Ironman

No problem. Sometimes, reaching out of the SA/HA haze to others can help. Stress can "raise the vigilance antenna" when it's not needed. We just need to learn to filter out the noise and the tricks our minds do to distract us.

I have heard that Vitamin D3 has quite a positive impact, Corona or not. I take it in general from September to April after a blood test stated I was quite low. Low Vitamin D levels are an epidemic in and of itself. It helps with the sunlight we aren't getting! I found out a second guy in my men's group has tested positive for Corona last night, six days after we last saw him. Today is day seven. We were all wearing masks the entire time and he had no symptoms when we saw him. I asked whether or not we should be quarantining and was told we were fine as long as we had the masks. I looked up my county here in Ohio: Ninth out of 88 (we were around 20th for the longest time) - 3,000 cases (pandemic-long) for people 40-49....almost 60 hospitalized, and ZERO deaths.

I attend a men's group and one of the men caught the Corona. He said it felt like a bad cold for over a week....and there wasn't much of a fever! Smell and taste are also a mess for a while, even after the other symptoms go away. He caught it in the beginning of November and the senses hadn't fully come back as of mid-December. I forgot to ask him how he was doing last week. The test will tell you one way or the other.....but given what you stated and what I found out.... :(

Nagyon szi'vesen! Gra'tula'lok a te ko:nyved! - You're welcome! I congratulate on your book! Tanulok magyaru"l. Az én névem is Ja'nos. Ez a szorongás kihívása! - I am learning Hungarian. My name is John, too. It is a challenge for anxiety.

Are there over-the-counter products you can take? We have products here in the States that can at least temporarily relieve your issues. Gastritis seems to be pretty common and chronic if it is not addressed. I did some searching. The goal is reduce acid production and get that stomach lining restored. Almonds (I eat these and noticed a difference in acid production). Yogurt. https://www.benenden.co.uk/be-healthy/nutrition/gut-food-15-foods-for-good-gut-health/

Yep, it was already nine days before we found out, but we would have had symptoms by then. Nobody caught it and we didn't have to be tested. My decade age group 40-49 has the highest number of cases in my state, but ZERO deaths! My mother got the first of two vaccines yesterday. She turned 73 on Christmas Day, is in assisted living, and was in the hospital in early 2018 for pre-symptoms of congestive heart failure. Basically, she drank 16-18 cups of water a day (she had a big white cup that was really 16oz size) and didn't exercise for months, so the fluid builds to the point you can't move or breathe. They had to catheterize her and she literally expelled 78 pounds through urination. To me, that was more than enough to have her get the vaccine. She's been fine, but confined to the house for the last six months - I wasn't able to visit her in person until her birthday.

Well, I don't think much is going to change between your post and the appointment. The only thing you can control is how you are thinking about it. Your anxiety is anticipatory...….and it's always worse than the actual event itself. The WHAT IF syndrome. What if I have a kidney stone, or five in one kidney and they have to go in and get them? I have a lump on my adrenal gland and a second one next to it. I have a kidney stone in my bladder? …..or you can do reverse what if thinking.... What if The adrenal gland bump is harmless as the doctor said The kidney stone issue doesn't seem to be there as I have not experienced pain. the conditions improved since the last scan? Even if there is a kidney stone, there are multiple ways to get to it. Kidney stones are painful, but they aren't cancerous! The bump on your adrenal gland has already been checked out. If it's normal, you're good. If it is not, the doctors would probably remove it and test it. The scan would pick up other stuff to so it would be covered. Long story short, break down your anxiety into two piles: what you CANNOT control and what you CAN control. The stuff you CANNOT control is for the doctors since they know what to do. What you CAN control is your reaction to the thoughts. You are smart, creative, and capable - and can get though anything!

I had a guy in my men's group catch it in early November. I found out about his positive case nine days after we saw him and he had no symptoms that day we saw him. He was out for two weeks in quarantine - coughing, sneezing, achy, but no fever! He still had reduced sense of smell or taste through mid-December.

Well, you are still here. You said you wouldn't be and it was 15 months ago. Anxiety does weird things with the body, but muscles take a lot of the brunt. Were the meds the doctor prescribed provide any relief? Could you go back to the doc?

