Adjustment, health anxiety. Help!

[sharpie2]

Hey guys,

I'm a 23 year old mate fit, generally healthy and new to this forum, so hello to you all. The past 4 months have been different for me, after I was told that I was being made redundant at my old job. Sure enough when you think of the potential consequences of redundancy, you get anxious, feel hopeless and de-motivated. Anyway, the days and weeks after this moment brought me light headedness, muscle vibrations/twitches, pins and needles in my body, and brain fog/spaced out, tinnitus as well? Yep. It's almost like it all snuck up on me! I broke down about it one night. I then noticed that this worry affected me on the soccer field as well, didn't want to make that 5 extra metres for a slide tackle, shortness of breath etc. I was worried (love a good bit of health anxiety after a friend of mine died of brain cancer earlier this year) so went to my GP, had blood tests done, all clear, then he diagnosed me with mild depression and anxiety, referring me to a psychologist in the process. It took me 2 months to have the balls to see a psychologist, and in the mean time I couldn't help myself with Dr Google (which you guys talk about a lot) I've stressed over life threatening illnesses and debilitating diseases. Bare in mind I'm a great eater and a good exerciser. Psychology helped me a lot, he said I had a bit of adjustment disorder, and also he went about changing my thought processes with my ill health obsession. I started feeling better and felt confident in managing it. I also started taking b complex and fish oil caps to boost energy levels at work, because some days I just could not function. I felt great for 2 weeks, been playing my soccer as normal, going out etc and enjoying myself. Recently my symptoms have come back and also I've had tightness in the front of my neck, shaky, weak, fatigued, naturally I think thyroid issues or lymphoma etc and my mind is in overdrive! So I started stressing over them and bang I'm off to the GP tomorrow again to discuss it. Can anyone relate to this? Sorry for the rant but I feel better putting this out there!

[Maui757]

Hi Sharpie,

First off, I absolutely relate to your experience!!! I’m also 24, though I’m female, but I have always had this horrible anxiety around my health to the point I make myself sick, which is quite ironic..

But almost everything you described are very similar symptoms to what I get. Shortness of breath, tightness in my chest, fuzzy-headed, even the tinnitus and thumping in my ears occasionally. I also get dizzy and my neck and shoulders are constantly sore from the tension in my muscles from the anxiety.

I’ve been dealing with this for 6 or so years now (with psychological help). My parents used to call me a hypochondriac because I would worry about the craziest things. I get a mark on my skin and immediately think I have skin cancer and am probably going to die. If I feel even the slightest bit unwell I freak out until I know exactly what illness I have. I quite often get very worked up overthinking whatever symptoms I have, convincing myself that I have some life threatening disease. I’ve had sooo many tests done it’s not funny, including MRIs, all of which come back perfectly normal and clear.

I’ve come to realise that stress induces 99% of my “symptoms” and that when I’m relaxed or distracted, I generally feel pretty good. But usually I feel like I’m in a constant state of panic over anything and everything that I feel. I’m still learning how to cope with this myself, and I wish I could get to see my psych more (work commitments holding me up lately) because that definitely helps.

But at least know you’re not alone with this one, and I’m actually so happy that I’ve found there’s someone just like me out there! I’m not sure what you do to help your symptoms, but for me knowing that it’s usually anxiety can help. If I start to freak out about a health issue I force myself to stop, practice deep breathing for a minute (breathe in for 3 secs and out for 3 secs 10 times), and then ask myself how I’m feeling now (physically). Most of the time I feel a little bit better, which is enough to prove to my brain that my symptoms are actually just anxiety, not a life threatening illness. It takes a LOT of work and I can’t always control it, but it helps.

I hope your anxiety eases up soon! Give yourself a break here and there too – We all need one occasionally 🙂

Maui

[Wanderlust123]

Hi,

I understand where you are coming from. I am going through a big adjustment too (my first full time 9-5 job after graduating) and has caused my anxiety levels to increase the past few weeks. My symptoms haven't been physical like yours, but more emotionally/mentally. I've starting being really hard on myself, comparing myself to others, not feeling good enough and these thoughts can be so cruel. Like you, it also affected my performance in basketball. I haven't been to a GP but have started meditating to try to manage it. Some days are better than others and I find the weekends tough (especially being a weekend worker for many years prior).

It's nice to know we have this community to support each other and know we are not alone in this.

Let us know how you go at the GP tomorrow.

All the best 🙂

[Neeko]

Hey guys,

I think I can definitely relate to this. I have been having all kinds of symptoms on and off for three months now. Muscle soreness, drowsiness, dizziness, nausea and just a lot of aches and pains in general. I have been to the doctors multiple times and had blood tests done that all came back clear.

It comes in waves, one second I’m fine and the next I just want to be home, safe and lying down. I wake up thinking about the worst case scinario illness, and go to bed thinking about it. It’s exhausting and is effecting every part of my life. I have stopped going to the gym in which I was previously a health fanatic. I have surfed once in 8 weeks in which I would normally go once or twice a week. I have been very unsocial. The crazy thing is I have had everything good happening in my life right now. I just got engaged, bought a new house at a dream location. I should be happy, although I’m the absolute opposite.

