Is it normal for those with panic disorder to feel physically ill almost ALL the time

Why do I never feel at 100%. Is that normal? There is always something wrong with me physically. Am I doomed to live a short and hopeless life filled with torment, pain, and suffering until I die?

How can I start living? "A life lived in fear is a life half-lived." I can't shake my fears of death and disease. Maybe I'm just too weak, too lazy, or too unmotivated to "work" at becoming better. I read books CBT self-help books, I take medication, I take vitamins, I take probiotics, I use a sun lamp, I practice breathing/relaxation techniques, I've seen a psychologist and psychiatrist before... Nothing, absolutely nothing, seems to work. My ONLY goal in life is to make this pain go away, to feel good and to feel better. I have no other goal and no other motivation. If I ever felt "normal" again, I could try to achieve new goals and dreams... real ones. For now, however, ending this suffering is all that matters to me and yet hope is almost all lost.

Hi WW.,

The mind/body connection is amazingly intertwined, and anxiety can have a profound effect on how we feel physically!

It sounds like you are taking the right steps...all I can do is encourge you to keep trying, as you never know when something is going to just 'click'.

It kind of happened that way for me. After two sessions of CBT, I was also just resolve that I was going to feel rotten for the rest of my life...but then things started to change, and the recovery just snowballed from there!

One thing that struck me from your post...is the fact that you seem to be waiting to feel better before moving forward in your life. If I could kindly suggest that doing the opposite if more effective?

Try not to let your anxiety hold you back while you do the things that you want and need to do! Certainly keep working toward your recovery goals...but at the same time, keep living your life, and you may find that you have a good combination of working on getting better...and staying grounded in your current life, rather than hanging around 'in limbo' until you feel fully better.

Just my two cents worth.:)

Keep posting...things are going to get better, and we are here to support you along the way.

S.C.

One problem and something that I don't understand is, how is everyone so sure it's anxiety causing me to feel this way? I often think that if I didn't have any of these physical symptoms to begin with, then I wouldn't be anxious. If I felt normal physically I would feel normal mentally too. Which caused which; is anxiety causing these physical symptoms or are these physical symptoms causing me to have anxiety? Why should I trust my doctors who always seem to blow me off and think of me as a nutcase? I haven't seen a doctor in 5 months.

worrywort87 said...
One problem and something that I don't understand is, how is everyone so sure it's anxiety causing me to feel this way? I often think that if I didn't have any of these physical symptoms to begin with, then I wouldn't be anxious. If I felt normal physically I would feel normal mentally too. Which caused which; is anxiety causing these physical symptoms or are these physical symptoms causing me to have anxiety? Why should I trust my doctors who always seem to blow me off and think of me as a nutcase? I haven't seen a doctor in 5 months.

why can't both be true? Anxiety makes you feel bad, feeling bad makes you anxious.

Does anxiety often come from your subconscious mind? A lot of CBT focuses on changing your thoughts during a panic attack. Before a panic attack or before an episode of heightened anxiety, are your minds already thinking "what if" thoughts or do they often seem to manifest subconsciously? For me, I often feel like my anxiety is so embedded into me that it comes on subconsciously. Do others feel this way too?

One way to think about it is:

What difference would it make?  (In the big scheme of things, I mean).

If you are sick and have these conditions,...then you're sick and have these symptoms.

If you're healthy but letting anxiety rule your body,....then you're healthy and have these symptoms.

Either way, you have the symptoms.  The more you worry, is not going to make the symptoms go away.  And thinking that "if only" the symptoms disappeared you'd be fine, is unhealthy thinking.

I used to feel that way with my anxiety....so sure that I was "only anxious" because of particular events, and if the events were handled, then so would my anxiety be handled.

The truth is, it isn't the event, it isn't the anxiety,....it's about HOW we HANDLE the situations, and the anxiety, that makes us stronger and able to deal with the events (whether it's health related or anxiety related).

Practice coping, because no matter what, throughout the rest of your life, all kinds of situations are going to come up and you can't just "get rid of the events."  But you CAN learn to cope with them better.

I had the same misunderstanding as you not that long ago, and then I realized,...I had it backwards.

M.

