Help with Anxiety

[hockey2010fanatic]

hi, im am a 21 year old male, who plays sport, goes to the gym, eats healthy, now ever since i was 16 i was diagnosed with GAD. Generealised Anxiety disorder, now i have been to the doctor so many times, got numerous blood tests and everything comes back fine. i dont understand, my anxiety comes and goes and in the last three months it has gotten worse, i have been having headaches all the time, my head and brain feels like its vibrating and shaking, feels like im going to have a seizure, i have body twitches and tremors and the last three days i have barely been able to sleep, it has gotten so bad that i havent been going to the gym and when ever i drink alcohol it makes it worse. i went to my doctor and he said alcohol, cigarettes seems to trigger it, so i quit smoking three years ago and i havent drank alcohol in 3 months but still it gets worse, i cant stop worrying about my health, when i was 18 i had a heart scan done because i was getting heart palpitations and the heart scan came back fine. i have been given an anxiety medication which doesnt help and when i play hockey my symptoms get worse. i dont undertstand,

does anyone have any advice for me or a similar situation

[sashee7]

hi there, just from reading you blog u sound extremely axious and i really feel for you. Have u seen a psychologist??
I struggled with anxiety in many forms including GAD and especially SAD as well as bouts of disociation. I didnt understand anything that was happening to me until i studied it a bit a uni and then it all kinda clicked when i started seeing my therapist. maybe see if u can find a really good one via word of mouth or something.
the worst thing u can do is drink and smoke so u have done very well in that respect, those things might seem to help in the short run but i have had many panic attacks the next day after a large social binge. The reason it has probably gotten worse since u stoped drinking is that u now no longer have a therapy and "medication" to treat ur anxiety. But there are better options out there like therapy and at times medication, they can stop the persistant thoughts. The antianxiety medications are only a quick fix and wont help if ur doing something requiring ur sympathetic nervous system like hockey. the best medicaitons are the SSRI or SSNRI.
All in all i suppose the only advice that i can give u about worrying about ur health... which i have done since i was 15 is try not to focus on "what if"... If ur body is in trouble u will definetly know it and really a rock call fall out of the sky and kill us all tomorrow..so why bother worring about something until it happens.
sorry if im long winded..im new at this and still struggling everyday with my anxiety...
sashee

[ThePhoenix]

I feel your pain, health anxiety is my personal monster as well. Like you I am generally quite active but when the anxiety gets me down that goes out the window. In fact everything does, I virtually shut down and dont want anything to do with anyone.

My anxiety takes different forms all the time, if its not one thing its another. I cant stand going for any kind of tests because I am paranoid of what they will find. I hate going to the doctor for anything as well because, well it doesnt matter what it is I am afraid ultimately it will kill me.

If it helps, the hedaches and twitches and heart palpitations and well, everything you have mentioned are all textbook anxiety responses. The stress causes them, you feel stressed by them and they get worse. It goes around and around in a vicious cycle.

Like Sashee said, trying to avoid the what if thinking is the key, its hard to do though but it really is the key to it all.

[hockey2010fanatic]

thanks for the replys and the advice, yea i try and forget about and every time i visit the doctor and tells me nothing is wrong it should seem that i should forget about it but i dont, it really does worry me, the symptoms constantly persist and change in form and intensity

[forwells]

Hi hockey2010fanatic

Anxiety is not the big monest you think it is and your doctor is correct in saying there is nothing physcal wrong with you .

But in saying that after reading you post i think you are stuck in the anxiety fear circle and find a way out .

What sort of things do you do to reduce stress ? Has your doctor said you should see anyone else ?

You can recover from anxiety I did but you have to learn about it and also change some things in your lifestyle and address the underlying think that is going on

cheers kev :)

[hockey2010fanatic]

well i usually take a hot bath and just try to relax, having a shower or a bath usually helps for a while but i think im just constantly fighting a battle, it has made me a hyperchondriac worrying about every little thing with my body, from brain tumors, too cancer than a stroke, seizure or anuerysm, i cant sleep at night because it think i am going to have a seizure, its got to the point where i need all the proof in the world to show me that im generally not sick

[forwells]

Hi Hockey

Thats not a bad start .

Do you meditate ?? This is one of the things that saved me the other was understanding anxiety and how it works and comes about .

Anxiety is based around the fear of those symtoms and if you can learn to understand the symptoms then you can be less fearful of them and your body will start to settle . Those symptoms will not hurt you . i had many almost all on the list up the top.

