The ongoing symptoms of anxiety and HA - your input please!

[Mindknot]

I've just replied to another thread on this board, and be coincidence it's about something that I have been pondering for a while... and that is, the ongoing, 24/7, non-stop symptoms of anxiety - how they start and all the trouble they can cause.

Thing is, it strikes me that a lot of the symptom explanations that you find are about "sudden fear" whereas I think a lot of people on here would agree, anxiety is more a constant fear - which makes the symptoms therefore constant. You might not be having palps 24/7 but something like dizziness can crop up all the time without you expecting it. I thought it might be helpful for others if we can offload all the ongoing symptoms that we have now found out to be "just anxiety" into one thread, so that if someone is experiencing X, Y or Z they may be more inclined to consider that anxiety may be also be a cause or that experience, not just an effect. I.e. but my headache/breathing problems have gone on all day, so it can't possibly be a panic attack, it must be *insert serious illness here*.

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I edited out a list of symptoms I started here as it's not helpful... But will leave the posts below as they are more helpful, I think it's good for those newly embracing the idea of treating their anxiety to know that it's not a quick fix in terms of symptoms, you body is wired, and it can take a while to come down, so yes symptoms can continue even if you aren't actively worrying - so try not to allow them to kick off the cycle again!

[Fishmanpa]

Mindknot,

I can appreciate you wanting others to share their experiences. There's a certain comfort knowing you're not alone. I'm sure others will agree and share.

Even for myself, I struggle daily with physical symptoms and side effects which can be challenging mentally but I work hard to keep a positive mindset and not dwell on the pain.

Perhaps instead of asking what others symptoms are (there's an entire page of symptoms here), one could ask recovering members what they did to help themselves. Why dwell on what's troubling you by listing every niggle and symptom?

Just a thought...a positive one

[Mindknot]

Yes, you may be right, this is not necessarily the best approach. I just feel that even the symptoms page here which has helped me a hundred times is worded in such a way that it sounds like these effects only relate to "a sudden fear" or instantaneous reaction... which is fair enough in that, that's what anxiety symptoms are caused by... but although I accepted that I had anxiety pretty much straight away after my first panic attack - it was my lack of understanding/information available about how the "ongoing" symptoms may affect me, that fed fuel to HA... I would go so far as to say I didn't have HA UNTIL I experienced anxiety symptoms on a daily basis. What I'm saying is, even with acceptance of anxiety, it was a big ol' mental/physical hurdle for me because I couldn't find any logic as to why it would keep on affecting me when not "actively" in fear of something...

You're probably right though, another list of symptoms is probably not the tool that is required for the job... okay ppl, ignore this idea!

[Fishmanpa]

But you were spot on in the other thread. Even when not anxious, your body is still reeling from the effects of anxiety. That's why folks twitch and have aches and pains etc. even when they're not feeling anxious per se'. It's like an oven needing to cool down after being on broil for a while.

Positive thoughts

[Katki]

But you were spot on in the other thread. Even when not anxious, your body is still reeling from the effects of anxiety. That's why folks twitch and have aches and pains etc. even when they're not feeling anxious per se'. It's like an oven needing to cool down after being on broil for a while.

Positive thoughts

That's right. I know my anxiety levels are not too bad at the moment , but I feel completely exhausted. It's like transitioning from a prolonged state of anxiety to complete emotional and mental fatigue, the latter of which is probably the hardest to shift...oh well, time and positivity are healers

[Yogi]

But you were spot on in the other thread. Even when not anxious, your body is still reeling from the effects of anxiety. That's why folks twitch and have aches and pains etc. even when they're not feeling anxious per se'. It's like an oven needing to cool down after being on broil for a while.

Positive thoughts

That's how I am feeling now. Like the extreme anxiety is passing but I am reeling from it. Absolutely exhausted and lots of twinges and weird sensations.
It's like the embers of a fire popping and cracking still even though the big flames have died down!
In an ideal world I would take time to rest completely and let my body and mind settle... Instead I'm working two jobs and looking after two young boys! I guess just grabbing moments of rest whenever we can is all that some of us can do and wait for it all to settle down completely.

