Anxiety or not... what do you think

[hesson81]

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[Charlene]

Hi hesson81,

A word of caution here, I have an extra long response for you. Now might be a good time to go to the bathroom.... :D

Not everyone with anxiety/panic disorder has depression. As it is now, you might not actually have a "disorder" but have had a couple of bouts of panic, which really isn't that unusual. Most people at some point in their lives experience a panic attack or two. The difference between those people with a bout or two and those with the disorder is that, the "regular" people take note of the strange body sensations they're feeling, but then move on and more or less forget about it. Those with the disorder lock on hard to the body symptoms and can't get them out of their minds. They become trapped, almost like they're drowning, fearing that frightening episode to the point that they begin to anticipate the likelihood of another one, ready to spring at them at any given moment. Does this sound like you? You say you're a type-A personality. That's great. You're confident, active, a high achiever. You're probably a little bit of a perfectionist. Probably a little bit controlling, you like to get your way. You're probably a little impatient with others, you know what you want and you want results now. Even though you're happy, anxiety can still affect you. Anxiety disorder can strike anyone. Successful, professional businessmen and women, actors, doctors, policemen, pro athletes, mothers, fathers, children. The badge of anxiety doesn't mean you're weak or stupid or weird.

Maybe you never noticed yourself as being frightened by anything. But on a daily basis, you were subjecting yourself to continuous stressors, unbeknownst to your conscious awareness. People who suffer from this disorder didn't start out as being whiners or complainers, always coiled up in a fetal position, thinking about doom. They likely started out as happy go lucky people pleasers, wanting everyone around them to feel good. But what was going on underneath for some time, again, undercover, unbnownst to that person's awareness, was a festering of cynical thoughts, thoughts of "what if.....".

A physical stress, such as an injury or over exertion brought on by running, produces a chemical stress which leads to a psychological stress. For example, at the site of an injury we develop swelling, which is a result of a chemical process. That swelling and the resulting chemical stress means that the body is no longer in homeostasis and results in psychological stress. "Am I going to be able to get to work? How will I be able to concentrate? Am I going to be able to get the sleep I need, even though this swelling is so painful?" All stress, regardless of its origin, ends up as emotional or psychological stress. Every person has their own distinctive response to stress in terms of its effects. Some people can fluff things off easily while others find it impossible to. We are all uniquely hardwired by our experiences, our learning and our genetic inheritance. Surges of adrenaline can eventually exhaust the body and alter acid secretion in the digestive tract, which can limit our ability to break down and absorb essential nutrients. Because you seem to be quite adamant that there is a physical cause to your light headedness, I can suggest that you have your blood work done by your physician. I am in no way a vitamin pusher as I know many people here believe they can be "cured" with supplements. However in your case, there could be a slight possibility that you are deficient in B12. Even if you eat and enjoy red meat and leafy greens, your body may not be able to absorb it properly because of the high levels of adrenaline that you are possibly producing. This can cause dizziness. A normal range should be somewhere around 500 pmol (picomoles per liter), although 300 is still considered fine and so is 1000. But below 200, you could be exhibiting symptoms of deficiency. Have your blood work done, have them check your thyroid and your B12 levels.

Additionally, surges of adrenaline will inhibit a persons ability to get a quality night's sleep because their circulating adrenaline is keeping them prepared to either "fight or flee". However, you seem to be sleeping fine. But, you are tired during the day. Being low in B12 can make you feel tired.

I must stress here that supplementation cannot cure someone of anxiety disorder. However, if one is deficient, and I mean the true term of deficiency (not just "feeling" like you are, but the blood levels show it), then supplementation can restore your levels and bring those functions back to normal. It won't cure your anxiety. But it might help alleviate your dizziness and it might restore your energy.

High blood pressure will not directly cause anxiety disorder. It works the other way around. Your worries of your bp can exasperate your bp, thus raising it higher.

In the end, it is possible that you don't actually suffer from anxiety disorder at all. It's possible that you have a healthy means to managing stress and that your physical symptoms are just a result of some lower than desired levels of vitamins. But the "worrying" of your hormones and your bp and your light headedness, could get your mind thinking in that negative pattern, which in turn can have you become anxious of your thoughts, which in turn, can have you develop a new pattern of thinking, which in turn, can produce more anxiety and in turn....produce your disorder.

