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i'm felt so exhausted lately. i'm stressed from university, i'm anxious because i live with my overbearing gaslighting mother, and feel like my life is getting more and more dull. i had a really good friend for a while, let's call her M, and M and i were really close. we would hang out all the time, go get lunch, send memes and texts everyday when we were bored in our classes and were always hanging out. M is the first friend i've had in my life who was a real friend, not just someone who played nice with me because i was lonely enough to do whatever they said as long as i could sit with them at lunch. for the first time, in a really long time, i felt good. i had a job i liked, i was finally going back to school after taking a semester off for personal reasons, i was getting better after seven long years of not being ok. a few months ago M got a boyfriend. nothing really changed at first, M and i still hung out all the time and texted. but over the past three weeks M and i have barely spoken. it'll be days before she responds to a message and when she does it's with one word answers, and we haven't hung out in over two months. is it clingy and stupid of me to feel hurt by this? because M and i have stopped hanging out less, i've been forced to spend more time at my own house and it's taking it's toll on me. i don't know if it's a fact or not but i feel like a kid can always tell when their parent has given up on them. even from a young age. when you find your drawings in the trash instead of on the fridge next to your sibling's, when you ideas and wants are brushed off like dirt, when they stop saying i love you because they mean it and instead because they don't want to be a parent that doesn't say it. it's easy to tell for me. when i'm four miles from home on campus at 6 pm and i ask for a ride on her way home from work and the response i get is 'i love you but your problems aren't my problems and i'm focusing on other things right now.' it's easy to tell because when i bring things up, "hey let's watch this new movie that's coming out next week together! i think you'll like it and it's been a while since we've done anything!" it's easy to tell how little you mean when you get home and ask where she is and get a text that says 'decided to go see this new movie, figure out dinner yourself.' it's in the little things, like re-ordering food you've been allergic to your whole life and saying 'since when?' and the dismissive hand wave when you tell them you accomplished something you're proud of. every time it happens it hurts just a little more until you feel like a stranger to your own mother who still forces you into hugs and saying 'i love you' back when you know she doesn't give a damn about anything other than herself. and the one day you wake up and you hear her talking in the background to your step father who you've never been close to and you're standing in the kitchen and staring out the window and realize how unimportant you are in your own life and you suddenly feel so so lonely you feel so fucking lonely that you want to cry but youre too tired to cry and youre tired of crying and youre tired of being tired but you're so lonely that you cant even sleep and youre so touch starved that you would probably cry if anyone hugged you and you have no one to talk to because you know no one really cares so you end up typing out the way you feel online to a website of people with better things to do than read your pitiful cry for help and attention because god youre just so fucking lonely and stupid and you want to cry and you dont want to die- you know you don't because you know what that feels like- you've felt it before- and that's not how you feel now. right now you want to live. you want to live so fucking bad it hurts because the more you look at it the more you realize you're not even living you're just going through the motions of breathing, eating, going to class...and it feels like its never going to end

I love to sing but, I've quit due to irrational thoughts of voice loss, voice not sounding, right, etc you name it! I can't seem to rid the thoughts. couple months back I was losing My mind due to this crazy flu on top of My anxiety due to withdrawal side effects from Prozac because I decided to quit taking it. thought I didn't need it. well turns out I did still need some meds so now I'm on Celexa. My voice has been perfectly fine all this time. I'm just out of practice. I need to keep reminding Myself I'm just out of practice because I've quit for months, and months. but, it's just hard! the unrealistic thoughts creep up on me again! it's beyond terrible. I've read Celexa will make you have some up and down moods and emotions when taking it but, that it'll wear off in a few weeks time. is anyone else on celexa? would love to know how it has helped you. PLEASE help me rid these terrible thoughts.