Hugs to all who are tired too! x

[Katki]

Yogi, exactly! If you can live your life whilst accepting the 'hanging on' symptoms of your anxiety you are a really strong person and should be proud of that!! I think that's amazing. I think anyone who faces anxiety head on and is also looking after thier kids is really amazing. x

[Yogi]

Thanks Katki... Not amazing, just don't have a choice lol!
Have to keep going or there would be no money and I can't let my boys suffer because of my illness. It's hard, feeling wiped out already today but I'm determined to get through it.
Hugs x

[MyNameIsTerry]

Mindknot,

Can I throw something else in as a non HA bod?

How many people with HA suffer more generalised anxiety?

We all know from talking on here that HA and OCD have some similarities. I have GAD & OCD and I found it extremely difficult to work on my OCD without reducing my constant GAD which saw my OCD become far easier to work on...some of it went as I worked on the GAD alone.

So, if people on here suffer other disorders, are they prolonging the HA spikes or perhaps intensifying them or both?

Does that make sense? It just strikes me that people with obsessive tendencies can seem to worry about anything and each one of those extra issues could be reinforcing their more intense issues with HA.

[Mindknot]

Mindknot,

Can I throw something else in as a non HA bod?

How many people with HA suffer more generalised anxiety?

We all know from talking on here that HA and OCD have some similarities. I have GAD & OCD and I found it extremely difficult to work on my OCD without reducing my constant GAD which saw my OCD become far easier to work on...some of it went as I worked on the GAD alone.

So, if people on here suffer other disorders, are they prolonging the HA spikes or perhaps intensifying them or both?

Does that make sense? It just strikes me that people with obsessive tendencies can seem to worry about anything and each one of those extra issues could be reinforcing their more intense issues with HA.

Interesting question, I would say (from an entirely non-qualified point of view you understand) that yes presumably a mis-understanding of the way symptoms work could easily intensify a HA spike in somebody with other anxiety disorders.

In fact, I think you could entirely be describing me I've not been seen by a therapist yet (2 more weeks), so although I have definitely had a period where I could see that all my behaviours were typical of HA (hence why I tend towards this section of the forum), I am now in a place where I've stripped a lot of that back and I can see that it's rooted somewhere else - i got on to health through worrying about dizzy spells and IBS problems I developed, which are caused by anxiety, so there is something else to this, I don't know the letters for it though

Again from my own personal reading, I've only found reference to this happening in reading about HA specifically, if it's just about general anxiety symptoms seem to be stated more like "this is a panic attack" not, this is how you may be feeling 24/7 for months upon end. And for someone like me who has found that the best way of dealing with my anxiety is to smother it with logic, that didn't answer my questions; because in my head the process might be:

1. I am dizzy right now. This is the third time today I have noticed.
2. Checking for anxious thoughts.... not currently panicking, breathing okay, my only anxious thought (that I can see at the moment) is about the dizziness.
3. Therefore the dizziness MUST be independent of anxiety.
4. SH1T!!!!!!!!! etc.

I don't know if this is the same for others with HA or other anxiety disorders or anything, what I do know is it has been a factor that has been difficult for me to quash... still is really, but at least I have slightly more knowledge in my armoury so that I can cut it off, early stage 4, sometimes 3. I see that as progress personally and I know we all think differently and need different tools but wondered if my logic on this topic might help some others...

If I was to apply a well know saying, it would be sometimes in anxiety "you can't see the wood for the trees" - hence that bracketed section in stage 2 - and that's part of what makes it so much harder for some. I think anyway...

---------- Post added at 12:34 ---------- Previous post was at 12:23 ----------

To use a cultural meme, anxiety (of all shades) is a bit like being the kid in Knightmare that had to wear the helmet, with other people (therapists) trying to guide you through the task of getting out of the dungeon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knightmare