Struggling massively at the moment

[fletch127]

Hey all, I am hopeful though not hopeful other people have experienced what I've felt within the last 2 weeks (Just to i can relax easier knowing, I am not the only one who has gone through this).

I recently returned from living on my own in a city and the came home from uni for a semester break. And I used to train at the gym pretty hard. When I returned I really have kept to myself and not done anything almost literally. It's probably given extra time for me to think too much and I do have a problem chewing some things mostly red meats or anything hard but that has already been diagnosed to a benign condition that isn't fatal to life.

I've felt

*Muscle Twitching & Shaking in seperate places and whole body
*Mind games thinking you are going to die (Mainly through the attacks you get).
*Constant yawning
*Trouble eating and swallowing (Today haven't been able to eat anything, had a Yoghurt this morning that went down fine).
*Days where you feel almost fine but other days you are an absolute wreck.
*Emotional Breakdown (had one today and now i am just mentally drained and feel like i could sleep for 10 hours).

I've also been under stress cause i am mature age and I am not sure what i want to do in life and also was confused about my sexual gender but that has now since been solved and I am still straight.

I originally thought I could be Anemic (lack of iron) but then i realised i've eaten alot of meatlovers pizza lately which would have sufficient iron so that is only a distant thought at the moment.

I haven't really struggled to sleep which is good though it's hard for me to calm down to be able to sleep but once i am asleep i am fine.

I need help and would love feedback and similar stories. Thankyou so much :).

[jeremyfresno]

Hi fletch!

All the symptoms you named I have felt due to anxiety! They can be so debilitating and rest assure you're fine its just anxiety nothing out of the ordinary. However having lots of stress in your life if key to gaining control of your anxiety! I'm sure being confused about your sexual orientation is a lot of stress in itself....but now that you figured that part of your life out you can go on figuring out the rest!

It's not about finding yourself in life, it's about creating yourself!

Being an adult and feeling unsure about what you want to do in life is quite normal. I experienced that personally! I could decide what I wanted to major at the university and finally figured it out about 2 years ago...there's no rush for anything and try to relax because that is what will make your anxiety cease

[fletch127]

Hi fletch!

All the symptoms you named I have felt due to anxiety! They can be so debilitating and rest assure you're fine its just anxiety nothing out of the ordinary. However having lots of stress in your life if key to gaining control of your anxiety! I'm sure being confused about your sexual orientation is a lot of stress in itself....but now that you figured that part of your life out you can go on figuring out the rest!

It's not about finding yourself in life, it's about creating yourself!

Being an adult and feeling unsure about what you want to do in life is quite normal. I experienced that personally! I could decide what I wanted to major at the university and finally figured it out about 2 years ago...there's no rush for anything and try to relax because that is what will make your anxiety cease

Very wise words and thankyou your advice has helped me alot in it's own and sharing an experience like that is no good but it's beneficial for me so now i have no real reason to panic and try and ease my way back into happiness.

I've got a slight touch of Agrophobia at the moment i tend to stay inside as much as possible so that is the main goal i want to try and fix.

But thankyou so much but I hope others can share their stories too so we can better each other's confidence and help each other out :).

[jeremyfresno]

I suffered with a little agoraphobia at the beginning. What helped me overcome that was challenging myself to go out little by little....so I overcame that obstacle but it took me about half a month so be patient with that...however don't settle and think that you will never be able to go out! You will just need a little boost....try going for a walk with someone you feel comfortable with...that way you don't go to a very public place but at least outside your house. That helped me a lot

[fletch127]

There's one place I can think of that is pretty peaceful (and it's literally like 100 metres down the road) and I can just sit and collaborate my thoughts so I might just do that :). Little by Little i need to get the confidence back and I don't want to panic in front of others.

[Meche]

Hi Fletch - I'm 38 and still don't know what I want to do with my life :rolleyes:. This is what caused alot of my anxiety issues in the first place. I've spent months feeling stuck in a rut with all aspects of my life and although I'm the only one who can make the changes, I haven't got a clue where to begin. Boom - anxiety smacks me right in the face! All your symptoms I am having or have had. Just wanted to say that you are not alone and we're all here to help. xx

[jeremyfresno]

Do it fletch!! Go to that spot and just relax don't worry about the world around you just go and take deep breathes and relax...little by little you will find yourself tackling your priorities! Figuring out what you want to do in life takes a lot of thinking and can be frustrating at times...but you owe it to yourself to take care of your health first and them then your goals!

Also menche, is right were all here for eachother!