Hi everyone! Can you please advise me on what I'm feeling right now. I had been suffering left arm pain and jaw tightness today. Actually, the left arm pain started months ago while the jaw tightness was just recent. Reading articles on the internet is one of the things I've done and I was schocked that this was actually symptomps of a heart attack. I am really scared because I think I might having one. I have issues with my blood pressure and weight so it really adds up my worry plus the fact that my chest goes tight when I presa it. I think i've also experienced shortnesa of breath but I don't know if it's accurate because you know sometimes you'll be concerend with your breathing and then it will act abnormally. Can you please help me?? I don't really know what to do anymore. I've been worried of having this since November. I had an ECG and blood tests that month and it has normal results so I don't know why I feel this heart attack related things. I just can't understand if I'm just scared or not. Here are some detailed pains that I have: 1. Left Arm Pain -usually felt on upper arm, armpits, wrists rarely on elbows and fingers -it feels like tired sometimes eventhough I didn't lift up heavy things. -it comes and goes for months now. 2. Jaw tightness -just felt it recently -it's like having tootache but I know I don't have issues with my teeth -comes and goes as well -usually climbs up into my cheeks 3. shortness of breath -unsure about it but it actually occurs at rest 4. chest pain -not like "pain" but more of a discomfort especially when pressed. usually located below breast, sides and near middle Thank you and I hope you can have answers to what I feel.

Hello all. My name is Maddy. I’m 19 and about 2 months ago I was at work when I had a strange “wave” got though my body, my heart rate immediately went up and I began to sweat and couldn’t gather my thoughts properly. My arm felt tingly and I began Worrying that I could Be having a stroke. I went Into the ER, they ran an EKG, blood test, urine test, and it all cam back normal. They chalked It up to panic disorder and generalized anxiety. I still felt off for the next few days and like I was Not in control of my thoughts and my mind. I went To follow up with my primary care doctor, as I was Scared there was something we were missing. She examined me thouroughly and didn’t find anything wrong, she sent me to get blood work done to see how my lipids, thyroid, cholestorl, etc, all we’re. They all came back perfectly normal. I had No appetite for days and my vision felt slightly off. The best way I can Describe it is like I was Constantly high and experiencing this weird out of body experience. I made An appointment with a phsychiatrist near by, and she diagnosed me with a panic disorder, and generalized anxiety as well. I was Prescribed Zoloft and currently take 100mg daily, and clonazepam .5mg twice daily as needed. About a week and half of taking the medication I sarted noticing results and feeling much better. I was No longer waking up to a panic attack and increased heart rate, I could live out my days relatively normally. I started seeing a therapist and doing cognitive behavioral therapy with her and so far it’s been helpful. Within the past 2 days though I’ve been feeling quite awful again. It is very discouraging because I’ve been feeling good for about 2 weeks or so now, and I’m scared that I’m starting all over again and that I have To go through this all again. I’m sorry for the lengthy post I just want to be as detailed as I can with you all. Not to mention that I have A constant fear that this isn’t anxiety and that these symptoms are something else and I’m worried that they could mean I have A brain tumor or something like that. I made The mistake of googling brain tumor symptoms and other things and got myself deep into a rabbit hole and started thinking “holy s*#t!” These are all my symptoms what if their mimicking something more serious such as a brain tumor. I get Slight headaches from time to time but nothing seriously major or horribly painful. Consciously I know That it has to be my anxiety. Subconsciously it Is so hard for me to believe myself and the facts in front of me. I cant Get this persistent thought out of my head and it’s causing me more and more panic attacks. Has anyone else been here? I’d really appreciate it if y’all took the time to read this lengthy post. Thank you all. -maddy

Hi all! I’m totally new to this site, but definitely not new to HA. I’ve been suffering for 11 years. I’m usually pretty good at managing it but occasionally I just get hit with a wave of anxiety that just knocks me down for weeks, sometimes even months at a time. I’m in nursing school and now that my midterms are done I have more time to focus on myself. In the last week alone I have managed to convince myself that I have ovarian cancer, bladder cancer, a kidney infection, a UTI, and now breast cancer. The other symptoms I was having are easy chalked up to a running injury I sustained on my hip a while back and stress, but I’ve always had this lump on my left breast. I exam my breasts weekly because I’m so paranoid but I feel like this thing has changed, I feel like it’s bigger! It’s still soft and moveable, I am about 4 days from starting my period so that could be the case, it’s a bit painful too but that could just be from my constant poking at it. I’m just starting to really second guess myself and I’m convincing myself that I don’t really know my own body. I just feel betrayed and confused. Normally I would go see my doctor but I moved 12 hours from home for school so I have no friends and family around either. I’m just feeling really doomed and upset about this, I’m hoping that someone has had a similar experience that can maybe help calm me down.

