Constant anxiety...

[GSnow]

Hi my names Gareth I'm a 27 year old male and suffer with anxiety symptoms everyday..

I can remember back to being in my early teens It all started with having an obsession feeling my head for lumps and bumps and thinking I had a brain tumour and checking my pulse to see if its beating normal... Back then I never really had symptoms of any sort it was just a thought in my head.

Now every morning when I wake up I feel on edge and anxious before I even step foot out of my bed. I constantly think about health and dying etc from the moment my eyes open, scared that today might be the day I pass out/faint or die.. The minute I think about that the physical symptoms kick in like feeling dizzy, shaky, dry mouth, sweaty palms and feet, breathlessness, tight chest, feeling like I'm going to faint or die of a heart attack or just stop breathing etc... It's making me feel physically tired and always nervous/on edge and not feeling normal..

At the moment I'm not working until next week and I'm home alone as girlfriend is at college all day and kids in nursery.. I hate being left alone as I'm a complete nervous wreck and all I do is think google then suffer... I'm constantly spaced out and even when I try to sit down and try to relax I can't because I have to always shake my legs or move for some reason..
Everytime I leave the house to walk to the shop I feel dizzy and hot halfway on my journey and just want to rush home..
I can't deal with this anymore I think I am dying and I really don't want to yet... I think about leaving my children without watching them both grow and I'm scared I will be forgotten by my partner and kids..

I have not been to the doctors in years as I'm scared they may find out I'm really ill and I get bad news.. But I really need to go as I have not had a good day for a while.
I have suffered with this since being a teen and when anxious etc i can't eat, sleep or do anything.. On good days I normally go to the gym or family days out and I'm fine at work usually.

I don't know what to do from now and I know I need help :(

[GSnow]

I forgot to say I'm obsessed with my breathing to at the moment and feels like I can't breathe properly..

[Confusedpanic]

Oh my goodness! That doesn't sound to good, but to put you at some ease, many here have been dealing with the symptoms you describe. It seems like back in your teens you may have had an obsessive compulsive habit linked to anxiety, which is just a nasty combination.

I personally had the the dizzy feelings when I go outside and I would also get really hot. I had times where the world felt hazy and I felt like at any minute I'd fall over and collapse. I wasn't comfortable and couldn't talk. Like, you, I had some good days where I didn't have problems, but it became more and more frequent. I had a really bad episode of this once in class once that I managed to pretend was not happening and then just zombie walked in panic to the health services where they suggested I might be suffering from panic attacks. It seems yours may be definitely more serious since they are happenign everyday.

I think you NEED to go to the doctor. They have medicines to treat anxiety like xanax, which I personally use. It may be redundant of me saying this because it's likely that other people on the boards know I advocate this a lot, but please go to the doctor and get your vitamin D levels checked. Mine were extremely low and we are thinking this is what triggered my random anxiety. Many people have been cured by getting their levels up to normal, and thanks to a person on here I found out about this and have sought to treat my anxiety this way, not just use things to manage this. Some people with even lower vitamin d levels than me say that they have even worse constant panic and anxiety issues. I need you to go to the doctor, panic walk, if you have to and make sure they do a blood test of vitamin D. I can't tell you how much taking vitamin D supplements has helped me. The xanax will also help you in the meantime as you get any possible deficiences up. See if they can also check for iron and b12 levels which are also super important. Make the appointment as soon as possible. In the meantime, drink some camomile tea to help calm you. Also, try these belly breathing excercises that might help you catch your breath. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRIV2R3jzaQ

When you get into a calmer state, read some things over in the sticky posts as they have also helped me psychologically. Reminding yourself that nothing bad will happen, that you won't fall over even if you feel like it, can help.

[GSnow]

Thank you for the reply... Camomile tea is amazing lol I have brought it with honey and one with peppermint etc it's all I drink at the mo :)

It's weird somebody else mentioned about vitamin d too so I will defo look into that.
I am defo going to go to the doctors as its been going on for so long now.
So everything I'm explaining by the way I feel to my symptoms is all to do with anxiety?? It's so hard to believe that all of this is in my head... How can it cause these symptoms.. Don't get me wrong i do also have good days but it is beginning to be alot lately..
I did get the sack 2 days before Xmas day because my work van got broken into which caused me a bit of stress and now im late paying bills and rent etc... could that of triggered all this off as I've only been this bad lately since that happened.

