Seeking help...

[sinjin]

I'll apologize now for the rambling. Circa three weeks ago I started having these intermittent electrical-type shooting and now, sometimes, burning, sensations in my feet. On the pain scale it's about a "1." I made it through the first week okay. The weekend after that I had to go to the ER due to high blood pressure. Frankly, the high blood pressure wasn't even on my mind. The day after the ER visit is when the anxiety started.

For some history, I had the following with my feet:

2016: pins/needles feelings in feet (intermittent). Turned out it was a vitamin D deficiency. A vitamin D scrip and supplements fixed the problem.

2018: Fell out of tub on to butt. Three weeks later I start getting pins/needles in the feet (intermittent). This went away on its own after a while.

In both of those cases I have EXTREME anxiety. I was Googling symptoms, posting in forums, and driving myself crazy. There were times I had zero appetite, would experience dry heaves, occasional crying fits. Simply put: it sucked. I did try some therapy in both cases, but only for a bit until the symptoms went away.

Back to our original story...I started getting the anxiety the day after the ER visit. It was just like in the past...a feeling of dread, no appetite, didn't really want to do anything. This has been going on for about ten days now. The sensations in the feet are intermittent, but it's taking a toll on me mentally. Yesterday was the first time I had three meals since in a day since last weekend.

Wife is being supportive, but there's only so much she can do. To be brutally honest, the last go around with this (i.e. the feet and anxiety) had her on the verge of committing me. She has suggested many times in the past to go see a therapist because, frankly, I don't often handle unexpected things well. 'Course I ignore it and it leads me back to where I am today.

When at home I like to spend most of the time in my bedroom lying on the bed (i.e. since the recurrence). If the anxiety is bad enough I have no desire to do anything with anyone. Going to work hasn't been that great, BUT if I don't work I don't get paid. Strange as it may seem, I've been able to sleep okay at night. However, I have noticed that if I wake up around 5:00 AM then it's VERY hard to go back to sleep. I feel the anxiety starting to fill my body. The most noticeable symptom are the knots in my stomach.

I take 20mg of Prozac per day. PCP JUST upped it to 30mg daily last week. I know it takes time for the change to be effective. He prescribed .5 mg of Xanax back in 2020. I was able to get those 30 pills to last through last week. When we spoke last week, I asked about meds for the anxiety. I tried something called hydroxyzine. The first time I took that the anxiety went down a bit after about 75 minutes. Two to three hours after taking it I was so f--king depressed. I mean I had such a sense of dread and emptiness. I had ZERO interest in doing anything! Thankfully, that went away. I've taken the hydroxyzine a few times since then. It doesn't really help much with the anxiety. Follow-up telehealth appointment with PCP this evening to see about getting Xanax.

Went to podiatrist last Thursday about issues with feet. She said I need to get wider shoes with better support and to start a B vitamin supplement. My PCP, who I saw after her on the same day (and who is part of the same hospital system), did NOT share the same opinion. Interestingly, he did not seem concerned about the symptoms in the feet when I mentioned them.

I saw a new therapist last week to try to get a handle on this. First session was more of a get-to-know-you situation. Now, here's my question:

What can I do to get a better handle on this? The anxiety comes and goes. I've watched a bunch of youtube videos about anxiety, health anxiety, etc. They do sometimes make me feel better. There was one person, Dr. Russell Kennedy, who really caught my attention. He had a GREAT point in that the important thing is to figure out the root of the anxiety in order to help resolve it. He said it can often be related to childhood trauma. Coincidentally, the therapist I saw last week also mentioned trauma POSSIBLY being a cause. I had NEVER heard a therapist mention that.

I realize it may take some time to get over this, esp. with therapy. I'd appreciate ANY suggestions on how to deal with this in the short term so it doesn't impact my life so negatively. The mornings are the worst. I just can't seem to get the problem with the feet out of my head. I fear this will lead to loss of mobility or loss of feet. I can walk fine and have no numbness or tingling. I am not diabetic.

Just looking for some help. Thank you for taking the time to read this as well as any replies/suggestions. Thanks.

