Weird feeling in my brain

Mental health
1

Hi everyone!

I am a 23 years old guy, who had to be put on Sertraline because of anxiety (Generalized anxiety disorder, panic attacks and fear of dying brutally).

So, I am exactly at the 4 week mark at 150 mg of Sertraline. I am better than I was a few weeks back, but not that well either.

My concern is that I have random times when I have a really strange feeling at the front of my brain. It’s not a headache cause it is not painful, but it’s more like the sensation of an overstimulation or an overcharge of the neurons in my frontal lobe. As I said it’s not painful at all, I am not close to faint or anything, it just happens. I know it’s weird to read, because it is also weird to describe. To put it in other words, imagine a car where you would smash the pedal to hit the maximum RPM : you know it’s too much, or at least the limit, and you know your engine could die any moment. It feels exactly like that, like everything is accelerating inside.

I had tests a few months ago where my thyroid, kydneys, heart, liver and cholesterol were all fine. I’m not obese in the slightest, don’t drink alcohol except at birthdays or Christmas, never smokes or take any drug or else. I was never believed to be epileptic or having ADHD, even if my attention span is not the greatest, but that’s not the point.

Also I feel a bit unbothered by things lately, not depression but it goes in that way. I also learned that I was taken in an university 800 km from my family and friends, and I’ll have to leave alone for the first time in my life, which brings a lot of anxiety, and I also have a bad sleep schedule (mostly on me, I should go to sleep earlier, otherwise I don’t have much trouble to fall asleep).

Sorry for the long descriptions and all, but I really don’t know how to describe what I feel with the right words, it’s very frustrating. That feeling in my brain also affects my face a little bit, like when we eat something sour (best example would be lemon), does that make sense?

If anyone knows what it is, experienced it or just wants to help, I’ll be more than happy to listen to you! Thanks for reading all that lines :slight_smile:

2

sounds like you have a lot of anxiety going on. The weird feeling in the brain can definitely be due to that. I’ve had that many many times in my life. Sometimes there’s a rush of adrenaline even when you have a scary thought. Or think about being far from your family. the nervous system is very sensitive to anxiety, including in the brain. As long as you’ve been checked out by your doctor, and everything is OK, then it’s important to relax your mind as much as you can. You might even think about speaking with a counselor who can help you manage this. You can even do it virtually which works great. Whenever we tell our brain that somethings wrong or we are worried about something it reacts to that. You can get all sorts of sensations. Not harmful, but I know how weird they feel. Everything can feel like it’s accelerating due to the adrenaline that is released during anxiety. Get on YouTube and practice some deep breathing. Proper breathing is the key to relaxing everything. Everything is going to work out. Take one day at a time and if you can get some support for this. Take care.

3

Thank you for your answer, it's easing my mind a bit!

Could fatigue be caused by all that stress and also contributing to those reactions?

And about that rush of adrenaline you're talking about, is it possible that it happens even if I don't actively think about something negative or stressing ? (like when I do things relaxing, I don't feel something stressful but my body acts like I am in a mild or very stressful situation...)

Sorry to bother with those questions, but I kinda need to understand what happens... Thank you again really! :)

4

yes! you can have physical anxiety sensations, and not even feel anxious. I can’t count how many times that has happened to me. I could be just relaxing in a chair and suddenly I will feel one of those anxiety sensations. But now I don’t get upset about it. I simply acknowledge that it’s there maybe do a little slow, deep breathing and get on with what I was doing. It’s important that you acknowledge that you have anxiety but at the same time, you don’t have to let it take you over. The less I freaked out about it the better I was feeling. It’s all in what you tell your brain. Fatigue is very common with stress and anxiety. If you think about it, stress and anxiety, take such a huge toll on the body! Especially the muscles, and nervous system. I have had days in the past where I could barely get up off the couch. I really thought something was horribly wrong with me. But all of my testing was normal. I know 100% for sure that it was all caused by stress and anxiety. And that was probably 25 years ago. It’s like the straw that broke the camels back. The body can only take so much stress before it has a breakdown and it usually directs that fatigue to the nervous system. then we get weird sensations. I think I could write a book on this lol.
doctors even scientists, have a hard time treating anxiety. All they can really do is prescribe medication and suggest counseling at this point. Maybe in the future, there will be some magic bullet! I may have mentioned this in the last message, but try to stay away from caffeine and junk foods, especially sugar! Sugar is an inflammatory product which can make anxiety worse. Sometimes it’s pretty hard to avoid, but just always. Have it in the back of your mind. I hope this helps a little bit. Feel free to private message me anytime! Just take one day at a time and work on relaxing your mind. Have a nice day.

5

Thank you for that very detailed answer!!

I'm sorry such things happened to you, but it´s "relaxing" to know it can be that bad just for anxiety we don´t know where it comes from... I had very hard times too with muscle tightness, restlessness and days I couldnt get out of my bed or interact a lot with other people cause of terrible fatigue and headaches... it´s mostly gone now, but at the beginning of my treatment it was very tough.

I'll acknowledge that it is "just" anxiety an try not to let it grow on me, and that i won´t die or have any neurological disorder of some kind.

Thank you a lot for taking so much time answer and giving details like you did, I truly appreciate the commitment you put through your answers 🙏

By the way, how are you with anxiety by now? Are you able to live an almost normal life with friends/family/work etc? I do have a very supportive family and a few close friends, but it´s hard managing social relations with such problems...

I know I said it a lot already, but thank you again! It really helps me to acknowledge your experience

6

Hi there, i experience head symptoms all day long, real dizzy at times, pains in head, weird scary feelings in my head as well , I've been fighting this for 2 years everyday been thru numerous tests and no real diagnosis, no doctor has ever mentioned anxiety so at least you go an answer it's all so scary and feel like have no life anymore. I'll pray for you and hope you start feeling better soon. God bless