Crippling anxiety getting worse

[brave_heart]

Hi all,

My first post here, reaching out to see if anyone has experienced similar feelings. I am yet to go to a GP (booked in for next week) but have been doing a lot of research about my symptoms and things that seem to be my triggers.

The anxiety I feel is crippling me and getting worse by the day. For around 6-12 months I have been feeling quite severe symptoms (and quite moderate symptoms a few years before that) but I think it has been going on at a milder level for much, much longer. It is getting to the point now where my heart is often racing, I feel light headed, I throw up a lot, lose my appetite a lot, I'm often constantly shaking and jittery, and can only get around 5 hours of sleep each night on average. I work from home (as a contractor, not an employee) so I am quite isolated in a way, and I don't know many people as I relocated from elsewhere a few years back. I live with my partner, and he works full time. I used to be great at staying motivated, it's been rewarding being self employed and the flexibility is great. But now my head is becoming my own worst enemy, I am less productive and much less motivated.

I don't even know what is causing the stress, just that I feel this sense of needing to control everything - because if I don't, something will go wrong. I am afraid of absolutely everything, and my mind is constantly racing, dreaming up ideas of what could possibly go wrong. I've tried reasoning with the irrational thoughts, I've tried fighting against them, I've tried meditation and breathing/muscle relaxation techniques but nothing has helped me so far. In fact, it seems to be getting worse. A lot of it is to do with my partner, I am absolutely petrified that he will hurt me (not physically) or leave me, or decide that I'm not good enough for him. But I realise a lot of my behaviour could potentially be pushing him away as I'm always on edge, always asking a million questions, analysing every tiny little thing, and I can never just relax and be happy. I'm like that with all aspects of my life (not just my relationship with my partner).

I do not know how to just calm down, live life in the moment and stop stressing about things that haven't even happen yet.

I am particularly concerned as it is a dream of mine to have children and I'm not young (33), but I'm holding off because of my concerns about my mental health. If anyone has any tips or suggestions, or has been in a similar place, I'd love to hear from you.

Thank you in advance!

[Rubybleu]

Hi hun, I’ve also suffered with crippling anxiety the past few weeks. My anxiety Symptoms are different though - I have muscle cramps, twitches, muscle pain, fatigue, nausea, oh god the list could go on. My anxiety is health anxiety but it sounds like yours is abandonment anxiety.

Have you spoken to your GP about this? They may refer you to speak to a professional or offer other help.

It might help too to join some sort of group like a fitness group, sport group, art group or even just go for a walk outside every day.

In relation to having children, I was actually worse with anxiety before I had mine. My best friend too was the same. Mine has only gotten worse now my kids are 2 and 4 but it doesn’t play a huge part in me as a mum as I’m still the same with them. It’s just what happens when they go to bed or aren’t here.

[Psychologistry]

The problem is, you're being locked in this prison. Your head does not want to feel stress, fear or an undesirable emotion. Talk to a psychiatrist about this, as medication may help with such severe symptoms.

You know, you and I, have a lot in common. We have almost the same type of anxiety, but I usually take medication to try and control such panic attacks. What worked for me, is that I admitted that I would fail sometimes, and that it didn't really matter at all. I tried to introduce some distractions in my life, such as gaming, watching TV and so on. Been resuming some childhood hobbies, too.

This is one of the more severe types of anxiety. Medication will probably be vital for you to control it. But in the meantime, tell your brain to be quiet. Try and stay on the optimistic side of life. Try to move any bad thoughts aside and make way for life. Do something that you like and get yourself distracted.

Visiting a medical health professional, is something that I would suggest you do promptly.

Hope, I helped...

[white knight]

Hi, welcome

Rubybleu and psychologistry have some good sound advice.

Please also google

Beyondblue topic anxiety, how I eliminated it

TonyWK