Seeking help with physical pain from anxiety

[B_Murf]

Hi there! I'm new and I'm seeking your help and some clarification.

I've suffered from pretty severe social anxiety all my life. And while I understand anxiety is purely mental, for me the physical symptoms it
causes are far worse.

The main issue I have is physical pain. On the average day I'm fine, but if there is a future event I'm anxious about I'll have stomach pain
(spasms) hours or sometimes days in advance, I can hardly eat, diarrhoea, vomiting and all in all nastiness. I often feel that mentally I can handle the situation but with all the physical pain included it's a nightmare. So like a lot of people I just avoid these situations and can live a happy life - but sooner or later something comes along that can't be avoided and now that I'm unemployed, now is that time.

So I want to seek professional help - I'm trying to understand the process, from what I've read it something like this:

#1 Go to a GP.
- I don't have a GP so do you just lucky dip one off the white pages?

- Are there anxiety specific GP's?

#2 the GP will give some advice? Possibly refer to a physiologist
- Is this referral to go to any psychologist or do you get referred to a certain psychologist i.e. Mr Beans on Smith Street?

#3 You go to the psychologist and talk about your feelings and stuff
- I'm not going to talk this away anytime soon so I imagine this will take many visits and won't be cheap?

#4 - If medication would be a useful treatment then you get referred to a psychiatrist? Or does the GP refer you to a psychiatrist when you initially visit?

#5 - Repeat step 3 except a psychiatrist can prescribe medication if appropriate

I know it may sound strange but I find the medical field quite intimidating - I haven't even been to a doctor since I was a kid.

Thanks very much.
Murf

[Croix]

Dear Murf~

Hi and thanks for your post. I've read your responses to AnxSam and that helps me understand a bit better.

I had had similar physical symptoms for a very long time. In addition headaches, panic attacks and other goodies. So I can relate quite well, not only to the physical pain, but also to the limitations these things impose on activity. I used to have to plan journeys without being to far away from a toilet for instance.

I'm very glad to say that a two tiered approach has placed things in the pretty good category.

The root causes were PTSD, depression and chronic anxiety. The latter is the one I have the most nowadays but it is under control.

The first tier was the physical symptoms. Specifically in relation to the stomach problems they are treatable with medication that nowadays is highly effective. So by and large are the other symptoms. These are however stop gap measures that supplement the following.

The second, and most important tier is tackling the underlying cause of the symptoms. In my case the ones I've mentioned. In yours - yet to be diagnosed I guess.

So in your post you have an idea of what to expect. You go to a GP, beyondblue does not specifically recommend any particular one, but does have:-

https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/find-a-professional

to assist you.

I'd suggest booking a long consultation and ask to be tested for anxiety and depression, and see what the outcome is. If your GP thinks it appropriate you may get a Health Plan to see a physiologist for therapy, and also meds. A psychologist is there to work wit you and give you tools for you to help recover and cope.

I found I had to write down my history and what was currently happening to me in detail first, and take the paper to share in the consultation, otherwise I was not capable of giving a clear complete picture.

On the whole the process is not that frightening, you are in control all the time and decide what to do. It's important that you have matters explained to you in detail. That way you know what to expect and can make informed decisions.

I can say that I was a difficult case to treat - for reasons I won't go into here, but am now in a pretty good place with a stable fulfilling life. I would imagine you can be too.

Would you like to say more, your circumstances, family, if you have support at home and anything else you wish?

Croix

[B_Murf]

Hey Croix,

thanks very much for your post, it really helps.

It also helps knowing I'm not alone, I've known the feeling of the bathroom hop and use to carry an emergency bag to vomit into, which to someone who doesn't understand probably just sounds gross, but it was all i could do to manage the problem.

I've come to understand that eliminating stomach pain/nausea isn't going to stop anxiety. But the idea of treating the issues separate makes a lot of sense. I feel if I could limit physical pain I could control my mind better. Also the paper is a great idea, I tend to blank at times and struggle to make my point.

Too be honest I don't tell anyone about it, this forums now knows more than anyone else. I can't explain why I don't tell anyone, My family has some idea and they're great, but I think that's why I don't like to bother them with it. And friends (bless there little souls) are good people but I'd have better luck explaining anxiety to a dog!

I'm glad you've made a lot of progress, I think you might have helped a lot of people as well!