Hi All
i was diagnosed with anxiety 3 years ago and didn't want to believe all the horrible sysmptoms could be from anxiety. Eventually 2 months ago i accepted that it was anxiety that was effecting me and started taking sertraline 50mg. I definitely have seen improvements but still get really tired, I find this really hard as I have always been fit and active but now appear exhausted after running 5 yards. The symptoms I am having at present is that when I wake up I ache all over especially my legs and back it's horrible. does anyone else have similar symptom and have any tips that can help me get my life back.
thanks everyone
Seen a masseuse? I have knots all in my back that give me aches and pains everywhere seen my chiropractor yesterday and he did some work on them and today I feel like a new man. Haha. But I'd reccomend either a soft tissue masseuse or a sports therapist rather than chiro
Also if you Accept its anxiety you won't need sertraline. Biggest step of getting over an anxiety or panic disorder is acceptance. Once you accept you can change your thought process and you'll naturally lower your distress from a thought. Sertraline isn't a fix for an anxiety disorder it's a way of coping while you work on your problems with therapy, so please don't just take the pills expecting it to change your cognitive thought.
Thanks for the advice I have booked in a massage for Thursday, it probably doesn't help having a desk job and sitting down most the day. I understand what your saying and I put off taking anything for so long but was just exhausted. Now I'm sleeping a bit better on meds I hope to build up my energy and come off then asap
Yeah definitely working on a desk gives you really bad posture, do you have a break every 30 minutes? Maybe get up have a drink stretch your shoulders and back and neck side to side and your legs a bit. A massage will help you greatly, if you get a good one they'll find your muscle knots and trigger points very quickly and work them down, then it's just a matter of keeping on top of your stretching and muscle strength. How is your diet too? Eating better will help your energy levels hydration will also help. Cut down on caffeine and smoking etc. But you probably know all this already :D
As for aches and pains, until you're over your anxiety they never go away completely. They are due from your constant panic mode that your body is in. I'm ready an awesome book about distinguishing fear from anxiety and so far it's helped a lot. As for meds, acceptance isn't enough. I've accepted I have anxiety and guess what? I still feel like I can't go use my bathroom bc of the fear of seeing a bug. I know it's crazy, I know I probably won't see a bug but there's no telling my crazy ass that. I find that my anxiety stems from a lot of other things like my thyroid, taking my ADHD medicine, and I quit my anti depressant cold turkey. (Which I realize was dumb) but more to the point, everyone is different and yo have to find what works for you. The nature of anxiety is you don't know why it's there or when it started. Or even what it stemmed from so usually it's hard to just "get over it". I'm in school to be a nurse practitioner so I know quit a bit about anxiety anatomically and personally. Sorry if I've been redundant here just know it takes a long time, it may take meds and that's not a bad thing
And to better explain your anxiety, you have 2 systems inside your body which are working 24/7 to keep you in balance. You have a calm system (parasympathetic) and an excited system (sympathetic) and with anxiety for whatever reason, your excited system is over riding your calm for whatever reason, so now you're left with the awful anxiety. How does one out your 2 systems at ease again ? Well they will say green tea, exercise, medicines, meditation, etc., are all ways of helping and maybe the more natural ones seem better but the truth is you're doing the same thing to your body regardless. All these things give your body serotonin, endorphins, dopamine, anything to distract it from your heightened fear. Meds suck but just so you're not mislead, you can theoretically distract your mind a lot of ways just know the only way to make it go away is patience and facing your fears. Whether it's talking in front of people, bugs, snakes, monkeys, dogs, bus rides, plane rides, etc., but you have to physiologically set your mind up how it used to be. It's a long haul and you can't give up but I surely hoped this small insight helped