JungleJulia

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Everything posted by JungleJulia

  1. Hi there, I've been in your shoes. I used to cry if I had to leave the house, even walking around the block was torture. Medication actually made me a lot worse when I tried it. I found that talking with people who understood helped a lot (like on this forum), also I highly recommend you read Claire Weekes book "Complete Self Help for your Nerves". It's easy reading and will give you a lot of good answers. Hang in there, you aren't alone xx
  2. Has anyone else read A Mind of Your Own by Dr Kelly Brogan? I recently read it and found it really interesting. It's about treating anxiety via diet and lifestyle rather than meds. I'd love to hear from anyone who has done her online program. If I can scrounge together enough cash I I'd love to try it!
  3. Hi Rebeld I have health anxiety too so I understand what a challenge it is. I have banned myself from googling symptoms as it makes anxiety much worse. If i'm worried, I see the doctor. It is hard though, and so so tiring to always worry about symptoms etc. I do not take medication (it made me worse when I tried it) but you should do what is best for you. Don't let the doctor push you into anything if you don't want it. I read a book recently by Dr Kelly Brogan, and it's about treating anxiety without medication. I found it really helpful, maybe check it out if you can. Otherwise the absolute best books ever are by Claire Weekes. Her books and dvds and cd's help me calm down when I'm doing badly. Ok that's enough recommendations! You'll find plenty of people here going through similar issues xx
  4. Thanks Holls! I've decided to stop it at the end of this cycle, fingers crossed it goes well! Sounds like you're better off without it
  5. I was spotting randomly and my doctor give me a stronger prescription for the pill. It reduced the spotting. I'm considering going off the pill soon though because I read about the effects it can have on anxiety. So fingers crossed the spotting doesn't start up again Don't stress, it's common.
  6. Charles Linden talks about this symptom on his youtube channel (his videos have calmed me so many times!), it sounds scary but is meant to be fairly common. I get numb/tingly toes sometimes when I'm close to panic. Good luck with the Dr, i'm sure you'll be fine. Anxiety sux!
  7. Yup, my symptoms have coincided with him being away a few times I used to love alone time too. I am trying to figure out how to cope so that in future it doesn't happen so much. Thanks for the reply, at least i'm not alone in my anxiety! ❤️
  8. Haha yup, either sick or crazy lol I always hope for crazy, but it still sux!
  9. Thanks Penny, you're probably right that it's more common than I'd have thought. We do live isolated existences these days. I'm getting a dog soon (just got approval from the landlord) so I'm looking forward to some canine company ? I think it feels like walking a knife edge with anxiety and anything that threatens to send me into a spiral makes me even more anxious, and ends up a self fulfilling prophecy.
  10. Have you been to doctors? Symptoms of anxiety can last for ages I've had throat issues on and off for months. I've seen 5 doctors (including an ER visit and a specialist), they all said there is nothing there and it's anxiety... I have had a hard time believing it but i'm trying my best. What more can we do?
  11. It looks normal to me, but I'm not an expert. I have moles and I go to a Dr once a year to get checked. Maybe you should get yours checked too just for reassurance?
  12. My health anxiety has been pretty bad for the past 6 months or so. I have had a few minor health issues and they have created a lot of anxiety for me. My partner is staying at his parents for a couple of nights helping them packing because they are moving soon. I was doing quite well last week and then shortly after he left, I became anxious again. Today I feel very tired, and depressed. It's so frustrating because he will be home tomorrow, yet I can't snap out of this mood. Does anyone else have this sort of anxiety when they are apart from people? I feel like I've had a huge setback
  13. So true. I was recently re-reading one of Claire Weekes' books and she talked about listening to ourselves and discovering the root of our anxiety. Not just trying to get rid of the symptoms but understanding WHY they are there in the first place. I haven't yet found a therapist that I could stick with. Sadly it's because I found them to be not very helpful. I do believe there are good ones out there, I should try again to find one! Yours sounds like he was very helpful. Have a wonderful 2018
  14. Hi there, Yes I used to have this one a LOT. It used to really upset me. The psychiatrist explained that there are lots of tiny muscles around that area and when we have anxiety they can tense up and it feels like a lump. It can't hurt us or anything, but it does feel weird!
