Would any one like to join in an anxiety support thread?

[Heatherandmoss]

I’ve seen lots of posts recently about people having a bad time with their anxiety and I thought an on going thread might be good do people can bob on and offer and receive support, share tips and just generally empathise with some one going through the same thing.

I’ve had anxiety since I was about ten ( I realised after my psychiatrist was able to help me pin point my earliest memory of it)

I think there is a bit of misconception of anxiety as some people think it’s just general worry - but it’s not.

When my anxiety rears her head it’s so physical. I sweat, my face can go numb, pains in my chest. I have a feeling like some one is kicking my front door in and I’m scared for my life and I could just be hoovering. Anxiety jolts me awake when I’m asleep and it rolls down my body like thunder. It makes me catastrophize at 3am and my feet start rubbing against each other ( weird) My anxiety makes me walk in to the kitchen with my kids empty dinner plates and suddenly feel so so over whelmed I struggle for breath and tears leak out in a gasp of raw emotion - all done silently so my kids can’t hear me.

I’ve had to give up drinking alcohol because Jesus the anxiety the next day was shocking and lasted days until I suddenly stepped out the anxiety room.

My anxiety has been bad since November as I’ve got some things going and I’m worried my heart is going to pack in because of the extra ‘thud thud thud’ overtime it’s being doing!

Exercise does help me take the edge of sometimes. I nearly went to the GP the other day as it was rotten but at this moment of time I need to be switched on.

Today has not been to bad. I’m considering it a win.

So I’ve you’d like to join in or have some where to say ‘holy fuck it’s bad today’ hopefully more people will be here and you will know some one knows how bad your feeling.

Wishing all on here a good Tuesday xx

Thanks Wild, I've had another hectic but good day at work 🙂 Had a doctors appointment. I've decided not to increase Mirtazapine dosage for the time being. Have made tea and done chores. My cat's in lunatic mode, so had to play with her!

How is everyone doing? X

Hi folks. A good day here. Long walk with the dog, then took my first propranolol to see how I did with it. Felt ok, in fact felt good for the rest of the day. Will do the same tomorrow in case it was a fluke.

Am hoping it will give me the confidence to get back to work, but early days yet.

Hi Gin, glad to hear that the propranolol helped you and you had a good day.

What work do normally do? Hope you can get back work soon 💐

Gin that's great news about the propranalol. I was prescribed it when I had pnd/anxiety but only took one as I felt very sick afterwards and attributed it to that. Maybe it wasn't though. Might talk to my gp about trying again.
I am feeling ok today so far today.
I took a piriton last night so slept better but still feel groggy so having a quiet day.

My cold is on the way out. Thankfully it didn’t seem to settle in my chest as they often do.

I just had my first volunteer training session, it was fab! But I feel quite shaky now. Does anyone else feel like it takes a while to “come down” from an anxious situation?

I volunteered to be the scribe for one breakout session, so I had the scary job of feeding the notes back to the whole group (7 others today, usually there will be 8). Speaking in front of others (although not on video per se as the “whiteboard” was up so they could type up what I said), scary! Also the social anxiety about whether I’d missed anything, whether people would be annoyed if I didn’t represent what they’d said properly, would they think I was doing a bad job etc... aaaaargh. But I felt it was important I tried it and I think it went ok.

It’s just that now I feel a bit wobbly and will likely take a while to recover!

Hi Sing, well done on doing your training session. It sounds nerve wracking. I get what you mean about taking a while to come down from an anxious situation. Hope you are feeling a bit calmer now 💐

Thanks loki :) it probably didn’t help I was also back on the stimulants after a few days off (I didn’t bother taking them when full of cold as I could barely move anyway!). I still feel a bit wobbly but much much better thanks :)

Hi Wild, glad you're feeling okay and slept well. Propranolol is the best med that I have tried for anxiety.

That's good Sing, glad you got rid of the nasty cold. What are the stimulants for?

I find propranolol good for the physical symptoms - the fluttery heart and chest pain. I often forget to take it until I get really panicky though.

