Hi Lissy
I've just come back from my second session with the psychologist, and I too am feeling very positive about recovery. I suffer from moderate anxiety with the occasional panic attack thrown in for good measure. It sounds like you have a great attitude to your treatment, which by itself should be very helpful in managing anxiety.
In my experience, anxiety seems to create a lot of physical symptoms which often lead me to ask myself the question "Is that just anxiety, or am I coming down with something?" I usually put it down to anxiety, since I don't get "sick" that often ... all my recent sick days have been anxiety related. Some of my symptoms include a knot in the chest, cold sweats, neck ache, increased heartbeat, slight nausea and fatigue.
Just on the fatigue issue (and perhaps blackecho can relate...) I find that severe anxiety can be very mentally and emotionally draining. If I don't get enough sleep, I become more vulnerable to anxiety and less able to function (or I convince myself that I can't function). The only way to get on top of that one (apart from getting more sleep if possible), is to force myself to get some exercise, even if it's just a quick walk around the block.
All the best to both of you.
