Is this Anxiety?
New here... Ive always been a germaphobe, so its been rough for me. About 4 weeks ago I developed a sore throat and neck pain. My daughter had a cold, so I wasnt too worried (although covid was on my mind). Within this time period, I had my first legit anxiety attack. My symptoms progressed where I became bedridden- extreme nausea, fatigue, neck and back pain, swollen lymph nodes. I started losing weight and had trouble walking. Reluctantly, my dr sent me to ER because I wasnt functioning. I literally thought I was dying. The ER dr ran a zillion tests (CT scans)... all my tests came back normal! I was sent home. My dr prescribed me Ativan temporarily. I have been resting and doing slightly better. I take the Ativan and I feel normal (with some neck pain)... could this really be all anxiety? Should I try a long-term anxiety med? Im new to all of this so I cant believe it all.
@Saw1977
Hello and welcome! Not a doctor, so I can't make any diagnosis, but I will say that there was a time in my past that I felt like garbage - my neck felt horrible swollen and I was miserable and just thought I was dying. I finally dragged myself to the doctor only to find out it was allergies! I felt foolish, but a few allergy pills later and I was feeling better.
As for anxiety and if it can cause physical issues - I don't know about anyone else, but my anxiety can affect me physically. For me, it causes me to breathe harder. It causes me terrible back pain. It can make me feel dizzy or lightheaded at times. Very irritating. How do I know it's anxiety? When I calm down, or when I'm not focused on it, I feel better. Or when I wake up in the morning, I don't feel it. But as my anxiety builds throughout the day, it hits me and I start to feel worse.
Again, I'm no doctor so I can't say anything about your current situation. How has your prescription been helping you? Do you feel better?
Thank you for your reply. Its hard right now getting in to see a dr with the virus happening. They did a ton of tests in the ER and everything was normal. It makes me feel better hearing that anxiety can cause such physical symptoms. The Ativan medication has actually been amazing. I feel normal when I take it. I know its a temp fix though. Im debating trying a longer term medication to see if it would help. Ive never contemplated meds before but I feel so physically ill with no solutions right now... @thoughtfulmomma
@Saw1977
Glad to hear the medicine makes you feel better. I agree - it's a temporary fix, but sometimes we need it in order to put ourselves in the right mindset to do what we need to do so we don't need the meds.
I've found meditation helpful. There are a lot of great apps out there - my favorite is Headspace, but I know others use Calm.
Thank you so much for your response... its been a rough few days. I have convinced myself that I have chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia... my doctor keeps telling me its severe anxiety. Ive never suffered like this before in my life and have been spending most days in bed. The nausea is constant... Ive stopped the brief few days on Ativan but tempted to try a bit longer. Thinking about trying weed/cbd.... Ive been trying to meditate and spend brief moments with my family, but overwhelming nausea takes over@thoughtfulmomma
@Saw1977
If you can get some, try some herbal tea with ginger in it. It really helps for nausea. (And hot tea is just soothing, anyway!)