Anxiety suddenly got so out of control

[MattS.]

Dealing with anxiety for almost 20 years but never had treatment. My main anxiety is always about health.
I used to get episodes of brain fog every few years. That included as well a sensitivity to bright lights. Normally after a health check up those symptoms used to get a lot better or disappear. But now since 2014 they are with me 24/7. Until Earlier this year, somehow I managed to get better and make most of these symptoms go away. Not sure how but they were gone for at least 2-3 month i guess, maybe I had some very short flare ups in between but for most of it I felt Ok. Those flare ups were nothing like it in duration or intensity. But then suddenly 3 weeks ago I did relapse and all symptoms are a lot worse now. All that happened was that I one night did not manage to sleep well and I again connected it to my fear of dementia. After that it all went downhill again. Problems with bright lights, forgetting things, can`t concentrate, getting extremely tired right after work, having some sort of weak feeling in my right leg, feeling nervous. And suddenly dizziness too. This is making me so nervous as I always think my brain is deteriorating especially when things like not finding the right words are becoming more noticeable. Yesterday we went to a big mall for shopping , man I got suddenly so nervous but tried to fight it at times with success but I`m not sure how to do it all the time as symptoms seem to be with me all day every day. I`m as well wondering if new symptoms can show up , like my dizziness even though I never had this in my earlier anxiety break downs.

[o2G2o]

Hey Matt, you remind me a lot of myself. My anxiety is health-related as well. I too was getting brain fog quite often this past year but I attributed that to my drinking, even though I drink moderately. I too notice that after getting insufficient sleep one or two days I can be a mess the rest of the week. I've also experienced the dizziness and the weakness (or even pain) in one or both legs. What keeps me sane is that when I feel good mentally, I have none of those symptoms. The odds that either of us have an actual underlying medical condition causing these flare ups that only coincide with anxiety are very slim, which is further proof that the anxiety is causing it. The power of the mind is unbelievable when you think about it. Just thinking you are not well can immediately manifest itself physically.

Do you ever have issues with digestion? Bloating, swallowing air due to hyperventilation or other factors? I find that my dizziness always follows at least some period of anxiety, during which time I likely am breathing differently without realizing. (Kind of like how thunder always happens after lightning.) I notice that when I'm bloated my diaphragm is being pushed into the way of my lungs and I don't get a full breath. It's not enough for me to black out, but it often feels like I will.

It's funny what you say about bright lights, as that was the first thing I ever noticed when my anxiety started, before I even knew it was anxiety. Everything looked too "crisp", which reminded me of how things looked when I was high as a teenager (I didn't do drugs much, but I do remember the way lights looked). I don't get that symptom anymore with my anxiety for some reason, but I remember how it would often come on as soon as something "felt weird". I wonder if this is actually fight or flight. IF you think about it, if you were going to be attacked (the purpose of flight or flight adrenaline) then it would be very beneficial for you to have heightened vision to plan your counter-attack or escape. Your pupils probably dilate in anticipation of the "fight", hence the bright lights bothering you. What do you think?

[MattS.]

Hey Matt, you remind me a lot of myself. My anxiety is health-related as well. I too was getting brain fog quite often this past year but I attributed that to my drinking, even though I drink moderately. I too notice that after getting insufficient sleep one or two days I can be a mess the rest of the week. I've also experienced the dizziness and the weakness (or even pain) in one or both legs. What keeps me sane is that when I feel good mentally, I have none of those symptoms. The odds that either of us have an actual underlying medical condition causing these flare ups that only coincide with anxiety are very slim, which is further proof that the anxiety is causing it. The power of the mind is unbelievable when you think about it. Just thinking you are not well can immediately manifest itself physically.

Do you ever have issues with digestion? Bloating, swallowing air due to hyperventilation or other factors? I find that my dizziness always follows at least some period of anxiety, during which time I likely am breathing differently without realizing. (Kind of like how thunder always happens after lightning.) I notice that when I'm bloated my diaphragm is being pushed into the way of my lungs and I don't get a full breath. It's not enough for me to black out, but it often feels like I will.

It's funny what you say about bright lights, as that was the first thing I ever noticed when my anxiety started, before I even knew it was anxiety. Everything looked too "crisp", which reminded me of how things looked when I was high as a teenager (I didn't do drugs much, but I do remember the way lights looked). I don't get that symptom anymore with my anxiety for some reason, but I remember how it would often come on as soon as something "felt weird". I wonder if this is actually fight or flight. IF you think about it, if you were going to be attacked (the purpose of flight or flight adrenaline) then it would be very beneficial for you to have heightened vision to plan your counter-attack or escape. Your pupils probably dilate in anticipation of the "fight", hence the bright lights bothering you. What do you think?

Actually I have been diagnosed in 2007 with possible IBS had several colonoscopies done which showed that my digestive tract is in a text book condition. Still I have problems eating sugar or carbs. I used to get this pain at the side of my stomach felt more like muscle pain but it was for sure connected to my general stomach issues. I remember my first fog happened in 1998 while sitting in a bus in London going home from work in the evening. Never made much of it and I can`t even remember now how fast it went away again. Then again in 2000, but this time it was less fog but more headaches, burning in the back of my head and problems with bright lights. Now it get`s really worrying if these symptoms stay with you the whole day, no break and then days become weeks and month. That`s what it`s like for me now too just the symptoms are much worse then before and new symptoms are added to the mix. That`s what really worries me. For example this morning I got up, did not feel too bad but now at work, self employed, after 1 hour I feel really tired and my fog is getting stronger again, my memory is letting me down too and concentration is getting worse too. Now during spring and summer I did feel Ok, not many symptoms, almost all good and I managed to make some plans for the foreseeable future. But then 3 weeks ago all downhill and plans have been shelved. I just can`t understand why from getting better suddenly it can all turn into worse then previous episodes.