Is this actually Anxiety Help!!

[Bravedart]

Hi all

My names Andrew and My story is in the introduction section (Save me typing and reminding myself of whats going on!) Been off work since December with numerous symptoms and have been told its anxiety. Never had anxiety before and I'm never off work. This last two months has blown my life and that of my familys to bits. I'm now beginning to wonder if it is anxiety and am now worrying I have some horrible brain condition. My main fear at the moment is CJD. i KNOW i CANNOT BELIEVE I'M THINKING THIS!!! No matter how much I tell myself its not it keeps popping into my head. My symptoms are Shaky legs, arms, neck, off balance, feel dizzy, strange sensations in my limbs, Have totally withdrawn socially and feel totally detached from my own body (As if I'm not me and I'm a shell) and also from things around me. I also seem to see things out of the corner of my eye, almost as if my eyes are now supersensitive and I fear i'm going to start hallucinating. Can people please respond with your thoughts on my symptoms. Anyone with all of them? The vision thing is new so I'd appreciate responses re this. Thanks for listening, from a confident happy go lucky individual to a shivering mess in two months I can't believe it and try my upmost not to let my kids know whats happening. Sorry for going on. Thanks again Andrew.

[itoldyouiwasill]

Hi Andrew, just to say that every single symptom you have listed there is a copybook presentation of physical anxiety...remember mate, when anxiety becomes a physical condition how you actually feel mentally is of no importance, it had become a physical condition and it takes time for the body to recover.

As a side point as well, that peripheral vision is also anxiety 101 stuff...that was one of my major early symptoms and it totally freaked me out, it is basically caused by your nervous symptom being so over stimulated and combined with our body focus we amplify every movement....this also applies to loud noises and our startle reflex becomes totally skewed.

Seriously, this is classic stuff relating to an exhausted and over stimulated nervous system....as hard as it is the trick is to accept the benign explanation and float through this period, worrying about these harmless symptoms is just like pouring petrol on a fire mate.

[Greenman50]

Hi Andrew

I can relate to this of sorts , i can remember saying in one of my original posts i wouldn,t go into detail of my symtyms as it stressed me out to much , i,m getting back to my old self now (on meds 20g citralpram )


Here goes ....45 years old male married with 2 kids , never been really ill and rarely worried .


August 2010.....pain in left chest going into my lung , i did the usual and ignored it . End of september still there and the wife makes a comment about here mate haveing this and she has lung cancer :weep::weep:
I go the docs , tell them whats what , its muscler ??.....October 2010 its still there but now i have a gland under my left arm swollen :ohmy::ohmy:....still pain in my left chest plus the lump....i was worried but told it was a lyph node swollen due to infection , possible a cut in the finger of my left arm etc...
Two days later , chronic sore throat , still lypmh node swollen , keep going back to the docs , sore throat is a virus , lypmh node will go down ,plus nodes in neck swollen now....... its still just a response to infection .
I go home happy :D
A week later my ******** are on fire ??? , my neck is stiff , i,ve got pains in my neck , ears , throat and my body feels on fire .

Back to the docs ........still a virus not to sure about my plums ??

This went on untill November and i was takeing ibruprofen for 6 weeks plus other rub on nsaids (spelling) and aswell as all the above my stomach set on fire .
So i had an appointment at the ladies breast clinic (only man there:blush:) to check out the lymph nodes , my bollockes were still on fire , stomach burning 24/7 , throat burning 24/7 plus neck /ear / back pain /couldn,t swallow properly , chronic stomach pain etc....

Basically my cards were marked in my own mind it was cancer , throat , neck , stomach , oesopagus (can,t spell ) etc i was fooked ...

I MADE ONE BIG BIG MISTAKE.....doctor google :doh::doh:....that did my head , it made me 100% worse !!

I can remember googling for days and sweating and feeling worse . Never again . I googled my problems for success storys but there were none , i was a dead man walking .

Over these months it was a slow decline , i didn,t feel anxiuos , depressed but wasn,t myself , i still worked but felt ill (the above symtyms) plus a lack of interest in things i used to love .

SO...Continued docs appointments due to my stomach issues , plus some valium 2 mg when i got stressed at the docs (burst into tears) WTF i,m a man i don,t do tears !!
Did the same again at next next appointment :blush::blush:, and got prescribed cit 20 mg , got desparate and found this site , thank goodness and eventually i,m getting back to my old self .
Never thought i,d post this but there you go.

SO......all my symtyms bar the occasiional sore throat and swallowing issues all the neck ache etc just went slowly . I have a sore throat today but its deffo a normal cold / flu sore throat so don,t care !

So was all this due to anxiety of the hospital appointment , prolonged sore throat ,brought on acid stomach , chest neck pains , burning skin etc..

I think alot was brought on due to anxiety from guinely being ill , to bringing things on myself due to worry ????

You did ask ..lol..:D , It must have been as i,m feeling much better now .

