I know Medication would help but I am so scared of it. So scared that I mentally reject the meds if I take them.
I feel worse!
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christinepsc
- Posts: 39
- Joined: Mon Dec 24, 2007 1:26 pm
I am so anxious and almost in a panic all day long now since starting. I have to be doing something wrong. I can't stop worrying about my health. My GP is fed up of seeing me and saying it's stress it's anxiety. I have something wrong every day. Has anyone ever got past this? Right now my right temple is so sore it is twitching and throbing for 3 days now. Also I have (now this is weird I have never had this) bubbles in my chest. The left side near my heart and up. It is like gas you would get if you have an upset stomache. However I have it in the left side of my chest. I feel like I am dying. I feel like I have a tumor. I can't control these feelings and thoughts and they are worse.
I know Medication would help but I am so scared of it. So scared that I mentally reject the meds if I take them.
I know Medication would help but I am so scared of it. So scared that I mentally reject the meds if I take them.
~*~Christine~*~
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butterfly9
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:25 am
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christinepsc
- Posts: 39
- Joined: Mon Dec 24, 2007 1:26 pm
Hey,
You can do this! I have been on and off ativan several times and did not have withdrawal symptoms. It depends on how much you take and for how long. You can take a half or less and just try to take the edge off so you can concentrate on the lessons. It never made me space out or anything. I am not encouraging the use of a medication but sometimes it is necessary to break a strong cycle of stress and anxiety. You are stronger than the medication. You will heal. Think of the medication like a cast for your leg if it was broken. Use the cast to let your leg heal and then take it off when your leg is stronger. It works. I am not saying this works for everyone but it is worth a try. I worked in a hospital for ten years and we gave way stronger doses than 0.5mg to patients all the time. A small little dose is not going to send you to rehab. I hope this helps. Keep trying to get stronger.
You can do this! I have been on and off ativan several times and did not have withdrawal symptoms. It depends on how much you take and for how long. You can take a half or less and just try to take the edge off so you can concentrate on the lessons. It never made me space out or anything. I am not encouraging the use of a medication but sometimes it is necessary to break a strong cycle of stress and anxiety. You are stronger than the medication. You will heal. Think of the medication like a cast for your leg if it was broken. Use the cast to let your leg heal and then take it off when your leg is stronger. It works. I am not saying this works for everyone but it is worth a try. I worked in a hospital for ten years and we gave way stronger doses than 0.5mg to patients all the time. A small little dose is not going to send you to rehab. I hope this helps. Keep trying to get stronger.
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JustBelieve
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Fri Jan 25, 2008 11:40 am
I know this feeling too in the beginning I had a little sense of relief at first but then started to get so consumed in the program that I became almost obsessive with it and then felt super overwhelmed and just had like an emotional breakdown one night. I spoke with my mother about it and felt so much better. It REALLY helps to have someone to call and just listen to your feelings. If you don't feel you have someone that you can do this with I suggest you really find one. There is ALWAYS someone in your life that will be there for you no matter how much u think there isn't there really is. When I'm having a rough day with this it helps me tremendously to just let it out and tell someone. They may not be able to fix my problems but it sure does help to let it out. I'm learning this. Maybe the meds will really help you but talking to someone is also very therapeutic. Hope this helps a little and hope you get thru the tough time.
Just Believe!!!
Just Believe!!!
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volleyball33
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2008 11:31 am
I understand how you feel. I am always worrying about my health as well. I am 46 yrs old and this all seemed to start about 4 years ago when i had to have a lump biopsy.(which was nothing) So know everytime i go to a doctor i think the worst. Since October i have been very on edge just because i weighed myself one day and had lost a couple pounds. So therefore my head started telling me that something must be wrong with me. Since then i have lost more weight from worrying. I am a thin person and just 5lbs is alot for me. I take Buspar, which just takes the edge off. Its not addictive and the ony side affects for me were light headed and a little sleepy. It took about a week for me not to feel those side affects anymore.Good luck with the program and hopefully finding the right meds.
Christine,
Although I do not suffer from obsessive thoughts regarding my health, I do suffer from scary obsessive thoughts and I know how you feel. It is so frustrating because they consume you and it's all you can think about. The thing is, they are trying to tell you something - they are. Usually your mind will try to find something to obsess about so you can avoid thinking about a real issue, if this is not the case, you really are getting more out of your anxiety than you realize.