[Confusedpanic]

Thank you for the reply... Camomile tea is amazing lol I have brought it with honey and one with peppermint etc it's all I drink at the mo :)

It's weird somebody else mentioned about vitamin d too so I will defo look into that.
I am defo going to go to the doctors as its been going on for so long now.
So everything I'm explaining by the way I feel to my symptoms is all to do with anxiety?? It's so hard to believe that all of this is in my head... How can it cause these symptoms.. Don't get me wrong i do also have good days but it is beginning to be alot lately..
I did get the sack 2 days before Xmas day because my work van got broken into which caused me a bit of stress and now im late paying bills and rent etc... could that of triggered all this off as I've only been this bad lately since that happened.


It may have been Damavandi is an advocate of vitamin D here and is the one that got me helped greatly with understanding how much vitamin D would help my anxiety. I take deficiency level dose of vitamin D 10,000 IU a day + 300 mg magnesium. As a vegan I also am not making sure to supplement with b12 and iron as that can be a problem spot for us that can lead to health problems and relatable symptoms to anxiety.

Sounds exactly like panic attacks to me. Keep in mind though that everyone has slight differences in how they experience them. My grandma also had them (might be a genetic predisposition for me) and she felt like she was having a heart attack and had to go to the hospital. I remember feeling a weird panic feeling in my chest once that I was going to have a heart attack, but I managed to calm down, though I have a feeling she probably felt something similar to what I did and just freaked out more.

feeling dizzy, shaky, dry mouth, sweaty palms and feet, breathlessness, tight chest, feeling like I'm going to faint or die of a heart attack or just stop breathing etc...

This is exactly symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks. I never had the dry mouth issue though, but I do believe some people may get that. For me it's my zoloft that gives me dry mouth! I'd have panic attacks or moments when I'd feel like I was going to lose my mind and go crazy. It's awful. When the doctor first suggested panic attacks I went back to my room and looked up the symptoms and cried, realizing how closely they resembled how I had been feeling, and now I had a name to describe these horrible feelings and moments of dizzyness and confusion. For me, I was sure it wasn't all in my head. I know a lot of people say anxiety is in the head, and I think for some people it is. Some people have social phobias or other anxiety that can be remedied by cognitive therapy, but for me it was more of a "physical anxiety" that I "FELT", not so much that was mental, as I had never had issues leaving my room or going out before, but now I did so I knew it couldn't just be my head alone. My therapist wanted to suggest it was in my head too, that I was stressed yah dah yah about my dad's death or other life circumstances, but I kept telling her I was positive this wasn't causing it because I didn't have this reaction until quite a bit after my dad had died. She just told me that I'm my best doctor and she supports me in seeking my own answers. Though I'm not too happy with her pushing the subconscious idea. But indeed for some people it can be a subconscious thing, for me, I just felt like I had physical nutritonal deficiences that led my body into these panic states which freaked out my mind. The doctors lab reports confirmed that everything else was normal for me, I just had really low vitamin D, which made sense because I stayed inside a lot.

Some people have certain triggers of their anxiety, for some they have multiple things that have just added up and eventually turned into anxiety. My grandma just says "stress" caused her anxiety and that it eventually just went away with the help of the xanax. I can't say what it is for you. You will have to take time and come see what it is for you. It may take trial and error to see, and sometimes people aren't sure at all the cause of their anxiety. I tend to think there is a strong, basis of lacking of a certain vitamins/minerals, but certainly other worries and stressors in life can possibly cause or heighten it. Kind of like how people can get anxiety and go into panic attacks because of needles or something. (I had a boyfriend who would have a panic attack everytime he got stabbed with a needle) We all are different but we can certainly do everything we can to rule out possible things, which is why I suggest the vitamin D test, because I have a good feeling that that can be at least a part of it in many people's cases.

[GSnow]

Thanks again.. The reassurance really helps and even talking to someone about it takes a weight off my shoulders.. I know it sounds horrible but it's actually nice talking to someone and knowing I'm not the only one going through this..
I have always had an active lifestyle but don't really think about taking vitamins and supplements. I am 100% going to mention this when I get the courage to go to the docs.

How often do you go through your panic and anxiety?? Are you open about it with everyone?? I feel as if i mention it to people they may laugh or think I'm weird etc so tend not to talk about it..

[Confusedpanic]

Thanks again.. The reassurance really helps and even talking to someone about it takes a weight off my shoulders.. I know it sounds horrible but it's actually nice talking to someone and knowing I'm not the only one going through this..
I have always had an active lifestyle but don't really think about taking vitamins and supplements. I am 100% going to mention this when I get the courage to go to the docs.

How often do you go through your panic and anxiety?? Are you open about it with everyone?? I feel as if i mention it to people they may laugh or think I'm weird etc so tend not to talk about it..

