Viewing 28 posts - 1 through 28 (of 28 total)
  • Anxiety out of control at the moment….symptoms
  • unfitgeezer
    Free Member

    Just got to air this latest shitty anxiety outburst – feel like I’m going **** mad again

    to start anxiety isn’t new to me its an old friend, currently in therapy for the last few years etc (just like Tony Soprano)

    lots of reasons as to why I suffer, mum died of cancer when I was young, and to kick start this latest bout off again was my friend dying in January, listening to Steve Hewlit on radio 4, then a friends mothers friend who I don’t even know having tongue cancer and reading on here about folk that have cancer has got all to much and is taking its toll on me.

    It feels like I have a lump in back of my throat when I swallow and has done for about 2 weeks, looked at my tonsils and one is bigger than the other- to cut a long story short went to the doctors this morning who had a good look and said yes one is bigger but not swollen and its normal for one to be bigger. the lump feeling is caused by me “looking” for it and making swallowing motions and causing a strain. I stupidly looked this up and it said throat cancer…he has assured me that I’m okay…

    I don’t feel okay in the head and almost don’t believe the doctor with what he said.

    Stupidly I have smoked about 10 bob marley cigarettes since August last year and am convinced this could be the cause of cancer and feelings in my mouth- irrational thinking…

    In truth when I feel calm I don’t feel it…

    I’m 43 years old and living with this level of anxiety is truly debilitating…

    Thanks for reading listening

    captainsasquatch
    Free Member

    Get something to control the effects of anxiety (beta blockers), then get and talk to someone about the issues that are making you anxious.

    perchypanther
    Free Member

    Maybe try and taper off the Jamaican Woodbines?

    Clearly, they’re not having the calming effect you were hoping for.

    Talk to the Doctor about the anxiety rather than the physical symptoms?

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middling Edition

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middlin...
    Latest Singletrack Videos
    globalti
    Free Member

    You are probably one of what doctors call the “worried well”. They are familiar with the problem; lots of folk imagine the worst and get really wound up about it. I get stressed about something else and the only way I can deal with it is to take positive action against the source of my worry. I would suggest you book with your GP to have a “well man” checkup, which might help.

    plyphon
    Free Member

    Go to your GP and ask to be referred to a CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) specialist on the NHS. CBT is very effective and is worth taking seriously.

    kaiser
    Free Member

    Right…sorry to hear you’re suffering but i’d suggest you place your trust in the doctor’s advice and if that’s difficult then get a second opinion ( mainly for psychological support )as it’s highly unlikely you have what you fear ……..hopefully i can help a little.
    I too have struggled with anxiety and numerous unpleasant bodily sensations for 30yrs and for a long time thought every unusual feeling ( which were very real ) was connected to some sort of serious illness. I went for 2 yrs with the lump in the throat tension feeling and kept examining myself several times daily in the mirror and convincing myself i could see problems ie redness / size differences of tonsils etc etc also searched for info on symptoms to confirm my fears ( a VERY bad idea ) i would sit with my hand under my throat to support it and became depressed as a result. After several doctors visits and reassurance i was eventually told by a doc it would only go away when i accepted it was psychosomatic ..something i found difficult to believe but somehow that sunk in and it disappeared ..! The source of this inner tension/stress whatever then found another home in the form of what was diagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome for many months . Once again ..when forgotten about/distracted from it left me .
    I have had numerous aches/pains/sensations over the years which have bothered me more than they should have as a result of anxiety and focusing on them which acts to amplify the feeling . most people don’t do this and so aren’t bothered by such complaints.
    It’s difficult to accept but you are most likely experiencing the bodily effects of an anxious brain which can be very unpleasant but definately can be helped if not totally sorted with the right understanding/help and attitude.
    I could go on forever as i am a kind of anxiety expert ( if you base it on personal experience)but not too good at helping myself. Became an alcoholic as a result in an effort to stop the thinking and feelings but in the long run that took it’s toll. Get help..talk about it and educate yourself about the way anxiety manifests/expresses itself in bodily functions/feelings/sensations etc.
    mail in profile if you want to talk more or need any advice ..happy to talk on phone too
    Bill in exeter ( 53yr old kid)
    btw ..i smoked loads of weed etc when young and couldn’t touch it now became like an anxiety/paranoia on off switch for me ie on when stoned.

    kaiser
    Free Member

    I’m no doctor but you’re probably suffering from globus hystericus/pharyngeus very common in stressed/anxious people like us!
    info here

    globalti
    Free Member

    Isn’t cannabis blamed for causing symptoms of anxiety in some people?

