I have been reminded of anxiety and I am freaked out

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I haven't posted here for a long time and I really thought I would not have to again. I used to suffer dreadfully with anxiety and panic which I discovered was due to hormones. My body has never liked oestrogen and I was diagnosed with uterine cancer in 2006.
Following surgery which included removal of my ovaries, I was not allowed HRT as the cancer had been caused by oestrogen:ohmy:.
The interesting thing is that although surgical menopause is horrible I found my anxiety disappeared.I started using just a little testosterone which helped immensely with mood and energy.
When I got my all clear last year the surgeon put me on low dose oestrogen but I was unable to tolerate it as it made me feel terribly anxious so I have been trying all sorts of natural remedies to deal with the hot flushes which the testosterone doesn't help with.
About a month ago I bought a natural product called "LadyCare Magnet" which is worn next to the tummy and is supposed to balance hormones and get rid of menopausal symptoms. It started working straight away and at first I thought it was marvellous as my flushes stopped. After a couple of weeks though I began to notice myself becoming extremely anxious and then tearful. I started feeling fearful of everything again. I just had a vague sense of doom not linked to any particular thing. In the end I removed the magnet, but I had the most strange experience. My brain seemed to go into a bubble of horror and terror and the ordinary world seemed far away. I remember this feeling as I used to have it years ago and it has really freaked me out.
I am not feeling quite so bad now and I am using St John's Wort because I believe something happened to my brain chemistry. I had honestly forgotten what that feeling was like though. I had a nervous breakdown about 16 years ago and I thought I had put it all behind me. I feel as though I have lost all my confidence and every time I think about the feeling my stomach churns. I feel a part of me that I thought had gone has returned and I don't like it! I have lost any feelings of happiness. I am just full of dread again. I called the magnet people and they told me that if I have removed it the effect should go but I am quite scared.
Sorry this is so long but I just need to tell someone.......

janet c

[RainbowSurfGirl]

Hi Janet,

Sorry to hear about your illness and problems. I'm not really qualified to offer advice but have you tried contacting one of the cancer support groups? They should be able to advise you about drugs/hormones and side-effects. I know from my own experiences with anxiety and depression that they're never gone, just sleeping. Poppy x

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Thank you for replying. I know my problem is multi-faceted but I really needed to talk about my anxiety with like minded people!
I don't have cancer any more. I was given the all clear over a year ago and I don't worry about it now and so don't need a specific cancer support group.However I do belong to a menopause group and that is very supportive.

As far as hormones go, I am pretty well up on them. The bottom line is that my anxiety was always caused by hormones and I am unable to take them now.
I think I am shocked by the return of a certain type of anxiety that has only returned after using the stupid magnet. A door has re-opened in my mind which closed long ago and it has really floored me.
I know my whole problem is beyond the expertise of this site but the anxiety has been so bad the last few days to make me turn back to it for comfort so thank you!
Maybe it is just a blip-but as you so rightly say,the feelings are never gone, just sleeping. It's ghastly!

janet c

[linworth]

Hi Janet

same thing has happened to me, been well for over 5 years, getting on with life forgotten the awful feelings, until i had a panic attack one night after a stressful time at work, tingling feelings, lightheadedness and the feeling of doom, horrible, i went back to bed, but the last 6 weeks have been a struggle, convinced myself it had all come back, whereas the day before the attack, i couldnt tell u what anxiety and depression felt like, i have completely convinced myself i am back in that place, having flashbacks to how i felt at the time, awful!!! i have started counselling as have been told its the anxiety, its like i have a phobia of depression, when i panic i literally feel like i will never be able to cope with anything, and everything is black. but when calm i realise not, having good days and bad days, but slowly getting there, trying to do things i enjoy etc.. i went to the docs two weeks after my panic in a right state, just wanting the feelings to go away, desperate actually, she told me to double my dose of sertraline from 50mg to 100mg but have not done that yet, still trying to work through this myself.
Please try not to get yourself in a state (like i have) easier said than done i know, just try to think of it as a one off and that the magnet caused it and that will hopefully reassure you.

take care lynne x

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Hi Lynne
Thank you for replying:)
I went to my acupuncturist today and she confirmed that the magnet had caused my anxiety by facilitating the conversion of my testosterone replacement to oestrogen! It can have a very strange effect on some women's brains as it used to on mine-so that is why I was feeling so odd.
I had a treatment and already my anxiety levels have dropped and I am starting to feel like me again-phew!She said the effect was temporary and I wouldn't be stuck in that mode.
Needless to say I won't use the magnet again. Oestrogen is pure poison to me. I just wish I had known that when I was a younger woman as I did suffer so dreadfully with anxiety.
I really appreciate the replies thank you :)

janet c

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I hope someone will see my continuation of this thread because I am still in a very bad way.
I would say the depersonalisation has reduced but I have obsessive thoughts all the time.
I can function quite normally in any situation but when I am trying to just be me my head goes round and round and I am not comfortable in my own skin.

I will be honest that I do have an obsessive personality. Since my surgery, I obsessed about getting my libido back and getting on to HRT. As I have found that impossible due to the anxiety it causes me I have given in and accepted it and now I seem to have moved on to this obsession with the way I have been feeling since I started using the magnet.I don't feel I am me any more and I can't find my way through. I don't have panic attacks but I am no longer comfortable in my own skin. My head feels like its going to explode.

I wish I had never gone near that wretched magnet-I can't seem to shake off the effects of it.
I have been through so much already in my life and I feel I can't do it any more. All I can see ahead of me is years of feeling anxious.
I have been using St john's Wort which usually helps. This time it has just made me edgy and given me headaches.
My daughter is getting married in three weeks and I don't know how I will face it.
I am so disappointed with how I have gone downhill again and I don't know what to do any more......

janet c

[jaded jean]

Hi Janet c
I can see where you are coming from hun, have you thought of reflexology?
Its all well and good saying I have to be well for my daughters wedding but you can only do as much as you physically can.Have you had your hormone levels checked recently, or your thyroid- its just a thought as that can make your anxiety play up.
Stay safe xx
Jean