Anyone else not coping with covid anxiety anymore?

[thaegumathteth]

I've had health anxiety for years. It peaks and troughs. Was very bad in March April 2020 but has been manageable.

There's me, dh (works from home 75% of the time) and ds (15) and dd (11). Ds had covid (delta?) in October and has had second vaccine last week. Dd too young for vaccines and me and dh triple vaxxed.

Dh is 44 and I'm 40. He is a bit overweight I am severely overweight - massively . I have lost 3 stone but still have a crazy amount to lose. Kids and I have asthma. I'm also disabled with chronic severe pain.

I am CONVINCED I will die if I catch omicron. Just typing that makes my heart race. I am terrified.

Kids obviously at school and seeing friends etc - I don't want them to know how anxious I am.

Ds has a runny nose today and I'm a wreck (in private) imagining all the worst case scenarios. Dh is exhausted from listening to me being in constant panic and paralysed with fear.

I don't really know why I'm posting, I'm struggling. Usual anxiety meds aren't doing anything.

Me.

DH is CEV, immunosuppressed and has poor lung function at the best of times. He already sleeps on a CPAP machine or his lips are blue through lack of oxygen.

If he gets Covid he likely won’t survive, he would be way down the list for a ventilator anyway. I’ve been referred to the MH team. I’m due my second phone session Friday. I’m even anxious about the phone call for my anxiety.

I’m actually at the stage where I wish I could just die because the worry is killing me DC at college so mixing, I barely leave the house & DH doesn’t go anywhere.

You avoided Covid in October when it was in your home, why do you think you would fare worse with Omicron?

It’s Hell, isn’t it? & we seemingly ‘have to learn to live with it’

I'm sorry you're struggling too

Well, omicron is more contagious...

I can’t make your anxiety go away but I can tell you I felt the same - I’m clinically extremely vulnerable and triple jabbed and I now have covid. It honestly isn’t that bad. Maybe I’ve just been lucky. But omicron is the mildest version yet. And being triple jabbed you’d mostly likely be fine. I’ve had a few chest pains, felt a bit tired and run down and a little breathless. But no fever and I’m currently on about day 8. It’s made me feel a lot better oddly enough to just get it and get through it - obviously not suggesting you seek to catch it (!) but please don’t put your life on hold for this.

Thanks @Bagelsandbrie sorry you have it but glad you're not too unwell.

I have more than put my life on hold tbh . I haven't met friends inside for 2 years, ditto been in a shop or a cafe or restaurant. I do let dc do these things but I worry.

I'm so fed up of the worrying it's actually destroying me.

@LifeOfAnxiety sorry I couldn't reply properly earlier as was busy with dinner.

I'm sorry you're feeling so low, I understand. Life can be unbearable living like this

Just bumping for anyone around this evening

A close family member who is extremely CEV has covid (Omicron) at the moment. They are four days in.

They only reason they know they have it was from a positive test. They have no symptoms. Another member of their family went down with a 'cold', and tested positive about a week ago.
They then tested positive three days later.

I am CEV also and take great comfort that the symptoms are so mild, even in the 50+ age bracket with CEV.

@beautifullymad I'm glad they're ok and you're reassured.

I've never had to shield or anything but obviously know my weight which I hate myself for.

Basically every time I sneeze or cough or if one of the kids just isn't 100% then im instantly convinced im dying. I wish I knew how to stop it but it's just getting worse and worse and literally some days it's the ONLY thought I have. I hate it.

Bless you, couldn't read and run. I don't have covid anxiety but I have terrible lockdown/isolation anxiety which probably feels similar. Before Christmas when there was lots of talk about lockdown I felt sick everyday and was constantly tearful. So I do have an idea of how you're feeling. Sending hugs

If it helps at all I have Omicron at the moment and am fine. Just a bit of a head cold. I'm sure you would be too 💜

Thanks @Frederica852 it's awful isn't it - I think the uncertainty of it all makes it worse than if you knew for sure X would happen,

Hope you feel 100% again soon

You’re more likely to die from a stroke or heart attack, from a combination of your weight and the stress you are under from the worry.
Staying in and worrying is making the cycle worse.
You need to start going out every day to get some fresh air and exercise.
Humans aren’t meant to sit indoors, we are designed to move. Worry is a result of your body not doing what it is designed to.