    Here: http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/healthadvice/problemsdisorders/cannabis.aspx

    Malvern Rider
    Free Member

    Sorry to hear this. It rings a lot of bells with me. Exhibited a few odd symptoms last spring. Both my parents had suspected cancer within two weeks of each other, waiting on biopsies. Lots of bad pains in groin and not just from recent suspected hernia/tear. Also feeling periodically giddy and very weird, like passing out, was actually worried when walking the dog as if I went down he’d be helpless in the road.

    Anyway, went to docs on three occasions in a few weeks, different GP each time. Couldn’t settle my mind, was feeling wretched and hyper every day convinced had some kind of knacker-cancer. The final straw was (excuse me) crapping bright red one morning during last house move. Was so dizzy, sick and mortally terrified at this point I can’t really describe it. I had coped very well up to this third (unscheduled) house move, so couldn’t quite understand why I was going to pot.

    Was also doing it alone as better half is has developed chronic health problems/disabilities so she stayed far away with family while I did the move.

    Last GP I saw asked if I had ‘been stressed lately?’ And he meant nothing to do with actual physical pain from injury. I said ‘yes, three house moves in five months (last two were unplanned/unscheduled) mounting debt, wife increasingly suffering/out of action with suspected MS and dislocated joints, our little dog had also developed epilepsy/seizures, an ear infection from a damp property, and to top it an eye ulcer that was mismanaged by new vets so was at imminent risk of losing said eye. During all this we had to travel 400 mile round trip to old vets to get (expensive) emergency surgery to save his eye. Trying to pack/lift stuff carefully with a tear/hernia wasn’t helping my state of anxiety, neither the endless sleepless nights.’

    GP said ‘that’ll do it’. I found it hard to accept as have dealt with much worse (although not as wide a variety in such a short period) and kept it together.

    So – the dizziness/rushing in ears/feelng faint was purely anxiety. The red poop turned out to be from a beetroot smoothie I’d forgotten about drinking. The extra groin/knacker pain was most likely from a recent (long) ride on what turned out to be a broken leather saddle (had collected a used bike and chose to ride home on it to get some me-time!)

    Breaking everything down into components helped me make sense of my free-falling mental state, and put physical health/conditions in perspective. Never been a hypochondriac so this was all a major suprise to me. It has taken me a year to sort everything aforementioned out to some semblance of repair, and not completely out of the woods but I do have perspective now, and only mild periodic recurrence of anxiety.

    Go easy on yourself. Take a break/retreat, even if you think you don’t have time to. It’s important. Break everything down into bite-sized pieces and let bad thoughts float away while you get on with living. Talk to your GP of course.

    And … f*** 2016 for ever. … spring is on it’s way! here!

    xcracer1
    Free Member

    Just leave it be out of control. It is trying to control it thats the problem that keeps it going. When trying to control it all you are doing is inadvertently is feeding it.

    user-removed
    Free Member

    …currently in therapy

    What does your therapist say about all of this? If you’ve been with them for a couple of years, they’ll know you better than you know yourself. Give them a call.

    kaiser
    Free Member

    yep ..attention adds fuel to the fire = amplification = attention = vicious circle.

    scud
    Free Member

    Whilst most think of the odd “jazz fag” as innocent, i smoked a lot in my 20’s but thankfully stopped, but have watched someone is/was one of my best friends continue smoking (and growing) strong skunk and other weed, he has completely changed as a person, once the outgoing guy that wouldn’t of hurt a fly is now the guy who has sold his TV and looks at nothing but the internet, and believes in all the conspiracy theories about “chem-trails” and the like, barely socialises anymore and has done is utmost to try and insult and fall out with everyone that he was friends with and who have tried repeatedly to help him, we fell out last year when he tried to tell me my daughters T1 diabetes was all due to the MMR and other inoculations she had as standard as a child before coming physically violent.

