New anxiety which has taken over my life, cant stop worrying :(

[ZodiacCatz]

sorry looks like I posted in the wrong forum to begin with so have reposted here
Hello Everyone

In new here and have been trying to look for a forum where I can discuss my anxiety with others who are or have experienced it too, so here I am !
I have always been a person who worry's alot, and have had mild anxiety in the past, but a few months ago it has come out of nowhere and is really making life very difficult.
It started with me feeling irregular and skipped heart beats and I thought I was having a heart attack as I had alot of the symptoms that come with H/A's little did I know it was anxiety, I went to the after hours and my Heart rate and Blood pressure were through the roof, and i felt like I had no control and thought that I was going to pass out and even worse at some stage. Had an ECG heart showed PVCs which is what I was feeling and some other stuff they didnt consider to be important and they were not sure if they should admit me to hosp or send me home, which left me feeling terrible when I went home, my mum stayed the night as I was sooo scared!
Anyway I went onto have a few nights of panic attacks at work, which were scary but work was great, I was constantly having the PVC's which I feel really bad its like my heart does this huge thud then pauses, and it was so hard to distract from, so I have been proactive went to doc and got something to help me when I had the panic attacks and he put me on a low dose of quetiapine at night to help me try switch off, these helped and I sniffed lavender which I used to help me breath though it. So this has been going on a few months, I have come off the quetiapine as it was making me very drowsy even on a very low dose and Im taking Magnesium and tart cherry capsules for sleeping. I have had a few trips to Hosp since with my pvcs as when Im really stressed its a trigeminy pattern which is horrible, I have just had a heart scan and my heart is structurally ok that was said to me unofficially still waiting on the report, and last night I ended up at the after hours with chest pain, although I wasnt to worried about my heart as it felt muscular/lung pain and I was right. I have some very sick young family members at the moment and I work in the health industry so I see alot, Im now always looking for the worse, I seem to get clumsy at times dropping everything all the time, numb tingling hands, and so fatigued and now I have shooting pains in the back of my leg which is prob from anxiety, it feels so tight but im so worried its something else, I also have some lymph nodes that are swollen in the back of my neck and feel funny in my neck and im so sick of worrying, as soon as I do I get my pvcs and my heart rate sits at about 110, but up to 140 when im not good. This has consumed my life and I cant see the light at the end of the tunnel, Im going to start exercising this week hopefully ! Im in Christchurch New Zealand and its been a rough few years after some big earthquakes and constant aftershooks and worrying about my kids and seen some horrific stuff, so Im not surprised its all caught up on me, I was wondering if anyone has any advice, or have you been through this and come out the other side? I feel like I have lost my life and also all the pains in my legs and other symptoms has anyone experienced these? I have googled and shouldnt have as I get worried !!! sorry about the long post just wanted to put everything out there!

[raggamuffin]

If you've always been a worrier the anxiety hasn't come out of nowhere. It's come from being a worrier, dealing with fears and worries and stress badly. It accumulates until it presents itself in a physical fashion. These symptoms are your mind and body saying - too much stress here, please stop it.

But people with anxiety often are petrified of the sensations. You might even no longer feel safe within your own body. That is one of the most alarming and unnerving sensations possible and sometimes results in full fledged daily anxiety and symptoms etc. What you have to remember to do is respond with apathy to any symptoms or panics or sensations that your anxiety manifests itself in. If you worry, fear, panic or fight it, you make them last longer or feel more intense.

This method takes practice, especially if you're a worrier because logic and rationalizing situations might be put on the backburner whilst you run on emotion and panic about situations. Soi this will take time to undo. Heck you might think responding with apathy and letting symptoms come and go is the wrong method. Trust me it's the only method to overcome anxiety. These symptoms are stress related and you must reduce stress. Bu panicking about symptoms you add secondary worries and fears onto a body over-burdened with? Stress and worry and fear. Ergo you make the whole process more drawn out.

Heard pounding, going nuts etc is all very common. When you get a symptom you instantly assume danger. This then kicks in your body's instinctual Fight or Flight response. This responds to danger. For example - an angry barking dog in a room. It kicks in. Thud Thud Thud goes your heart, The heart pumps adrenaline filled blood to the limbs to fight or fly, to the chest wall muscles to protect vital organs from impact and away from the stomach.

You get out of the room, you calm down. Phew, all good in a few minutes. What happens when you feel no safety in yourself because these symptoms come and go as they please? On edge and in danger 24/7. So now what's going to happen? The fight or flight response is going to kick in at the drop of a hat. You will wind up with stockpiles of adrenlaine in your muscles and in your body.

This will mean heartbeat going nuts, or aching muscles, dizziness, fatigue, IBS etc etc. In reality anything goes if you're on edge enough. The symptoms for anxiety are virtually limitless. So it's up to you to reduce the stress and the worry.

If you reduce these negative emotions and respond to pains or symptoms with apathy you are not allowing the fight or flight response to keep going. You tell yourself "i'm not in danger" and in time your body and mind accepts this and symptoms start reducing. This process takes time, just as it took time to build up enough stress for the anxiety to present itself with symptoms.

Focus on the good in life, don't practice safety behaviour by avoiding past times or places because you think you'll have a panic attack. This simply isn't true, you might feel more on edge but there is no danger. Some people have a panic attack in a shoe shop. Then assume I can't go into a shoe shop again 'cos i'll have an attack. Not true at all, a shop won't cause an attack, your fear and convincing yourself you're in danger will cause an attack.

See how it all fits together? Anxiety feeds off fear and worry, you need to practice not responding with emotions, not assuming the worst in situations or symptoms. Not allowing fear to take hold. It takes practice and even when you got the routine down it'll take months or longer to fully overcome anxiety. But you can and will do it. Just remain focused and dedicated to it.

Hope you feel better soon.

Ed