Hope this helps

[Mic]

I started 5 months ago exactly the same I too am or was happy go lucky everyone turned to me for help support etc etc now I'm a shell of the person I was and I actually miss myself if that makes sense?? You can and will recover and be a stronger person for this experience, the first couple of weeks I kept going thinking, as it started with flu, it was a virus then the anxiety kicked in as it went on for too long and whoosh, could hardly get out of bed let alone anything else, one day I got up and thought got to get over this, then the derealization kicked in and totally threw me again this cannot be anxiety sometimes I felt like my brain was swelling in my head, i too kept seeing things out of the corner of my eye and had big black blobs in them too, I felt like I was shivering inside out yet I was sweating, trembling legs couldn't possibly get me to the kitchen let alone the shop!! food was a thing of the past I couldn't stand the smell so I could never eat the stuff, then everything repulses you.My eyes felt like they were balloons with knots at the back I even went to the opticians in a panic and said i needed new glasses and shook through the thorough eye exam I must have a brain tumour, nothing my eyes tested the same, I think the optician thought I was mad lol now when I pass there they all look at me with sympathy (cringe).i wont waffle on but can completley see where you are coming from and I too have a four year old I tried to look after and one day she said to me mummy you are no fun anymore!!! omg what a kick up the backside. It's hard but i feel awful as I couldn't even take her to nursery, firstly don't hide it it makes you worse tell the kids your feeling under the weather big weight off your shoulders, read to them colour with them etc etc, The place I am at the moment is feel ok most of the time I don;t panic when get symptoms just tidy a toy box, I go out feeling totally spaced out take my daughter to nursery again and ballet and to the stables, she still thinks I'm a bit boring but by god I think I will get through this and one day hopefully be a better person for it. good luck I also read and would reccomend books by Claire Weekes:hugs: had lots of other symptoms too

[Bravedart]

Hi Guys

Thanks for both responding I appreciate it. I suppose the shock of whats happened to me is huge and I'm just so frustrated that I'm still feeling like this after two months. Just feel totally lost, hopeless, detached and stunned.

Andrew :ohmy:

[Mic]

Hi Andrew

I can relate to this of sorts , i can remember saying in one of my original posts i wouldn,t go into detail of my symtyms as it stressed me out to much , i,m getting back to my old self now (on meds 20g citralpram )


Here goes ....45 years old male married with 2 kids , never been really ill and rarely worried .


August 2010.....pain in left chest going into my lung , i did the usual and ignored it . End of september still there and the wife makes a comment about here mate haveing this and she has lung cancer :weep::weep:
I go the docs , tell them whats what , its muscler ??.....October 2010 its still there but now i have a gland under my left arm swollen :ohmy::ohmy:....still pain in my left chest plus the lump....i was worried but told it was a lyph node swollen due to infection , possible a cut in the finger of my left arm etc...
Two days later , chronic sore throat , still lypmh node swollen , keep going back to the docs , sore throat is a virus , lypmh node will go down ,plus nodes in neck swollen now....... its still just a response to infection .
I go home happy :D
A week later my ******** are on fire ??? , my neck is stiff , i,ve got pains in my neck , ears , throat and my body feels on fire .

Back to the docs ........still a virus not to sure about my plums ??

This went on untill November and i was takeing ibruprofen for 6 weeks plus other rub on nsaids (spelling) and aswell as all the above my stomach set on fire .
So i had an appointment at the ladies breast clinic (only man there:blush:) to check out the lymph nodes , my bollockes were still on fire , stomach burning 24/7 , throat burning 24/7 plus neck /ear / back pain /couldn,t swallow properly , chronic stomach pain etc....

Basically my cards were marked in my own mind it was cancer , throat , neck , stomach , oesopagus (can,t spell ) etc i was fooked ...

I MADE ONE BIG BIG MISTAKE.....doctor google :doh::doh:....that did my head , it made me 100% worse !!

I can remember googling for days and sweating and feeling worse . Never again . I googled my problems for success storys but there were none , i was a dead man walking .

Over these months it was a slow decline , i didn,t feel anxiuos , depressed but wasn,t myself , i still worked but felt ill (the above symtyms) plus a lack of interest in things i used to love .

SO...Continued docs appointments due to my stomach issues , plus some valium 2 mg when i got stressed at the docs (burst into tears) WTF i,m a man i don,t do tears !!
Did the same again at next next appointment :blush::blush:, and got prescribed cit 20 mg , got desparate and found this site , thank goodness and eventually i,m getting back to my old self .
Never thought i,d post this but there you go.

SO......all my symtyms bar the occasiional sore throat and swallowing issues all the neck ache etc just went slowly . I have a sore throat today but its deffo a normal cold / flu sore throat so don,t care !

So was all this due to anxiety of the hospital appointment , prolonged sore throat ,brought on acid stomach , chest neck pains , burning skin etc..

