Anxiety or Something Else ?

Posted , 4 users are following.

Hey Guys, I'm a newbie so go easy on me here. 

I've been diagnosed with GAD for just over a year now. I want to know if my anxiety is normal or if I should go get some more medical advice. Sometime I think I have all sorts of illness' and I need your help.

My Symptoms are :

Lightheadidness, most of the day, especially when out and about but even when I'm at home in my comfort zone.

Weird breathing, not breathlessness just feel like I focus on it like I need to control it ? 

Headaches, quite a lot recently.

Sweating/Getting Hot, again when I'm out and about and occasionally when I'm at home. 

Weird Eyes problems, I have severe floaters I sometimes see blue sparks. I;ve been to the optician they are fine!

Really bad memory.

Tiredness and feeling weak.

And last but not least this "weird feeling" I can't describe it, I just feel strange like nothing is real and the people around me feel strange. Really hard to explain.

I blame my anxiety when I had a bad trip when I stupidly took a substance that made my heart rate go through the roof and I think I was very close to death, but the anxiety didn't start till a good 2/3 months after this, so where did it come from ?

Any help would be great thanks for reading smile 

Shaun

0 likes, 4 replies

4 Replies

  • Posted

    Hey Shaun,

    Your symptoms are scarily identical to my own when I was first diagnosed (just over a year ago). Don't worry though, it is anxiety. I spent so long convinced I had something seriously wrong with me which just made me so much worse. The worst one for me was the 'not-real' feeling. If you look up depersonalisation, you'll find out more about it, and it is nothing to worry about. The vision thing as well really got to me. I think I has 3 different eye tests at different opticians within the first month of my anxiety starting, all for them to tell me there was nothing wrong. I even demanded to be seen by an eye doctor at the hospital. My vision is still a bit funny, but a part of me thinks it's always been this way and it was only my anxiety that made me actually focus on it. When you stop stressing about it, you notice it much less. My symptoms aren't half as bad as they were last year, and I have things (mostly) under control. I'm going through a particularly bad patch right now but it's because my medication has been getting changed I think.

    Also, the circumstances that brought my first symptoms on are very similar to yours. I accidentally overdosed on MDMA one night and was very likely on the brink of death. I used to be a frequent user of hard drugs and a daily stoner, but about a week or two after this experience, I had my first panic attack after smoking one joint with a friend - which at the time was nothing compared to what I would normally smoke. I ended up quitting all the drugs because ever since then, even a few draws of a joint will send me into panic mode.

    Have you been described anti-depressants? If not I really recommend you speak to your doctor about getting them. I was going through a genuine living hell before I got them. I was on beta-blockers to stop the physical side effects like sweating, palpitations, etc. but they don't do anything for the mental side of it which was the worst for me. I felt like I was going crazy and would never feel normal again, which is a scary thought to have when you're only 17 and have so much of your life left to live. But after I started taking Citalopram, it was like a total sigh of relief (once they kicked in) and I started to feel like myself again.

    Hope I've been of some help, or at least given you some reassurance. I know I needed it back then. 

    • Posted

      Thanks so much for this response Danny, you have made my day. I am currently on beta blockers but like you said they just sorta help on the physical side of things and not even that well if you ask me. It's great to hear from someone else of a similar age who has pretty much the exact same issue, it has made me feel a little bit better already. I think you're right though I should mention anti-depressants but I fear they would make me feel more strange,

      Quick few questions to you (sorry) but do you get any naseau ? I have it daily, really bad at times and do you have health anxiety ? Thinking you've got cancer and all that malarky haha ? 

      Thanks Again ! 

      Shaun

  • Posted

    That weired feeling is called depersonalisation 

    That feeling scares the ***** out if me but it won't 

    Kill you, your safe. 

    Moderator note: Expletives have been censored in this reply

  • Posted

    Hello there! Don't mean to make light of anyone's problems! Been there , done that and still doing it but please read books by Dr. Claire Weeks. Self help for your nerves and more help for your nerves. They are fabulous because they describe every symptom/ sensation related to anxiety but also gives you an explanation as to why it's happening. If you are analytical like me then you will find comfort in them. I'm still looking for a way to stop health anxiety altogether! Any suggestions welcome. Hope you can get hold of the books....amazon??? . And feel better soon.

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