[Meche]

Well said Jeremy. Changing my life has gone on the back-burner at the moment until I can get my physical and emotional health back to 100%. It is frustrating but I can't think straight enough to worry about where my life is going at the moment. I think just getting my health back will make me the happiest person in the world.... and then everything else will fall into place. Anxiety/stress is the most awful thing but I think when I come through the other side it might have been the best thing that could have happened to me - if that makes sense!!! xx

[jeremyfresno]

I'm glad You're going to focus on your health first because really that is the most important! And what you said makes a lot of sense to me. I interpreted as you are able to appreciate life more and the more simple things in life. I know that's what anxiety has made me realize! Keep me updated how feel the next couple days....personally I've been having a hard time sleeping its 6:36 a.m right now and I still haven't slept...my sleeping pattern is wayyy off which is frustrating!

[Meche]

Don't get me started on sleep! I remember being awake for over 48 hours a few weeks ago. Kept having adreanline rushes to my head and jerking awake. Kept happening over and over and scared the crap out of me so just didn't sleep. Was a walking zombie for a while :wacko:! As my anxiety decreased I was able to sleep better but now I'm having another anxiety 'blip', sleep has become an issue again. Anyway, I'm off for a massage after work to loosen all the tenseness in my neck/back/shoulders so hoping tonight will be more relaxing. If not I'll probably catch up with you at 'stupid o'clock'!!! Hope you manage to get some sleep. xx

[jeremyfresno]

A massage sounds great! I need to go get one too!!

[fletch127]

Hey again, I've managed to keep myself awake because i was anxious even though i was barely keeping my eyes open but i fought against it and now i am feeling a wreck as if i am going to die from trying to stay awake, silly i know . has anyone else had that? I could sleep for 10 hours right at this moment but i mentally can't.

[fletch127]

Does anyone else have emotional blanks where they just feel emotionless. I haven't eaten that well for the past 3 days though I ate well yesterday. but Today only a Yoghurt and it's nearly lunchtime. Last night as above I was scared to fall asleep and i fought against it and today I feel like crap after such a good day yesterday, Sometimes I just feel there is no end to it and this is where life ends.

[fletch127]

Still can't shake it off. I feel totally helpless and I feel like I am dying (though mum constantly says "your being silly", deep down i know i am not but to get my brain to believe it harder said than done. I've got agrophobia and i haven't been outside for around 2-3 weeks which is because I think something bad will happen to me. Does anyone have any tips?

[pammy]

hi! I'm new here and reading these posts I recognize my anxiety symptoms (mostly past, some I experience at the present time) and maybe some of my experiences may help some folks here! Much of the anxiety symptoms I had, though much better now..have been caused by frequent low blood sugar, allergic reactions and a thyroid condition. The adrenal glands response to all of these things and cause anxiety symptoms for me. It's taken me 4-5 years for my blood sugar to stabilized by eating lower carb, frequent mini meals and eating enough calories and carbs to sustain physical activity (because of fasting and exercise-induced hypoglycemia). My main allergy/sensitivity is to iodine and is what caused my thyroid gland to malfunction many years ago. There's iodine in many animal products that I didn't know about and even in the fish oil I had been taking. It's shellfish free but still enough iodine in the fish used in these products. Finding out that I was allergic/sensitive to peanuts was also big!!

I've had no problem with falling asleep and sleeping through the night any longer! 2 things used to happen...too many hours I had gone without eating before going to bed so my sugar was too low and prevented me from falling asleep and if I did get to sleep...waking up! One of my friends told me that when she'd wake up during the night, she'd get up if she didn't fall back to sleep quickly...and have a bowl of cereal -after which she'd be able to quickly fall asleep. I tried this and it worked! But years later I found out how this related to blood sugar and simply ate a more substantial snack in the evening so I wasn't going for so many hours from dinnertime to bed time with unstable blood sugar.

My favorite evening snack had been peanutbutter :)! Sometimes just a tbsp or 2. I know I wheezed more at night and attributed it to a day's worth of smoking :(. Especially when I'd lay down to go to sleep is when I'd notice more that my throat was tightening up. I'd be choking and sometimes so much that I'd vomit. Sometimes I'd break out in a rash, most time not. The wheezing was pretty bad. The inhalers my doc gave me never helped.

Anyway, it wasn't until I was prescribed penicillin and got an allergic reaction that I realized I was getting the same after eating peanutbutter! That was about 4 years ago and the evening/bedtime wheezing/choking, etc., went away once I stopped eating peanutbutter and once I started keeping my sugar stable, the sleeping issues were resolved.

All of these things caused an adrenal response and symptoms that included anxiety. Has anyone else here been able to narrow down other causes for anxiety? If so, what kinds of things caused yours?