ongoing nausea - severe anxiety

Mental health
1

hello all! I've just joined the group in hopes that someone can familiarise themselves with my hell for the last 4 months. 

I've suffered anxiety my whole life but never been properly medicated. In August this year, I got a GI virus for the first time in my 26 years of life. It was terrible. 

After a day, that settled... but the nausea didn't. I've had really bad nausea since the stomach bug happened but haven't vomited. I've felt very close to it though. 

I've had more medical tests that it's actually unbelievable. blood tests, stool tests, CT scan, MRI, arterial blood gas test (the only one that came back abnormal because of hyperventilation from anxiety) xrays, urine tests, and more...everything has come back normal. 

The nausea for the first 4 weeks was so bad I could barely move and spent my days in bed crying.. I've had to quit my job. The last 2 weeks, I've had 1 or 2 days a week where the nausea is liveable/mild.. I get my hopes up and then it all comes back out of no where. 

I'm always anxious and the anxiety has become severe with multiple panic attacks everyday since this gastro event. It's a matter of finding out whether the anxiety or the nausea came first. The 13 doctors that i've seen tell me they dont know, or it's anxiety. 

It just feels so real, i've never had nausea this bad with my anxiety in the past.. not that I can recall anyway, so it's hard to believe it's from the anxiety.

I also have other symptoms such as; major insomnia, dizziness, shakes, burping, stomach ache, a lot of tension, blurred vision when I dont sleep for longer than 2 days, and feeling numb/not present in the world, and many more. 

The only symptom i'm worried about is the nausea. I take a vomit bag with me everywhere I go and always look for toilets incase i'm sick. I have lexapro which im due to start next week.. but im terrified to take it. My psychiatrist had me on a low dose of xanax but it didnt touch my anxiety or the nausea so i stopped. 

Does anyone experience this level of nausea with their anxiety?

Any input would be greatly appreciated! 

x

2

I forgot to add that I also had an endoscopy and colonscopy which came back comlpetely fine.

3

hello Anxiety Girl,

ist of all sorry to hear about your symptoms,

i have severe problem to after 2010 since from when i have done gall bladder surgery-----i am facing hot sensation in my left side chest , and also have severe burping mostly all day which give me chest tightness dizziness and panic attacks like heart attack-----i don,t have nausea thats the only difference between u and me but beside that i have lot of fear my mind think alot suppose if i hear about some one that die from heart attack it give me panic attack and my breathe stops and my heart beats very slowly then and from plane i have anxiety even if i think about plane i have severe anxiety attack ,  other then that lot of fear i am 30 y male----i have done 16 ecgs one 24 hour ecg ,2 echo of heart,stool tests,ultrasounds,blood test for complete body 3 times , chest x ray 2 times in 2 months now,endoscopy and colonscopy every thing come normal accept my one ecg which show my slow heart beat then doctor keep me on 24 hours ecg which result was 99%..my cardiologist think that i have the chest tightness bcoz of stomach------my gp and me trying to change medicine combination which one will work for me------before i am in Pakistan and visited to different docs phsycian,medical specialist,gastro docs,cardiologist,-----don,t know but my gp give me lexapro 10 mg + propnolol 10 mg 3 times a day now and one tablet for acid reflux don,t know the name bcoz its written in japanese now i m in japan------i am using it from last 2 weeks but still now i have panic attack some time but i am little bit fine then before still wanna keep it using for at least six months i will just talk to my doc for how much long time i will use it-----i wanna use it for at least 6 months if it work fine other wise i will go to pshcytrist bcoz i have stress and i always think negative like what if i have accident what if there is earth quake whats if i travel by plane and plane crash what if i have heart attack and die------for you did you ever try to use lansoprazole 30 mg twice a day + 

domperidone 10 mg 3 times a day  + lexapro 10 mg once at night ========if you didnot use it i must say that you should discuss with your doctor about the medicine which i mention before---------Lansoprazole will help you stomach acid and function ur stomach well ((((domperidone))) will help your nausea and lexapro will help in your anxiety------keep updating and hope you will feel fine soon

4

Yes totally know how you feel, I've experienced most of what you have and the nausea and loss of appetite as trying to eat whilst feeling sick all the time! Mine used to wear off late afternoon/evening when I felt loads better and could eat but only plain bland stuff like toast and biscuits!!!

On a positive note please try the escitalopram/lexapro but be aware you won't feel better for a while but I'm on 15mg starting at 5,then 10 and now 15 and my tummy and nausea has settled!!! It is anxiety, nothing else, and the anxiety feeds the anxiety but as I said to my doctor the physical symptoms are a constant reminder of the anxiety and that's why I didn't feel any better but once the tablets kicked in properly they work! I also take 10mg praporonol twice a day that helps too! They are a beta blocker that takes away the shakes and jittery feeling.

Stay strong, hope I haven't gone on too much but only someone who has experienced this will understand but please remember take the help you need, it makes all the difference! I just tell myself it's only a tablet, if you needed tablets for other illnesses you would take them, eg. High blood pressure etc, you will have a much better quality of life.

Take care, Sue

5

I'm sorry to hear that it's been going on for so long. I have the same exact symptoms but only for about 3 days now. At first I thought it was the flu but after that was ruled out I knew it was my anxiety. The dizziness and trembling is the worst for me but the nausea and loss of appetite is a close second. It seems like once one thing gets better there's always something new and it sucks so bad to go through things like this that most people could never even come close to understanding,

Hope you get better soon

6

Thank you so much for your reply Sue!

You've told me what I've needed to tell myself for months now. The nausea is so strong, I really doubt that anxiety can bring it on so bad although now I'm thinking it's likely.

I have decided to take the lexapro starting Monday.. I'm dreading the first month on this medication for the side effects but know I have to do this for myself and my future.

Thanks again xx

7

I'm sorry to hear you are going through this too. It's truly horrible. The trembling, dizziness, and feelings of unreality don't bother me too much as I'm used to them. The stomach issues.. or the nausea in particular.. I'm not Used to so it's quite bothersome and I feel it very strongly. If you ever need to chat, feel free to message me. I know how hard it can be xx

8

You're welcome, hope you get on ok, here if you need anymore help or just to vent! X

9

Hello! I know it's been a while since you posted, but i am exactly in your same situation! I was interested to know, did Lepraxo help you with the nausea?? I hope so....Thank you

10

hello, I know this has been such a long time iv just came to this site and i totally relate i feel a huge sense of relief knowing that this is not something i am dealing with alone. wondered how you got on or if you supported now to be better?

just reading this website eases my sickness for some odd reason it helps, anxiety is hell on earth. this is not a life