Feel anxious non stop now.

Mental health
1

I am going out of my mind, it's not enough that i have the hell of agoraphobia, now i feel anxious non stop and have no idea why.

I try to distract myself but it never goes away, i am still itching all over for no reason other than what must just be the anxiety and i am constantly shaking and feel unsteady on my feet even at home.

I cannot bring this anxiety down at all and today everything is just too much for me, i went out and felt really anxious, nothing new, came home and felt anxious, cried for hours over the whole situation and the death of my mother 3 months ago and then rang the crisis team because i am in such a state, their reply? There is nothing we can do!

My husband has been moaning at me about my weight, yes i am restricting again but not severely, i get about 1300 calories per day, i am 5 ft 1 and weigh 7 stone 2, i don't know why i feel that i need to restrict, the number on the scales says i am not fat but the image i see in the mirror tells me i am.

So now i am worried that i have psychosis because if i am so 'thin' according to my husband, kids and bathroom scale then why do i see a fat woman in the mirror?

I don't know, i just can't cope with this anymore  sad

 

2

Hi Bella

Honey, you're panicking

When I read through your post the first thing I thought was, She's trying to fight it! Struggling to distract herself. Watching and worrying over your symptoms

Can you see that?

I was totally dismayed. It's as though you have forgotten all you have learned about your disorder

All this time, Bella, and nothing "bad " has happened to you, honey. You're making yourself worse by fearing something that doesn't exist. AD and Agoraphobia are weird illnesses. There is no rhyme nor reason to them if you look at them critically

But once they manifest you have to come to terms with both, with the symptoms. Otherwise you will be, and obviously are, trapped in the anxiety/fear cycle. Ask yourself what is there to be frightened of? Wobbly legs? Shaking? Itching? Horrible, true, but not threatening in any way

As far as your weight is concerned I was very thin during my worst bout of AD and Agoraphobis, made worse by the fact that I am not big to start with therefore the slightest weight loss was noticably visible. I'm 5 foot three and dropped to 6 stone at my worst, which frightened the hell out of me, so I made a concentrated effort to drag myself back to 9 stone. It was a goal to reach and did much to steer my mind away from my symptoms

Looking in the mirror and seeing a fat person whereas the reality is, you are thin, I can understand. I would imagine, and this is only my perception of it, is that you don't like your life/yourself at the moment. weight controlling is just that, a means of taking control because you feel you have no control in other areas,ie, the AD and Agoraphobia

But you know, don't you, as we all do, that restricting is dangerous?  Also, much of the wobbling, the shaking and itchiness could be down to lack of regular/ proper nutrients food wise. You should not be calorie counting anyway. You should just be eating normal, healthy meals, honey.

I am not making light of this, Bella, you know that. But you are forgetting how to deal with it and instead are letting it deal with you. Letting yourself be overwhelmed, fighting, struggling.

Try to sit and look at things rationally, Bella. Look at everything one by one. The wobbling. The shaking. The itching. Is that so terrible you have to add panic and fear?

Honey, gather your strength

You can do this and as always we will all help

Hugs Helen

 

3

Hi Bella.  I sympathise with you, anxiety is such a debilitating illness and unless you have suffered with it, it is impossible to understand how we feel.  I suffer with the shaky legs and quite honestly it is one of the worst symptoms to have. It effects the whole of your body and stops you trying to overcome other symptoms because you always think you are about to collapse. It also prevents you from going out for the same reason. I am taking a very low dose 10mg Citalopram and also Vitamin D supplements and am pleased to say it is very very slowly improving, Hang on in there Bella and finding this forum has been a lifeline to me.  Luv Lily xxx

4

Bella when was the last time you had blood work done for standard stuff and also the medicatiin level and a real exam?  Because if you have not had this done in six months maybe you should call an ambulance. I know you have the anxiety issues but im not sure on your health to be honest. You dont tend to go to drs. Ik a hospital might seem to much for you but believe me they can sedate you to the point you wont feel anything. I just want you to get a full exam with all bloodwork.  

I dont think you have a phychosis There something going on though. Just a feeling here.

 

5

Hi there Lisa

is the weight an issue here? That part concerned me, only insofar as I dropped so much weight with my Ad/AG and I know I felt shaky and lightheaded all the time. Is there a link there, between weight and symptoms?

Hugs Helen

6

No its not just that. Its everything. We all loose weight from anxiety. She should go to the a and e. Its enough. They will hopefully draw all her bloods. They can check her sugar levels, her medicatiin level, her thyroid. Just a full exam. A real one. This is seems to be rolling down hill over the last couple of months. Im being very honest.  Theres severe anxiety and then theres a point you need an full exam and blood work.

So many go there so much i dont think ahes has gone at all. You dont have to drive..just call the ambulance they will bring her. Have to draw a line at some point where its enough. 

7

I have to agree with you.

This is beyond what she is capable of coping with and anyway, she's not getting better. If there is an underlying cause, and there may well be considering, as you so rightly point out, she is going downhill,  then it needs to be found and dealt with

8

Thank you Helen and yes you are right, I am fighting it and I know that is not the right way to deal with this, it just doesn't work.

When I was really unwell before I think the only reason I ever got any better was because I completely and utterly accepted the situation and every symptom that came with it, I let it happen with no expectation of improvement and the imrovement came naturally.

I think I really need to learn to do that again and stop the fighting and struggling, deep down I know the symptoms are not harmful and cannot hurt me at all, I just feel so depleted and upset that things are so bad which starts the whole 'fight it' thing again.