Hello all. My name is Maddy. I’m 19 and about 2 months ago I was at work when I had a strange “wave” got though my body, my heart rate immediately went up and I began to sweat and couldn’t gather my thoughts properly. My arm felt tingly and I began Worrying that I could Be having a stroke. I went Into the ER, they ran an EKG, blood test, urine test, and it all cam back normal. They chalked It up to panic disorder and generalized anxiety. I still felt off for the next few days and like I was Not in control of my thoughts and my mind. I went To follow up with my primary care doctor, as I was Scared there was something we were missing. She examined me thouroughly and didn’t find anything wrong, she sent me to get blood work done to see how my lipids, thyroid, cholestorl, etc, all we’re. They all came back perfectly normal. I had No appetite for days and my vision felt slightly off. The best way I can Describe it is like I was Constantly high and experiencing this weird out of body experience. I made An appointment with a phsychiatrist near by, and she diagnosed me with a panic disorder, and generalized anxiety as well. I was Prescribed Zoloft and currently take 100mg daily, and clonazepam .5mg twice daily as needed. About a week and half of taking the medication I sarted noticing results and feeling much better. I was No longer waking up to a panic attack and increased heart rate, I could live out my days relatively normally. I started seeing a therapist and doing cognitive behavioral therapy with her and so far it’s been helpful. Within the past 2 days though I’ve been feeling quite awful again. It is very discouraging because I’ve been feeling good for about 2 weeks or so now, and I’m scared that I’m starting all over again and that I have To go through this all again. I’m sorry for the lengthy post I just want to be as detailed as I can with you all. Not to mention that I have A constant fear that this isn’t anxiety and that these symptoms are something else and I’m worried that they could mean I have A brain tumor or something like that. I made The mistake of googling brain tumor symptoms and other things and got myself deep into a rabbit hole and started thinking “holy s*#t!” These are all my symptoms what if their mimicking something more serious such as a brain tumor. I get Slight headaches from time to time but nothing seriously major or horribly painful. Consciously I know That it has to be my anxiety. Subconsciously it Is so hard for me to believe myself and the facts in front of me. I cant Get this persistent thought out of my head and it’s causing me more and more panic attacks. Has anyone else been here? I’d really appreciate it if y’all took the time to read this lengthy post. Thank you all. -maddy

Also hypothyroid, and hypertensive. Have only been to ER a couple of times, once for chest pains. Released 3 days later after stress test and angiogram where my heart was pronounced 'clean and green' and I was sent for a gall bladder scan. My digestive disease doc said that wasn't it. Still have symptoms but only in winter - was diagnosed with SAD about 4 years ago, too. I hope to find a way to come here in here when I'm having a panic attack, and at some point help others when they have them.

Is there actually a good way to do this? I found this post to be helpful in explaining how to tell a therapist your worst thoughts : https://blog.treatmyocd.com/how-to-tell-a-therapist-be781c19d453 Anyone have good input on this? Interesting topic..

I just had to pick up my daughter from school because she has a fever of 102. IDK if it is the flu or not but she doesn't have insurance right now because of the insurance company itself not looking at my renewal. I'm very nervous. All this shit in the news has me worried sick and I'm scared to death. I'm worried that my younger daughter will get it or that me or my husband will get it. IDK what to do I am panicking.

Well my name is Matt and I’m from Burlington, Ontario. I’ve been agoraphobic for almost 20 years but, wasn’t diagnosed until 15 years ago. When I was diagnosed I was put on meds(Paxil) and within two weeks my life went from not being able to step outside my house to driving an hour and a half up north to visit friends, my life had done a complete 180 and I was able to live my life again. Five years later the drugs had started to not work as well until eventually they didn’t at all and I lost everything, my wife, my house, my job and my kid. My mistake was not trying to overcome the agoraphobia while it was under control and instead living with the band-aid. It took some time but, eventually after trying a few other meds I stabilized and was able to live my life but, only partially as I still can’t work or travel too far a distance. As im sure you can understand this has made many things in life difficult including my love life as no woman wants to be with a guy with my issues. I’ve been receiving help now from many doctors and counselors and I’ve made progress but it’s slow going and not having much money makes doing certain things like exposure therapy somewhat difficult. Ive recently decided to go back to school to be a counselor myself so that perhaps I can help people in the same predicament I’m in and help them get past the hurdles I have and the ones I know I still need to overcome myself. It will take me a little longer than someone without my issues but I’ll get there I’m sure. I guess it would just be nice too talk and maybe even meet people in the same situation or who understand what I’m dealing with as even my family doesn’t really understand the fear I live with. So yeah that’s me in a nut shell and I hope to hear from somebody or everyone lol.

