ever had thoughts people were following you?

[jessie27]

a bit of background info.

Im 27 year old married female with a toddler, have been diagnosed with GAD two months ago, leading up to this i had 3 panic attacks.

The first one while shopping in a crowded shopping mall with my baby in a pram and all i was stressing about was that i couldnt hear if she were crying or not and had to keep checking.It hit me so fast i felt dizzy and my skin went hypersensitive and i just had to get out of there but i froze, sat down and cried.
The second was at home waiting for some friends to drop in a quick visit, i felt this overwhelming burning arms sensation, and pack my bag and announced to my husband i needed to go to the doctor, the pain was unbearable and frightening, he googled burning arms and said he thought it was anxiety, i wouldnt believe it and still thought i was having an allergic reaction, but he convinced me to lay down and relax curled up in a blanket.1 hour later i was fine, normal but confused.
The third was one hot day i was rushing around, getting a towel for my baby who was in the baby pool with my husband, i felt and electric shock type thing and on came the burning stinging every limb this time. i starting going crazy telling my husband what pain i was in, i rang my mum and made her take me to the emergency, they checked my heart rate or something and put me on a list to be seen, i waited 2 hrs in emergency constantly going to the desk to tell the i felt like i was dieing, but they were to busy. so i left, got mum to drive me home.and i felt normal again, very sad and confused. went to a doc the next day but i still didnt suspect any anxiety or anything i went there to get all blood tests for other things, which came back completely normal so i forgot about it and got back to my normal life.

One day after i started to notice lots of coincidences, i went to a wedding where i knew no one but all there faces looked familiar, i noticed number plates on cars that ild seen the day before, i became convinced i was being followed by up to 30 different people at the time, they were at the shops, lived in my street, followed me everywhere i went. it was exhausting and i tried to find proof they were following me.it escalated untill one day after my workshop had an electrical fault fire and burnt everything, i didnt sleep for 3 nights i think, i was trying to organise things and was given another premise to work from whilst it was fixed up. I went completely nuts and thought people were after me locked the door and dismantled all the electrical things in the search for hidden cameras as ild seen some laser lights coming from everything. finally i rang hubby to come and save me, and held seen what ild done and he came to the doctor the next day with me where i was given the diagnosis of GAD with elements of paranoia. Prescribed Celepram 30mgs per day.

Since then i havent worked, ive been really taking it easy being healthy and recovering, those thoughts are mostly gone now, and im getting prepared to go back to work on a lighter schedule.Phew.

Has anyone else had these kind of thoughts? they worry me because they felt so real at the time

[rchippex]

Hi there,


Yes elements of paranoia were very common for me when I first hit my most anxious state around 2 years ago. The reason that you THINK that all these things are coincidental is that you are over thinking EVERYTHING. It is very common when suffering from anxiety that you become really engrossed in your own thoughts and even the most insignificant thing can gain a real importance in your mind. Also as a result of being so tired your mind can play an awful lot of tricks on you which are harder to control with being in a tired and exhausted state. You may have a really quick thought of someone watching you and when not in an anxious state you would have simply dismissed it without realising but when anxious you notice these thoughts so much more. As soon as you notice the thought you then assign it a level of importance. You will then begin to ask yourself more questions relating to it such as why was this person looking at me, who are they, are they up to something? You can probably see where I am going with this. Each thought leads to another, then another and before you know it you are in a hypersensitive state that you struggle to control because you are so tired. You bombard your mind with thoughts which it just cant handle and you begin to panic. It is before this stage that you need to take control. Take a deep breath and tell yourself that it is just a thought. Try following the thought through to the end in your mind and you will see that nothing happens as a result of your thoughts as they are just that, thoughts and not realities.

With regard to them feeling so real it is simply because you allowed them to develop that far. You gave them the fear they needed and they expanded until you had convinced yourself that these things were actually going on. Had you not been so tired I highly doubt you would have let this happen as your mind is so much stronger when it has had sleep.

Always remember that you are not alone in the way you feel and are not strange or crazy and you will eventually get to the point of having an completely anxiety free life. Patience is the key. I have come a long way in my journey but still have the odd setback from time to time. It is just part of the process of getting back to an anxiety free life.

Take it easy.
Rik

[Eduardo]

that was a heart warming story.
i hope you'll be well