I don't like myself at all at the moment, actually even before my really bad breakdown last year my self esteem was low, I had deliberately lost weight but had not done it in a healthy way and once I hit my target I just couldn't stop, you are so right when you say it's control, I cannot control my anxiety and agoraphobia so I have a desperate need to control everything else and that includes my weight.

What I really need to do is throw the bathroom scale away and stop calorie counting, that was another thing I did last time, I allowed that control to slip and just ate good foods not caring about the calories or the weight, I didn't even gain much either.

I have tried really hard to get help with the eating issue but the mental health team are useless and refuse to take it seriously despite the fact that my husband has told them so many times that I have a huge problem with that.

I do need to take a step back and be more rational about everything, I freak out far to easily, like today, I am really tired, no energy which made it hard to even shower and I was too worn out to do the cleaning I had planned, now in my mind that is a crisis, I am worrying about being so unwell but in reality I am just a really tired, exhausted and nervous person and this exhaustion I feel is perfectly reasonable under the circumstances, I am sure I could get more done if I pushed myself, it's not that I am not capable in the way I fear just really worn out and that is normal with high anxiety.

I am going to do my best to gather that strength and stop fighting so hard too, thank you so much x

 

9

Hi Lily, thank you and I am sorry you are suffering too, it's a lousy thing to have to live with and it can be a bit of a shock at first because it's hard to imagine that anxiety can make you feel so awful and unable to function properly, it's horrid not feeling yourself.

I totally relate to that fear of collapsing, I do try to be rational and think about how many times I have feared it but it has never happened, I can do that to an extent but it still feels very frightening.

I'm so pleased that the Citalopram and vitamin D are helping you, I was given an antidepressant called Mirtazapine, had a severe adverse reaction and have been advised to take a short break from new meds to recover emotionally and then try again with something else, I know Citalopram is one my doctor has in mind so hopefully I can get the courage to start it soon and it might help me too xx

10

Hi Lisa, I have not had any blood work done since January, I had a thyroid check, sodium, vitamins, iron levels and liver function which were all fine but my doctor does think I need another check and she wants to check my hormone levels too which I think is a good idea.

I am just going to have to push past the agoraphobia and go and get it done, I felt so awful last night that I very nearly did call an ambulance, I was past the point of caring about how panicky getting in it would be because I just felt so unwell but I lost my nerve in the end and couldn't do it.

I feel that something is wrong besides the anxiety although I strongly suspect it is hormonal what with the intense hot flashes I get and having to pluck long hairs from my chin that come back every few days, something isn't right there.

The itching is still there but was better today thankfully, I will contact my doctor on Monday and arrange the blood work, I will also ask for a full exam, I have had my blood pressure, heart rate and blood sugars checked in the past month, those were fine, there was concern about my weight and a nurse did say to me 'you are a bit anorexic to be honest' but I was offered no further support with that and I do need it.

I need to make sure I am physically okay in case there is something there standing in the way of my recovery with the anxiety and agoraphobia.

11

Hi Bella,

the weight issue really troubles me, mainly because of my own experience with drastic weight loss and how ill I felt because of it

Honey, if you cannot get help from the mental health for your eating disorder then you have to help yourself..and you can. I did. Albeit my weight loss was due to total lack of appetite and yours due to another, at the end of the day I mastered it and so will you

The problem with you at the moment, Bella, is you've sunk into apathy. Part of this I believe is due to lack of nourishment. The body is an engine and it needs fuel to run correctly.

It's no wonder you feel lethargic/ exhausted. On top of the agoraphobia, the anxiety disorder, you are not looking after your body. Healthy body, healthy mind. The less you do physically, the less you want to do. It's a vicious circle.

You have to make a plan of action. It's not about fighting nor struggling. It's about taking control and having goals. It's about a quiet determination. If you are not getting help from the medical profession then your only resource is to help yourself

Otherwise you are never going to get better

Please, Bella, when you wake up, get up! No lolling in bed, telling yourself you're too tired to move. Eat, little and often. Feed your body please don't starve it. Don't try to distract yourself, just go about the day, slowly, gently, but try to keep moving. Wobbly legs will still hold you up. Shaky hands can still do housework.

And whilst I am loth to talk about this, I will say when my weight was at my lowest I had an ovarian cyst that damn well nearly killed me. I had to have an emergency, life saving op and my recovery was slow and hellish. Do you know why? Because I didn't have enough body weight, that's why.

The surgeon gave me hell in a kindly way, telling me, 20 minutes later, half a stone lighter, and I'd have been dead.

So you see we need to maintain a healthy weight to fight infections/ illnesses, operation recovering or even falls. I slid down the stairs, on my backside and fractured 3 cocxy bones because my butt didn't have enough padding to absord the shock. Major pain in the arse that was,

Make a determined start tomorrow to get yourself back on track, okay?

Many hugs

Helen

12

Wow Bella, you still have common sense on your side - physically you're looking after yourself, although your nurse could've been more supportive hey? Maybe your doctor could refer you on the anorexia front, and also check your hormone levels? 

I'm personally petrified of the Menopause, having lived with (and mostly conquered depression + anxiety) because of the mood swings...

Keep us updated angel x

 

13

Oh, good, Bella! Get all the necessary health checks!

14

Thank you, yes I thought it was a bit off that the nurse could notice a problem but offer no support with it, I am going to get my bloods done and speak to my doctor again about the eating, I have eaten better today so far but it wont last and I will be back on a diet again tomorrow.

I always feared menopause, I had severe PND after my youngest was born 9 years ago and PMS has always cranked up my anxiety levels too so hormones really do mess with me badly, I will definitely keep everyone updated x

15

Hi, Have you tried Reflexology? This is wonderful for calming Anxiety! I hope this helps.regards Amanda h