I’m 24 and have been struggling with anxiety since I was 14. It has mainly displayed itself as panic attacks that seemed to have little to no triggers. However...ever since I had my first son this year..my anxiety has turned into health anxiety and not sure why.
I was induced at 37 weeks for a severe case of pre eclampsia, and still have elevated blood pressure left over as a result even almost a year after giving birth. Also had a kidney infection just a few days postpartum, and had back to back infections nonstop during the last few weeks of my pregnancy. Now, I notice every little thing about my body and freak out over it often. I feel physical symptoms that sound like the text book definition of a heart attack and fear I’m going to have one. My face will randomly feel tingly and I’ll fear I’ll have a stroke. Sometimes I fear I will develop a food allergy to a food I have never had issues with in the past. And now I’m afraid to be around strobe lights at concerts out of fears I’ll have a seizure even though I’ve never had one before.
Has anyone else experienced an anxiety like this before, or am I going crazy? All I know is I would love to not be convinced every little thing I feel is a symptom of something life threatening. Wishing I wasn’t as in tune to every little thing my body does.
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K82417
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You have been through a lot! I'm sorry you had such a difficult pregnancy and post-partum period. Don't dismiss how anxiety-provoking having a 1 year old is, either The events woke your anxiety up and now it's staying on alert for you, trying to get ahead of the next threat. Your anxiety thinks it's doing you a favor. But the threats have all passed. So you can safely disregard all these frightening messages that anxiety is sending you. And this takes time and practice.
I highly recommend the resources on my profile. Especially Dr. Claire Weekes, who was such a brilliant woman. She understood anxiety like no other before or after her. Please check out her stuff! You will be well on your way to recovery..
Are you seeing a therapist? I highly recommend that, too. A good therapist can be so helpful.
Some people may recommend meds. They do seem to help a lot of folks, so maybe discuss with your doc?
Lastly, Don't dismiss how anxiety-provoking having a 1 year old is- on top of all you've been through, you've got an almost-toddler now! Make sure you take care of your basic needs somehow- Try to get as much help as you can, take naps (ha ha I know- right?) outsource things, take breaks, see friends, try to get some exercise, etc. Really work at making all that stuff happen, it works wonders for new mommies all that will help set the foundation for you as you go on your recovery journey. Wishing you all the best!
I’m a 20 year old boy and a lot of my friends are into music festivals and raves. I swear to god I won’t even go to one because I’m in fear I will have a seizure. I mean it is a possible thing. You’re absolutely not crazy. I also get a feeling of needles in my head or anywhere on my body and feel tingly sometimes. That’s anxiety. Just know anxiety can do a lot of stuff mentally and physically to you. I know it’s scary, but it’s harmless. You’re not alone. When I had really bad anxiety I honestly thought I like was going crazy and even asked my psychiatrist if I could have schizophrenia or something. He kind of giggled at me and insured me I’m fine. It’s made me think a lot of stuff, but I promise you’re fine. I’ve ever suffered from derealization and it’s not fun, but in the end it’s all harmless and I promise things will get better. You have to attack your fears and not let them stop you from doing anything.
Your story is very similar to mine my blood pressure was slightly high during pregnancy this year. I needed an emergency section due to cord pro lapse and 2 days after my sons birth I got pre eclampsia I was told I was high risk for a seizure and was put on magnesium drip etc when I was eventually let out of hospital I developed severe health anxiety I think I’m having a heart attack a stroke a seizure etc..in the end I went on lexapro for a while and have since come off it I have good days and bad days but the anxiety isn’t as severe as before I found getting out every day helpful heading for walks and meeting people etc!!!try enjoy every minute with your son time goes by so fast!!!i also felt like I was loosing my mind and I think I suffered a bit of a breakdown but I eventually came out on top!!im not sure I can ever return to the carefree person I once was but it will get easier..your body is still recovering from birth too even tho it is almost a year later. A lot of people do say it can take up to year to feel somewhat normal again..
My anxiety moves on every so often. A few months ago I was stuck on health, now it seems to be OCD-like, so I have to keep checking things that I really know I've checked before. Almost as soon as I check, I start thinking I didn't really because I imagined it or something.
Something else I've noticed is that if something stressful is happening in my life, all this kind of thing gets worse. I find I often don't worry very much about the particular stressful thing, but instead I get more background anxious thoughts.
You've been under a lot of pressure so it doesn't surprise me that your existing anxiety has got worse. Try to keep in mind first of all that you're 24 which would be very young to have a heart attack or a stroke. At the same time, most people who are going to develop food allergies or seizures will already have done so.
Common symptoms are a trap for people with anxiety. For example, it's very common to get moderate chest pain because of acid reflux. You then have to choose between the obvious cause, indigestion, and the very rare cause, a heart attack. Because we suffer from anxiety we're going to pick the heart attack every time!
I have a new symptom every week.. usually they are “heart related” but this past week I’ve had extreme dizziness and facial tightness. I thought for sure I was having a stroke.. turns out my ears are really filled with fluid and I have a lot of drainage. But I have to be careful with medicines I take because a lot of them will raise heart rate and I already have PVCs and increased heart rate. I’m very OCD about checking my blood pressure and heart rate which are perfect the majority of the time. But since I’ve been a little sick I am so scared I’m going to have a PVC storm.. one right after the other like I did a couple of months ago. I’m always panicked about my heart and that I will drop dead. It’s horrible..
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The events woke your anxiety up and now it's staying on alert for you, trying to get ahead of the next threat. Your anxiety thinks it's doing you a favor. But the threats have all passed. So you can safely disregard all these frightening messages that anxiety is sending you. And this takes time and practice.
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