The best way to take care of any form of obsessive thinking, is to take the power away from the thoughts and in order to do that, you have to try really hard to convince yourself that your thoughts are just thoughts and have no truth in reality. This is HARD, I know. It really does have to become a battle, though. And what I mean by that is, you have to counter the thoughts by saying "that's just a scary thought, I am perfectly healthy and I am fine, I am going to let the thought be there and I am going to not react to it with fear." And you will have to say that line over and over and over and over again for days, weeks, months, until you start to believe it. This isn't something that is going to go away today, no matter how much advice you seek. That's the first thing you need to do, accept that your obsessive thinking is a bad habit and it's going to take a while to overcome it. Acceptance is so key. Once you accept the fact that you are going to have to work on this maybe every minute for months, you can then use your skills (positive self-talk, breathing, distraction) to help yourself. You really do need to first accept the fact that this is anxiety and not anything to do with your health and if you really want to stop living day to day dealing with this condition, it's going to take a lot of time and effort, but just think about how much time and effort you're putting into your anxiety! Turn it around and put it into living a happier life! You CAN do this.
Think about it this way. Your doctor is telling you it's just anxiety and he went to medical school. Now you need to accept that it is anxiety and that you do not have a health issue, disease, cancer, tumor, etc. Accept the anxiety, use the skills, live a happier life. A lot of patience is required... but you can do this, I believe in you, but you need to believe in you.
Although I do not suffer from obsessive thoughts regarding my health, I do suffer from scary obsessive thoughts and I know how you feel. It is so frustrating because they consume you and it's all you can think about. The thing is, they are trying to tell you something - they are. Usually your mind will try to find something to obsess about so you can avoid thinking about a real issue, if this is not the case, you really are getting more out of your anxiety than you realize.
The best way to take care of any form of obsessive thinking, is to take the power away from the thoughts and in order to do that, you have to try really hard to convince yourself that your thoughts are just thoughts and have no truth in reality. This is HARD, I know. It really does have to become a battle, though. And what I mean by that is, you have to counter the thoughts by saying "that's just a scary thought, I am perfectly healthy and I am fine, I am going to let the thought be there and I am going to not react to it with fear." And you will have to say that line over and over and over and over again for days, weeks, months, until you start to believe it. This isn't something that is going to go away today, no matter how much advice you seek. That's the first thing you need to do, accept that your obsessive thinking is a bad habit and it's going to take a while to overcome it. Acceptance is so key. Once you accept the fact that you are going to have to work on this maybe every minute for months, you can then use your skills (positive self-talk, breathing, distraction) to help yourself. You really do need to first accept the fact that this is anxiety and not anything to do with your health and if you really want to stop living day to day dealing with this condition, it's going to take a lot of time and effort, but just think about how much time and effort you're putting into your anxiety! Turn it around and put it into living a happier life! You CAN do this.
Think about it this way. Your doctor is telling you it's just anxiety and he went to medical school. Now you need to accept that it is anxiety and that you do not have a health issue, disease, cancer, tumor, etc. Accept the anxiety, use the skills, live a happier life. A lot of patience is required... but you can do this, I believe in you, but you need to believe in you.
hugs&kisses,
Karilynn
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
Frank Herbert
"How you climb up the mountain is just as important as how you get down the mountain. And, so it is with life, which for many of us becomes one big test followed by one big lesson. In the end, it all comes down to one word: grace. It's how you accept winning and losing, good luck and bad luck, darkness and the light."
Karilynn
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
Frank Herbert
"How you climb up the mountain is just as important as how you get down the mountain. And, so it is with life, which for many of us becomes one big test followed by one big lesson. In the end, it all comes down to one word: grace. It's how you accept winning and losing, good luck and bad luck, darkness and the light."
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TsallThoughts
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Sun Feb 10, 2008 5:19 am
hey christine i have the same feeling of bubbles in my chest you talk of. but i've occasionally experienced it for many months now already, so i think you don't have to worry about that. i also experienced a twitching, throbbing temple and just like you i fear taking any meds. seems like we're at a very similar place constantly worrying about health, so i know how tough that can be, especially when a new feeling or symptom comes up that you're not yet familiar with and it scares you even more, because you don't know what to expect of it. thinking "it's only thoughts" and "this too shall pass" tends to help me, but of course there are better & worse days.
I know this may sound crazy but i'm almost jealous of the physical symptoms causing fear, because my symptoms are totally mental-- nothing feels real and i feel SO out of it and i get into all this obsessive philosophical questioning about the universe and death and its quite a mental trip-- i used to have physical symptoms (the chest pain, the bubbly sensation).At least you can go to a doc and be told youre all right! I think the tapes are almost making me worse because its forcing me to think about my anxiety all the time and the only time when i feel well is when i'm distracted and NOT thinking about it! i'm very frustrated and worried that this wont work.