bluepoles
06-27-2007, 10:00 AM
Hi,
It’s my first time here. Quick bio, I’ve suffered and conquered various bouts of anxiety & associated clinical depression since I was 16, and 3 major episodes in the last 9 years. Medicationwise I’m on 150mg of Venlafaxine (Effexor XL) per day. I’m 41 now.
Why am I here? Well, it looks like I’m on the downward spiral again this week. And trying to combat a raft of shifting physical symptoms – that follow a pattern I know all too well. What’s really frustrating/scary is that despite history and familiarity telling me that these symptoms are anxiety based I’m looking for reassurance again, and attributing the sensations to organic illness.
Here’s the current list:-
Chills
Burning sensations across the shoulders
‘Crawling’ sensations around the neck and shoulders
Flushing and sensations of pressure around the neck
Aches
Numbness around the face
Tingles in the scalp
Nerve ‘flashes’ or zaps
Dizziness or weakness in the legs
What’s driving me crazy is my inability to calm these symptoms through breathing correction. I’ve never really noticed hyperventilation in terms of panting although I do recognise that if anything my breathing is shallow even to the point of holding my breath whilst in anxiety mode. Would this count as hyperventilation?
When my hypochondria kicks in I definitely adopt a kind of cotton wool attitude, I feel very fragile and do notice that I physically respond to that with a weakened body language. (Not sure if I’m describing this properly?). I guess I’m very aware of doing anything physically that might exacerbate the symptoms which leads to a kind of inertia. I’m also becoming very aware that my body language and a kind of ‘rictus’ facial expression.
It seems like these symptoms are, (as I’ve previously experienced), with me 90% of the day. Not really panic ‘attacks’ but could my anxiety be forcing a constant surge of adrenaline that produces these symptoms and makes me feel ill constantly.
I really want to try to manage this all again before it gets out of hand. The last thing I want to do is start on the Tests spiral again which inevitably finds nothing and provides only momentary reassurance.
Any help would be most appreciated.
Thanks for listening.
It’s my first time here. Quick bio, I’ve suffered and conquered various bouts of anxiety & associated clinical depression since I was 16, and 3 major episodes in the last 9 years. Medicationwise I’m on 150mg of Venlafaxine (Effexor XL) per day. I’m 41 now.
Why am I here? Well, it looks like I’m on the downward spiral again this week. And trying to combat a raft of shifting physical symptoms – that follow a pattern I know all too well. What’s really frustrating/scary is that despite history and familiarity telling me that these symptoms are anxiety based I’m looking for reassurance again, and attributing the sensations to organic illness.
Here’s the current list:-
Chills
Burning sensations across the shoulders
‘Crawling’ sensations around the neck and shoulders
Flushing and sensations of pressure around the neck
Aches
Numbness around the face
Tingles in the scalp
Nerve ‘flashes’ or zaps
Dizziness or weakness in the legs
What’s driving me crazy is my inability to calm these symptoms through breathing correction. I’ve never really noticed hyperventilation in terms of panting although I do recognise that if anything my breathing is shallow even to the point of holding my breath whilst in anxiety mode. Would this count as hyperventilation?
When my hypochondria kicks in I definitely adopt a kind of cotton wool attitude, I feel very fragile and do notice that I physically respond to that with a weakened body language. (Not sure if I’m describing this properly?). I guess I’m very aware of doing anything physically that might exacerbate the symptoms which leads to a kind of inertia. I’m also becoming very aware that my body language and a kind of ‘rictus’ facial expression.
It seems like these symptoms are, (as I’ve previously experienced), with me 90% of the day. Not really panic ‘attacks’ but could my anxiety be forcing a constant surge of adrenaline that produces these symptoms and makes me feel ill constantly.
I really want to try to manage this all again before it gets out of hand. The last thing I want to do is start on the Tests spiral again which inevitably finds nothing and provides only momentary reassurance.
Any help would be most appreciated.
Thanks for listening.