Neck pain and anxiety

[Matty]

Greetings.

I am trying a forum for support for the first time.

I have been struggling with ongoing jeck pain and associated headache pain for many weeks which in turn his spiked my anxiety (long time anxiety sufferer usually controlled very well by medication and CBT). It is impacting my work, social and family life a lot and causing large amounts of stress, worry and sadness.

Not sure if this is the correct place for support but any advice is always appreciated. 

Thank you all.

Matt

[Croix]

Dear Matty~

Welcome to the Forum. I'm sorry you get neck pain and headaches, I do too however before it was decided they were caused by tension and anxiety I went through a whole load of tests to rule out any physical cause.

This is an important step. While it is easy to assume they come about due to your mental health condition that is not always the case, and early detection of somthing with a physical cause is always best

May I suggest you get these checked out? (My apologies if you have already)

Croix

[Matty]

Thank you so much for this reply and advice! You are very kind.

I am in the midst of CT scans and an MRI. If i was to make an educated guess i think an underlying physical issue is causing my ongoing neck pain which is in turn giving me ongoing anxiety episodes. The lack of solution to this neck pain/headaches after much physical therapy is worrying me 24/7. Im not getting any relief.

I am exhausted, experiencing hot flushes and nausea along with the neck pain and headaches. I feel it is getting on top of me and I'm concerned how much longer I can last. Thank you again Croix.

[Croix]

Dear Matty~

It sounds as if you are being pretty thorough in investigating this pain, I hope it can be pinned down to a particular cause, be it physical or psychological, at leat that way the treatment can be appropriate.

Whatever the cause you are right in thinking the constant pain and inconvenience can make one's mental state worse -as can worry over the reason. This happened wiht me (I also have headaches/chest pain) however my psych treats both the physical symptoms and also the underlying anxiety, and this approach seems to have the best of both worlds

Hope it is all resolved soon

Croix

[Matty]

Thanks again for your kind words.

I am an anxious person and can catastrophize! I appreciate the healthbsystem we have in Australia but it can be very slow moving to access tests, specialists etc. The slow lack of answers and feelings of dread are difficult to address whilst trying to keep up with work etc. Have an appointment with my psychologist in a few weeks too. Thanks so much for your posts. These forums are good for people to feel like they are being heard and empathised with. Wishing you (and all) the best in their mental health journey. 

Matt.

[Croix]

Dear Matt~

I think if they would make catastrophizeing (I can never say that word wihtout stumbling:( an Olympic sport we might be hopeful contenders

As time has gone on I've reached the stage where when I'm told some of the things I believe are going to be disasters are not likley, and I'm building them up far more than they deserve. There are only a couple of people, including Mrs C, who I respect and trust enough to take heed of them.

Even so it does not always work, however when it does it is a blessing. Do you have anyone who you can listen to like that ? If one had to wait for news then anything you can do to make the time go faster is good.

To get out of a loop of worry I use the free smartphone app Smilng Mind, which with  practice reduces my mind temporarily to a calmer state (it really does work).  That calm state will not last for me for long and the worries start to come back. To get round this I have things I can do ready for when that calm state is still there . Anything from reading a book, to a movie, to going out for a walk, talking to someone, or any one of a large number of things. All they have to do is distract you, and if they are enjoyable so much the better.

I hope you can get in wihtout too much of a wait

Croix