Feeling seriously sick for prolonged amounts of time from anxiety?

[savingkie]

I've had anxiety as long as I can remember, yet I don't think I've ever experienced symptoms such as these ones. For about two months now, I've been feeling VERY sick at least once or twice a week- my body aches, I feel very tired, I feel like I need to throw up (but I'm not necessarily nauseous, if that makes any sense), my throat feels tight, and I overall have a feeling that I need to stay in bed all day. I have emetephobia and OCD (and most likely a touch of hypochondria, but that hasn't been officially diagnosed) and on select days during the week, randomly, my brain just decides to tell me that I'm sick. There's nothing I can do from there on- the same old miserable symptoms roll in, and I'm stuck in bed for a day (a day if I'm lucky, it's been two full days before). On those days, everything reminds me of being sick, the room I'm in will remind me of being sick, the way I feel reminds me of being sick, and I can't even approach my bathroom as it reminds me too strongly of vomiting, which I feel as if I'm going to do. It makes my parents really angry as they think I'm just saying I'm sick to be a pain, but I'm not. It's also miserable for me, as I miss out a lot with my friends, especially now, as it's summer. It's even worse when this happens during the school year, but I don't even want to talk about that right now. Even if I don't feel extremely panicky or anxious, the symptoms are still present, and they make me feel so disgusting. I wouldn't be as bothered by these symptoms if they only accompanied my panic attacks, but they don't- they last for days. Sitting around in bed isn't the best thing for my anxiety either, and I'm convinced I've started to develop a bit of depression. This can't be normal, and I just don't want to deal with it anymore! Does anyone else suffer from the same thing as me? What should I do? Thanks for any advice :(

[RavenM]

Have you seen the doctor about this? Sorry to hear you aren't feeling well!

[savingkie]

Have you seen the doctor about this? Sorry to hear you aren't feeling well!

I haven't as it seems that it correlates with my anxiety, but maybe I will! And thank you! :)

[Xerosnake90]

Anxiety is underlying, so even if not feeling anxious symptoms can still be there. I feel that's when the questioning comes into play as we will feel ok, then question the symptoms since we think we should be ok. Now that I know I've had anxiety for so long I recognize now when I'm being affected by it. Before understanding I had anxiety I would just refer to the feeling as getting bored, grumpy, etc.

And yes, you can certainly feel sick and depression is another big part of it. That's what keeps you wanting to stay in bed and not hanging out with your friends despite you knowing you'll have fun. You have to force yourself to go so that it doesn't develop into a deeper rooted problem. Anxiety is so to say caused by us not going through with our desires and you staying home is exactly that. Anxiety can also mimic actual sickness, I've read about medical students who'd learn of problems and convince themselves they have it. False pregnancies can happen , even accompanied by morning sickness and stomach bulge. That's something right?

My personal experience, caught a stomach bug in May that took me two months to recover from. Would've been 3 weeks if I wasn't convincing myself every couple of days that i was still sick. Causing extreme nausea and anxiety spikes. Ended up losing 15 - 20 pounds which along with feeling sick put me in a mental hole that I'm still climbing out of. I'm happy to say that I've taken steps in my life to finally change what I've always wanted to work on. In confident my anxiety will be bested, I've been ignoring it so long without even realizing what the problem was. Take the right steps, and remember that focusing on anxiety and symptoms will cause you to have more of both . Focus on correcting what you think is wrong, go out and see your friends. Dont let yourself feel sick. If you need to see your doc to alleviate worries feel free, if you're confident it's anxiety know that only fulfilling your needs can cure it. Take care!

[NixonRulz]

I've had anxiety as long as I can remember, yet I don't think I've ever experienced symptoms such as these ones. For about two months now, I've been feeling VERY sick at least once or twice a week- my body aches, I feel very tired, I feel like I need to throw up (but I'm not necessarily nauseous, if that makes any sense), my throat feels tight, and I overall have a feeling that I need to stay in bed all day. I have emetephobia and OCD (and most likely a touch of hypochondria, but that hasn't been officially diagnosed) and on select days during the week, randomly, my brain just decides to tell me that I'm sick. There's nothing I can do from there on- the same old miserable symptoms roll in, and I'm stuck in bed for a day (a day if I'm lucky, it's been two full days before). On those days, everything reminds me of being sick, the room I'm in will remind me of being sick, the way I feel reminds me of being sick, and I can't even approach my bathroom as it reminds me too strongly of vomiting, which I feel as if I'm going to do. It makes my parents really angry as they think I'm just saying I'm sick to be a pain, but I'm not. It's also miserable for me, as I miss out a lot with my friends, especially now, as it's summer. It's even worse when this happens during the school year, but I don't even want to talk about that right now. Even if I don't feel extremely panicky or anxious, the symptoms are still present, and they make me feel so disgusting. I wouldn't be as bothered by these symptoms if they only accompanied my panic attacks, but they don't- they last for days. Sitting around in bed isn't the best thing for my anxiety either, and I'm convinced I've started to develop a bit of depression. This can't be normal, and I just don't want to deal with it anymore! Does anyone else suffer from the same thing as me? What should I do? Thanks for any advice :(

Wow. Couldn't have written my early stages of anxiety any better

I felt sick every day from the moment I woke up to the time I dropped off to sleep

You wake up being anxious about being anxious. Once your anxious, you overthink everything and you feel like you are on edge.

Then all those really cool physical symptoms come to wreak havoc on your day

I would find that I was so uptight that I was constantly clenching my teeth and fists

And then you begin to worry (imagine that) that this will never stop and it makes you depressed

Stay depressed long enough and you just graduated to depression.

That was my life

I felt like that for so long. I tried everything from books to therapy to natural remedies

Books educated me which was good, therapy did a great job wasting my time and money and natural remedies didn't help a but.

Not that these things couldn't work for you, just didn't for me

It wasn't until I finally agreed to go on AD's that I finally got back in track

The problem I had, and I assume it's true with you as well, is you can't calm yourself enough to focus on the root cause, which is understanding and coping, then ultimately defeating an anxiety disorder

The AD allowed my mind and body to return to a much more normal state where I could enjoy life again

During that time I went all in to learn everything I could about my disorder, and I had all the anxiety disorders

One day it just stopped scaring me. The panic couldn't screw with me anymore because I no longer feared it.

Not that I didn't have an attack creep up but when it started I never reacted because I didn't fear it anymore. It lasted only a few seconds until they stopped completely.

And I still have my anxious thought. When my heart skips a beat or I get a pain in my chest, my first thought is heart attack. Then I realize it that is anxiety selling me a lie, so I don't buy in and it goes away.

This does stop. I never thought it would and I'm happier in my life than I ever was prior to my anxiety woes.

Makes me appreciate things much more

Hope to see you post some great progress news in the coming weeks

Dang. That was a long reply.

[RavenM]

Seeing a doctor can help give you piece of mind. That way when you feel that way, you can remind yourself that you aren't really ill and I find that the reassurance helps me. It never hurts to go. My doctor is very compassionate towards anxiety sufferers and is willing to run any tests i need to prove to me that I'm okay and help me feel better. :) however I try not to be a hypochondriac and have only been to the doctor for my anxiety twice in the 3 1/2 years I've been suffering.

[NixonRulz]

I know! I used to go to the doc early on for everything thinking it was fatal.

Didn't you know a hang nail could get infected and you would die a horrible death?

With could have been convinced of it at the time

What a jackass I was. Geez.