Nope problem!! I know what got me through my really rough period of anxiety, when I had just started the medication but still felt awful (took a few weeks to relaly kick in) was this forum and the many people who had inspiring stories and empathized with my sensations, having dealt with them them self. Believe me I'm super glad to to know that I wasn't the only one going through this. Because when there are others, you can look to them for their advice.

Yep! Hopefully the doctor is receptive to you mentioning the vitamins/minerals...some... tend to be a bit more skewed to wanting to treat every darn thing with pharmaceuticals that they get paid to prescribe. (Which is why I often think they leave vitamin D, iron, and b12 tests often off blood test results. My school was the one that had the test for it and did it, my other primary care doctor didn't, so I had no idea until it was too late, when I was having full blown panic attacks, and not just the warning signs where I would get headaches a lot and felt "off"I had gone to her previously with headaches and just not feeling well, irregular menstrual cycles, and instead i was put on birth control HA turned into freaking panic attacks a month or so later.....stupid waste of time.) I have told my primary care doctor now about how I found out about vitamin D and how that could help me and she was supportive at getting me those tests done as well as checking my b12, but she actually had to give me a referral to go somewhere else and get it done because like I said, they don't test for it there. -_- (which I still need to do, but once again, they aren't doing it there........but that can be a whole other story of which I have money and scam theories of) Hopefully at your doctor they have a test they can do there, otherwise you'll be going somewhere else. Yeah just because you have an active lifestyle doesn't mean you can't be deficient in something!!!

Hmmm well during late September I started noticing I had trouble going out....like, I felt too tired, lazy, and just lacked motivation and energy to do anything. I felt like I was becoming...depressed, and I would have crying spells for know reason, that felt physical in origin. This happened every few days. I told my boyfriend at the time too that I think I was getting depression...which was really weird for me cuz I was such a happy person. Around October time I started having more days where I felt like I "couldn't" leave my room, like I'd fall over and pass out. I felt lethargic and just not good. I ordered food in a lot because I was too afraid to go to the dining hall with whatever I was "feeling." I went to my health servies telling them I felt "physically depresesed" not mental depression. It was hard to get them to understand that. But they did blood results and it turned up to be vitamin D defiency and I was told to just take a multi vitamin with it to supplement. I thought I could do that and be fine, and my vvitain D level would go back up. By Mid october they started getting even worse where I'd have periods where I would lose all focus, I'd get dizzy, I felt like I was going crazy, and I could only stare at a wall for an hour. I had trouble talking during these episodes. I invited my boyfriend over right as I was having one and he just sat with me as I remaind completely quiet, tempted to get him to call a freaking ambulance cuz I thoought I was losing it. My body eventually pulled out and recovered and I was able to talk to him again, but it was exhausing and draining. I felt like this was surefire depression and that maybe my birth control was causing it so I immediately stopped that.

Like I mentioned before I had a really bad one in class that left me just knowing I had to do something about it. I felt like I seriously was going to die in the waiting room of our health services. Nothing was in focus, I coldn't focus on anything, I could only fast breathe and focus on not dying. I got pulled into the room, and had to wait a long time for the nurse to come in. I cried for awhile, and it slowly lifted to where I could see more clearly and think clearly again. I had been previously referring to these episdoes as "depressive episodes or attacks" But at the nurse I finally learned these might be panic attacks. So, I found this out, but was afriad to tell my mom. That night after the health services though I was literally laying in bed for hours, unable to really get up or do anything because I just felt so bad, my heart felt fluttery constantly, I felt panicky and super depressed. It lifted later that night but I had had enough and was tired of dealing with it. I finally told my mom and she rushed up and got me and took me to the doctor. That was around the end of october by now. On the way there I had another episode had trouble talking and just wanted everyone in the car to keep quiet because I was suffering. Finally got to the doctor though and I got medicine for xanax and zoloft. For the next two weeks or so, I still had the fluttering in the chest that I couldn't realy explain....I could feel my heart beating weridly a lot and it freaked me out, I still felt out of it and had trouble going anywhere. My mom was about to pull me out of school. I stayed home from school for a few days to determine what I was going to do. This board really saved me as I got the determination and willpower to tell myself that I wasn't going to fall over and die, that I could do this, that if I just faced my problem I could overcome it (at the time I was thinking it partly a mental thing that I had to overcome) I got taken back to my school, went to my room and cried for awhile. But was glad I found the strength to do that. Like I said, for those next few weeks I was still panicky but having the zanax and zoloft on hand gave me an extra boost to continue on. The zoloft really helped cheer me up when I took it at night. It felt really relaxing and nice. The xanax I didn't really feel like it did much for me but they say it takes a few weeks to get the full effects. I was able to bring the xanax with me and go to my classes mostly now, missing a few when I had bad days, but letting all my teachers know what was going on.

