Anxiety is ruining my life .. :(

[hurtingBMS]

Hey there ,

 

Ive developed a little bit of an anxiety issue that Im not sure how to get rid of and hoping someone who has been in my shoes before can help me out . this is how it started

 

A month ago my sister started having tightness in her throat , like a lump feeling , like there is something is stuck in her throat and difficulty swallowing .

She went and saw 4 Doctors , all who have said there was nothing wrong with her , the first told her she had some infection in her throat but he wasnt the most reliable dr , the second did her the breathing test and oxygen etc .. the 3rd told her she has an allergy and the last dr an ENT she went to see , did the camera test thing and told her there was nothing wrong in her throat but it was all stress related . A few relatives of the family have experienced the same thing and also say its stress related .

The problem is that when she first started having this symptoms , all i had was negative thoughts , like she was seriously ill or something is seriously wrong with her . I used to do researches online and the worst of the worst would come up .

And ever since then I have developed this kind of obsession with my sister's health , I cant remember the last time I had a comfortable sleep at night without negative thoughts , I wake up every morning with terrible anxiety waiting for her to wake up to ask her how she was feeling ? I watch her every move , if she touches her neck or if she is uncomfortable or if she's tired or if shes eating enough . I ask her how is she feeling at least twice an hour . I have horrible nightmares that I dont want to even remember .

I go to classes every morning and cant concentrate in class without thinking if something new has happened to her ? or if shes feeling worse than yesterday . I have constant anxiety in class thinking about her , ive been skipping a lot of my classes to go back home and see her . for example today I called her and she told she felt a click in her throat . I skipped 2 classes and went back to see her .

 

I did a research online about anxiety and the tight throat feeling and there was 100s of people who have experienced it , very similar to her symptoms who have had this for years and years but there is always doubt at the back of my mind what if it is smoething serious ? if she blows her nose it worries me , if she gets her frequent migraine it worries me , if she feels dizzy it worries me .

And i can obviously tell its also effecting her coz Im sure its quite annoying and stressing to have someone constantly asking you if you are okay .

I feel so weak and useless , let me also mention that no one in the family is as worried as I am .

I just want to go back to my normal self , I never worried this much prior to this incident . I miss feeling happy and OK , Im constantly worried , every single day , i think about it every single hour of the day and my family is calling me crazy which I probably Am but have lost control over the situation completely , I dont know how to relax and be okay , I literally have no life but following her around and making sure she's okay . thats all I do , Im ignoring everything else .

My heart beats are rapid nearly every single minute of the day .

Has anyone ever experienced something like this ? or worrying this much ?

I just want a way out , I want to go back to my normal self , I miss that feeling of being at peace .

 

Thanks for listening and any feedback would be very very very much appreciated

[pace of ace]

Being in a constant state of anxiety and worry is a horrible experience. I suffer from ocd and have many anxiety issues, which fluctuate in severity and length. It can be truly exhausting and is something i've had to learn to live with. Essentially what you are doing by asking if your sister is ok or skipping classes to go home and check on her is you're feeding into your anxiety and in turn keeping the obsession alive.

 

Think of it as a flame. You're anxiety and obsession are the flame and your compulsive checking is the fuel. Everytime you give in to your compulsion to check up on your sister you are you are adding fuel to the fire and keeping that anxiety and obsession going. If you fight the compulsion buy not giving into it and checking, essentially you should extinguish the fire and your anxiety will drop. This is the basic principle but it is never as easy as all that. Does this make sense to you? Have you experienced obsessions before? Just wondering whether you may suffer from ocd and could be helped by seeking therapy.

[loulee]

i would just like to mention that My former mother in law had the exact same symptons as your sister for years and years. She too had every test imaginable including a camera down her throat..The lump she felt in her throat was a regular sympton shortness of breath, tightness in the chest etc..ALL of her tests were clear also..It was diagnosed as anxiety...Finally she stopped having fresh lemon in her tea which she drank several cups of each day..her symptons went away. As the acid in the lemon along with her worrying subconsciuosly about family matters was causing like an acid reflux which she targeted her throat area. Ive never seen her happier as I said she tolerated this symptons for years. bear in mind these symptons are not life threatening.. You need to talk to someone about extreme concerns or you too will end up physicaly ill...remember Worry is the same as interest paid on a bill NOT yet due......

[Steve 7745]

I finished reading the book The Gift of Fear by Harriet Lerner. Although it was not an incredible book, it did go over a number of key facts that help me to understand the causes and symptoms of anxiety, what it exists for and why we need it.

 

My overall opinion of the book took a hit because it was written ideally for a woman. While there are some elements that were written here and there for men, the majority of examples and content was reserved to help women deal with issues of anxiety. Being a man myself, I usually try not to worry about the shape of my vulva, for example.

 

I recommend giving the book a once over and see if it applying some of the techniques and understanding of what causes anxiety can help you to calm and control these symptoms. Do not deny your anxiety, but understanding it can relief you of a significant portion of the painful reactions to it.