In the winter of 2016, my father lay in a hospital bed slowly dying of pneumonia. Tubes snaked around his body and dangled from a ventilator machine. He was taken down to have tests run but was quickly rushed back. I stood in the open hallway and watched as nurses and staff ran around him frantically moving him into the bed. What they were doing, I couldn't tell you. I can't even recall what tests were being done in the first place. I don't remember where my Mom or my sister were in that moment. All I remember is calmly walking toward his bedside and holding his hand. I looked at my 63-year-old father. His face etched with wrinkles. He looked back up at me, unable to make any sound. I heard a sniffle and glanced at the nurse on the other side of his bed. A tear rolled down her face that was in sync with mine. I looked back at my father, who had tightened his grip around my hand. His lips moved, and he mimed the words "I love you" as a single tear fell from his left eye. I don't remember what happened after that but 2 days later we would be informed as we wait in the corridor that our decision to detach him from the ventilator, had in fact killed him. Perhaps, an act of mercy. I'd refuse to see the body. I will never regret that decision. I wanted my final memory of my father to be the soft miming of "I love you". We shard this moment alone and that will forever be ours. In the start of 2017, my mother would decide to move to Virginia to live with her sister. I drove to her house that morning and sat with her while we waited for my uncle to arrive. We watched the comedian Bo Burnham's videos on YouTube and laughed until we cried. We reminisced about my childhood and discussed politics and religion. I helped he decide what to bring and supported her decision to leave. She'd been a housewife for 30 years. It was her time to be who she wanted and do what she wanted. I received a call from my children's school and was informed that my youngest had puked on the playground, so I had no choice but to leave. I gave her a hug, told her how much I love her and to call me when she made it to Stuart. For the next few weeks, we would talk often. At least once every other day. In February, when her birthday rolled around, I sent her a big, fluffy blanket to keep her warm in those dreaded Virginia winter months. Which, of course, she called and thanked me for. Two days later, whilst my husband and children were touring a house in which we would soon move into, I receive a call from my sister. I walk out to my car and sit on the hood. The crickets chirped, creating a melancholic score. My sister's voice was shaky. I knew before she'd even said the words. I knew the moment her husband's phone number popped up on my caller I.D. My mother was dead. Have you ever felt like the ground you walked on was unstable and that, any minute now, it would collapse and bring you with it? Have you ever hoped that, by some stroke of luck, it WOULD take you? The first thing I wanted to do when I heard of my Mom's death was to call her and talk to her about it but instead, I just hoped for a sinkhole. She didn't get to see me get married in July. We never got to talk about my new house. But, I like to think that she died warm and cozy in her new blanket. And I know, at least, we will always have Bo Burnham. The time between my father dying and my mother dying, I came down with walking pneumonia. At the Urgent Care office, the doctor ordered an x-ray. A few days later, I would walk back into the Urgent Care with no improvement of symptoms. The same doctor would soon tell me, in my frigid, steroid induced anxiety state, that I, for certain, had a lung disease. I didn't know what to think. I couldn't understand what he meant. A lung disease? A life-long chronic condition? What kind of lung disease, you ask? Well, he said "It could be asthma or COPD or emphysema." Then he handed me a box of tissues. There I was,a 26 year old mother of two staring my mortality in the face. Now, perhaps anyone else who hadn't just watch their father pass away in a hospital bed would be able to take this news without the sense of impending doom but me? Over the course of the next two weeks I would writhe with agony over the idea of suffering with a life-long condition. I couldn't understand how a simple cough turned into something that I would need a steroid inhaler for forever. I'd never even had breathing trouble. So, why now? I tried to quit smoking, but that intensified the anxiety. I tried yoga and meditation. I colored in one of those damn adult coloring books. I tried, desperately, to be what I perceived as normal. I went back to the same facility shortly after to have a breathing test done. I blew in to a tube until I couldn't and inhaled medicine from a ventilator that too closely resembled the one that my family made the decision to remove from my father's face. I did that until I shook. An hour after I left, I get a call from the "good" doc-- he said, "It looks like you could have COPD, asthma or emphysema." No change. But I was pissed That rage sent me to find a true general practitioner who, in turn, sent me to get a proper breathing test done in a proper facility with a trained professional. I remember her being very sweet and funny. My new doctor e-mailed me a week later to tell me-- "Your test came back normal. No breathing abnormalities. Fine lung capacity." -Insert Outrage- Ever since that time and those series of traumatically unfortunate events, I have suffered from serious health anxiety. I'm currently dealing with tinnitus that I was sure was a tumor. I went to the ER, had a CT scan and told to see an ENT. But guess what-- although the CT scan gave me peace of mind and I was finally able to eat after 2 days, I realized that I had just been sitting in a waiting room that was nearly filled to the brim with people sick with the flu. -Insert Anxiety-Driven Googling- I wish, sometimes, there were someone beside me, all day every day, to tell me to take it easy. To remind me like my therapist-"Not everything is a ten." She's right, not everything is but everything feels like it. It doesn't seem to matter to my anxiety that I took all of the necessary precautions-- used an entire travel-sized bottle of hand sani, covered my mouth with my shirt (not the provided masks that had been touched by every hand in there), kept my distance from the cesspool of the infected and I even held my breath every time someone passed me. None of that has stopped me from imagining symptoms or from spraying my new jacket with disinfectant. I've washed my hands three times since I have been home, used another half of a bottle of hand sani and soaked in a bath hotter than hell itself. Then, I ended up here.

