Nervous system crashing

[electric_storm]

Hi all, new poster here.

Had anxiety on and off for a few years, but lately it's gotten so bad I feel like my nervous sysem just can't cope. I'm dealing with esophagul spasms, palpitations, head pressure, dizziness, breathing difficulty, can't eat or sleep properly, so wired my nerves are firing all over the place etc... I've convinced I have a vagus nerve disorder and tonight paranoid about having had a mini stroke. Anyone else been through all this? Any hints?

[MsPurple]

HI electric_storm and welcome to the forum.

I used to get oesophagul spasms all the time with my anxiety. I know first hand how horrible it is, and how terrifying it is. I also had the other symptoms you had. It is scary when anxiety causes physical symptoms but trust me it can and it does. When I happens to me I try do some deep breathing. In for 6 seconds and out for 8. I then say out loud 'you are ok, you are safe, you're anxiety is playing up, you are ok'. I find this helps calm me down. I also find meditation helps calm me down as well as it stops my racing mind. I use the free parts of the app called 'calm' but I know 'headspace' and 'smiling minds' is also good.

May I ask why you are worried you may have a stroke? I used to worry because I have had bell's palsy in the past (Bell's palsy is when half your face goes temporarily paralyzed due to an inflammation in a nerve behind the ear. It does recover after a few weeks, but some people mistake it for a stroke). I just remind myself that I am at low risk of a stroke and me having anxiety doesn't increase my risk for having a stroke. I know this mightn't sound helpful, but I do find reminding myself these things does help reduce my anxiety.

So my take home message is to talk to your doctor about this and be open, so they can help you. Tell yourself you are ok while deep breathing. Consider meditation.

Hope this helps. Trust me it does get better. I hardly every have oesophagul spasms anymore (last time was 6+months ago) and I don't have as much of the other symptoms either. Yes it does take time to get there but you will get there.

[electric_storm]

Thankyou. I know it has to anxiety based because if I take even a tiny bit of a benzo I'm dramatically better. The stroke fear is from the head pressure and sensations, and feeling like my nervous system isn't responding properly. I know fatigue can cause this it's just really hard to believe it when you feel your head drooping and your legs feel uncoordinated when you walk...

[MsPurple]

Yeah it sounds anxiety based, specially from the symptoms and the fact benzos help. I did get pressure in my head when I was really anxious too. I find I get more headaches too. When you are really anxious your body sometimes goes into fight or flight mode, or a less intense version of it but your senses (such as smell) maybe heightened. Your body maybe uncoordinated. You maybe so focused on one thing that you may not notice that shoe on the floor because you are so focused on going out that door. Does that make sense? sorry it is terribly put. I am also very clumsy at the best of times so when I'm anxious I find I am more clumsy and uncoordinated.

[electric_storm]

The one thing I don't understand is even with being exhausted and taking something to help me sleep I still can't get more than 2-3 hours at a time

[MsPurple]

it is normal to struggle staying asleep when your anxiety is playing up. Yes it can be frustrating but it is normal. With benzo they only stay in the system for a short period of time. That maybe why it isn't helping you stay asleep. I would discuss this with your doctor. In the meant time maybe try meditating before bed and also try not use technology in bed. I also use the night time mode on my iphone or twilight app on android so the blue light isn't on. Studies show that the blue light can keep you awake

[Franklin88]

Hi electric_storm

As someone who'd had anxiety for over 20 years I can tell you that anxiety can DEFINITELY cause the symptoms you are having and many more! I suffered really bad health anxiety for a while and was convinced I had a brain tumour but I was experiencing depersonalisation and it was horrible.

[cakeboss]

I know the feeling of how you feel.When im under a stressful situation by anxiety disorder can start to trigger of medical things i think i may have and are convinced somthing is going on.i had a awful anxiety panic attack the other day.I was going to the drs to discuss organising couciling sessions to help me deal with these attacks.I read up on somthing and though i had type 2 diabetes and started to stress over that.I have been trying to do the relaxation cds to help with me with the racing things going on in my head.I have to try and not think away ahead of myself thinking things are happening that havent even though im under some stress at the moment which has triggered of anxiety attacks bad.Is there anyone else who gets this way what helps

[cakeboss]

Hi can you tell me a bit about the pressure in the head caused by anxiety attacks .

[MsPurple]

SO when I was anxious I found I got a lot more headaches. For me the headaches were more pressure headaches. I would get them in my temple or on my lower part of my head. It would make me anxious if the headaches were persistant because of my bell's palsy past (note before diagnosis I wasn't anxious that I was aware, but afterwards it got worse because I feared it would happen again. The risk of getting it again is actually quite low) but I found that panadol sometimes helped to treat it in the moment but it wasn't a long term solution. My headaches were anxiety based and because i got the headaches I would get more anxious causing the cycle to continue. SO I had to address my anxiety to help reduce the occurance of headaches. For me now it is not a regular occurance. Anxiety can be a terrible thing causing many physical symptoms. I found going to counselling, some meditation and working on improving my mental health helped me the most.