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Is this stres and anxiety?

Posted , 6 users are following.

dan38255
dan38255

I’ve been posting on here for a while now to try and figure it all out, I’m so so so fatigued at the age of 23. It’s not even fatigue, it’s exhaustion, I’ve gone from being a gym obsessed guy to someone who spends his days googling his symptoms from bed.

It started 12 months ago, and lasted for a week at a time and felt like a bit of infection, my head feels weird, tired, hot flushes, clammy to touch. Then it went away. But then kept reoccurring. 

I’ve suffered from stress, anxiety and body dysmorphia for a very long time. I’m OCD about my health, and my relationship, i get jealous over my partners ex’s or who he might have slept with, I beat myself up over my looks (even though I’m not actually that bad), I worry about my future, will I be successful, will I be happy, when will I die? - I have these things running through my mind. ALL THE TIME.  

When my illness started coming in periods of a week, I could relate it back to a stressful situation the day before, it seemed as though my body was reacting by shutting down for a while. 

I know post exertion malaise is a big symptom in CFS, but once the illness had gone I was back at the gym every day lifting weights, but then something stressful would happen and I’d be bed bound.

I guess what I’m asking is, is it actually possible that my “chronic fatigue” is due to EXTREME stress? I never had a notable virus that could of caused CFS (and I know you don’t always need one)

The thing is I’m always I’ll now, every day, but it’s bexause I’m so bloody stressed about it! I just wanna go the gym and be myself. I went to the gym the other day and the same night I had to go the hospital, my whole body throbbed in pain.

I’ve had allll of my bloods done at the doctor and everything is normal, is stress and anxiety really doing this? It’s also mentioning I am on medication for anxiety but I’m going to up my dose 

0 likes, 11 replies

11 Replies

  • lori93950
    lori93950 dan38255

    Posted

    I had  my blood work done twice and it all came back healthy dr told me I need to see a shrink ! I put two plus two together after searching online. So after 5 months of feeling terrible I  demanded a test for Epstein Barr and sure enough came up high and showed ‘past infection’.

    Now I’m seeing an infectious disease specialist who’s doing more tests.

    I suggest if you haven’t already to ask for an EBV test HVV 6 test and whatever else Lyme etc. it’s been a long process for me and yes I worked out hard for 5 months which is a no-no . 

  • Beverley_01
    Beverley_01 dan38255

    Posted

    Hi Dan,

    You don't have to have a virus to have cfs/me. Mine came from a car crash where I was hit from behind and had a fractured spine. I had blood tests too because in the UK, to be sent to a cfs/me specialist service, you actually need normal blood tests. My cfs/me symptoms started directly after the crash, I woke exhausted from it and on hyper alert. I had ptsd symptoms and Drs primarily put everything down to issues from the crash. But, 18 months in I asked for cfs/me.

    I'm going to ask, is pain a big part of this for you? I ask because fibromyalgia, which has overlapping symptoms, can be caused by stress. I know one young woman who ended up with it from a relationship breakdown.

    If you are about to up your anxiety medication, I wonder if it would be worth talking to your doctor for a referral to psychological services to help with the invasive thoughts. I saw someone for the ptsd and it helped to quite a degree. Look up fibromyalgia and see how the symptoms fit.

    If you're in the UK, also ask for a referral to cfs/me clinic or a rheumatologist if fibromyalgia is suspected.

    Cfs/me affects the nervous system in a variety of ways and everyone is different. It may be your tipping point is extra mental stress whereas someone else's is more physical stress or a mixture of everything.

    Beverley

    • dan38255
      dan38255 Beverley_01

      Posted

      Hi thanks for your comment. I’ve had no injuries or virus’s, no car crash or anything. It’s just happening, I don’t have pain, apart from muscle aches 
    • Beverley_01
      Beverley_01 dan38255

      Posted

      Hi Dan,

      It can be so frustrating when you want answers and none seem forthcoming but, ask your GP for extra tests: lupus, lymes, vitamin D levels (they don't usually test routinely for that in the UK) as these also have exhaustion symptoms and can have muscle pain too.

      Beverley

  • pet48859
    pet48859 dan38255

    Posted

    Hi Dan, 

    Stress & anxiety can effect the body massively. When we have a thought the body sends out receptors to feel a certain way. Often when feeling stressed & anxious our fight or flight switch is switched on. We have a choice - to fight, flight or freeze. When we don’t want to face the situation we freeze & the body shuts down as a way of protecting itself from the scary stuff. Sometimes we have to face our feelings to move forward.  Like Beverly says to ask your doc for a referral to phycological servisrx to help with the invasive thoughts. - I feel you would benefit greatly. Often we think hypothetical stuff.. e.g what’s happened in the past & what might happen in the future. If you can bring yourself back to the here & now & ground yourself, other than the thought & thinking the worst. Not easy I know when your mind  is like a run away train, but as soon as you notice it getting carried away you’ve made a shift. The other thing to remember is when you are in bed thinking you are resting when you are actually surfing on the net for info... that is not rest.. we can actually use just as much energy &  often more with just thoughts & getting lost in researching. The brain uses up a lot of energy!  Try to give your mind a little rest too. Try to make rest periods a proper rest where you rest your body and mind. Allow your body to “land” you can listen to guided meditation on you tube or just focus on your breath, close mouth & feel the breath through your nose, feel your tummy rise as you fill your lungs with air & tummy flatten as you exhale. You could count 4 seconds on & 5 seconds out or what feels comfortable for you.. Your mind may wonder, its human after all, notice it & bring it back to the breath. You probably already know some of this stuff, sometimes we just need a gentle reminder. Meditation & focus breathing helps me massively. 

    Over all love & be kind to yourself 😁 

    • dan38255
      dan38255 pet48859

      Posted

      Thanks so much! I just don’t get why I’m suddenly so ill, I’m convinced I have something medically wrong with me that they haven’t picked up because they’re not bloody trying!! X
  • pet48859
    pet48859 dan38255

    Posted

    Wow! The universe works in mysterious ways..

    a friend just sent me a quote after I posted my last message & basically it says it all in a nut shell...,

    “When I’m resting  because my body is weak, I need to remember that I’m not wasting the day doing nothing. I am doing exactly what I need to do....

    I’m recovering”

    Just had to share 😁

    • caroline_74621
      caroline_74621 pet48859

      Posted

      wow thats a great quote. may need to borrow that and stick it up in every room in my house!

      my body literally shouts out for me to rest and then just stops like today.

      But my brain is thinking at 300mph next thing i know i get brain fog and stand there just gazing into thin air!!

    • pet48859
      pet48859 caroline_74621

      Posted

      Glad it helped you caroline.

      We often need reminding. Good idea to stick the quote up so you can see it 😃

  • ana85762
    ana85762 dan38255

    Posted

    Were you ever prescribed any ssri ?? Were you on any medecation around the time your symptoms started showing up ?
    • dan38255
      dan38255 ana85762

      Posted

      Hey, yeah I’ve been on sertraline for around 3 years, symptoms have been happening for a year now
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