Anxiety - debilitating physiological symptoms (HELP!)
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I'm a 50 year old male with previously good physical and mental health. I've recently (six weeks ago) been diagnosed with a Severe Health Anxiety Disorder following a long period of stress. This condition has literally hit my like a ton of bricks and has transformed my life beyond recognition. I am/was a physically active person who trained at the gym every day. I am struggling to acknowledge and accept that anxiety can cause such life changing symptoms. I am currently experiencing overwhelming fatigue and muscle weakness that makes the smallest of daily tasks extremely difficult. (typing for instance is far more time consuming due to the exhaustion.) Oher symptoms include: dizziness, muscle twitches, tremor/shakiness, heart palpitations, memory loss and difficulty sleeping. Understandably, my initial concern was that I had developed a degenerative neurological condition and despite reassurance from my Doctors that my symptoms were indeed anxiety related. I have had multiple blood tests, which have all returned normal, so I am currently being treated for anxiety. On reflection I can see how the prolonged period of stress and excessive exercise preceding my "breakdown" contributed to my condition; however, still struggle to accept that the symptoms are related to anxiety! My whole life is consumed with worry about my symptoms and would be grateful if anyone can relate or have previously experienced a similar situation. I've become increasingly desperate in my attempt to overcome this condition, including: a vast array of supplements, psychotherapy and meditation. Any help or advice would be gratefully received. Thank you. 😃
1 like, 8 replies
jan34534 Kilk87
Edited
i’m so sorry that you are going through this. I know how scary it can feel!
I would like to share with you what I have gone through in hopes that it will bring you some reassurance.
I am in my 60s. But when I was in my late 20s, I suddenly developed all kinds of neurological sensations that terrified me! I thought for sure I had a neurological disease. I had eye floaters, weakness, numbness and tingling in my arms and legs, brain, fog and vibrations in the brain and arms and legs , muscle twitches all over even on my eyelids!, lightheadedness, and I’m sure others. My dad took me to a neurologist who did some testing and said everything was normal. I couldn’t believe it. he told me to go take a vacation. Then I started thinking that ever since childhood I had anxiety in school really bad, and I never talked, any place other than home I had severe anxiety internally, and I never really told anybody about it. Well, over the years, it just kept snowballing in different forms as far as the anxiety goes and then when I was in my late 20s my body just had a breakdown especially the nervous system. That’s when I got all those sensations. I’m 100% sure that’s what happened because if it was anything sinister I wouldn’t be in my 60s today. The body can only take so much stress just like the straw that broke the camels back. It will break down, but it also can be reversed.
today I don’t get all of those symptoms anymore. However, when I have any anxiety and negative thinking, I might get a twitch here or there or feel a little tired or get a little brain fog, however, I feel way better than I did.
I had to learn to let things go! And stop over thinking.
I decided to really start taking care of myself! I am exercising regularly, I have an online virtual counseling, which helps a lot, I’m trying to eat healthy and stay hydrated. I also listen to meditations for anxiety that calm everything down. I also increased my socialization because that’s very important as we get older. Because I found that the less I take care of myself, the more I will feel. Awful. This is long but I just wanted to share it with you so that you know that something can be done about it and that any sensations you get from stress and anxiety are not harmful.
Have you had any other test done? Besides bloodwork? Please feel free to private message me anytime. I will also send you a private message. Take one day at a time and when you feel weak, just give your body a rest, you don’t have to do things like exercise right away. Just try to calm your mind down first. Take care.
Kilk87 jan34534
Edited
Hello Jan, thank you so much for your message and I'm sorry to hear that you have experienced this awful condition yourself. I'm reassured both by the reaffirmation that this is anxiety and also by your ability to recover. It's incredible and perhaps naive of me to doubt how anxiety can affect you physically. I'm so grateful for your reply and any help and words of advice are gratefully received. This is all started a relatively short time ago and I suppose I need to accept that this could take a while to overcome. I think I definitely need to recognise and accept that the symptoms are anxiety related and as life limiting as they may be, they aren't harmful. Glad you mentioned the pins and needles too - I forgot those buggers!
I have been prescribed Trazadone by my GP. I had tried some other medication, but I didn't respond well to the side-effects. I've booked CBT and I'll continue to meditate and eat as healthily as I can. I'm struggling with the inactivity as I really enjoyed exercising in the gym. I've replaced this with a walk around the park as this is all I can manage.
I became extremely stressed due to a range of factors impacting on personal and family life. It seems that I was using the gym as an escape and an opportunity to take my mind of everything. Unfortunately, I also think that became unhealthy too because I began pushing my body to the limit. I feel like I've had a physical and mental burn out which may take a while to recover from. Thank you so much for your reply and wish you well with your own anxiety issues. 😃
jan34534 Kilk87
Posted
you are off to a great start! Just take one day at a time, and if you do get sensations, it’s best to calmly acknowledge them and not pay much attention to them at all. I found that when I focused on them and worried they would get worse. In fact, one of my counselors said you can even matter-of-factly laugh at them and say I know you’re there, but I’ve got other things to do. Something like that.