Hello everyone!!! I have been reading some posts here and feel very safe. On April 27th (2017) I did a surgery on my eyelids called blepharoplasty. It's a plastic surgery. It is basicly to remove excess skin of your eyelids. On May I started to have burning sensation on my eyelids. I went to the doctor who did my surgery and he said he never heard before this complain . (PS: My surgery went great, no edema, no swelling, it healed very fast and nice). So I went toi look for another doctors who couldn't find anything wrong. So I went to neurologist... A bunch of them... First of them said it was atypical facial pain, the other said it was neuralgia and the other one said it was all anxiety. I went to other doctor who wanted to do the "block" on my nerves right away (which consist putting a needle in my nerve on my forehead with antibiotics and corticoids). I went to so many doctors and everyone of them said different things. This whole thing ended affecting my teeth and my bruxism got worse to the point I had cramps on my muscle cheecks. Oh god. And I did the usual exams CT, MRI, Blood work... On september I got my lowest point where I thought the surgery caused all this, like it was doctor mistake, like I was perfect, why would I do this to myself? I was crying 24/7, at home, at work, in the car... It was a mess. I didn't have any answer, like a concrete answer. So I was scared of anything like a brain tumor, getting blind... Had so many panic attacks and didn't know what to do. Besides the burning sensation on my eyelids, I had some eletrical chocks on my cheecks, a sharp pain on my forehead and eyebrows... Never had this before. Now my anxiety is better but I am still in pain. I still feel pain looking at the computer while I work which is weird because I don't feel pain when I am playing video games on my computer. Sometimes I think it is anxiety and reading in this forum I notice a lot of people having burning sensation like me. The other thing that puts an interrogation point in my head is why do I feel pain only on my face? Specially in the areas I did the surgery? Because anxiety makes your WHOLE body weird and I only have this pain on my face. I started taking PAMELOR which is an anti-anxiety medicine (this is day 18 of the drug) and I don't know what to do anymore to end this pain. I did a lot of things, you name it... spiritual help, acupuncture, drugs, meditation, started going to therapy, exercise... Thank you in advance for reading this.

I did a CT Scan 5 months ago and have developed anxiety and I feel so stressed becauce of radiation. I'm affraid my body will not repair after radiation becauce of stress. Is there someone with anxeity that have done a CT?

