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.

Thanks Loki I walk as much as I can but have nerve damage in my feet from Covid so it's not possible every day. I had a long walk yesterday with my friend which I haven't done for ages (was having a good day) and the tiredness has no doubt contributed to an all round rough day
I'm glad I ventured out though.

ArseInThe CoopWindow I grind my teeth and don't realise I'm doing it. My DH tells me. I do tremble but internally. Hard to describe.
I'm going to get up now and try and sit downstairs. Everything feels like such a mission today!

I realise I said I rarely go out then said I go for walks which doesnt make sense sorry.
I probably have a walk round the block for about 20 mins a few times a week if I can

Hi wild 💖 Trembling on the inside is exactly what I feel like sometimes too!

Today’s walk (slow and with lots of sitting on a bench while little one played) helped my mood but my legs feel like jelly now. I don’t think I’ll manage more housework today although I really need to try and put the clean laundry away

Trying to confront something I’m anxious about, by making some notes to discuss at DS’ appt with camhs.

Wild - sorry to hear about your trapped nerve. That sounds painful.
Sing - glad you had a good walk. I think anything after 7pm can be tv or dvd time! So I'm calling it a day!
Hope your son's appointment goes well 🙂

This is my lovely, energetic kitty. She's been very cuddly the past few days 😊 She likes having me at home. She also likes it when I wake up in the middle of the night cos it means playtime for her 🤣
Anyone else got pets?

Loki she's adorable!

Aww thanks. She a bundle of energy. I keep asking if she'll share some of that endless energy 🤣

Aww what a cute kitty

Sing well done getting out for a walk.
I think taking notes for an appt you are anxious about is a great idea.

My evening was better. Watched some tv with my family and had a big bowl of pasta.
Now the only one up having a cuppa and feeling more peaceful.

Hoping tmrw is a better day for all of us

I’ve got two cats unfortunately whenever I try to take a picture of them they tend to head-butt the camera was trying to watch a show on my iPad earlier and the cat knocked the bloody thing over

I too seem to be scared of everything though I wish I was one of those “gives no fucks” type of people, just tend to overthink. Even if I know something will undoubtedly make me anxious/is a trigger, I find myself doing it anyway . Now is a rather good example, with half term ending have to get back to the daily grind and despite knowing I have to wake up early here I am

Such a cute kitty 😍 we don’t have any pets. I’d love one but want to get life a bit more sorted first as I struggle so much with life admin, housework etc as it is. And DH doesn’t like cats 🤬

Sorry you found it hard to sleep tea I should have gone to sleep earlier too. It was hard getting up this morning but thankfully my 3yo woke up in a decent mood so it wasn’t a stressful time, and much as I’m tired I feel better for the walk. Glad to be back in routine - home ed and housework are so much harder when she’s at home. But the problem is I’m generally too tired to make the most of the time. 🤦🏽‍♀️

Some relatable info about struggling to go to bed attached as screenshots!

Sky - I know what you mean about pets. It can feel like you have another child in the house. And then there's the vet's bill's and the mess they make! My cat is really good for my mental health, so for me, the other things are unimportant.
It's good to have a routine, isn't it. I've managed to do a bit of tidying and go for a short walk. I'm doing a quick lunch now. DD has uni classes today, so I'm back on duty 🤣

Wild - glad you had a good evening and a peaceful morning. Mirtazapine is making me sleep longer than normal. It's very strange but my daughter has been waking up before me! When I do get up, I'm so groggy for ages.
Tea - cats just know when you're trying to take a photo or video of them and make it as hard as possible! My cat, Loki was hyper this morning, so my first job of the day was to play with her 🤣
Hope you have a better night's sleep tonight 💐

I had approx 4-5 hours of sleep but have had a rather good day so far been doing lots of work and my CEV parents have gotten their vaccines booked so rather happy about that

My cats are scared of everything haha, I looked at one of them and they ran away🤣 they’re twins 😍 and almost two

We toyed with getting a pet but we babysat my friends dog and it made me sooo anxious. I couldn't relax

teaandcustardcreams how lovely would it be to" give no fucks". I've been wondering whether faking it til you make it works. Glad you had a good day.

Sing that sleep info is so true. Me every night! DH and DS go to bed 10/10.30 and because evenings are my least anxious time I want to stay up. So I do and it's a mistake. Eventually sleep about 1ish and get up at 7 to get my DS up for home learning. Sleep is v broken though.
Then about 2 I can't keep my eyes open so have a (too long) nap so I'm not tired at bedtime and on it goes...
Then wake up extremely anxious as I'm so tired and don't know how I'll "do" the day

Well my anxiety is somewhat raised by the fact I have had a shielding letter not entirely sure why although apparently history of GD puts you on the list. I had it in my last pregnancy. Bugger. But apparently you can still go for walks.