I’m on stimulants (Elvanse) for ADHD :) I had awful side effects on 30mg which I started about five weeks ago but now I’m on 40 it seems to be a bit better thank goodness

Can I join please?
I’ve always struggled with anxiety and was diagnosed with anxiety, depression and PTSD as a teen. I’ve managed to okay but in lockdown I left an abusive relationship and it triggered my PTSD so my GP put me on sertraline. I’m still struggling and some days are quite bad but I’m 6 months pregnant with my 2nd so I’m reluctant to increase my dosage any higher. Chatting to others who understand will definitely help

Hi, rainywindow, welcome to the thread 😊
How are you finding Sertraline? I couldn't tolerate the side effects. Well done for leaving the abusive relationship 💐

Happy to chat anytime 😊

Hi Rainy, I'm on sertraline too and I've found it really helpful. Looking forward to chatting :)

Today has gone quite well. Work was a bit too hectic at times but I'm coping so far. Looking forward to Friday!I noticed I was doing the excessive yawning thing I do when I'm stressed. Does anyone else do that?

I've started doing star jumps to lose weight and generally feel better. Hope the motivation lasts!

Hope everyone has had a good day 😊

Glad you're getting your meds sorted Sing
Welcome rainy Fantastic news that you are out of the abusive relationship.
Loki I'm glad your day has gone well. Great news.
My day has been fine for the most part. Did do much but I managed a walk in the sun and took a few pics.
I have an online event at 8. A talk by a psychotherapist on self esteem and self care. Looking forward to it!

It's been a tiring day today. I struggled with my misophonia. The children at work were noisier than normal and it felt like they were literally screaming down my ear. I had to discreetly move away a little bit.

Stress levels are high at work. I struggle not to take other people's moods personally. I've had to keep reminding myself to try not to take things personally.

How's everyone doing 💐

Ugh noise is so tough on anxiety loki :( DH has misophonia worse than me but both of us find it worse when stressed for sure

I managed a little admin today but then little one has to isolate again and I also got a universal credit appt. I think that means I’ll be told to find work now, which is really exciting in one sense as I’m frankly itching for a life outside these walls! But it’s also making me anxious because I don’t know what to expect from the process and what if they make me do something that I’m not able to manage physically aaaargh

So basically the rest of the day has been a write off.

Hi Sing, I hope universal credit support you to get back to work and don't push you to do anything that you are not able to. I had a horrible experience with them a few years ago. If they try to make you do something that is too much, get your doctor to support you. That's what I had to do. I've heard about people getting a lovely work coach. Unfortunately for me, I got someone really pushy.

Sing, have you and your husband found ways of coping with misophonia?

loki I get what you mean about work being hectic! It’s been my first whole week in a while and I am shattered! Sorry to hear that it’s been stressful, it’s awful when they’re noisy.

Welcome rainy and well done WRT your relationship. Do you know if you’re having a boy or girl?

I get what you mean sing, fed up of the four walls but worried about going out! I like lockdown in that I don’t have to bother with meeting people, on the other hand it’s lonely and then again I’d probably be similar even if we weren’t in lockdown ... so I guess it’s a win-lose situation.

Been doing okay for the last few days, up and down, been resting as it’s my days off. Had the vaccine and doing rather well with that, arm a bit sore but otherwise rather well. Think that despite the tiredness that getting back into a routine has been rather good for me. I’ve been sleeping earlier and falling asleep faster, though waking up way before my alarm

Not really 😬 we just try not to take it personally when the other is suffering and getting grumpy, and if one of us wants to eat at those times we stay away from the other.

What happened with the work coach? I guess it’s one of those things where it’s a lottery, like our family support worker was amazing (I miss her so much 😭) but others have had a nightmare with that service.

I’ve got loads of evidence to show I’m working towards a career in the long term (I’m 34 so I have time!) but they may feel that’s irrelevant when I need to work now. I remembered I do have an NVQ3 in customer service as my library job actually started as an apprenticeship. So that might help me find something that doesn’t involve being on my feet all day or stacking shelves etc - that was the part of the library work that made me ill, I had my first flare up of the CFS soon after increasing to full time hours.

I get you tea it’s a fine balance between not overloading ourselves socially, and isolating ourselves too much! I feel like I’ve forgotten how to have proper conversation

Hi Tea, glad work has been okay for you and you haven't had any side effects to the vaccine. I've been waking up way before my alarm too. I think it's because it's getting lighter earlier.