  15. The first bit sounds like ancient stoicism. I am big on classical philosophy. The stoics believed that we should be passive about things that happen to us. By just accepting, we won't needlessly suffer. We all set the bar too high, we EXPECT to not have any bad traffic, so when we hit bad traffic we get angry and distressed. The Stoic just accepts things as they are, neither good nor bad. I try to learn from their wisdom!!!
  16. I've had a few weeks of diarrhoea / constipation. I ended up going to the doc and did a stool sample and he said I had a mild infection. He said it will just run its course but i'm stressing about it anyway. Today I have lower back pain and paranoid that it's something else. I understand your fear!!
  17. Yeah I can imagine that it has changed the way you speak. It would certainly be a shock for you, but eventually the shock will wear off and you will adjust. It's amazing how we do manage to adjust to things. In a years time you won't even think about it. Dental stuff is annoyingly expensive, I hope you can manage to get the help from your dad. Would the dentist allow you to pay by instalments? I miss feeling normal too. I haven't felt 100% normal in a long time either. I am trying to let go of what I THOUGHT was normal, and create a new normal. No more looking back and trying to "get back to" being better, I'm moving FORWARD to a new BETTER better!!!! Feel free to private message me on here if you ever want to. I hope you have a lovely trip and holiday season
  18. Therapy did not really help me, and I tried multiple therapists... I go through periods like you are talking about, where I feel totally overwhelmed and convinced that there must be something wrong with me that the Dr's have missed. I end up kind of paralysed where I just sit around and cry or just do very very little. It feels like I'm missing my life during those times. But I have also had good periods where I got a handle on it and got on with life. I highly recommend getting the book 'Complete Self Help for Your Nerves' by Dr Claire Weekes, it talks about all the symptoms we feel and WHY we feel them when we are anxious people. It also gives a lot of case studies. Claire was a GP, not a psychologist, so it resonates more for people with HA in my opinion. It is very comforting to read when you are feeling frightened by your bodily sensations. The other thing that helped me was to attempt to not be afraid of my worst fears, like telling myself "FINE, if you're going to die, you're going to die!! For now, lets just get on with things, because sitting and waiting for death is pointless!". I know that might sound like the complete opposite of how you feel but it has sometimes helped me to try to simply squash the fear. If you aren't afraid of it, then you don't feel it so much. Anyway, I highly recommend the book, but in the meantime, just know that you aren't alone x
  19. Aww sorry to hear that Aimz. I'm sure you'll adjust to the gap, but could you get a partial denture to go there? I know there are several options for fixing gaps... I'm sure you don't look like a monster It's just a shock is all. It's always the biggest shock straight after it's happened. You did the right thing though and got it seen to. Try to just enjoy the family trip, you've done all that you can. It could always be worse right? Don't hate yourself for something that you cannot control...
  20. Hi Aimz! Welcome to anxiety central. I hope you did ok with the dentist. I know how scary tooth issues can be. Congrats on your sobriety and doing the things you need to get your life together. I had some tooth pain a few weeks back and after several terrifying trips to the dentist ended up having the tooth pulled out. It was really scary and I had loads of anxiety around it all. But it's done now and things are improving. I have to go to the dentist next week for a regular cleaning and I'm nervous about that. We all have to do these things, they suck and when anxiety gets a grip, it makes it even scarier. Let us know how you went! You aren't alone, so so many people feel the same. My dentist told me that they often have people run out of the chair to the bathroom, and even people who cry uncontrollably. It's not fun, but you'll be so glad once it's dealt with and you can get on with life
  21. Hi Cherry, sorry to hear about your stressful time A puppy is certainly a lot of work and probably not a great idea right now when you are struggling. Can your partner take full responsibility of the puppy until you feel ready? Otherwise, consider asking the breeder to take the puppy back. Perhaps down the track you could get an older dog from a shelter as it won't need so much training etc. Dogs are wonderful mood boosters but if it is only adding to your stress then it isn't a good situation for you OR the dog. It sounds like your partner is trying to help (which makes it hard because you probably feel guilty as well now!) but maybe he doesn't understand how you really feel. It's so hard with anxiety to really get others to understand how we feel. They think that they know what will help us, and they can't imagine that it's so much more complicated than they know. Try and find things that relax you, like gardening, going for a walk, or watching movies, whatever it is that makes YOU feel better. It's hard but sometimes we have to be a little selfish to get ourselves back to feeling better. I've been a mess lately too. I was doing pretty good most of this year, then a few weeks back BAM I went back to lots of anxiety and some depression too. There is no quick fix, but I feel your pain! xx