Hi All, this has been first time on this website. I feel a bit lost and hopeless and search for help wherever I can. For couple months I have been dealing with various problems like swollen lymph nodes where multiple ultrasounds show they are reactive nodes reacting to some infection, slow bowel movements which has been my chronic problem. Of course I started with doctors to check up nodes and I had ultrasounds, blood test, rectoscopy too. So far nothing proved bad but they are still couple tests to come like CT which is next week on Tuesday. I googled a lot and all I found is telling me I have a cancer. First lymphoma, now I am pretty concered about bowel cancer. i cant sleep, cant focus, cant eat, I feel depressed a lot. Is this normal or this is how anxiety looks like? I am sorry if its stupid question but my brain is acting in a way I havent experienced before and all the hopes I try to say to myself wont work. It feels like I already diagnosed myself. What should I do to help myself until I have all the tests done? How to go thru this? I will be happy about any experience sharing or advice.

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Hello to all of you guys. I've posted weeks ago about my chest pain and anxiety due to those pain. But right now thank God I was negative of some sickness. But right now I feel another pain that keeps worrying my mind. From the past week (I think 3rd week of November) I had experienced headache in a span of 4 days. It is unusual for me due to the fact that I felt dizzy as well and when I move or get up from the bed, I feel like the ground moved or has been moving. After the dizziness I had also experienced tight pain or prickly pain in different parts of my head especially in the sides and back. But after some time, it just vanished and I felt better. But when December came, I started to feel a little bit off again. I am experiencing neck pain, that numb and prickly feel. I also feel headaches at random spots in my head again and that pain also in my temple or behind my eye (i don't know exactly where) then my jaw and behind my ears starts to feel painful as well. Can you please help me recognize what I'm feeling. I'm starting to feel stressed and worried again. I tried to Google my conditions but my panic just gets worst due to the results it showed like brain aneurysm and hematoma. I literally cried after reading about it and I put into my conclusion that maybe it is the reason why I feel this pains in me. Please help me ! And any comments from you can be appreciated. Thank you !

Hello everyone. I'm just new into this forum and I hope that you can help me with these unexplained health problems that I got. Last October, due to irritabilty of what I feel plus the fear inside of me, I had decided to visit a doctor. The doctor diagnosed me with hypertension. For me its just okay. I've also done EKG and some test in the blood to know if some organs causes my hypertension. The results were okay but after 2-3 days I felt pain in my chest, first in the right then after a week it shifted into the left part. Plus the fact that my arm, neck, and shoulder hurts, gives me the fear that it might be heart related. From then up until now, it still gives me that fear and anxiety that I'm very ill and I'm close to death. 3 months ago my father died and I'm scared and worried that it might happen to me as well. Due to this, I've become more concern about my body. I had also sleepless nights due to fear and other physical symptoms occured like headaches, abdominal pain and right now, there's something with my throat that keeps moving when I touch it and it has that popping sound to it. I've visited 5 doctors already (cardio included) and they all said I'm fine but I can't accept it due to the pains that I feel. Please help me. I don't know If I'm sick or I'm just having this pain due to fears and anxiety. I want to go back to my old self where I feel true happiness. Any comments or advice would be helpful. I don't want to cry anymore due to the physical and emotional pain that I feel. Thank you for reading and I hope I can read your advices and comments soon.

Hello everyone, my nickname is Izzy and I suffer from generalized anxiety disorder. I’ve been dealing with this since I was 7 years old on and off. I’ve been doing really well for many years, but after my dads passing 2 years ago and losing my beloved horse of 23 years, my anxiety has ramped up. I see a therapist and have done so for several years. It helps a lot! I am joining this community in the hopes of learning new tips and tricks and share my journey with others. I’m also interested in using the chat rooms for the times where I feel like I need to talk to others who understand what I’m going though. Thank you all in advance for sharing your journey with me! :-)

I experienced terrible panic attacks and anxiety in the late 80s/early 90s that seemed to resolve with the use of Prozac. When I had gone so long being emotionally "numb" as a result of the Prozac, I asked my doctor to take me off. All was well but I did switch to Cymbalta for depression. In 2016, I lost my husband of 26 years. Shortly after, I began having what I can only describe as being similar to the dreaded bed spins after a night of carousing in my younger days. This was accompanied by nausea. We determined it was mild anxiety and so was prescribed hydroxyzine three times a day. I did not take it three times a day, but rather took it at bedtime to help me sleep. Even that small dose did provide me some relief from the frequency and helped me sleep. Several months ago, I invited a family member to move in with my daughter and me, and it did not end well. Fortunately, she and all her belongings are no longer in my home. I believe, due to this being only the second holiday season without my husband, coupled by the stress brought on by the house guest from hell, I have begun to develop more prominent anxiety/panic symptoms. I need some feedback as to your thoughts -- I am stumbling a lot more and losing my balance, I drop things, I have a feeling of impending doom (had this one back in the 80s/90s), I would much prefer to stay in my home rather than leave but I work full-time and have bills to pay so that pretty much is my motivator. I could have had Thanksgiving dinner with my late husband's family and with my cousin's family, but I chose to stay home. Our daughter was working at the hospital and I felt like since I am not "blood" relatives with my husband's family, I no longer have a place at their table unless our daughter is with me. She is our connection. So, thoughts please? Is this being brought on by the holidays, continued grief and the added stress of the houseguest? I just need to know I'm not going crazy. Your feedback is so very much appreciated.