    Whilst this is an extreme case, and the odd smoke here has done a lot of people no harm, i think that the accumulative effect of smoking day in day out for years can only change you and i think that especially of you susceptible to any sort of mental issue, then the smoking can only amplify that.

    (That may be the most grown up thing i’ve ever typed and 21 year old me would of laughed out loud though!)

    edenvalleyboy
    Free Member

    Ages 15 – 28 I had a very high usuage of drugs (fully functioning adult holding down good job etc) but definitely gave me anxiety issues. Saw counselors and stuff. Took quite a few years (probably 10 in all honesty) post no drugs to get rid of my anxiety issues.

    TimothyD
    Free Member

    I used to not be able to leave the family home during my twenties, and it gradually improved as I put myself through graduated exposure to try and get better (I’d smoked too much dope, and made up my mind it wasn’t going to set the tone for the rest of my life, so I set about getting better again). I didn’t know it was called graduated exposure at the time, I just wanted to get better.

    Maybe try thinking to yourself ‘I’m going to be fine, I’m healthy and well’, and put that on some kind of mantra/loop in your head?

    A big breakthrough for me was when I saw that nothing in the outside world changed whether I was anxious or not, so I (in a tongue in cheek way) thought to myself I might as well let myself my anxious (it was a ‘surface level thought’ which floated around in my mind while I went about doing different kinds of things to try and get well again, but it removed an element of fear related to feeling anxious). Realising that gave me some mental space to observe things happening from, which eventually led to things improving.

    Remember that the brain can’t process negative engrams, only positive ones, so you don’t want to be thinking ‘Don’t stress’ & probably not ‘I don’t have cancer’ since that will probably just put the thought ‘cancer’ in your head, but something along the lines of ‘I’m healthy and well’ and ‘Things will be fine’ ‘I’m capable and calm’, and that kind of thing?

    It could be a very very very good idea not to smoke any more cannabis, I’ve seen it be unhelpful to a lot of people.

    ‘Remain calm’ ‘I am healthy and well’ ‘I am capable and can cope’ ‘Things will be fine’

    Hope to help.
    You’ll be fine in the end. 🙂

    TimothyD
    Free Member

    Could be a good idea to lay off too much caffeine too, and maybe try drinking cammomile tea in the evenings to see if it helps with sleep?

    I’m aware each day of tea raising my anxiety level a little bit, but I’m a ‘tea head’ you might say, and keep meaning to cut down or stop to see what happens, but I haven’t done yet (I really like my cups of tea).

    Good luck.

    unfitgeezer
    Free Member

    thanks for all your replies – helpful stuff.

    feeling a little better…

    footflaps
    Full Member

    Get something to control the effects of anxiety (beta blockers), then get and talk to someone about the issues that are making you anxious.

    I’d recommend SSRIs. All Beta Blockers did was stop me exercising, has no effect on anxiety. Citalopram worked like a switch, I went from nervous wreck to near normal in a matter of days.

    vickypea
    Free Member

    Hi, I sometimes suffer from health anxiety when I get depressed. I know how horrible it is worrying that you have a serious disease and then when the dr puts your mind at rest, a new worry slips in to take its place. I sometimes think that worrying is my comfort zone, so many months and years I’ve spent in a state of high anxiety.
    As someone already mentioned, is this something that your therapy can help with? If it’s not that kind of therapy, maybe you could try CBT which is effective for that kind of anxiety.

    bigjim
    Full Member

    Stupidly I have smoked about 10 bob marley cigarettes since August last year and am convinced this could be the cause of cancer and feelings in my mouth- irrational thinking…

