Anxiety - how does yours feel?

[maxthemartian]

Reading some of the other threads where people talk about their anxiety, a lot of it seems to relate to worrying about things e.g. health anxiety, that something bad will happen, that people don't like them etc.

Has anyone else got pure generalised anxiety where you're not worrying about anything specific but just have that horrible anxious feeling anyway? Or jittery and on edge for no reason at all?

If it's bad I do sometimes worry that I'm going mad, but I don't even worry that my panic attacks will kill me, I sometimes think it would be a welcome relief!

Yes, me! I do get anxious about health etc but really I have an underlying constant anxiety about everything.
Sometimes I wake up and am already anxious worrying about what I will be anxious about!

Some of it is daft stuff, for example I watched a tv competition where the people had to finish the line of a song, it was the friends one and instead of saying ‘pour’ she said ‘fall’ and lost the competition.
Now every single time I watch friends I panic about the word and tell myself over and over “it’s pour not fall, it’s pour not fall etc”.

Thanks Impulsesealer that's interesting.

I liken how to feel a lot of the time as similar to having -2 drinks. Like the opposite of that nice warm fuzzy relaxed feeling you'd get after two g&ts.

Mine soon as I wake up !
My chest will start heavy feeling
Sometimes I need the toilet with 5 mins.
I can feel nausea and can’t eat, the thought of food makes my stomach turn
If I have to go to places I don’t often go/ or people I haven’t seen anxiety will be very high
I hold myself tense(even notice it, stop it) then without realising I’m tense again.
I can go light headed which is frightening
Also have to take diazepam

I hate it I’d rather have 2 broken legs
And now within few months they’d be fixed.
Was as anxiety rears it’s head over and over anytime if your prone to it

It's a total misery. I agree about two broken legs. I'd take that any day.

Can I ask granadagirl if you take anything other than diazepam for it?

Yer I take
187.5mg venlafaxine and 2.5mg diazepam everyday
Just upped venlafaxine from 150mg
5 weeks ago

I’m thinking off asking gp next time if I can take cbd product with
This combination

I’m sick of 35+ years on/off anxiety/depression
This isn’t a life it’s a sentence
I can’t even contemplate working again

Do you take anything?

I've had on and off anxiety for about 25 years. It's never felt like it's related to what I'm thinking. It feels more biological in nature if that makes sense. Possibly hormones? I'm not sure.
When it's bad I wake up with butterflies in my stomach, a sense of doom, feel light headed, muscles tense up sometimes to the extent that I get jittery and can't stop. Sometimes I get a sort of off balance feeling like I can't walk straight. Sometimes I get panic attacks but mostly it remains just below that level.
It's bloody annoying but I just plough on through and get on with it, I don't let it stop me doing things however hard it feels and eventually it fades away and I can feel better for months or even years.
I think it's made me stronger and more resilient over all these years but it's a real pain the arse and I wouldn't wish it on anyone!

Similar to @100objects but I also over analyse absolutely everything- it's like I don't trust myself to make a decision any more- I'm always looking for validation with my choices. So much so that I'm even losing my sense of who I am and what I actually like in my own right. I make a decision then doubt myself instantly. Some mornings getting going takes forever- it's like I'm almost self sabotaging & I also never really feel like I fully fit in anywhere properly.

It’s misery. I get palpitations, upset stomach, aches and pains and dry mouth. Had GAD most of my adult life on and off. I’ve become an Oscar deserving actress over the years, but god it’s tiring.

I pretty much have it under control at the moment, but my main symptoms were butterflies or just generally feeling sick all the time for no reason, flare up of IBS, and insomnia.
I still get the insomnia, but without the anxiety. When I’m anxious I’ll just think about the same thing over and over, replay conversations from the day before over and over in my head, think about stuff I have no control over, or stuff I have to do the next day even though I can’t do anything about it at that time in the middle of the night.
And a lot of irrational anger, starting fights with dh etc.

@Eminybob I'm the same. I have found it does help if I can prevent myself getting over tired- I'm at my worst late at night and early in the morning.

granadagirl I'm actually taking CBD at the moment and generally it's helpful but I'm having a bit of a flare just now and some external stress so I'm going to start Sertraline in a couple of weeks once I get some test results back. Dreading the initial period of that.

100objects that sounds very similar to me. I have autism as well so a level of anxiety is just part of my life really.