I have one LOL When I was in my car and driving, I would make sure that if I saw a 666 on the odometer, that I wouldn't look at it three times. No joke. We're talking Maury show pickle-phobia like behavior. I thought I would go to hell for the 666, 66.6, or 666.6. I knew that I had overcome this when I was at work buying lunch and my total was $6.66. The lunchlady panicked and gave me the meal free. I said it was only a number lol.

You would vomited blood if something was really wrong. At worst, the poo may be from either taking or not taking antibiotics. Remember, lower digestion does involve bacteria, so the antibiotics would probably have changed the contents. Just be careful - it doesn't sound like anything happened if you are okay now. You puke, you learn. lol

I didn't have joint clicking issues before, but I do now and it a bit of weight gain. I was an active runner until the Corona hit and have been fighting to get back into that shape since. I know that I gained five pounds in the first half of 2020, but I have been running and exercising a bit more since then. My knees and ankles pop more. I haven't thought much of it so far as long as I can get back into shape.

That's the spiral of negative thinking trying to derail you. You are catching it, so that is good. There is some stuff I buy for my elbows that occasionally develop psoriasis called "Psoriacin". The stuff smells awful because it has coal tar in it, but works to relieve the irritation so much! It comes in a small 1oz tube but a little goes a long way! It may not cause arthritis; it's just the skin. The biggest thing to do is (1) stop Googling for information. It is good to get educated, but when it goes to hypochondriasis and causes anxiety. Cut it off. (2) BREATHE DEEP. Today may be a bad day, but tomorrow may not be. Be kind to yourself; you are going through a rough time, especially with the surgery situation. I noticed that being by heat (space heater) can help relax you. (3) Determine what you CAN control, and let go of what you can't. Focus on this part instead of worrying about everything. If can control it, you can do something about it. Otherwise, let it go. I am not just preaching here, I had your issues and worse. Rocking in a fetal position having only been able to eat half a value meal (for the DAY!) and a cup of Coke because I was afraid I couldn't keep anything down. You WILL get your appetite back!

Half of my thumbs' nails are ridged. Yours look good compared to mine.

Definitely. I mentioned above that grape Kool-Aid can turn my stool green. It actually had a weird bluish color after I ate blue frosting on my birthday cake. Pepto-Bismol will turn it black due to the bismuth. Generally, when the body processes food to waste, it goes through phases. It starts as dark green, then light tan, and then darkens to brown. It could be a piece of skin from the tomato in the sauce or even a spice. If it's a hemorrhoid, there are products that help symptoms.

At the worst, the hemorrhoid might be causing problems, but nothing more than that. Normally, you would need to wait at least a year for insurance to pay for another unless there is something critical. That would be a last resort kind of deal. I would say for now, just monitor - and find softer toilet tissue! Look into some products for hemorrhoids to help with swelling.

Mel1981, Food can result in different colors in the stool. Grape Kool-Aid turns my stool green! There could be undigested peppers, corn kernels. If you had a recent test, it should build up so quickly. Also, try not to strain. Doctors are your friends; they are professionally trained to notice anything out of the ordinary. Take what they told you as good news!

Hi Betsy1234, The only thing to do is fight to take back what you gave up. Little by little, push you boundaries back out and test your negative thoughts against the reality.

Hello ThreeCs, Welcome to the site :). I just joined myself as you have probably seen, but I have been around forums almost 16 years. The first thing I would say has already been mentioned. Don't rule out getting help from a GP. The Corona has really messed things us everywhere; anxiety through the roof. For me, I have actually had to take my vacation time and had almost seven consecutive weeks off. It's good, but combined with Corona, it's even had an effect on me - depression/lack of motivation. Fortunately, I am still working from home as I have for the past 10 months, so I can still get sleep corrected. So, I can tell you that you are not alone. How you think determines how you feel - the very first lesson I ever learned about anxiety. It's thought retraining and it is not easy.

The thing to do is get informed about your situation. The more information you have the more confident you will be. You would be confronting your fear of the unknown. It's also about separating what you can control versus what you can't. The latter is where the doctor step in, so to speak.