I hope everyone had a fantastic thanksgiving! Last night I was so bloated from food and 1 beer to the point I had a headache and could barely breathe. It was horrible! Around 3am I woke up in a literal PUDDLE of sweat from my lower abdomen to my knees. (Not urine). Of course my anxiety got the best of me and I was panicking...today my mind has been wandering, I’ve felt loopy and just not well. My heart seems to beat harder with everything I do, and I have no energy. Everyone around me has this bad head cold thing. I have just never sweat that much at night in my life! Im still just freaking out ):

Hello Everyone, I’m new here and need some advice/help/reassurance. Please bare with me as this could be a lengthy post (sorry)! I’m a 26 year old male from the UK - 5ft 10” weighing 13st 12/13. No previous health issues, no family history of any bowel issues. This all started a month ago, when I was experiencing chest pains etc. And thought I was having a heart attack. This led to me to have multiple panic attacks and led me to multiple GP visits and A&E - I had numerous tests done all of which came back fine including an ECG. This subsided and then I started experiencing issues with my bowel. A change in bowel habits and ‘flat stools’ along with blood on toilet paper. So I went straight on google and found bowel/colon cancer - so I’d convinced myself I had something seriously wrong. This led me to the GP again multiple times. I had bloods done and was told it sounded like piles/fissure and to try creams and wipes. Had bloods done and switched to Wipes and used cream. This stopped the bleeding in its tracks and haven’t had any blood for over a week now. My bloods came back perfect, bar an infection showing at 10 instead of the 8 average. They put this down to the chest cough/cold I had at the time. So after my bloods were good and the bleeding has gone. I’m still experiencing multiple symptoms; - Change in Bowel Habit - Flat Stools (Not all time) - Occasional Lower Abdominal Pain - Excessive Gas/Flatulence - Passed Mucus only 2/3 times. - Frequent Bowel movement in morning and then constipated later in day - Frequent Urination So, I went back to the GP. Who diagnosed me with Health Anxiety due to my mental state and how worried I was and all my googling and obsession. She prescribed Sertraline 50mg and I’m on my 5th day of these. She also said my bowel issues are IBS related and reassured me that it is NOT bowel/colon cancer. Saying something would have shown in bloods. Now, multiple health professionals have told me I’m fine, yet I still can’t get over this feeling that I have something seriously wrong with me. Its driving me mad, every day I’m worried about it, I’m googling etc. And convincing myself I have cancer and I’m going to die. I don’t have some symptoms of the cancer; weight loss, anemia, loss of appetite, constant pain etc. Should I be comforted by the doctor telling me there’s nothing wrong? Am I just being a Hypochondriac? Any one siffered similarily? And help/advice? Thanks

Has anyone dealt with Klonopin withdrawal symptoms? I’ve had severe anxiety since about the 3rd day that I stopped taking it. Neck pain/tension, light sensitivity, weird feelings in my head like someone is touching the nerves in my head, severe anxiety, depersonalization, lower chin/upper throat tightness, insomnia, night panic attacks/terrors. It’s been about 12days now. I was taking .5mg per day, at night.

