Anxiety or something else. Strange physical feelings

[Butterfly20]

I am not sure what to do and what it is that I am feeling.

Firstly I want to mention that I have been battling with anxiety and depression for 10 + years. I notice my anxiety gets triggered easily and i have a constant fear of making wrong choices and dont feel good enough amongst other things. I am also generally low in energy. However, over the past 4 months I have noticed severe fatigue, brain fogs, problems with memory and focus. After lunch i feel so sleepy and by 8pm i cant physically do anything as my muscles feel so fatigued. Today especially I became concerned when I lost orientation while driving back from work. I knew what street I was on but I did not recognise it at all. I also get lot of body aches at night. I am only 37 so this is starting to worry me. My GP did bloods and im not lacking in any vitamins/minerals. I started exercise thinking it might help. Maybe it takes time.

[geoff]

Hello Butterfly, when I was suffering from both these of these illnesses, fatigue was a strong element, so I know exactly what you're saying and some people find that exercising certainly helps them, but when my psychologist suggested I do this, I simply couldn't, I didn't have the strength nor the inclination.

While other people feel differently and I appreciate its help to them, but no amount of vitamins could change how I felt, I hope it's different for you, but if exercise is a way to help you then I also encourage this.

I must admit that at times I had great strength, while on other occasions I had to ask my sons to open a jar, but feeling tired was always there.

The loss of orientation also occurred and can I ask if possible whether or not you have seen a counsellor or if medication has been offered.

Hope to hear back from you.

Geoff.

[YorkeYorke]

Sorry to hear you are experiencing those things Butterfly. Well done for going to the GP and getting the bloods checked just in case. Did they have anything else they wanted to check re the fatigue?

I certainly get a lot of fatigue too, and can also relate to what you were saying about memory.

In recent times my way forward has been to acknowledge the fatigue but try and push through with things that are important to me anyway. However I can totally appreciate that's not always possible, and it sounds like yours has been debilitating. Wishing you all the best,

[The_Bro]

Hi there Butterfly20 and thanks for your post.

I'd just like to add a little to the helpful comments from Geoff and Yorke.

I experienced something similar from time to time - even forgetting what day it was.

I found three things helped:

1. Moderate exercise - but it has to be doing something you like. Not much use forcing yourself to walk for example if you don't like walking. With me, it was stand up paddleboarding four times a week. Not going hard at all, just enough to elevate my heartrate a little bit. I liked the feeling of oxygen going to my brain and muscles, and felt rejuvenated after. A gym/yoga class with others may suit?

2. Eating much less and cutting out junk food. I think my stomach got over worked always having to digest food and liked the new feeling of being empty some of the time! This method is backed by lots of scientists.

3. Exercising my brain with an activity I liked. In my case playing the guitar again. Music can be very uplifting and I even started singing! Again, I think it's very important to do something you like.

4. Contacting good friends more often. Laughter certainly is good medicine! I did tell them how I was feeling and being friends, they helped a lot. It restored my self esteem and I felt like a worthy person again.

Glad to say, these days I am feeling great!

Assuming your physical and mental systems are in good care of the proper experts, you may want to try some of the above?

I am very happy to discuss further and help in whatever way I can if you like.

All the very best, The Bro.

[YorkeYorke]

Great tips from the bro too