Advice please?

Alright well I'm still dealing with my at times, very strange, anxiety problems.  It just amazes me that with how terrible how feel, I am still able to function and be good at my job.  In fact, I beleive that I am doing so good at my job (leading my department in sales/etc) that I'm really hoping that I could land this promotion that I interviewed for last week.  I could really use some more money and an advancement in the company, that would be without a doubt a step in the right direction.

But god.....do I feel just totally lost.  I know my complaints are the same in all my posts but I can't help it. I'm still dealing with the same issues.  I'm only taking .5 mg of xanax and my complaints are sleeping problems, obsessive thinking, out of body experiences (totally feeling out of it), unable to let loose and have a good time, hard to focus.

It's actually so bad that more then half of the time, I don't even feel like I'm doing what I am actually doing at that time.  How crazy does that sound?  When I talk I feel like I'm watching myself talk.  When I try going running and working out (which I heard is GREAT for anxiety), I find myself WATCHING myself or wondering how the hell am I doing this?  The thought process frustrates me and causes me to stop.  It's not the exercise or the desire to get back in shape (which I could definetly use), it's in my head.  It's totally mental, I just feel as if I'm never EVER in the moment.

Meanwhile though, although I "feel" this way, I'm still able to get things done.  I'm taking college classes now on top of working full time in an effort to eventually get my degree in accounting or business so I can actually land myself a really good job.  I know I should probably have waited until I felt better to do this because when Im sitting in class it feels like DAYS go by and I'm not even listening to the teacher.  My one class is abnormal psychology and I swear to god I just find myself self diagnosing myself with everything instead of just learning the material.

I feel like I'm not really in a good way at the moment, although I continue to just NEVER let it make me feel like I want to give up.  I felt that way 2 years ago and I promised myself I will never again let that happen.  But it's just frustrating, my current psychiatrist's hours do not fit in well at all with my current schedule and I've tried to find other therapists in my area from the website pscyhologytoday.com but most don't take any kind of insurance or their hours conflict with my schedule as well.

Really don't know where to go from here and I'm getting extremely frustrated.  It's definetly taking a toll on me and I find myself becoming more angry and grumpy the past few weeks, I guess that's just expected though with the added workload of school homework and tests?  I'm not really sure, I just am so pissed that I constantly worry about my sanity and can never just be in the moment and enjoy things.  I'm debating whether or not to just find a therapist and have my primary doc prescribe me meds or to find another psychiatrist....(which I'm very iffy about because they tend to over do it a little bit too much for me on the meds).  I believe that by the mere fact that I'm able to perform well at my job shows that I am able to function and that I'm not in need of any HEAVY dose of meds.  I'm not against meds altogether though, because honestly I can't stand feeling like this.  Just not quite sure what the answer is if there even is any.

Anyone have any advice?  Are these feelings/thoughts that of someone with just anxiety or is it something more?  Anyone have success with using a therapist (psychologist) and their primary care physician?  I'm open to all suggestions here, I'm just really trying to get my life back in order here and try and take control of it and I just can't seem to ever make any headway.

had this exact symptom and anxiety for 15+ years, the worst! Diagnosed celiac, treated and syptoms lifted 3 months later a little then drastically 6-9 months.

Mental illness is often rooted in physical illness and so many just chalk it up to a head/stress issue. Well what made the brain sick? Stress can make the brain sick, trauma, etc. but so too can things like allergies, autoimmune disorders, and infections. No one should assume one or the other without thorough testing in all areas. just sayin...

Wish someone (dr. or shrinks at least) would have informed me that my "mental illness" could be due to other causes other than a stressed brain. "felling anxious, snap a rubber band on your wrist" a few said" lol uh yeah...:( Suffered too long....

Mike, Before treating my Celiac my tsh was 4.5 norm being 0.5-5.0 on that particular lab scale. However my daughters endocrinologist said that anything above 3.0 could cause symptoms. My daughters was 8.0 before treating the celiac. Also my estrogen was nearly non existant, and i was only 32 two years ago. Caused a couple miscarriages in fact, but again this goes hand in hand with celiac disease as do thyroid problems. Celiac is genetic as well.

Celiac disease.... a condition that damages the lining of the small intestine and prevents it from absorbing parts of food that are important ie fats/protiens/vitamins, for staying healthy. The damage is due to a reaction to eating gluten, which is found in wheat, barley, rye, spelt, kamut, and possibly oats.

Symptoms range widely.... common, is bloating, gas, diahrea, acid reflux...then there are the neuro and other effects...depression, anxiety, bi-polar, schitzophrinia, add, adhd, OCD, brain fog, memory problems, muscle weakness, joint pain, blurred vision, eye floaters, soar throat, shortness of breath, wheezing, numbness and tingling, muscle twitches/jerks, etc.

Some Celiacs only have a few of the symptoms, some have nearly all, and then there are even those who have no noticeable symptoms at all. My daughter tested very positive for celiac and had no noticeable symptoms, however I tested negative twice and had all the symptoms minus the gastro ills. Daughters dad had no health issues, so I knew it clearly came from my side especially since my father had always boated horribly consuming wheat as did my sister, who we now know both have Celiac as well.

The tests are not very reliable. Needless to say after going on a gluten free diet as i mentioned above all of my symptoms that had litteraly disabled me began to melt away.....aahhh freedom....

An important note... gluten is found in so many products people are unaware of, even products like potato chips that contain no gluten ingredient can have as much as 300-3000 ppm of gluten simply from running on the same production line as other gluten containing products. It only take 50 ppm to keep a Celiac sick. So many people who try the diet eat gluten unaware and assume that gluten wasn't the issue, thus staying sick indefinatley. Very sad.