Hi Everyone I have been struggling for the last 7 months with constant tingling/twitching/numbness on the left side of my face. I won't go through all the details here but I've had the all clear from Neurologists and am now seeing a Chiropractor as the only possible conclusion at this stage is that its caused by chronic muscle tension in my neck/shoulder/jaw area which is pinching the nerve. (its a daily battle to hold on to this belief and not worry its something worse!). I have been reading a lot about chronic muscle tension and its physical effects. I have a history with stress and anxiety and in the past 8 years have been dealing with fertility treatments and all the emotional baggage that comes with that. I often think Ive coped really well but after reading a lot about muscle tension caused by stress etc... I feel like my coping mechanisms may well have been storing all that emotional pain, stress and worry in my muscles and this facial thing is the tipping point for my body. The logical part of my brain screams yes to all of this- it makes so much sense. But when the tingling has been so constant and long lived, (and worse lately) its hard to focus on that theory and how I can fix it. I just want to start to feel better even it takes a good while to get sorted. If I could just feel some improvement, it would help me so much. I feel like I'm stuck in an infinite loop of: Emotional baggage/stress from life and Infertility in particular ---> chronic muscle tension/surpressed emotion in order to cope ---> Painful neck and shoulder----> CONSTANT tingling in face----> fear over why its tingling----> guilt over how the fear dominates me and makes it hard to do normal stuff (work is hard- I work for myself) ----> continued background IVF stuff ---> worry that my face requires medication to control----> fear and guilt that that medication will put an end to IVF treatment as I cant take it while trying to conceive----> and back round again!! So if muscle tension caused by all this stress is hopefully at the root of this, then I NEED to find a way to get my muscles out of their hypertonic state. This is more than "Take a nice hot bath". How do I deal with this? Practically and emotionally? Life is life, I cant remove infertility as a thing from my life experience. It is what it is and the only hope of having children is to keep going, see this through and even if it doesn't work, I know I can adopt. either way, its a battle that I have to endure. I cant avoid this. So how do I contend with life without sustaining and worsening my muscle tension? Im at a loss. Any ideas guys?

Hi I’m Steve Norton, Anxiety Specialist. I specialise in treating a wide range of anxiety related conditions including, panic attacks, fears and phobias, lack of self-confidence, general stress and anxiety and many other behavioural conditions. As a former anxiety sufferer myself for many years, I understand how it feels to have fear and worry, panic and low self-esteem. I used to suffer from terrible panic attacks until I learned how to change them. Because of my past experiences, I have dedicated my time to help those affected by anxiety and its related conditions. It’s important to understand the following. Anxiety is trying to protect us from something we’ve told it to be frightened of. It’s really a protection attack, we’ve told it that danger is on the way and it is preparing our body for it. We need to see it for what it actually is not how it feels to us. Is there real actual danger here or is it just perceived danger? Most likely the situation isn’t dangerous at all and it’s the way we are thinking about things that makes us anxious. So we ask ourselves “where is the danger”? Then we assure ourselves that we’ve survived a panic attack before and we can again. From :- anxietybreakthrough.co.uk

Hi I’m Alison and never thought I’d find myself here. Throughout all my life I guess I have always been an anxious person like my Mum but it has never really caused me any serious problems until recently. My mum unexpectedly took unwell and suffered a couple of heart attacks /cardiac arrest where I was with her at the time, at one point the doctors did not think she was going to pull through but thankfully she survived and was able to have the much needed surgery. Now it is just a matter of recovery which will be long and slow. As you can imagine this was fairly traumatic and my anxiety levels went through the roof. My doctor initially gave me diazepam which I eventually took as I was too frightened in the beginning. I then took two panic attacks which frightened the life out of me and the doctor put me on Citalopram but I stopped this after 3 days as it gave me a very dry mouth and felt restless and agitated. On the third day that’s when I started experiencing this awful burning sensation. I have it constantly but more conscious of it when I’m at rest, particularly sleeping. I experience it almost everywhere on my body in different places but never my face. The doctor then started me on Zoloft (Sertraline) which I have now been on for 21 days. The first two weeks I was fine but from Day 12 onwards I have been ill with bad headaches, muscle aches, joint pains, nausea, Upset Stomach with gas and diarrhoea (nightmare). i am sleeping better now despite the heat and I do think the medication has calmed me but on the other hand it is making me unwell and I thought once the medication kicked in that the burning sensations would have started to calm down. At this rate I will never get back to work so am looking for help and advice. I am considering asking the doctor to stop the medication but I am concerned about the burning sensation. Does anyone else experience these symptoms, particularly the burning sensation and gas and when does it eventually go away ?! Thanks and sorry for the long post.