Around early november I still felt like I needed more explanations to my anxiety which is how I found the vitamin D thing. I realized that the dose I was taking was actually way too low to correct a deficency and may be why I ended up not getting better but ended up becoming worse. After about two weeks of taking 10,000 IU and magnesium, ithose fluttery feelings in my chest were gone. I became able to talk again. (Before I had trouble talking to people. Everything felt like a huge effort and it felt like a mental drain to talk at all.) And my focus was coming back (I forgot to mention I had had trouble focusing in class) I started being able to really focus on the teacher again, whereas before I just couldn't get my mind to focus. Continuing with this I only started to get better to where I took xanax less and less frequently. I would occasionally have a mild fluttery panic but nothing as bad as I experienced mid to late october. I'm not supposed to really feel 100% better until my vitamin D level is above 50. not sure where it's at right now. Plan to get another blood test soon.

For the past few days I've had mild panic attakcs. I've been worreid they have resurfaced or something. Went out to eat with family last night and kind of had that "feeling"...I could still talk but I was a bit out of it, spacey and just didn't feel right. I've been taking the xanax still. I could still have low levels or I might have something else going on that brought on these uncomfortabel feelings. So I'd have to say I occaisionally get these panic feelings again, but not full blown panic attacks. And yeah I do tell people I think need to know because they tend to sympathize and be supportive, plus I like telling them the things I'm doing to try to help myself. I managed to pass all my classes this semester and kept my job too as she was understanding and I talked with her about it. She understood when I had to take a day off or two. No one should laugh, it's a serious issue, god forbid they or someone they know has to deal with this. Full blown panic attacks are not pretty at all. For the most part I'd say I'm 80% better and I'd be in a hell state if it wasn't for the meds and vitamin D. I am so sure of this I kind of want to write a book about it!

[hannah0117]

Nope problem!! I know what got me through my really rough period of anxiety, when I had just started the medication but still felt awful (took a few weeks to relaly kick in) was this forum and the many people who had inspiring stories and empathized with my sensations, having dealt with them them self. Believe me I'm super glad to to know that I wasn't the only one going through this. Because when there are others, you can look to them for their advice.

Yep! Hopefully the doctor is receptive to you mentioning the vitamins/minerals...some... tend to be a bit more skewed to wanting to treat every darn thing with pharmaceuticals that they get paid to prescribe. (Which is why I often think they leave vitamin D, iron, and b12 tests often off blood test results. My school was the one that had the test for it and did it, my other primary care doctor didn't, so I had no idea until it was too late, when I was having full blown panic attacks, and not just the warning signs where I would get headaches a lot and felt "off"I had gone to her previously with headaches and just not feeling well, irregular menstrual cycles, and instead i was put on birth control HA turned into freaking panic attacks a month or so later.....stupid waste of time.) I have told my primary care doctor now about how I found out about vitamin D and how that could help me and she was supportive at getting me those tests done as well as checking my b12, but she actually had to give me a referral to go somewhere else and get it done because like I said, they don't test for it there. -_- (which I still need to do, but once again, they aren't doing it there........but that can be a whole other story of which I have money and scam theories of) Hopefully at your doctor they have a test they can do there, otherwise you'll be going somewhere else. Yeah just because you have an active lifestyle doesn't mean you can't be deficient in something!!!

Hmmm well during late September I started noticing I had trouble going out....like, I felt too tired, lazy, and just lacked motivation and energy to do anything. I felt like I was becoming...depressed, and I would have crying spells for know reason, that felt physical in origin. This happened every few days. I told my boyfriend at the time too that I think I was getting depression...which was really weird for me cuz I was such a happy person. Around October time I started having more days where I felt like I "couldn't" leave my room, like I'd fall over and pass out. I felt lethargic and just not good. I ordered food in a lot because I was too afraid to go to the dining hall with whatever I was "feeling." I went to my health servies telling them I felt "physically depresesed" not mental depression. It was hard to get them to understand that. But they did blood results and it turned up to be vitamin D defiency and I was told to just take a multi vitamin with it to supplement. I thought I could do that and be fine, and my vvitain D level would go back up. By Mid october they started getting even worse where I'd have periods where I would lose all focus, I'd get dizzy, I felt like I was going crazy, and I could only stare at a wall for an hour. I had trouble talking during these episodes. I invited my boyfriend over right as I was having one and he just sat with me as I remaind completely quiet, tempted to get him to call a freaking ambulance cuz I thoought I was losing it. My body eventually pulled out and recovered and I was able to talk to him again, but it was exhausing and draining. I felt like this was surefire depression and that maybe my birth control was causing it so I immediately stopped that.