My first post is on New Year's Day. I want to introduce myself because people might have a panic attack seeing a new moderator in their midst. I will probably edit it after a while since it is long has a lot of information, My name is John, username Ironman, and I am a carryover from anxiety-space.com. I have been a moderator on that site since almost the beginning, and was a moderator on another forum for over six years. A résumé in three sentences lol. My history with anxiety: My first real panic attack was January 28, 1989. I was in the eighth grade (13 1/2) and I was dealing with a mother who has mental illness and had just been hospitalized for 11 days during the previous Christmas. Her illness behaved much like an alcoholic only it was 24/7 with her behavior. That, in turn, had me put pressure on myself to succeed. In the beginning, I could count on two nights a month where I would not sleep well. It would shift into hypochondriasis and catastrophization (big words lol). I got through high school and college with periodic episodes. I ended up having acquaintances, but they never really go to know me. I wouldn't let them because I was teased about my mother. That mindset stuck. By 1999, I had finished college and attempted to start my own life - but depression set in. At that point, I decided to seek help. I started seeing a doctor who couldn't quite pinpoint what my issue was, just that I had anxiety. In 2000, I joined a church with the expectation that I could make friends who were decent. Little did I know that the more I tried to make friends, the worse I got. In 2002, the anxiety started getting worse after a weekend trip to Gatlinburg. The worry about what was going on flared up and got worse throughout 2003. On New Year's Eve 2003, I remember being the only person at the altar praying (this was one of those charismatic churches) and God told me that I would not be at the church at the end of 2004. In the midst of the anxiety, that was unsettling. This is where things get really weird and I have to use my hindsight and what I have learned. In January 2004, I know that I had anxiety that was bad enough that I was derealizing/depersonalizing ("zoning out"), and the choir was sitting behind the preacher/evangelist. At the end of one service the preacher's wife screamed "you are going through what you are because you didn't try out for the choir!" The choir knew I was interested in trying out - but when I did in 2000, we were handed a several-page document on rules, ending with a contract that we would support the leadership (preacher's daughter and son-in-law) 100 percent. I found that kind of odd and walked out before I auditioned (I play woodwind instruments). Taking things personally is a big thing with anxiety sufferers and that made it worse. To make a long story short, they tried to kick me out of the church twice, incorrectly using Scripture. Since the church was not part of a denomination, they could do what they wanted. The first time was Easter Sunday 2004, after I was so racked with anxiety that I felt unworthy to take Communion - BIG mistake in that church. The preacher's wife screamed out "if you're causing divisions, we'll kick you out!" I went to the altar and prayed for something unrelated like my anxiety - and the choir was cheering and pointing to me.....before shunning me altogether. I started withdrawing from people I thought were my friends - I was in with a group that were brown-nosers to the pastors. They had a TV show on a cable channel and thought they were something else. The anxiety exploded to the point I was rocking in a fetal position begging for the nerves to stop. In my mind, "looking at people" was my crime (derealization was something I didn't know anything about at the time) so I won't look at the preacher or the choir. That must have offended the ego of the pastor's wife because she tried to kick me out again in June 2004. It's a three step process to kick somebody out and June 6, 2004 was actually step two. I pulled a friend who I could trust, had him pray with me at the altar, and I left the church for good. I have to add that August 2002 to June 2004 was also a trying period in my life (I call it my Job trial). Job, in the Bible, was a man who lost everything and people around him told him to give up his faith and he wouldn't do it. In my case, I had become unemployed, lost my dog, my grandmother, faced having a root canal with no insurance, had boils like Job, lost my friends, and then my church, and almost what was left of my sanity.....in two years. Twelve days after I left the church, I landed a job (software engineer). But, the anxiety didn't go away! I got a new doctor in June 2004 and finally got diagnosed with Social Anxiety Disorder. That's another storyline in my soap opera lol. I have been at my current church since October 2006 - a HEALTHIER ONE. I would be able to help here with the issue of spiritual abuse. I am still working on social interaction, though - it's a process, but I have come a LONG way. ...oh and before I close, that "bad church" sent me a packet to rejoin in March 2005 - I keep it as a reminder of the pain I went through. The pastor's wife and that church have been through unbelievable stuff that only God can dish out! One example - June 14, 2010: God released me from the Church when the 62-foot tall fiberglass statue of Jesus ("Big Butter Touchdown Jesus" as people called it) was struck by lightning and disintegrated. Anyway, I wanted to provide a bit of background. Those at AnxietySpace know me, but AnxietyCentral would see me as an invader lol. I hope 2021 can bring some peace and knowledge that 2020 was actually an interesting experience. People were going through what we have for years!