I was okay though then my physical and mental health took a horrible turn a year ago. Anxiety is at awful levels and I now have depression, pain, fatigue and tinnitus in the mix.

I don't get any panic type feelings. I just get absolutely overwhelmed and switch off. I get really exhausted and can't do anything except lie in the dark. I can't even reply to an email because it will feel too intense. I'll literally lie there and starve rather than go to the shop.

Mine is related to autism. I'm really high functioning, but occasionally I'll blow out and all function will stop. I'll barely be able to walk, I'll be so overwhelmed. And I'm a really fit and active person. It's just like a computer crashing

I go through periods of being ok, and periods of feeling absolutely awful. I can normally keep my anxiety under control so that I can do 'normal' things day to day, but by God, it is tiring. My main symptoms are: heart palpitations; feeling like I'm going to faint; light headed; off balance; racing thoughts; over analyse everything; think 'the worst case scenario' in most situations; over emotional i.e. Cry at the drop of a hat but feel numb.

I overreact and panic about everything, at the moment things are really bad and I have spent all day on the verge of tears. I feel I can’t live a normal life. Are there meds I could take for anxiety as opposed to depression?

I have generalised anxiety. Out of nowhere my heart starts racing and I feel like I need to walk and walk and walk to get somewhere I feel "safe". Sometimes I can identify triggers, busy shops and crowds are awful but it can happen at any time. I'm on citalopram and propranolol and it seems to be helping a lot.

I also know that keeping my mind busy helps prevent an attack as much as possible but then I exhaust myself with doing too much. It's a horrible cycle

Also I can always find the worst case and will worry madly about it. DP is very much not a worrier however he is very good at understanding my anxiety.

I also have a general low level anxiety about pretty much everything. I have some fairly consistent triggers for attacks, so I can prepare a bit for that (mostly by making DH aware that it might happen) but there are days when I just wake up jittery and tense for no apparent reason.

Woke up this morning feeling like my skin was too tight and my blood was too thick. No idea what's brought it on! I've been by myself with the DC's all day which has really not helped; I can't abide being touched when I feel like this. Sadly they're used to mummy having days like this

I tend to go over something over and over until in my head the world is ending and it's all my fault. I am in generally a good place with my mental health right now as I'm recovering from an awful couple of years.

This weekend I have been convincing myself I'll get fired for talking out of turn about work in a coffee shop. Some one will have overheard me. They will phone my boss and I'll get fired. Won't be able to pay the mortgage. Won't be able to get another job. Will lose house. Marriage. Kids.

And this is me "well". I messaged the friend I was talking to and she has reassured me.i wasn't too loud, we didn't overhear any other conversations etc and that should placate me but I am now dreading work tomorrow.

Now I'm worrying someone will recognise me from this post

I have social anxiety (I think?!), I hate being out in public by myself or with just me and my children. If I’m with my partner/Mum/friends I’m completely fine. If alone I feel scared and like every single person is staring at me, thinking I don’t belong, judging me etc. This is especially bad on school runs. I have never and will never speak to any other mums, I feel like they’re all looking at me and thinking awful things. I think sometimes I may be right as I’m sure I look like the most insane unapproachable person ever! I’ve no idea what causes it or what to do about it, I just get on with it really

@Pandasarecute you can take SSRI antidepressants for anxiety as well as depression. I took sertraline in the past when I just had anxiety and it worked well after the initial two-week shitshow.

@MigraineMama88 I'm the same about being out in public myself. In my case I'm not self-conscious I just feel intensely vulnerable. I'm physically ill as well and get a lot of fatigue, dizziness etc which I don't think helps matters there. I'm okay going out with my DH and then I have other people who are more or less "safe" depending on how open I can be with them.

I suffered from it a while back and for me it was a physical sensation. At first I thought something was wrong with my heart because it was racing all the time but it was anxiety. It was like adrenaline running through my body all the time (that feeing you get usually in only intense situations like job interviews!) It was horrible and exhausting. Hope I never have a bout again!

@maxthemartian I feel very vulnerable at times too as well as self conscious. Basically I’m a huge mess when I go out. Most times I try and avoid going but obviously there are times when I can’t. I don’t want my children missing out on things either so I just try and grizz it. Things like birthday parties are my absolute hell, loads of mums I don’t know and loads of things going on!