Like I mentioned before I had a really bad one in class that left me just knowing I had to do something about it. I felt like I seriously was going to die in the waiting room of our health services. Nothing was in focus, I coldn't focus on anything, I could only fast breathe and focus on not dying. I got pulled into the room, and had to wait a long time for the nurse to come in. I cried for awhile, and it slowly lifted to where I could see more clearly and think clearly again. I had been previously referring to these episdoes as "depressive episodes or attacks" But at the nurse I finally learned these might be panic attacks. So, I found this out, but was afriad to tell my mom. That night after the health services though I was literally laying in bed for hours, unable to really get up or do anything because I just felt so bad, my heart felt fluttery constantly, I felt panicky and super depressed. It lifted later that night but I had had enough and was tired of dealing with it. I finally told my mom and she rushed up and got me and took me to the doctor. That was around the end of october by now. On the way there I had another episode had trouble talking and just wanted everyone in the car to keep quiet because I was suffering. Finally got to the doctor though and I got medicine for xanax and zoloft. For the next two weeks or so, I still had the fluttering in the chest that I couldn't realy explain....I could feel my heart beating weridly a lot and it freaked me out, I still felt out of it and had trouble going anywhere. My mom was about to pull me out of school. I stayed home from school for a few days to determine what I was going to do. This board really saved me as I got the determination and willpower to tell myself that I wasn't going to fall over and die, that I could do this, that if I just faced my problem I could overcome it (at the time I was thinking it partly a mental thing that I had to overcome) I got taken back to my school, went to my room and cried for awhile. But was glad I found the strength to do that. Like I said, for those next few weeks I was still panicky but having the zanax and zoloft on hand gave me an extra boost to continue on. The zoloft really helped cheer me up when I took it at night. It felt really relaxing and nice. The xanax I didn't really feel like it did much for me but they say it takes a few weeks to get the full effects. I was able to bring the xanax with me and go to my classes mostly now, missing a few when I had bad days, but letting all my teachers know what was going on.

Around early november I still felt like I needed more explanations to my anxiety which is how I found the vitamin D thing. I realized that the dose I was taking was actually way too low to correct a deficency and may be why I ended up not getting better but ended up becoming worse. After about two weeks of taking 10,000 IU and magnesium, ithose fluttery feelings in my chest were gone. I became able to talk again. (Before I had trouble talking to people. Everything felt like a huge effort and it felt like a mental drain to talk at all.) And my focus was coming back (I forgot to mention I had had trouble focusing in class) I started being able to really focus on the teacher again, whereas before I just couldn't get my mind to focus. Continuing with this I only started to get better to where I took xanax less and less frequently. I would occasionally have a mild fluttery panic but nothing as bad as I experienced mid to late october. I'm not supposed to really feel 100% better until my vitamin D level is above 50. not sure where it's at right now. Plan to get another blood test soon.

For the past few days I've had mild panic attakcs. I've been worreid they have resurfaced or something. Went out to eat with family last night and kind of had that "feeling"...I could still talk but I was a bit out of it, spacey and just didn't feel right. I've been taking the xanax still. I could still have low levels or I might have something else going on that brought on these uncomfortabel feelings. So I'd have to say I occaisionally get these panic feelings again, but not full blown panic attacks. And yeah I do tell people I think need to know because they tend to sympathize and be supportive, plus I like telling them the things I'm doing to try to help myself. I managed to pass all my classes this semester and kept my job too as she was understanding and I talked with her about it. She understood when I had to take a day off or two. No one should laugh, it's a serious issue, god forbid they or someone they know has to deal with this. Full blown panic attacks are not pretty at all. For the most part I'd say I'm 80% better and I'd be in a hell state if it wasn't for the meds and vitamin D. I am so sure of this I kind of want to write a book about it!

Hey, this is nice... thanks... these kind of threads really helps me get through... knowing one day everything will be back to normal or much easier rather than the "state" I'm in now.
I have an appointment tomorrow with my doctor, i'll ask him about the vitamin D defeciency and b12

[mistiblue]

I absolutely understand! At the moment, I have constant anxiety and the physical symptoms are overwhelming. Shortness of breath, dizzy, shaky, tired, and stomach issues. I take magnesium when b they get bad and it calms the symptoms down. I also drink lots of chamomile tea as well. Exercise also helps temporarily.
I can sympathize with you, your not alone.

[Goomba]

http://anxietyforum.net/forum/showthread.php?30789-My-Hypochondria-Was-The-Best-Thing-To-Ever-Happen-To-Me

May be of some help.