My story - I seem to have every single anxiety disorder possible!

[Teafrenzy]

Hello my name is Teafrenzy a.k..a Adam. 43 yr old Male. My nickname is chosen by my supplement of choice. I am going through at least 6 cups of Camomille tea per day. Plus a nightime "sleep well" team-tea with Camomille and some other stuff. No Meds yet.

The thing is for almost 15 years I worked at one of the most stressful jobs imaginable. A bank - investment kind of job. I was even manager for 3 years and one of duties was to deal with escalations (fancy term for "I want to speak to a supervisor!!). But no problems. I used to be the guy who had all the answers. All the people looked up to for support.

Last year I got terminated from my job. It was an extremely stressful time. They called me into a small room and grilled me about my performance. It's a long story, but to make a long story short, I did nothing that any sane person would think was a fireable offense. They gave me a severance package and kissed me goodbye.

I used the money and free time to travel to Europe. I met a lot of friends in Toronto from overseas. So I took it as an opportunity, I stayed in Europe for 3 months.

I was experiencing anxiety when traveling of course. There's the time zone change which really messes up your body.

I also had a horrible incident where I woke up and noticed someone standing on my windowsil, trying to break in. I think this lead to PTSD.

But no Panic symptoms until I got back to Toronto.

The first week back, I was fine. No symptoms. But the following week, i was extremely lightheaded and tired all the time. I actually didn't feel stressed out about it. I have Crohn's disese and among the implications are occassional periods of anemia due to pooping blood. I always took B12 supllements and within a few days I felt normal. I tought this was the problem. But it wasn't. I saw my GP, he ran tests. No problems. I saw my eye doctor and my Gastro. No problems. I went to the emergency room for tests. No problems. I went back to my GP and he told me it was "Anxiety"

ANXIETY!!?? you got to be kidding me. I am 43 year old Man. I have been through the most stressful job imaginable. How could this all be in my head?? The Doctor reassured me it was only anxiety. My symptoms now included lightheadedness, tingling, an achy shaky knee, tightness (feeling of strangulation), irritability, brain fog, chills and maybe a few others.

I thought I contracted SOMETHING. I thought it was Lyme disease. But I did notice some odd things. Like how my symptoms always got worse at night, especially the period between dusk and night. How I couldn't sleep. How I woke up anxious all the time. The anxiety excuse made more sense. I started making changes to my lifestyle and the symptoms got a little better. No caffeine, Alcohol, sweets. Only drink water and lots of Tea. I exercise twice a day. I still eat junk food. I find I need it for psychological comfort.

Therefore, I conclude that I probably have Panic Disorders, GAD, PTSD and Phobias. I also have some signs of OCD. Like I obsess about checking the backseat of my car for crooks who may be sitting behind me. I look back there every time I come to a stop light.

I feel terrible, depressed, sad, scared, lonely. I'm not married. I still haven't found a new job. Now I stress about my ability to turn my life around and become "normal".

[BlessedBackyard]

Hi and welcome. I'm new to the forums too, but here's a few things I've picked up in reading, researching, and doing my own battle with anxiety. Maybe some part of it will be helpful or at least encouraging...

It's not uncommon for anxiety to appear AFTER stressful events instead of during. You did a stressful job because you had to. Gotta work to live and all that, so your body put up with it. But the body can only handle so much before you feel the effects. If you weren't/aren't balancing that stress with periods of rest/relaxation, then your body will send signals that it needs some self-care. Some people can handle a larger build-up than others and can go years in a stressful job, then suddenly have a heart attack or anxiety or some other symptom.

I think one of the worst things we can be told is "it's all in your head." There are 2 extremes of anxiety -- On one end is thought processes that send us on a loop of worry. The other end is purely physical, like when a panic attack comes out of nowhere. You could be having a great time with no negative thoughts, and suddenly BAM...anxiety. I imagine the majority of us fall somewhere on the spectrum, rather than one extreme or the other. The brain is not an isolated organ. It greatly effects our bodies, and vice versa. Imbalances among the thyroid, sex hormones, adrenals, and gut microbes can cause anxiety because they all effect the brain. The effects of chronic stress (including the stress of a bad diet or environmental toxins) build up and effects each of those organs/chemicals. With your mention of Crohn's, the sudden appearance of symptoms in Toronto, and your fear of someone being in the backseat, it sounds like both mental AND physical are contributing to anxiety. If I were in your shoes and could afford it, I'd seek out a good psychologist and a functional medicine doctor so that both aspects are looked at.

Lastly, anxiety is not an "excuse." We're not weaker because we have anxiety. Just like symptoms of other diseases, it's the brain and body's way of drawing our attention to something that's wrong or out of balance. Truthfully, though, it took me many months to realize and accept that. I tried to hide the anxiety symptoms from others, with the thought that "I'm stronger than this and shouldn't have anxiety." That hurt me more, in the long run.

I hope you find support here (and elsewhere) so that you don't feel alone with it, and that you can get the help you need. Sounds like you've made some good first steps with the lifestyle changes. I don't know how long you've been at it, but I've noticed it can take at least 4 weeks for a lifestyle change to make a noticeable impact...sometimes longer.