I think alot was brought on due to anxiety from guinely being ill , to bringing things on myself due to worry ????

You did ask ..lol..:D , It must have been as i,m feeling much better now .

Hope this helps
Hey brilliant post I know it's not funny but reminds me of what I was like if I had eveything I thought I had would be in guinness book of records for getting over the most fatal illnesses at one given time :blush:

[Mic]

Hi Guys

Thanks for both responding I appreciate it. I suppose the shock of whats happened to me is huge and I'm just so frustrated that I'm still feeling like this after two months. Just feel totally lost, hopeless, detached and stunned.

Andrew :ohmy:
Ditto that's how I felt but now it is down to you to floa past it all and let the feelings flow and say out load this is great and it's fine to feel like this for now. Also was too scared to take the cit as I read the POSSIBLE side effects and freaked out so imagined that after taking one I might die!!! how sad is that!!

[Bravedart]

Thanks for responding Mic. I hope your doing ok today. It feels good to know my symptoms are experienced by others and I'm not alone although I do wish you didnt have them :D.... The weird thing is my Anxiety started out the blue with a panic attack and I do not feel anywhere near as panicky now. It's almost turned into physical stuff. I suppose that may be the meds working in terms of the anxiety and panic? Thanks again for responding it means alot. Its weird how this can just appear and be so bloody devastating.... Oh well I'll keep thinking, what does not kill me will make me stronger but i tell you i'm a strong person but this is really testing my reslove...:weep: Andrew

[Bravedart]

Forgot to say I'm on same med and dose as you Mic.

[itoldyouiwasill]

Hi Guys

Thanks for both responding I appreciate it. I suppose the shock of whats happened to me is huge and I'm just so frustrated that I'm still feeling like this after two months. Just feel totally lost, hopeless, detached and stunned.

Andrew :ohmy:


This is very common, people often think that it can't be anxiety as they perceive that it has gone on for a lengthy period. The truth is that mental anxiety can brew for years before it becomes a physical condition and once this happens it is ALWAYS chronic, honestly 2 months is no time at all...in my case it took me 3 years to become symptom free and to this day I still get the occasional 'flashback'

The crucial thing to remember is that if you allow yourself and your body the time to recover it surely will and it will a great deal quicker than if you are constantly analysing your symptoms. I notice somebody else mentioning Clare Weekes, that is a very good shout, her books are dated compared to the latest therapists etc but she truly knew her stuff and is wel worth reading.

[Mic]

Thanks for responding Mic. I hope your doing ok today. It feels good to know my symptoms are experienced by others and I'm not alone although I do wish you didnt have them :D.... The weird thing is my Anxiety started out the blue with a panic attack and I do not feel anywhere near as panicky now. It's almost turned into physical stuff. I suppose that may be the meds working in terms of the anxiety and panic? Thanks again for responding it means alot. Its weird how this can just appear and be so bloody devastating.... Oh well I'll keep thinking, what does not kill me will make me stronger but i tell you i'm a strong person but this is really testing my reslove...:weep: Andrew
No you won't feel panicky now but you got in fear of symptoms cycle and the more you fear them the mre you will get them, think of it as Anxiety is a BULLY listen to what its doing but then turn the other cheek it won't know how to handle that!! tough love this thing accept it face it and float through it you can and you will

[Greenman50]

Nice posts guys :D, hope you all have a good Sunday :yesyes:

Made me feel better aswell :D

Bed time for me !

[Bravedart]

Thanks so much you guys I really appreciate your advice and support. Its very difficult for loved ones to relate and understand what we are going through. I'm glad I joined this site. Cheers to you both.:yesyes: Andrew

[Bravedart]

Cheers Mel, Night.

[Mic]

Also guys remember your a womble:D I think it frustrates loved ones as we even know ourselves we arn't ourselves. At first I wished my partener could feel like I did so he would understand now I think please don't let him get it I couldn't live with it lol anyway chins up guys no google for any of you else will be thinking allsorts!! Alos get plenty of sleep I can talk look at the time I will be ill again in the morning !!

[Bravedart]

Not at all you sound as though your getting to grips with it :) I know I've just realised the time. I'll need to go and stare at the ceiling shortly. :huh:

[Mic]

nite take care, you will be feeling better soon:D

[monkfishjoe]

Hi All,

This is my first post here. I've been reading various sub-forums on NMP for about the past six weeks (since I had my first major panic attack).

I have had a lot of symptoms that Bravedart has had (particularly the eye symptoms - flahes and shadows in the peripheral vision of my left eye and constant floaters). I've had the shakes, dizziness, numbness in my left arm and foot, aching joints, headaches- you name it.

I have always worried about CJD (though the shrinking rational part of my brain realises it is highly unlikely), but I did the stupid thing of Dr Google and realised that Anxiety/depression is the first symptom of vCJD and I am the perfect age for it (28)...It has been freaking me out for the past couple of days, but this has really helped.

I just want to say a big thanks to you all!