I worry about everything

[daisychained]

All the time. It's making me exhausted.

I worry about my health.
I worry about my family.
All normal I suppose, but it's daily.

I worry about the smallest things.
It's embarrassing.

I was late for work yesterday because I was worried I didn't close the front door properly.

I worry I haven't turned off all the appliances and it ruins my day if I'm out.

I lie awake at night thinking I can hear burglars or strange noises.

The strong wind makes me worried that something will fall onto the house.

Lots of other things but it's too embarrassing to list them all.

I've told someone on real life and they just laughed and said I need to stop worrying.

Does anyone else fell worried all the time? Or have you found ways to stop?

Yes, I am the same. Especially about my health, and my family. A few days ago I spoke to my GP who has prescribed sertraline. She told me This is an antidepressant but also used for anxiety and OCD. I have taken it for 4 days so far, but am hopeful.

I really do understand how you feel, it's awful and life consuming.

I feel worried every day for no specific reason. I wake up with a vague anxiety that casts a pall over everything.

For example, felt worried going to work yesterday. I had no particular reason. I just felt it was going to be difficult in various ways.

I had a very successful day at work, looking at it objectively. I was creative, optimistic, productive and patient. I haven't given a single thought to any of these things and they have given me very little satisfaction. Instead, I have spent my time worrying about a situation where someone was testing my limits on a particular issue and I feel I could have handled it better. I even woke up at 2.30am worrying about it. And now I'm worrying about being too tired to face the challenges of this (perfectly ok, really) day.

It really pisses me off and it's exhausting. I don't know how to stop it, so commiseration s, op. I do feel very similar.

Worrying about things can be absolutely exhausting, I sympathise OP.

I know it sounds like a minimising solution but I've found when I exercise every other day it really helps calm my mind. Yoga has helped a lot too, especially when there is a meditation at the end.
Is that something you do or could try?

Thank you both. I'm sorry you feel the same. It's reassuring that Im not alone in feeling this way.

I try to exercise a few times a week. It's usually cardio so not sure if that's the right thing to do. I was considering yoga.

A lot of the research these days is pointing to generalised anxiety being related to a rich blend of biological and lifestyle factors as well as psychological factors.

So you may get a lot of responses about how things like CBT may help, mindfulness, etc. And while this is true, there are some more foundational interventions that may help as well.

Diet is a big one for example, if you eat a diet full of sugar and processed food, this plays havoc with your blood sugar giving you highs and lows in your energy levels and by eating a whole food diet (no foods that have more than 5 ingredients - Frankenstein foods) you start to ‘set’ your base biology to be more stable, less prone to high emotions. There’s lots more to that, but reducing inflammation in your body brought on by toxic food has a remarkable impact on your susceptibility to stress.

Sleep is another, so sorting out your sleep hygiene so you get at least 7 hours a night....vital for managing stress. Look up Matthew Walker.

Exercise and movement is another, walking, running, swimming, yoga....whatever tickles your fancy but super important for the general stability of emotions.

You may be one of life’s worriers, but you can do things that reduce that toll and personally I’d start with lifestyle interventions before you go down the road of doing psychological work.

I was like this - I felt mentally exhausted all the time because my mind was always worrying. At times, I would feel frantic with worry over trivial things, but they felt so consuming.

The best thing that helped me was taking a mindfulness course - it taught me how to recognise these feelings and how to distance myself from them. It also included lots of breathing exercises and mediation practices which I still use now to 'force' my mind to be quiet and give me a break. Can you look into something like this? I can really recommend Insight Timer app which is free.

Have you tried meditation? Might sound silly if you've never tried it, but can be a great 'mind reset'. Try the headspace app or the headspace series on Netflix. It takes a few times to really learn how to do it, especially if you have a busy mind.

Not going to cure you (sounds like you possibly have anxiety, so go to a GP!), But might give you some peace and help you learn how to calm yourself down.

I already have a healthy diet, exercise and sleep well. I used to meditate and have recently introduced this back but plan to do more. I started taking At John's Wort yesterday but it takes a long time to take effect. I think menopause really doesn't help but I was quite like this before too.

This sounds exactly like me and then I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, I walked al the way to work once which took 40 minutes and then had to walk all the way back because I was in such a state that my front door wasn't closed properly (and then I was worried that I had to leave work and they would be mad ect) I take sertreline now and it makes such a difference, I still worry but certainly not as much.
I have had CBT which helps at the time but doesn't seem to help me.long term although I do use some of the techniques when I'm having a particularly bad day and it does help a bit I suppose.
Definitely speak to your GP op good luck!

@margaritasbythesea

I already have a healthy diet, exercise and sleep well. I used to meditate and have recently introduced this back but plan to do more. I started taking At John's Wort yesterday but it takes a long time to take effect. I think menopause really doesn't help but I was quite like this before too.

Where in the menopause journey are you?

Have you considered HRT?

I've always been a huge worrier too, since I was a child! It has actually improved a lot over the last year since I cut out caffeine. Worth a try? I'm convinced it's helped me a lot, I'd say my current worry levels are lower than they've ever been before.

Sounds like me. Sometimes I feel like I find things to worry about otherwise my day is not complete 😳. Then I chastise myself because it wasn’t worth it and it spoilt my day.

@hamstersarse At least a couple of years. I had the Morena fitted a year ago due to ceaseless, heavy periods. I've thought about Hrt but find the information conflicting and confusing and I do give up with it quite easily to be honest. Also, it hasn't really been a year in which I wanted to contact the GP too often or I probably would have gone to speak to her.

I deal with the same thing. I have been a worrier ever since I was little and sometimes It gets very out of hand. I tend to catastrophise all the time and I've been told its generalized anxiety disorder. It's so easy for others to say to stop worrying a but it's not that easy.

I'm sorry I can't offer anything better @daisychained but just to say you aren't alone

If this high level of anxiety is fairly new - it could be down to the inbalance of hormones due to the menopause. The Mirena is progesterone but it might be that you are lacking in estrogen.

HRT can really help with this. Do use the NHS, that is what they are for.

I will do, thanks. It's easy to think it's something I should be able to just fix myself but I'm sure you are right really.