How does anxiety effect you?

[TubbyMcTat77]

For me it's:
Feeling nauseous
Needing the toilet urgently
Sweating and hotness
Prickly feeling on my chest and hands
Heavy feeling in my chest

Currently not on medication as it isn't constant but seems to be flaring up more and more lately, especially when I am in places or situations out of my usual routine. Sometimes breathing and distraction techniques can help, other times not so much.

Just wondering how other people experience and deal with anxiety?

[Mumma1984]

@Trustmeimamidwife yeh defo that must be hard, I had a misdiagnoses when I was a kid and that started my HA - I also got sepsis in labor which was scary - my doc once told me you should see the amount of 3rd year med students that think they are dying and a lot of the time they choose things like MS and ALS, they know too much and create symptoms worrying!

[Trustmeimamidwife]

@timefortea79 I hope your appointment brings you relief and good news!

@Mumma1984 I find it really hard to trust doctors.
Also in the car on the way home, I always remember minor things I forgot to mention and I just think ‘oh my god, I forgot to tell them this insignificant and very minor detail!!! They didn’t have all the facts, that must mean that their diagnosis is incorrect!!’


Having health anxiety while working in the NHS is quite frightening- I feel like I know more than the average Joe because of my job but I have to consistently remind my anxious self that I do not have the medical training that a doctor does. It’s hard seeing things go wrong at work with patients because most people can rationalise it whereas I can’t.

[alwayscauseastir]

CBT helps with the cycle of anxiety. For me, sickness was a huge problem. I felt sick all the time, so didn't want to eat. But I knew I had to eat, but then I'd feel sick about the risk of being sick so I'd not bother. It's a case of mind over matter, I have to actually have a word with myself before I sit to eat. Convince myself that I HAVE to eat (which of course I do). And then just take small steps, building up my portion sizes.

Luckily, my bouts of anxiety have lessened a lot after my CBT. And now when I do have them, the effects aren't as shocking as the weight used to literally drop off me, making me very fatigued.

[MythicalBiologicalFennel]

All of the above! I normally keep on top of my anxiety through exercise. I have recently developed a health problem that means I cannot exercise. As a result my anxiety is through the roof. My health problem is making me anxious and it's in turn made worse by worry... I am out of strategies!

[tobee]

Catastrophizing !

Another anxiety word.

[Nogodsnomasters]

Physically: heart palpitations, dry mouth/throat, spacey feeling in head, stomach churning, nausea, shaky hands, sweating, chronic tension headaches, muscle tension, more frequent bowel movements.

It sucks balls.

[TheoriginalLEM]

Sometimes, although i feel relieved when i talk to her. She seems toget it"

[Mumma1984]

Does everyone else struggle to trust their doc when they tell them they are physically well?

[timefortea79]

I am currently waiting for an appointment for a breast lump. I swing from being absolutely certain I have some kind of terminal cancer, to thinking all will be well.

Other symptoms are palpitations, aching back, stomach pains etc. which are likely to be linked to anxiety than more than anything else, but at 3am it means the absolute worse case scenario.

Health anxiety is horrific and I'm only realising now that I've had it on and off for years

[TheoriginalLEM]

I have found my people!

Pretty much all of the above in one shape or form. It's exhausting and robs me of so much.

I over think EVERYTHING, convince myself I am useless, people don't like me and I'm going to lose my job. I double check everything. Health anxiety is the worst but now its crept into every day life.

Physically:
Palpitations
Tingling
Shortness of breath because i don't actually breathe- i hold my breath and end up gulping air which leads to trapped wind which leads to indigestion which leads to fear of impending heart attack or stroke.

Lack of sleep - I wake anytime between 3 and 6 am and worry.

It means I don't do things, it means I stick my head in the sand and procrastinate.

I do the "If I don't worry about x it will happen"

I went out in flimsy shoes last night to fireworks because id put one of my doc martens on the wrong foot and am convinced if I'd changed it something bad will happen. I have to walk a specific way to work and another back and will not deviate. Scared of magpies and picket fences (outs self to anyone who knows me). I'm a 49 year old woman with a PhD in science FFS.

Phew - that feels better

[tobee]

Yes it's very exhausting!

[Spoonsmum]

@Trustmeimamidwife you sound exactly like me. Exhausting is the word :(

[Spoonsmum]

@tobee that is me. If I constantly think of ‘the bad thing’ then it won’t happen. If I say to myself “ I’ve got (x) wrong with me” then I won’t have.
It’s so debilitating. I’ve got health anxiety and emetophobia it is so draining

OP I get hot, dizzy, can’t swallow, blurry vision, numbness of hands and arms, very irritable and short with people, back ache, belly ache

Sorry to all of you suffering with anxiety

[Mumma1984]

@Trustmeimamidwife I had a breast lump in pregnancy that was benign and I panicked to death for ages, but I didn't get all these extreme symptoms that I have now I'm scared of MS again, I'll agree with you on that it is exhausting!

[Trustmeimamidwife]

@Mumma1984 cancer is my fear. If I have anything wrong (even if it’s just a sore throat or a red spot), I panic that it’s cancer. It’s absolutely exhausting.

[Mumma1984]

@tobee I know the doc keeps telling me that! But I feel like every symptom leads to my worst fear of MS, they say that's because I know every symptom of it... which is a fair point because I do - wish I stayed ignorant!

[tobee]

Stay away from Dr Google!

[howdy31]

I have the exact same worries as @tobee. I get a lot of chest pains on and off but only if I'm feeling anxious. Or if I get pins and needles etc I think that or a stroke or something

[Mumma1984]

Oh also I had 2 weeks Ish of thinking I could smell smoke on and off ... I think that's what set this anxious episode off ... when you google that it says brain tumor basically !

[tobee]

Heart attack/stroke generally but cancer if I have certain symptoms Mumma.

Btw, there are some really good books you can read to self teach cbt. Might be worth looking into while on waiting lists?

[tobee]

@TubbyMcTat77 I'm on a low-Ish dose of slow release beta blockers. Although I take them daily, I believe you can take them as and when anxiety occurs/is likely to occur. Maybe you could find out from your gp?

[Mumma1984]

@Trustmeimamidwife @tobee @howdy31 what illnesses do you worry about or is it everything?

[Ilovemyhairbeingstroked]

Brain fog , constant tiredness, constant feeling of doom , unsettled bowel movements.

[Potplant]

Not particularly related to health. I'm far more likely to brush off health concerns until my arm is falling off.
However the DCs are half an hour late home and I'm climbing the walls.

[howdy31]

Health anxiety for me too. It sucks!