Fear Of Symptoms - HELP!!

[Razzle]

Everything I read says that to recover you have to lose the fear of symptoms. I have tried so hard but my symptoms are so severe and are 24/7 with no breaks that I am failing.

Then I think if I cant do it I wont ever recover and my mind goes into a spin and I get worse. I obsess with the thought 'What Do I Do - What Do I do" and I stay sick.

HELP!!!!

[alankay]

I don't know how to go about just "losing the fear". Have you gone to your doc or counselor about your anxiety?

[Razzle]

Yes lots - in therapy 14 months and have seen 5 doctors

[kellyzac]

i struggle with this to, sorry i havn't found an answer yet but just wanted to say your not alone!

[jessed03]

Hey Razzle,

I'm just wondering, have you tried any medication? I know it isn't the most fashionable solution on this forum, but if you're life is unmanageable you need something to help you out with it a bit. 14 months is a long time in therapy for life to still be as you describe 'so severe'. I know homeopathic solutions seem more appealing, but everybody's anxiety responds to different things. Some can meditate and find relief, some do very well in therapy, others do well on supplements, some need to go down the pharmaceutical route. This is especially true if you have co-existing things like OCD or depression. Sometimes you just need to get off the rollercoaster. There are some natural anti-depressants that can be pretty good if thats a better route for you.

[alankay]

Indeed Razzle, you are not alone. I take it you've also had trails of SSRI's or other meds via the docs? If you are OK with sharing, what meds? Maybe I can suggest something to talk with your doc about. I've been a "student"(and patient) of anxiety for 30 years and have learned allot. I've learned I am best using all to counter/manage anxiety. Meds, self help books, aerobic exercise, good common sense diet, limiting caffeine and alcohol, practicing progressive relaxation, deep breathing and learning all I can about anxiety and how people best manage it.

[Razzle]

Great post as usual Kev

[PanicCured]

Razzle,

How about you list your symptoms exactly and then we can pick them apart and tell you exactly what these symptoms are caused by? Maybe then, we can figure out what to do about it.

[Razzle]

My two worst symptoms are agatation where I have to walk and pace and non stop burning all over my body. I had these when I came off benzos 22 years ago but never with anxiety.

I have many other common anxiety symptoms but I can cope with those. One I am really sick with is 4 weeks of SEVERE nausea and gut cramps. I am almost down to baby food.

My doctor put me on a restricted carb diet due to high fasting blood sugar and I got so sick on it it set my anxiety inflames and my gut went into this severe state.

I stayed on the diet for 3 weeks with hypoglycemic attacks worse than a panic attack and then remembered people under stress or with anxiety MUST HAVE high amnounts of complex carbs as we burn glucose in huge amounts. Back to a higher carb diet and my blood sugar stabilized in24 hours but my gut and nervous system is still whacked 4 weeks later.

[didir]

I know when my anxiety gets really out of hand the nausea and gut problems can get really bad. Have you ever considered cutting out wheat? Try cutting out ALL the glutin in your diet for a week or so and see of things dont improve.You can still get your carbs by using nonglutin flour. I substitute it in everything and you can by premade bread, cereal, cookies, and crackers at almost any market. When I did this it helped a TON!!
As far as the anxiety goes I know where you are at. I'm 40 and have been dealing with anxiety, depression, panic attacks and agoraphobia in one form or another for 30 years. Right now I'm in another bad spot so its back to therapy and changing meds. Right now they have me on cymbalta, I also take Klonopin 3 times a day and have since high school. The fears don't go away but they do lessen with the right therapy and drugs.
It's crazy to think that all of this anxiety and fear are contained in a part of the brain that is the size of a walnut. That is where all the hormones and hadrenylin are released from. My therapist calls it our lizard brain. LOL So before things get totally out of control try telling your lizard brain to shut up. I know it sounds stupid and simple but you might find it helps.

[jessed03]

It sounds like theres a lot of physicality at play here Razzle. I suffer from gluten intolerance and an egg allergy. For a long time these went undiagnosed, and although I was pretty normal my mood was so low, and I was so on edge, and agitated. I mean I would come home and just throw stuff off the table out of this intense frustration that came from nowhere. I would walk around my house daily, shaking my hands sort of like I was squeezing an imaginery ball. I think there was nothing that would have helped me, bar sorting out those physicalities. Therapy, meds, relaxation, they helped a little, but were so short term. I cut out all gluten, and all dairy, and my mood just flat lined, I was so calm, so relaxed. I still had considerable habitual anxiety, but I knew I could work on this. It got to a point my blood sugar was so messed up, my gut was so messed up and my vitamin supplies were so messed up. In the end I had a nervous breakdown because my body was sooo out of whack.

It may be worth doing what Didir said, cut out the wheat, see how you get on. I eat perfectly healthy on such a reduced diet. I even find gluten-free flour to be nicer than the original now. It may or may not make a difference, it can only be tried. It definitely seems there is a big physical reason for suffering anxiety. It can take a very long time to sort out these problems, as truthfully, modern medicine isn't as clued up as it likes to believe it is. It can take a LOT of trial and error. One day though, you sort of stumble upon something, and it makes a slight bit of difference, and that leads you on to something else, and that leads to something else, and before you know it your making headway. I hope you and your doctor can narrow things down some more. If I was you, this would be the aspect of my life I would concentrate on (not that it's that simple), as you seem clued up on anxiety, it seems there is definetly something happening within you, as was it for me, that caused these symptoms. I'll be happy to talk more about it if you want. This stuff made my life a misery for a long time. You have my sympathy with this.

[PanicCured]

For starters, how about you get back on a normal diet, as long as it doesn't upset your high fasting blood sugar. Whole grain, lean protein, vegetables. i.e., brown rice, chicken breast, broccoli., Quinoa, green beans, yam. Fresh ginger tea. Not the dry kind. Take ginger, wash it but don't peel it. Cut about 5 slices and boil it lightly in water for 20 minutes. Strain it, into a mug with 2 chamomile tea bags. So the ginger tea will steep the chamomile. Let it cool a bit. Then add some raw organic honey, and squeeze half a lemon in it. Drink this a few times a day, and drink the ginger tea alone, to get rid of the nausea. See if you feel better after a few days.