Physical symptoms

[Traveller73]

Hi. New to this site. I have had anxiety all my life, but it has gotten particularly bad this yearwith upcoming overseas trip anxious about and change of job. I have physical symptoms. High heart rate and light headed, jittery and easily startled (by loud noises). I find CBT is not working like it used to and distractions do help (movies/outings)-but its quick to come back. Seeing a psychologist Friday so hoping he can help. I dont want to worry all the time. My physical symptoms make me worry more (have got all clear from GP). If its all in my head why can't I stop this????

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi Traveller73,

Big welcome to BeyondBlue and thanks for reaching out.

Just because it's 'in our head' doesn't mean that it's so easy to stop this. If only! I know from experience it's taken lots of practice and discipline.  

Often CBT (therapy) and mindfulness (relaxation technique) can be talked about as training a 'monkey mind', because it takes so much time and patience to really train our thoughts to not jump around.

That said, how long have you been doing CBT?  Do you find that it helps when you start to feel anxious?

Try to remember that different things work for different people.  

Maybe if you're starting to worry about your physical symptoms, it might be about understanding how anxiety works and why your body responds this way - for example, looking into the 'flight or fight' mode that we go in to help protect ourselves from these situations.

Hope this helps - feel free to reach out again.

[blondguy]

Hi Traveller

Welcome to the BB Forums, Paul here for you

Even though the CBT works....It does need a lot of practice and time. Even in periods of high stress like yours...change of job...overseas trip the anxiety can sneak its way back in.

The anxiety does lessen in severity over time. I used to have severe anxiety for many years...now just a memory.

Being startled by loud noises can actually be a great indicator that you may be pushing yourself way too hard and your system is trying to let you know to slow down. The heart racing and light headedness is the adrenaline pumping too hard thus these symptoms. I have mentioned a few tips/tricks that may work/may not for you.

* Quality REM (Rapid eye movement) deep sleep. Always great to have..Anxiety is at its weakest when a person is well rested and calm.

* Avoid cellphones ipads etc before bed..they only overstimulate brain activity and thought processes..not good

* Think Slow...Walk Slow...Talk Slow...Your mind will follow

* Caffeine/Redbulls V......Anxiety feelings love it. If you can avoid these altogether...your system will slow down

* The symptoms are still only bad feelings....No harm will come to you....A feeling cant hurt you

* Try not to 'fight' the anxiety...it only feeds the fire..Slow down and use Calm Acceptance when you feel anxious

I do empathize with the anxiety Traveler it can be dreadful. You are a pro-active and intelligent person. The CBT will kick back in. Even now if I get 'startled' by a loud noise I know straight away that I must simplify my day and slow myself down. Peace will come Traveler 🙂

Congrats on your booking with your involvement with your GP and psychologist.

I do hope some of the above may be of help Traveler. Please let us know how you are going if you wish

Be 'Gentle To Yourself'

We are here for you

Paul

[Traveller73]

Thankyou for your replies. I gave up Caffeine last Christmas and stay away from my mobile last thing at night. I learnt about CBT about 15 years ago-and it worked quite well and quickly. However after this recent bout of anxiety I dont think my worries are specific enough because it doesn' seem to be working, but maybe need to do more practice with CBT. I think my anxiety is GAD. I read a successful way to get rid of anxiety is to 'lose attention', stop feeding it - but with phys symtoms its hard. I find the anxiety worse in mornings. How do you stop this before day begins? I have found things like playing a musical instrument have helped 'distract'. Of course can't keep playing forever...:0)

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi Traveller73,

Thanks for getting in touch again.

It sounds like you've been dealing with this anxiety for a while, so I would imagine that you would be familiar with how it affects you and what happens when you feel anxious, as this is different for everyone.

I think it's great that you've given up caffeine and that you are finding ways to distract yourself.  This can be a great method sometimes.  Although other times, it can be like avoiding the elephant in the room.  Without actually dealing with our anxiety, we can become fearful of facing it and having it get worse.  Of course I don't know your situation, but I do understand how anxiety affects us in different ways.

For me personally, one of the things that helped was actually focusing my attention on my anxiety, but instead of wondering how bad it would be or was going to get, I instead thought about what it felt like, and what was on my mind.  For example, maybe it's a pressure on your chest - or a dark cloud of 'what if's.  For me, I worry a lot about the future, so recognising what's happening when I'm anxious can then help me implement CBT.

I also imagine that you would have had the psychologist appointment by now, so feel free to tell us how that went for you if you like.

Hope this helps.