[hesson81]

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[hesson81]

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[coops025]

Hi hesson81,

Please dont take this offensively but are you taking any drugs? Like canabis etc?

I'm guessing your dizzyness is more likely to be de-realisation which can be like feeling dizzy.

[Charlene]

Hi hesson81,
Sure. A hormonal imbalance can bring on feelings of anxiousness, tension and stress (such as if someone has hypo/hyper thyroidism), but it won't cause anxiety disorder. It's more likely that stress, anxiety and tension will cause the hormonal imbalance, (not in the case of hypo or hyper thyroidism). Anxiety/panic disorder is brought on by a habitual way of thinking, in response to the physiological symptoms. Many "normal" people go on living their lives fine and dandy, working in highly stressful environments. And although they have all the body symptoms of stress, they do not necessarily acquire the disorder. Having consistent "what if" thoughts, worrying about their body sensations, frantically trying to hide their fears from public, focusing on the aches and pains, wondering if they could be serious....this is how the disorder comes about, they get stuck in a mind loop. As I mentioned earlier, these underlying or subconscious thoughts can go on for years before a person experiences their first panic attack. This is why they believe the attacks seemingly came from out of the blue, their worries were hidden in their subconsious. They were not aware of the negative chatter going on inside themselves.

You were shaken up pretty badly when you watched your son have a seizure. Being type A personality, I know you wanted to make it stop the instant you saw it begin. But you couldn't. Over the course of a few weeks, you were understandably disturbed by it.

Since it's very difficult right now to decipher whether or not you are suffering from a disorder or are suffering from a stressful time in your life, try not to worry too much about your body symptoms. If all you have is some light headedness, it could be that you're under some stress, and you're just not breathing correctly (you might be breathing too shallowly), this can cause light headedness. Keep in mind that breathing shallow is common in all of us, not just those who suffer from anxiety. Even "normal" people, from time to time, get a case of the dizzies from not breathing properly.

It will all come down to whether or not you have the ability to make note of your body symptoms, chalk them up to a stressful moment in your life and move on. Or will you constantly worry about the sensations, zero in on new ones, obsess about the dangers of them....do you see the difference? If you find yourself locking onto those thoughts, you probably have the makings of developing a disorder. But it's not something to be ashamed of. You can absolutely, 100% turn it around! Give it some time, see how your test results come back, try out the B12 (if you're lower than 200 pmol/l) you might want to take 1000 mcg (small pill) once a day. As for the amino acids....again, unless you are LOW in those areas, it likely won't make much a difference, I'm not one to really put too much faith into vitamin supplements for overcoming a disorder. Can it alleviate deficiency symptoms? Sure. The key is, it alleviates deficiency symptoms and not a disorder. There is a difference. Please stay in touch, let us know how you're doing.

[hesson81]

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[Charlene]

Hey Hesson,

You know it's interesting that you came back when you did. I had read someone else's message on the forum explaining that they were feeling dizzy while exercising. I was considering writing back to this person to explain to her that her symptoms sounded similar to hyperventilation. Most times when people think of hyperventilation they picture someone in a terrible frenzy, huffing and puffing into a tightly grasped paper bag. And for you, you're probably not near that point of practically choking on your breath, you probably seemingly feel like you're breathing somewhat normally, the way you've always breathed. However, breathing incorrectly over a period of years causes the body to make some adjustments to compensate for the imbalance so that the patient is not aware of any symptoms at all. Up until a final tipping point - usually something stressful which causes the patients breathing to be thrown off just a tiny bit more - to the point that they now experience symptoms of hyperventilation. In my opinion, (and granted, I'm no doctor), I believe your symptoms specifically, are mostly related to your breathing. And by learning how to breathe properly, (use your diaphragm), you will find that your symptoms will disappear.

Your reaching of accomplishments and obtaining those set goals throughout your adulthood no doubt are what define you as a man. You felt a sense of achievement and glory and this likely brought you much fulfilment in your life. So it's very natural for you to feel a sense of loss of yourself, because you are no longer setting out to challenge yourself. This sense of loss of yourself, this entire CHANGE in your life, probably has you feeling as though you're not as "in control" as you used to be. And this, can cause stress.

Hesson, you have the ability to overcome this overwhelming time in your life. You can get better and you will. :)