Kilk87
Posted
Thank you for your reply, Jan. I've private messaged you, but would also like to thank you here for the time you have taken to read my long messages and for all your help and advice. I really hope I can get a grip on the anxiety soon and begin to live a normal life again! I'll stay in touch with my progress. 😃
what44837 Kilk87
Posted
Hey and sorry to hear that you are experiencing this symptoms, I am not an expert but I am here to say you are not alone and I am also going through many physical symptoms due to anxiety. some also similar like yours health concerns and some were like my loved ones s health etc, sometimes it can change form or direction I can find myself worrying about random thing that I thought i no longer care.
I am almost 40 yold and I have been having health worries all my life I am just sharing this to let you know you are not alone: I diagnosed myself with countless illness before 😃 someday I believe I get ovary cancer, some day covid, if I have a random pain under my arms I believe my lenf glands swollen due to an disease, I even thought at times if i had rabies or tetanus 😃 so far all those self diagnoses were wrong. I realized in my own journey that these thoughts are coming to nice people, if you are extremely careful, empathetic and most likely this is why you are experiencing this... and best part: you can heal yourself because in your case you did not have anxiety before, and even i healed my health concerning part of my anxiety and it was there since I was a child!
I have an anxious personality I can not change that but I learnt how to deal with the worries:
one day I was sitting and worrying thoughts were upon me I said OK just come make me extra worried and maybe this can finally come to and end. I let all the thoughts come, i did not even move my finger to avoid them, i didnt try to distract myself i saw there and watched. Be the observer of your own thoughts they come and go but you are the permanent resident !:) everytime you feel like they are coming just tell your mind "thanks for suggesting" this method stopped me trying to fight with my thoughts and it helped a lot to be in good terms with my mind, its job is to suggest us worst case scenarios at times to protect us but we are IN Control and we can decide when to take action.
try to slightly move your body, take baby steps and give yourself a high five! I know these may sound so positive and unreal but they work! if you don't like meditation and cant handle the process just try to imagine first thing in the morning and last thing before sleep that this is just a phase and you will go back to your default state soon! you will start working out again and picture yourself in your best shape in happiest moments!
You are worth healing! PS: I am not a native speaker so sorry in advance if My English is hard to understand, I just wanted to reach out and hope you are already doing better! 😃
Kilk87
Posted
Hi What44837, thank you so much for taking the time to read and respond to my thread. It means a lot and I'm sorry I haven't replied sooner. I'm sorry to hear that you have also experienced this awful condition, but your positive attitude and approach to recovery is reassuring and inspiring. My life changed beyond recognition about 8 weeks ago, but I am slowly attempting a recovery. It's a very slow and frustrating process, but you have to start somewhere. I thought I was improving, but was unfortunately diagnosed with Shingles two weeks ago, which set me back considerably. Many of the original symptoms have subsided, but I'm still quite weak and the tremors are persisting, which feeds into my anxiety and spiral of doom and despair. I had a GP appointment today and they've increased my medication and also prescribed Propranolol for the tremor. The view remains that the tremor is a symptom of severe anxiety. Makes sense since my time is completely consumed with anxiety. I've tried meditation and really find that an effective way to manage my thoughts and bring a certain level of calmness. (even if it is almost immediately followed by intrusive thoughts. I'll drop in now and again to update the thread on my progress and how others are managing with their own journey to normality. Thanks again for messaging and your english is perfect. Take care. 😃
lisa12664 Kilk87
Posted
This sounds like all the symptoms I've been struggling with in the last few years after having long covid. Any chance youre dealing with this as well? I did tons of medical tests which all came back normal and eventually wound up with a fibromyalgia diagnosis. Regardless, you cant go wrong with doing some core things: getting enough sleep, drinking a lot of water, eat healthy and limit sugar, daily exercise (nothing over the top, even a walk is good), and stress management. I hope you start to feel better soon.
Kilk87 lisa12664
Posted
Thank you for your response, Lisa12644. It's interesting that you should mention LongCovid. It has occurred to me many times throughout the last few months, but I didn't actually test positive for Covid at the time when I crashed and began experiencing all the symptoms. Although two work colleagues tested positive at the same time, so its been in the back of my mind. Did you experience a tremor? The two main symptoms I seem to struggle most with are fatigue and tremors. (very fine tremor) I also have a weird head nodding thing with my pulse, which isn't really noticeable to anyone but myself. I'm interested in the Fibromyalgia though? How is this diagnosed and does this cause tremors, muscle weakness and fatigue? Thank you so much for your reply and advice - best of luck with your diagnosis. 😃