No one else can change this. Knowing others feel the same concerns won’t lessen your fear or make you less ill with stress.

Start focusing on how to climb out of this fear, starting by going out for 10 minutes twice a day and increasing this over time.

I appreciate the sentiment but as I'm disabled I'm not able to do much exercise outside as I use crutches / wheelchair.

Also it'd be lovely if I could just decide not to have anxiety but I can't. Believe me, I've tried. I've had anxiety when I'm rushed off my feet, when I'm home, when I'm out. Always.

OP, have you spoken to your GP about your anxiety? There are various treatments available, from beta blockers to damp down the physical symptoms of racing heartbeat, sweating, etc, to drugs such as Sertraline which reduce anxiety by raising serotonin levels in the brain, to talking therapies such as CBT to help you rationalise and manage the anxiety.
There is no need to spend your life crippled by fear.
And by the way, give yourself credit for your very impressive weight loss. That’s a real achievement, and if you can do so brilliantly with your physical health, I’m sure you can also with your mental health. You just need to access the appropriate support from your GP.

@Babdoc sorry yes should've said I'm on sertraline. Have tried diazepam before but it just made me groggy and still anxious.

I've been referred to mental health nurse at surgery, just waiting on appointment.

Thanks for your kind words

I'm CEV and over Xmas I visited family who tested positive the day after I was there. No windows open, lots of loud talking and hugs and kisses etc.
I tested for a week afterwards and nothing. They didn't have any symptoms and they only found out as one needed a pcr to travel. Due to the area they live they almost certainly had omicron.

I felt exactly this way right at the beginning of the pandemic. My partner is a key worker so I kind of knew it was only a matter of time before he caught it, and I was right.

He caught it in May 2020, passed it on to me, obviously before anyone was jabbed.

I was terrified, and cried when he said some of his colleagues had tested positive. I was so scared.

But .. it ended up quite a non event. We felt poorly for about a week, but not bed bound, able to get up and come down and watch tele. It was nothing like I expected, and I was scared as DP is overweight and smoked for years, plus he's over 50.

I am kind of glad we got it so early on, as I can't imagine my anxiety lasting all this time.

Anxiety really is the thief of joy.

My daughter has Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD).

The lack of mental health support during covid has meant we have had to work out strategies for ourselves. She's also in Sertraline and takes 3/4 of the maximum dose.

Controlling and channeling that anxiety is really hard but can be done.

We use various methods.

We do 747 breathing. This helps convince your brain that your body is feeling calm and it helps dampen down anxiety. The body releases stress hormones as a result of anxiety, this helps break that cycle each time.
7 seconds breathing in through your nose. 4 seconds hold. 7 seconds out through your mouth.

Meditation and mindfulness help.

I encourage her to write her anxieties down and not try to sleep with them all in her head.

We Talk about her fears. Connecting with people who understand really helps.

We try to eat for health getting enough vitamins and minerals and bio friendly foods for the gut.

We try to exercise (I know this is difficult for you).

I use uplifting music

I also do a 'grateful jar' also called a blessings jar. I put a note with positive things that have happened each day, these can be read when you need encouragement.

If I'm feel anxious I need to be grounded and need to be in woodland. I find any connection with nature deeply grounding. I plant spring bulbs In tubs and later this month I'll be planting seeds to grow as plants for the garden. Watching nature grow helps me centre and stops anxiety spinning out of control.

Others may be able to add what they find helps. These are ours.

Thank you

I'm glad @LindaEllen @tintodeverano2 you weren't affected too badly / didn't test positive. It's a lottery isn't it?

@beautifullymad you sound like an amazing mum - I'm sorry your daughter suffers - it is truly awful.

Thanks for your tips - I do most of them anyways and sometimes they help. The blessings jar idea is good. I love being out in nature but again my disability limits that which is annoying.

I'm just always second guessing myself - am I being an awful person for not PCR testing snotty ds?!? Am I endangering others? Should I have let dd go to her club? Did I wipe the door handle enough etc etc etc

You know what really isn't helping and is creating a vicious circle?

Horrendous insomnia. I always suffer from it but I'm on meds which are short term but making it worse. Every night I'm awake until 5/6 and then up at 715. I feel sick and groggy.