    10 a day or 10 in total since then? there’s a big difference, 10 a day and you have anxiety I would say there is most likely a cause and effect going on there. 10 in total isn’t so bad, though if it makes you feel bad after, then stop. My tonsils are like golf balls from repeated tonsillitis, they’ve been oooed at by two specialists and they’re fine. It can take months for them to reduce in size after an infection.

    neil1973
    Full Member

    I’ve suffered from anxiety on and off for much of my adult life with health anxiety being particularly significant at times. I’m not sure if you spend much time looking at health related stuff on the internet? I found that I used to think of something that may be wrong with me and then go looking for information to try and reasure myself. While this can be useful on occasion for me it could also be a real rabbit hole with one thing leading on to the next. These days I make a conscious decision not to do this.

    CBT, ACT and meds have all helped me in different ways. I also find making sure I go outside for a walk or cycle most days (doesn’t need to be long or strenuous) helps a lot with mental health, both anxiety and depression.

    unfitgeezer
    Free Member

    10 mini ones since august in total ! Trying to relive my youth !

    10 a day and I’d be in a secure unit !!!

    gavtheoldskater
    Free Member

    this is a classic reason why certain drugs should be un-criminalised so that they can be sold/supplied in a controlled fashion with clear labeling showing the consumer exactly what they are taking. just like alcohol has the strength on every bottle.

    marijuana, without even going into strengths which these days can be stupidly strong (lets face it, most people use drugs these days to get f@cked up not enlightened or be creative), can be indica, sativa or mostly a mix with one of them being dominant. you’ll need to google for more info and it depends on the person but each will affect you differently and may even be downright awful in terms of paranoia and anxiety.. not that i do of course, but i wouldn’t touch anything sativa dominant for that very reason. so if you are buying off the street be very careful what you are putting in your pipe.

    you don’t mention how much you drink, so maybe this is an empty comment if you don’t, but i stopped drinking and my worst bouts of daily anxiety disappeared.

    unfitgeezer
    Free Member

    Don’t drink

    funkmasterp
    Full Member

    Citalopram worked like a switch, I went from nervous wreck to near normal in a matter of days.

    Took slightly longer for me, but otherwise the same. I’ve been on them for over two years now and they have been great. Still get panic attacks if I overdo the caffeine though.

    butcher
    Full Member

    I’d be tempted to go back for a second opinion. Not because I think it might turn out to be something, but because if you don’t believe one doctor, you might have more faith in two.

    Health anxiety is common, and so is feeling all kinds of sensations in your throat. It seems to be an area quite sensitive to anxiety, making you feel sick, constricted, etc…

    Quick fixes to anxiety generally don’t seem to exist. It’s unlikely to be gone by tomorrow or next week, no matter what you do. But over the longer term you need to be looking at addressing the sources of stress that cause the anxiety and also readjusting the thought patterns which contribute to it (which is the kind of stuff you will do through CBT).

    Personally I would recommend some kind of meditation/relaxation. That’s a very good starting point, and if nothing it will help clear your head while you try to move forward.

    I think much of the time, anxiety problems are a mixture of stress and confidence issues. The stress raises your natural levels of anxiety over time, and once it gets to a certain stage it dents your confidence in a big way. And that can be manifested in many different ways but the fundamental issues are the same. And they tend to fuel each other, which is when it spirals out of control. So to fix you need to do two things: lower your body’s level of stress/anxiety, and work on rebuilding your confidence or restructuring the thought processes that are causing you so much concern.

    MoreCashThanDash
    Full Member

    Been on a low dose of Citalopram for a year now. Took a month or so to kick in properly but dulled the anxiety and that helped ease the depression. Some CBT and more “me time” has then helped me get things into perspective.

    Episodes, which sometimes include health anxiety, are shorter but now so far apart that when I have one it really throws me.

    Would love to come off it now I thought I was ready,but GP wasn’t convinced and frankly, after the afternoon I’ve just had, they were probably right 😕

    kaiser
    Free Member
Viewing 28 posts - 1 through 28 (of 28 total)

The topic ‘Anxiety out of control at the moment….symptoms’ is closed to new replies.