very stressed

[jewels26]

hi all

going through a bit of a rough time at the moment. my anxiety seems to be really high. i am getting some really strange symptoms such as a numb feeling in my face and head, numbness all over my body, my muscles in my chest, back and neck are really tight and sore. i do have a bad back and neck which is being investigated but of course the anxiety is making the symptoms worse and i am more or less immobile at the moment. can't eat cause my tongue keeps going numb. not been out of the house for 5 months and i really get anxious when people come to see me. so i think i have developed a couple of phobias there. basically i am in my room 24/7 just thinking about my health.. sleeping abouxt 3 or 4 hours a night. most i have slept in 5 months is 5 hours on a handful of occasions and not getting to sleep till 4 or 5 in the morning.

hey ho!

thanks for listening to me and any reasurance and feedback would be great

julie :)

[Pixel]

hiya. I have health anxiety too although mine is more about mental illnesses than physical ones.
I dont know much about agraphobia because im the opposite really. I have to go out and be around people. There are loads of peopl on her though with same as you. This site is great like that. Makes you feel like your not alone.

xxx

[popsy]

:bighug1: Firstly big hugs!
Sounds absolutely horrible and i can soooo relate to what you are saying!

My fears were always worsened when i was not distracted by anything else so i desperately would try and either read, watch telly or get involved with some housework anything that took my mind off things, i know it sounds mundane and boring but usually thats all the better, at least it stops the mind racing over and over the symtoms. If we can give our brains and nervous systems a rest even just for a little while it really does help in the healing process.

I too have avoided going out and having people to visit, however i have also found that having a really good friend round to talk (occassionally) about how i was feeling helped so much, and if they are a true friend they are only to happy to try and listen and give you hugs when you need them - talking and crying and being honest has helped me more than anything else with my GAD

I have also found structuring my day really helped. Just giving myself a couple of small jobs to do over a 12 hour period mades me feel more productive and has helped with how i feel about myself - seeing what i have achieved. It also stops the day seeming so long ahead in font of you if you give it some structure, and that dreading the next min, hour, day thing thats horrendous! I found i was also more tired and could sleep alittle better at night then.

Just remember you arent going crazy, you arent going mad, this is what anxiety does to so many of us and loads of people get over all this and really do get better. After 6 months i am starting to feel much better myself, but looking back i have been v v poorly and was where you are now.

I think accepting that i really wasnt very well and allowing myself to be unwell really helped me, it was the fighting to be my 'old self' that constantly ground me down everyday as i felt i failed everyday because i just couldnt be. Once i realised that actually i wasnt my old self at that present time and that i was quite poorly, really stopped the fight and the anxiety lessened a little. All the symtoms you are stating are classic ones and although so incredibly frightening at the time really CANT HURT YOU!!!! (im still here!!!)

I hope this is some help, i know all of us experience things slightly differently, but honestly things will improve and soon if you just keep pushing yourself a tiny bit everyday, baby steps all the way, you'll soon start to see some light at the end of the tunnel. Please do try and get some support from your doctor, try and get reffered to your local mental health team, the more people that can help hold you up at the moment the sooner you will feel able to do it yourself.

Good Luck with all, pm me anytime :bighug1: xxxxxx

[lorac]

Hi Julie

I too have been were you are now and can totally understand how you feel, still have off days now. I totally agree with what Charlie said, once you stop fighting to become the person you were before the anxiety then you stand a chance of getting better. I used to beat myself up constantly coz I couldn't do the things I used to and I hated all the horrible symptoms and just used to sit and dwell on them. Once I started to accept them as just being normal anxiety symptoms and stopped putting pressure on myself I started to feel a better and now I have returned to a reasonably normal life style. The symptoms still return but I am learning not to acknowledge them as much as I used to.

Try to take little steps each day to get you out of sitting and dwelling on things, just do small things each day and build on them that's how it worked for me. Try and set yourself small tasks each day and build on them slowly, be patient and kind to yourself, don't rush things.

I wish you well

Carol
x