What about diet ? Do you eat healthy and not much junk . Coffee is another thing to give it a miss for now as well as those hypo drinks around now .

Try and google anxietycenter and have a look around . It is well worth the small fee to join and it will help you to understand how anxiety works .

hyperchondriac I really hate this word . Who was the fool that named people wanting to find what is causing their health worries a problem . Anyone that gets sick wants to know what is happening . Doctors would not have a job otherwise . I think your thinking is normal under the circumstances, i mean who would not be worried about their health when first they dont know what is wrong with them and second no one is giving them any answers

cheers kev :D

[hockey2010fanatic]

my diet is excellent, i focus on healthy foods, i rarely eat fast foods, i dont drink enregy drinks, coffee or soft drinks, i try and focus on all the good sources of vitamins and minerals there are. i excersice every day bu ti do understand where you are coming from

[forwells]

Thats great

Now you just need to work on the fear behind the symptoms .

I have always said that most people will not recover untill they cant explain those symptoms to themselves .

I work on this side of things . For example instead of being convinced and telling myself i was having heart problems i could look at things and say NO its just my stress and more than likely the muscels in my chest . By doing this i not only stopped feeding it with fear but i stopped taking notice of it because when it happened by brain knew what it was and stop questioning it .
body twitches and tremors are the same they are just nerves firing off and they do settle when you stop noticing them . I still get a numb foot at time but i know it is just because i am a bit stressed and it will pass

I think education is your key out of it . There are no other sites like that one , it is run by trained people and all have suffered anxiety in the past.

cheers kev

[hockey2010fanatic]

that is awesome advice mate, i just want to know if people suffer with the same symptoms and have something in common with me

[ThePhoenix]

that is awesome advice mate, i just want to know if people suffer with the same symptoms and have something in common with me

There is plenty of people who suffer the same symptoms as you. As Kev says, anxiety is based around the fear of your symptoms.

I do have a question for Kev though, you say you meditate, this is something I have often thought I should do but just after some advice. What do you do exactly? I have tried to just sit and zone out when I am feeling anxious but the thoughts tend to intrude on me.

Cheers

[forwells]

Phoenix

this is something I have often thought I should do but just after some advice. What do you do exactly? I have tried to just sit and zone out when I am feeling anxious but the thoughts tend to intrude on me.

What you are doing a good start .

Whe you zone out you could also do the breathing , deep in deep out and try to do only 6 a minute .

When i was meditation which i dont do much anymore but should .

I would lay down on the bed and put a mp3 on with nature sound but you can use what you like . I never liked the guided ones as i woud start to relax and then some boofhead would start talking and i would be like the cat in the cartoons pulling myself of the ceiling .

I would just lay there and listen to the sounds . The thoughts would still come but i just let them go . Remember thoughts are just thoughts and have no power until you give it to them . One thing i would do was look at the inside of my eyes lids and this helped .

There would be days i would lay down but have to stop because i was so anxious . But when this happened instead of getting upset i would leave it and come back .

It takes time to master it but even if you start with 3 minutes and get it up from there . Do it twice a day for 20 minutes . Trust me when i say that it was the meditation that helped me to clear my mind .

One thing i always thought about meditation was the history and how much power it has . I would remember those monks that would do all that amazing stuff because they would meditate . Those guys that brake bricks with there hand also do it because they meditate . Pray is a form of meditation also .

Check the internet out there is some great stuff out there .

You are right it is just clearing your mind but it takes time so dont give up , Took me about a month to see things happen .

Also a warning when you meditate you go into a state sometimes and your body will feel heavy and you may get pins and needles . This is normal and dont worry about it . Also normal to get dizzy if you get up to soon , try to open you eyes and adjust first .

Oh one more thing if you have to strach your nose then do it and go back to being still . Cant tell you how many times this one peed me off
:lol:
cheers kev :D

[hockey2010fanatic]

i might try this as this might help my anxiety, and might help me as a sports person

[louiseevans222]

Hey Hockey,

I suffered anxiety for several years with palpatations, racing thoughts, sweaty palms, you name it, I had it...

It was really bad for me, I actually started developing agoraphobia, where I couldnt get out of the house...

Im not going to tell you to get off the meditacation, even though I never took it myself...

I havent had anxiety for over 2 years, because I used to do daily excersises of meditation, relaxation breathing excersises...

I also recommend something very powerful which I used, and even still use now, not just for my anxiety, but for my health in general...

This is a FREE powerful tool you can download and get instant access to...

Click the link below, and you can get FREE access....

All the best Hockey,

Hope it helps..

Louise Evans