tense your muscles like a wet noodle as often as you can think to do it -- using 'interoception'. This can be done at work and really any situation.

This is the stuff that got me out of DP/DR disorder, and it's ultimately the stuff that is most capable of handling anxiety and PTSD. I'm definitely not a complete success story, but I know it works from the times it has helped me. I just need to be more consistent with it myself.

[opal133]

I'm so sorry you had to go through that :( I've never heard of noodling before (love the name!) but I will give it a go. I've just woke myself up in a panic again, mind jumping to the worst, so I will take that on board and attempt to relax everything once I've calmed down. All the best!

[NoraB]

I've spent the last week having anxiety over sleep apnea which I may or may not have,

What makes you think you may have SA?


Running on 4-5 hrs sleep, doing long induction days and starting my first shift today, all whilst having constant internal panic over my symptoms has absolutely obliterated my trap (shoulder) muscles and the headaches are unbearable - as well as adding to my list of fears despite there being a rational reasoning for them!

Margaret Thatcher ran this country on four hours sleep every night and she did OK. When I say 'Ok' I mean that there were no adverse health effects for her.. She also died at the age of 87 so it didn't appear to do her much harm..:yesyes:


Can anyone else relate to the lack of sleep, muscle pains, and headaches? How do you cope? I genuinely feel on the brink of a breakdown and my therapy waitlist is still so far away :( I'm really struggling.

Muscle pains and headaches are my norm because I have FMS..

Tiredness/stress causes headaches and muscle pains. And these symptoms can happen during stressful periods or generally. If it's the latter (and in the absence of any other cause) I'd be inclined to consider something like FMS (Fibromyalgia) or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - especially if you've experienced some kind of trauma? But from what you've said it's reading like good old anxiety to me..

I cope with my muscle pain by using cool & heat pads and painkillers. My insomnia meant that I was going to sleep at 10 pm - waking up at 10.30 pm and having nocturnal panic attacks in cycles until I'd finally give up and get up at around 3am. If you're having 4-5 hours sleep a night - you're a long way from where I was! I had a bad night last night. Pain had me waking up every time I moved and I couldn't be @rsed to go downstairs and get my heat pad. It's no biggy. It is what it is and worrying about it will only ensure another crap night's sleep...

[opal133]

I was sharing a room with my sister when I went home recently and she complained of me sounding like I was choking in my sleep and how she woke me up multiple occasions because of it. I looked into sleep apnea and a lot of the symptoms apply to me, though in recent nights it's been better -- beginning to feel as though once one panic has ended another takes it's place, and now I'm less worried about the sleep apnea and more the muscle pain. When I was peak worrying about it however I was genuinely afraid to fall asleep, kick-starting the trend of me not sleeping very well lately.

That is reassuring about the amount of sleep! I'm usually, at a norm, around 7 hours of sleep, but I was unemployed and off uni then - having 4/5 max. and going back to being busy isn't having good effects on me :(

Thank you for telling me your experience, I will look into heat pads, as I've been using a hot water bottle on my neck/shoulder area but it's a bit too bulky lol. All the best x

[NoraB]

I was sharing a room with my sister when I went home recently and she complained of me sounding like I was choking in my sleep and how she woke me up multiple occasions because of it. I looked into sleep apnea and a lot of the symptoms apply to me, though in recent nights it's been better -- beginning to feel as though once one panic has ended another takes it's place, and now I'm less worried about the sleep apnea and more the muscle pain. When I was peak worrying about it however I was genuinely afraid to fall asleep, kick-starting the trend of me not sleeping very well lately.

I had have this choking in my sleep thing. I've been tested for OSA and I don't have it - though I did argue with the consultant lol. Oops. However, this can also happen with acid reflux and since I lifted up the bed at the top end - I've not had this symptom since..


Thank you for telling me your experience, I will look into heat pads, as I've been using a hot water bottle on my neck/shoulder area but it's a bit too bulky lol. All the best x

You're welcome. X