[babejoemickey]

I certainly can relate to your situation. What is your age and what is your occupation? I have always been an anxious person especially regarding medical situations related to me. My sister died when she was 16, my mother passed away at 53 but my father lived until age 100! Depression runs in my family. My father never understood it, now my sister age 79 is having bought's of it and she doesn't really understand it. I had my first down and out anxious/depression when I was 48. That is what my doctor called it. I did not know you could be anxious and depressed at the same time. I am now 71 and can write a book on it. Lots more about me but back to you. Your dosage of Prozac is not a lot. I started at 20mg back in 2000. I now take the 20mg twice a day since I have had some repeat episodes over the last 23 years. It is all medical with me. God forbid I get an unusual pain and it takes all my will to wait it out. I have lived a productive life with a wife, 2 grown children and 4 grand children. I have seen a therapist to talk but to be honest, I think I knew more than he did when I had to see him about 5 years ago about removing some minor skin cancer from my face. Keep working, not only for the wages but it helps your anxiety and depression. Yes, mornings are always the worse at first because you have to face a new day and possible new challenges. Nights are better because if you say you can sleep ok that will give you peace for a few hours. I also have been taking .25 of Xanax 3 times a day for 23 years. My "feet" issues are called skipped heart beats. I have had them since I was 9 years old. Sometimes full on Heart palpitations. My parents took me to see Doctors back in the day and everything was normal. I retired 2 years ago and the skipped beats came back with a vengeance. I finally said enough is enough and had a full work up by a cardiologist who calmed my fears that there was something wrong with me about a year ago. I still have the palpitations and they still scare me to death but I have to just wait them out, take an extra Xanax and thank god they always eventually go away. My suggestion to you is to stay on your meds, talk to your PCP and maybe try another medication if these are not working. I thought I was the only person that was having these feelings of dread but after many readings, conversations and even watching television shows about actors with these same symptoms, I realize that millions of people are going through what we have been going through. There is no "magic cure" for this. It is not a broken bone that heals in 6 weeks. Let time pass, make sure there is some humor in your life on a daily basis, appreciate it when you make it to the end of the day without having your pain hurt anyone else (always make sure you have a small support group that understands you but does not make them feel to guilty that you are putting to much of a burden on them). I could talk all day about these feelings. My final 2 suggestions are: #1- I will bet my house that you feel better whenever you can talk about your situation (at least while you are talking or writing about it?) #2-Dr Kennedy had a great point. Try to deal with the root of the way you feel (your feet issues). Your PCP should have understood the root of your anxiety are your feet issues. If not, get another PCP. You are not disabled, you will not become disabled, exercise using your feet as much as you can. Go to a Physical Therapist and they will help you with exercises that you can do with your feet. If all else fails, go see a bone and joint specialist. They can do an MRI or X Ray to see if there are any issues with your feet. I am positive if the X Ray and MRI are negative, this will br the beginning of your healing process both short term and long term. Good Luck and let me know how you make out via this web site.

[sinjin in reply to babejoemickey]

Thank you VERY much for the response, babejoemickey.

I am 50 years old and work in the IT field.

I spoke to my PCP last night via a telehealth appointment. We discussed the feet and anxiety issue. Regarding the feet, given the information I passed along he still did not seem too worried (at this point) about the situation. However, he did say that if I wanted to he would more than happy to run some more tests and/or give a referral to neurology. Giving it some brief thought, I felt that would be giving in to the anxiety. It could be quite the rabbit hole to go down.

Regarding anxiety medication, I was prescribed .5 mg of Ativan to be used once a day as needed. I really do not want to become to dependent on it as I'm aware of the dangers with benzos. I will say the Ativan does a good job.

It's evening so I'm feeling pretty good. This morning was not so great. I didn't even go to the gym. Anxiety sometimes just makes me want to lie in bed with my iPad and/or a book. I have little desire at times to want to go places or be around people. That's when its the worst.

Never been affected by anxiety to this degree (mainly how long its lasts when it hits). It's been a slow process the last 10 days since it reappeared, but I'm moving along. Sure is nice to hear from others who understand how I feel.

Have to say I'm very shocked that you've been taking Xanax for that long. Medication certainly affects us in different ways. To quote Tupac:

"Everything will be alright if you hold on

It's a struggle every day, gotta roll on"

[babejoemickey in reply to sinjin]

Yes--Not sure if my body has rejected all meds by now but "if it an't broke don't fix"!

[sinjin in reply to babejoemickey]

Amen!