Anxiety symptoms?

[hopegone]

My life is becoming unbearable. Work stressful although I kind of love it, it's inherently stressful and there have been extremely stressful situations lately with no support. Management are awful, bullying and unsupportive. My home life is stressful with horrible people who put me on edge constantly. I'm autistic so have an anxious baseline I guess. I haven't seen family in months, just colleagues.

I'm experiencing weird symptoms every day. Things like my face goes numb, vision blurry, flashing, feeling like spiders or water on my skin, feeling like I'm suffocating or can't breathe, heart pounding, today it was chest pain like it was being squeezed, frequently get like electric shocks throughout my chest, neck, stomach, back. I'm waiting on a gp telephone appointment, been waiting weeks.
The rational part of me says all of this could be anxiety. I've been diagnosed before but couldn't afford to keep up prescription of sertraline although it helped.

Things are just getting worse and worse. I feel like it must be only anxiety because the symptoms are much less frequent when I have days off work. But I never feel particularly stressed or anxious - I guess I'm always anxious - at the time. Just normal.

My question is can life ever get better than this? I'm thinking I should try the sertraline again first when I speak to the doctor. Any experience of that helping with these kinds of physical symptoms? I need a little hope.

Would it be worth phoning the surgery again? Do you actually have a telephone appointment booked that you are waiting for? It sounds like you need to speak to someone sooner rather than later. Whilst many of those symptoms could be attributed to anxiety it would be good to know there aren’t any other causes.

Re the prescription costs, have you thought about getting a pre payment certificate? It can work out cheaper if you are on regular medication.

www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/help-nhs-prescription-costs/prescription-prepayment-certificates-ppcs

If your home life is stressful but you haven’t seen family for months are you in a house share? Any chance of moving? I hope things improve for you soon and, with restrictions easing shortly, get to see family soon

I'm waiting on an appointment yes. They said as it's been going on for such a long time I have to wait as it's routine even though I havent seem anyone for years.
I try not to think it's anything else. Presumably the doctor would have called me by now if they were worried, I assume they think it's just MH.
It makes me feel guilty to even ask for an appointment but I cannot stop the symptoms with anything I've tried

Anyone?

Hi, sorry to hear that you are struggling. Your doctor should have got in touch with you as soon as they were able to. I phoned my doctor with anxiety symptoms ( palpitations, exhaustion ). They got back to me in an hour. I've had anxiety for 24 years, so it's definitely ongoing. That doesn't mean that you don't need support. It's not just MH. Your mental health is just as important as your physical help.
Phone the doctors again. I read recently that you can get help with paying for medication. I'm in a low paid job and have recently been prescribed Mirtazapine and propranolol. I need to look into getting help with prescription costs.
Hope things get better for you 💐

Life can definitely get better with the right support and meds. Hope you have someone to talk to.
You can always chat to me and others on hear. A few of us are on an anxiety support group on MN if you would like to join that.
I'm waiting for an autism diagnosis. It would explain so much of my life. Like you I always have anxiety in the background and sensory issues that make my life unbearable.

Thank you for your responses. Yes I read about other peoples GPS responding quickly and it reaffirms my deep seated belief that I am worth less than other humans.

Are memory issues common or possible with this sort of anxiety? Any experiences? I'm in a very set routine when I can control the situation ie out of work (autism) but recently I wake and can't remember where I got to in my routine. Sometimes I'm going to bed and get confused and think I'm getting up for the day. It's disorientating a and not usual for me. This has happened a few times.

How much sleep are you getting? Sometimes I get as little as 2 hours sleep which after a few nights does cause memory issues. If your not sleeping well, try to rest as much as possible 💐

Yes absolutely stress can affect memory. You do sounds very stressed and unhappy.

Medication, good sleep hygiene, good nutrition, meditation/mindfulness, exercise... these are all good tools for maintaining well-being. Start with one, then add another each week.

You are absolutely as valuable as every other human being and you deserve to feel better than this.

With the prescription, would you get it for one of your family if they needed it? I think you need to prioritise your health. After all, what is the point of life if we are just miserable?

Yes I am focussing on more sleep where I can, doing meditation, diet, decreasing caffeine and alcohol, exercise. But it hasn't helped enough which is why I feel medication is worth a try again.

Wow if you're doing all that - which is a lot - then yes please do consider medication. Can you prioritise the spend? Can you convince yourself you're worth it?