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My anxiety journey with physical symptoms

Monswa
Community Member

Hey all. How you going? Silly question, Guess if you are reading this, you also suffering from anxiety too haha. Nice to know I ain't alone. 

 

I was hit with terrible terrible anxiety a few years back. One night my breathing went all gdhdndkdm. Had no idea why I could not breathe. Many visits to the GP, ER and specialist. 3 years of it. Trying and hoping again and again numerous tests etc etc etc etc etc haha. Only to realise I do indeed just have a massive anxiety disorder that keeps me believing there is something seriously wrong with me. Been in and out of hell. So long and many GP, ER visits and of course nothing came out of then leading to me being terrified that I am being horrifically discriminated by the healthcare system. That becomes part of my paranoia mental illness issue. So anxiety and paranoia and then also extreme depression. Yep, just about all the mental illnesses out there I have. Tick tick. 

 

Now just last week I began having heaps of heart palpitations. Again visited GPS, ER and etc. Again. Its anxiety  which of course I didn't believe. Still trying to figure out if its anxiety or not exactly. Lucky I have internal tablets to help with them as the GP today would not give me even a simple script to stop those annoying boom booms in my chest. 

 

I would love to support and hear other peoples stories. Tell me your stories. Happy to chat to you all any time. Let's support each other to finally get this terrible mental disease under control and gain back our old happy lives. 

 

Luv ya alls. You are not alone. 

Cheers

Monswa

5 Replies 5

Sophie_M
Moderator
Moderator
Dear Monswa,

We are pleased you've decided to post about your confusion around your anxiety on our forum. We are a helpful and supportive community, and want you to know you have come to a good space.

Anxiety can be very confusing. We know that our brains perceive patterns. So, if we are seeing a pattern, it must be real, and it must be the truth. Fortunately, checking with others can help us to bypass this internal understanding that experiencing certain symptoms must mean  we have specific conditions. Even more importantly, checking with a health professional (someone who has been specifically trained to assess symptoms that other people are experiencing), helps to remove our own belief that we know what we believe we are feeling must be correct because we believe it to be so.

A theoretical example may help to understand what we are trying to say. You are walking down the street and suddenly see a snake on the edge of the footpath ahead of you. Your breathing and heartrate accellerates, pumping extra oxygen and other neutrients to your cells so you can react quickly to save your life. Whilst in this state of heightened awareness, you notice that the snake is quite still, and realise it is just a funny-shaped stick. Now, your survival system calms down, you feel embarrassed, and your heartrate and breathing slow down.

In both situations, you reacted completely appropriately for your survival. And yet, the first reaction was judged internally as silly (feeling embarrassed) because the second reaction became the overarching truth.

We would like to encourage you to consider exploring your truths around anxiety with a mental health specialist. Learning certain skills might help you recognise when it is just a stick more quickly; saving you some anxiety. If you don't have a mental health plan, your GP might be able to help you set one up.

We also invite you to call our counsellors for a quick chat, whenever your anxiety becomes too overwhelming, on 1300 22 4636. You may also call Lifeline on 13 11 14. Both services are available 24 hours per day, every day of the year.

Again, welcome to the forums. Please post whenever you wish.

Warm regards,

Sophie M.
 

On The Road
Community Member

Dear Monswa,

Thank you for sharing your experiences and thoughts on anxiety. Sorry to hear that things haven't been easy for you including the systematic issues in the healthcare field, but I'm happy to see that you seem to keep your composure very well, when I first went to see my first counsellor and psychiatrist, I texted and emailed them over the weekends and expected they would solve my problems just by replying me lol. Those were the days...

I think we had a kind of similar experience, my pronounced physical symptoms are also caused by anxiety: heart palpitations, short breathing, chest pain, and even sometimes derealization (not sure if I describe this one symptom right), especially at night.  I'd say these are some typical symptoms, they have been disturbing my sleeping routine and quality to a certain degree. 

As Sophie suggested, having some conversations thoroughly with mental health specialists would help to understand the situations more specifically, this reminds me it's been a long time since I last went to them. Please feel free to share more, and thanks for your messages, we are all here to support each other. 😊

Petal22
Champion Alumni
Champion Alumni

Hi Monswa,

 

Im sorry you are experiencing anxiety I understand how debilitating it can be.

 

Have you ever been diagnosed with anything in particular regarding your anxiety?

 

If a health professional can pin point a diagnosis then they may be able to offer you a certain treatment to help you to manage your condition.

 

I have a lived experience of severe anxiety OCD this condition was a very debilitating condition to have.

 

When I was first diagnosed with this condition I didn’t accept in straight away I thought that maybe the health professionals had it wrong maybe I had something worse…….. this thinking was the nature of my condition.

 

I did eventually accept my condition and then I began my real work…….. I worked with health professionals who gave me many strategies to help me to manage my condition and then I did a certain therapy that was for my condition.

 

After a lot of perseverance, practice and hard work on my behalf I was able to master my condition.

 

It wasn’t a quick fix it took also alot of inner work that I had to do within myself.

 

But it all paid off because im now free..

 

I understand the feeling of living in and out hell it’s very tormenting but you really can live in the light with the correct treatment.

 

Please ask me anything and don’t loose hope.

 

 

ecomama
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor

Dear Monswa, welcome to the forums. I'm really glad you've joined and can join the awesome group of lovelies here lol. 

 

Wow, reading your post actually sparked a memory of mine from when I was about 3yo! 
I didn't realise I had anxiety then ughhh. Lol at least I can talk this through with my Counsellor this week, wow. 
What an aha moment. 

 

I know the event (or possibly series of events) that caused this within me at the early time in my life. 

 

Was there an event you can remember that may have triggered this response within you? Not saying there has to be, just wondering? 

 

It wasn't until about 2-3y ago that I was formally diagnosed with Complex PTSD. I'd been told I had it about 5y earlier but had legal reasons to avoid a formal diagnosis. I'm well over 50yo now... so really it's been a life time thing more or less. 

 

I don't have any health anxiety and never have had. 
I literally thought I was normal lol! Oh how wrong I was. 
Plus with my mother being a nurse, she would take me outside when I was a toddler and say "Just take some deep breaths"... IDK if that helped. It's just that I always had faith in my mother to provide or get medical help if I needed it. 
NOT MH support... oh no... she had a very oppositional relationship with ANY MH intervention... there's alot more to that story. 

 

Anyhoo, so nice to meet you. 

I hope you can learn more to manage your symptoms. 
Love EM

Gracie63
Community Member

Hi  Monswa 

I to have terrible health anxiety which causes heart palpitations and many other awful symptoms. I have been having some counselling and doing CBT which has helped my tremendously and I am happy to say my anxiety has lessened considerably. I did have to change a few things like for me I gave up alcohol and coffee as I found they contributed to my anxiety. Thanks for sharing and hope you start to feel better.