Possible anxiety symptoms or something more...?

I was diagnosed with anxiety last year after starting my first job in a stressful consulting environment (long hours and tight deadlines). I had the usual symptoms of heart palpitations, sweaty palms, fatigue, etc. I managed to cope with exercise and de-stressing techniques. I also made an effort to find a new job with a lot less pressure.

I have been in my new job for the past 10 months and it is a much better environment. I still experience a few of the anxiety symptoms (breathlessness) but no longer have the horrible heart palpitations. I thought that I had my anxiety under control - however, the past few months I have noticed odd physical symptoms and I am not sure if they are related to my anxiety or possibly something more.

Basically, I have certain days (not every day) when I wake up extremely exhausted and find getting out of bed a huge effort. I sometimes feel nauseas shortly after waking up and have no appetite. The rest of the day seems like an uphill battle. I yawn constantly and feel fidgety and on edge. At times, I even find myself falling asleep in meetings/presentations. All I really want to do on these days, is leave work and go home and curl up in bed and sleep! Obviously, I cannot do that due my responsibilities at work – so I often try to fight through the day using coffee. However, I usually get nothing done at work as I am totally unable to focus. My legs and hands ache and I feel completely drained. It almost feels impossible to keep my eyes open at my desk (which looks so unprofessional to the rest of my team if they notice). When I do eventually get home, I feel so drained and head straight to bed. I usually wake up feeling much better (and normal) the next day.

I have been trying to put together the pieces to see if there was a trigger for why I would have these sudden onsets of extreme fatigue. All I can really tell is that this usually happens around stressful times at work – such as if I have an important presentation or deliverable to prepare or if I have a lot on my plate.

It even happened on a day that I was writing a huge exam (CFA Level 1 to those familiar) and I honestly don’t know how I made it through the entire exam as I kept yawning and found it extremely difficult to focus – somehow I pushed through. But needless to say, by the end of the exam, I was the most tired I have ever been. It felt like I had run a marathon! I had never experienced something like this before and I have written a number of exams as a student and was always able to cope.

When this happened initially, I immediately contacted my GP and he performed all of the tests (glucose, iron, thyroid) and everything was fine. All he picked up was a vitamin D deficiency for which I am now taking supplements.

I honestly have no idea what it could be as I have not heard of anyone with anxiety who has these symptoms but since my bloods came back normal – it is the only possible explanation I have! I am hoping there is someone else out there who can relate and help! I cannot have this continue as it is affecting my productivity at work! I cannot keep taking time off because “I’m tired”!!!!

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