My doctor has prescribed a non addictive antidepressant and I have my first phsychology session next week. Will also be seeing my doctor again for further tests to try and rest my mind.

Google doctor is my worst enemy and I need to stay away. After reading forums I feel some sense of calm that I’m not on my own.

So far the prescribed pills don’t seem to be doing much although I’m sleeping better now. As for controlling my thoughts during the day, I’m stuck and can’t wait for my first therapy session.

thanks for listening.

[sharpie2]

Hey Maui,

It's a good feeling knowing that other people are in the same boat I agree. My strategies normally I find that sitting down with someone in person and talking about it i.e. my psychologist or a mate makes me feel better, and it kind of distracts me as well. I also find that going for a fast walk relieves some tension in my body and using my smart watch to set a certain amount of steps as my goal puts my mind off my worries and gives me something to work towards in that moment. Soccer is generally good for me too, I feel quite shaky and twitchy in the legs after playing but a hot shower when I get home coupled with sleep, the next day I feel loosened out a lot. Maybe in a constantly oversensitised state your body doesn't initially respond well to exercise but then afterwards it acts accordingly.

Your breathing sounds good, it helps me a little bit as well. Though like you sometimes I can't control what I'm thinking about my health and it becomes very hard to reverse that. My Mum is worried about me and does all in her power to convince me that I'm 100% fine and I've started to use her high blood pressure as motivation for me to stop stressing her out about my thoughts.

I'm not sure you do for work but if you have really good people around you every day it acts as a very good distraction I find. I have great people at my new job and being around them takes a bit of the sting out of my internal state.

All the best with your journey 🙂

[sharpie2]

Hey Wanderlust,

Great to hear you've walked into a job after graduating, well in! I started a new job the Monday after I left my old job and that's what stressed me out as well, I was in a foreign environment, had no idea what I was doing and barely knew the people around me. It's good that you're trying to manage it mentally, I've personally never tried meditation but it might be something worth while to me. It also sucks when your worries are present with you during sport a) because you enjoy it and hope it's an outlet from your mind and b) basketball and soccer are high intensity sports and you don't want to be deprived of mental energy to perform your best!

My GP visit went okay, doc thinks I have Globus sensation which is directly linked to anxiety and stress. She told me to relax, drink plenty of water, get plenty of rest and suggested some mind apps for me to look at. If I still feel similar in a few days she's going to take bloods etc. Thanks for asking 🙂

[Wanderlust123]

Hi Sharpie,

You have made me feel calm just by reading your replies to myself and Maui.

I am glad your GP visit went well and she recommended some solutions. What mind apps did she suggest? I have been using Headspace: Guided Meditation and highly recommend it. I also liked your tip of going for a walk, I find that helps me clear my head too. I have higher anxiety over the weekend so found going for a long walk in the morning helped ease my thoughts.

Hope you had a great day 🙂

[Wanderlust123]

Hi Neeko,

Thank you for sharing your experience, it's comforting to know we are not alone feeling this way.

It can feel horrible not being able to sleep because your thoughts are keeping you up, and then the next day you feel so tired! I mentioned Headspace: Guided Meditation in my post above, and I recommend giving it a go before bed. I have found it really calms my mind down, and the other day I was listening to the meditation session in bed and fell asleep with the light on!

I am glad you have spoken to your GP about how you are feeling, and I wish you the best for your therapy sessions. In the meantime, you have us for support 🙂

[sharpie2]

Hey Wanderlust,

My GP suggested Headspace and Smiling Mind. I think I will try both of them and see how I go. Spoke to my psychologist again today, trying to see him every 3-4 weeks. That amount of time gives me a chance to put in to practice what he tells me and also it's quite cost consuming! I forgot to mention before that I also tend to feel especially bad on the weekends as well because I don't have work to occupy me. I try to make sure I have plans!

[sharpie2]

Hey Neeko,

Nice to hear from you! Sounds like you've recently taken big steps to set yourself up in life so congrats on the engagement and the home! 🙂

I know what you mean when your feelings come in waves..it is very frustrating, sometimes depends what day it is for me and I can't always put a finger on what makes my anxiety take over me. My psychologist keeps asking me to think back and recall moments that may have made me tick but sometimes I just can't.

My anxiety has been happening for about 4 months now and within the first month I had blood tests and I was already for the news that something was killing me, but Doc rang me and said I'm right as rain. This kind of scared me even more and made me question myself "does mental illness really feel like this?"

On RUOK Day few weeks back we had a guest speaker from Beyond Blue at work who had been through an absolute shit load of stuff in her life and explained her feelings to us all and after relating to some of her material I now realise why mental illness is such a big thing. You think nothing of it until it forms over you like storm clouds.

I am really trying my best to not have to go on medication but I'll see how I go I spose.

Good luck with your therapy sessions and let us know how you go!