I suffered from deep clinical depression and GAD (generalized anxiety disorder). Was the depression making me anxious or was the anxiety making me depressed? It really didn't matter. I was anxious and I was depressed. Both problems had to be dealt with. If you are really feeling so bad physically and there's a chance that it is anxiety causing a lot of it, why not TRY some medications prescribed by a reputable psychiatrist and see if it helps? What else do you have to lose?! Feel free to laugh if you like (it might make you feel better to laugh!), but when I was sick I would say that if it would help, I was willing to drink horse urine! If the drugs made me gain 100 lbs.,so be it! I was at my wits' end and was desperate for relief! I do not understand why people that talk about how bad they feel won't give something a chance to help them possibly!
I have a friend that had a big decision to make (not about her health). She was asking everybody what they thought was the best way to handle it. She even prayed about it. EVERYONE gave her the same answer, but it was not what she really wanted to hear. Finally, she decided to do what she had really wanted to do all along, even though we all knew it was a bad mistake. Now it's been eight months and she's full of regret for not listening to what all were telling her. Now she's stuck in a situation that she can't get out of immediately and when she does, she probably won't have things as good as she did before she made the bad choice. In the meantime, she's out of a lot of money and has wasted these past months of her life!
What I'm trying to say is that you are being given a lot of good advice here and no one can force you to do anything that you do not want to do. But if you are in such a bad way, why not give their words a bit of thought? You might just get fooled and feel better after all, if you listen! :)
jl

Oh my goodness, yes!

I would give anything to get back the YEARS and YEARS I spent worrying about all my health symptoms, convinced I had something dreadful and all the doctors I were seeing just weren't picking it up.

I've had health anxiety since I was a child.

I'm now 50 years old and none of those things that freaked me out has happened.  I no longer have health anxiety, but I realize just how many precious, quality years of my life I wasted worrying.

M.

I'm sorry ms lucy but it is normal for a sufferer of PAD to feel the way She does, it will take work and possibility a doctor prescribed med to get her on the move forward but She will get better, "blushing is not
the problem, it's a side effect of anxiety and Panic.

WW almost everyone on HW has had the same thoughts and doubt as you it's a complication of the thinking we are left with when Health Anxiety is our condition, when the attacks hit, get up and walk, do housework, jog, lift weights anything except draw up in a ball on the couch or in bed, make your muscles move, after you have done something positive pat yourself on the back, you are taking charge and taking your life back! Peace, Hope, Recovery, Larry ***

Hey worrywort87, I'm going through this exact same thing right now, your posts match my feelings exactly. Yes, it's completely normal to feel like complete crap do to anxiety/panic attacks.

I've had this kind of massive attack once before (when I was about your age actually) and it eventually went away but I had no clue what was going on or how to handle it. After wasting/going in debt thousands of dollars do to the cost of all the unneeded medical tests I put myself through (pretty much all the scans/xrays/fluid tests) with nothing found I eventually locked myself away thereby extending the attack. If I would have gotten out, taken my mind off it, talked to family/friends/loved ones it would have made things much easier for me.

Now, 8 years later, I'm going through the same thing again. I've had numerous, minor health related panic/anxiety attacks throughout the years but most only lasts a few hours to a day but this one has been going for about 15 days now. It fluctuates in intensity but never really lets up completely, the only way I'm getting through it is by telling myself it's all in my head and by distracting myself. You will get through this just don't be afraid to get out there and talk to someone, family or other wise.

I've made an appointment with my physician for next Friday for the one symptom I had just before the anxiety set it in (this whole event may have been caused by a stupid sinus infection) and am in the process of trying to find a psychologist for general help with my anxiety.

Stay active, keep yourself distracted (preferably) with more uplifting things (music, humor...etc), establish a consistent sleep schedule if possible and try to sleep for at least 7 hours. The sleep thing is the hardest for me and is the source of a lot of my anxiety but it's very important to keep at it and once you get yourself in a healthy sleep cycle, stick to it.

Just stay strong and know that these feelings will definately go away, the emotional wounds will heal and you'll wonder why you ever felt like this in the first place.

Post Edited (xGryfter) : 11/8/2013 4:51:50 AM (GMT-7)

Thanks so much everyone, I know that it has been a while since I've posted here. Unfortunately I'm still going through the same issues. I plan to make a doctor appointment soon and I'm still trying to find a psychologist for me.

Could all my symptoms be due to GERD? I do have GERD and was wondering if you think it is possible that GERD and constant indigestion could be causing my symptoms. The symptoms I've been experiencing most recently (they always change) are:
stomach ache
stomach pain in a specific area every once in a while
loss of appetite
getting full much quicker than normal
chest tightness/shortness of breath sensation
heart palpitations
heartburn/acid reflux
nausea
throat clearing/phlegm in throat
excessive burping

Could ALL of these be GERD related? If so, what can I do about it? I was on a PPI for a little while but read some very bad things about it and decided to stop. The PPI didn't seem to be helping much anyway (I would still have indigestion and excessive burping, all it did was remove/neutralize the acid element of it). Also after I stopped the PPI I got horrible rebound heartburn so I'm not sure that's the way to go. I don't have the willpower to get on a GERD diet or anything like that. Should I just try to get back on another PPI? Could all my symptoms be due solely to GERD?

Post Edited (worrywort87) : 12/10/2013 5:26:03 AM (GMT-7)