Sing - it must have been strange getting a shielding letter. I'm at my most anxious when I'm stuck at home, so would really struggle with that. Hope the weather behaves, so you can go for nice walks .

Wild - why did your friend's dog make you anxious? I love dogs. Would love to walk other people's dogs for them but worried that I would do something wrong.

Tea - not sure you can fake that one! I lack confidence and have been trying to 'fake It till I make it' at work. Then got criticised and my confidence is at rock bottom now.

I've done some gardening this morning at the church gardens near me. It was good but very tiring.
Got some flowers and card from work yesterday. It really made my day, knowing that people care about me 😊

Aww Sing what a shock for you xxx I've heard of lots of people on MN getting one due to gestational diabetes

The dog..I just worried if she was ok all the time. She cried a bit. I'm just not used to dogs at all

Hope everyone is doing ok today.
I had a 40 min walk early this morning as my feet are behaving and I'm pleased about that. It gave me a boost

Well done wild! Early walks are meant to be great for controlling your sleep cycle too.

I had a bit of a lie in today but not as long as I wanted as DH thought my phone call was 8.30 not 9.30 🤦🏽‍♀️ But still it was nice to take advantage of the fact I’m apparently not meant to do the nursery run if I’m shielding. I’ll have to think longer term how much notice to take of the letter (it’s not like I’m working etc so life is pretty contained anyway) but yesterday I just let myself accept I was totally knocked for six by the news, and I’m not expecting anything of myself today. Had a nice time playing a cooperative game with DH and DS, I’m trying to make sure we have some quality time rather than focusing entirely on academics.

I had a phone call from the coordinator of a volunteer project I’m joining. Bit scary but I think it’ll be brilliant for my self esteem as well as I know it is something I can do well, and it will help me build up my experience for a future career.

I also had a call from the GP and they’ve given the go ahead to start escitalopram.

Sing this is a positive post. Lovely!
Especially the project (a great boost!) and your medication

Sing - I'm so pleased to hear about your project. Looking forward to hearing how it goes. Hope the new meds are okay for you💐

Wild - glad you enjoyed your early morning walk 🙂

I've started the day by tackling the housework. Having a much needed rest now. Why is cleaning and tidying so exhausting?!

Hi all, Can I join you? I've had anxiety for years but it's been mostly under control. The last month or so it's really flared up and I'm really struggling.

I have two cats, definitely feel like I have an extra two kids in the house at times. At least I can explain to DD if I need space, the cats don't seem to understand that.

I'm a mature student and struggling with university work at the moment. Sorry if it's already been mentioned on this thread, have any of you reached out to employers / lecturers etc and found it helpful? I'm thinking about reaching out but also feel like what's the point as there isn't anything they can do about it, it's just one of those things at the moment.

Nice to have found this thread

Hi zebra welcome! I am sorry you’re struggling. FWIW I think it’s totally worth reaching out. You don’t need to ask them for anything, but it’s good to keep them in the loop, especially so they’re aware if you start to struggle with deadlines - and knowing how my anxiety presents that can make it even harder to actually ask for an extension etc because I totally overthink. Whereas if you send a brief message saying you’re struggling a bit with XYZ, I think that would be well received and hopefully make it easier to then ask later if you need.

I hope you’re enjoying your course, what are you studying if it’s not too outing? I’m currently doing a basic course about children’s mental health but I’ve got behind (which I predicted when schools closed again, so I was very glad I did email my tutor before I needed to). I’m a bit worried about keeping up with uni (hope to start OU in autumn) as I was keeping up really well until mid January. So annoying.

My work coach just phoned and said she won’t discharge me yet (she’s sort of meant to as I’m not actively looking for paid employment right now) so that’s absolutely made my day - she is just so nice and I feel looked out for IYSWIM. She’s calling again in a month so I’ll be able to tell her about my first training session, and I’ve also promised I’ll ring the OU before then to discuss enrolment and student support etc.

Hi zebra
I've told tutors about MH problems before, not in detail but all the relevant bits (deadlines, not being able to speak on occasion etc). It's definitely worth doing, they'll have heard it before and they can support you. Are you in contact with the disability support service at your uni? (might be called something different). They'll usually have something like a Personal Learning Plan or a Student Support Plan or similar, where your needs in relation to the course are outlined and it can be shared with the relevant tutors on a need to know basis. It saves explaining every time