I am wondering if anyone has any conditions like this. I am working with my doctor to get my anxiety under control, so that isn’t a problem.
But I seem to get the somatic symptoms of anxiety and panic (derealization, depersonalization, shortness of breath, chest pain, numbness, muscle pain due to muscle tenseness, memory issues, higher BP, insomnia, digestive issues, etc) but the only cognitive symptom I get is hypochondria. I have lost count of the number of times I have convinced myself that something is seriously wrong with my health (and the thing I’m worried about changes. It may be kidney damage one day, gangrene the next, heart attack the next). I get a lot of somatic symptoms of anxiety but cognitively I only have hypochondria. I don’t get panic, terror, etc. The only times I get panic, fear or terror is when my hypochondria kicks in and I worry something is wrong with my health. Sometimes I wil get the somatic experience of a panic attack (dizzy, short of breath, derealization, etc) w/o feeling panic.
I’ve had tons of stress, changes and troubles in the last 2 years, and the symptoms I listed above started within the last 2 years (I’ve had 2 EKGs done in the last year and they said my heart was fine, plus I’m fairly young and still in relatively good health). I’m working through the issues, but some of them I can’t change. I can just live through.
I’ve heard some elderly people get all the symptoms of depression, except depression itself. I’m kindof in the same boat. I get the somatic symptoms of anxiety, but no cognitive anxiety except hypochondria.
What do you all do to get your anxiety under control (something I"m sure has been asked repeadly here)? Deep breathing and guided meditation don’t work too well for me. I had my doc try alpha blockers for both my BP and anxiety, and they worked great but caused severe insomnia so I had to quit.
Yip. That means you’re getting better. You’re no longer accepting that these feelings mean you must get anxious. You’re breaking the chain. It takes a while, but it’ll happen.
Also, I find that taking melatonin with the alpha or beta blockers makes a world of difference, beating any insomnia they cause. Just start low–about 0.3 mg or 300 mcg. It’s one of those things where too much is a bad thing, so start slow.
Other than that, try an SSRI. I like Celexa, but the best for you is different.
I haven’t tried melatonin with them, but I have another drs appointment soon and I found several studies showing tha the cause of hte insomnia is that most alpha/beta blockers reduce your melatonin production. But some like coreg do not, so I may see if that one will work.
When do you take the melatonin? I’ve heard the ideal time is 6 hours before bed. Personally I can’t really tolerate melatonin (I haven’t used it in years, but when I did I had a lot of problems). Normally I just take 5htp instead since some of that will be converted to melatonin.
That’s why I started taking the melatonin. I take it at the same time as my propranolol (the beta blocker I’m now taking).
Right before bed to 30 minutes before. And the above is the reason I mentioned the much smaller dose. Most places try to put you on 3 mg, or 3000 mcg. That’s way too much to start out on. I actually originally split my 0.3 mg tablets in half.
Six hours is definitely too long. According to the research I did, the melatonin is mostly gone in four hours. That again is why you shouldn’t take very much, as then it’s only in effect while you sleep.
Melatonin doesn’t make you sleep. It just signals to your body that it’s bedtime. If you give yourself too much more than you actually need, it gets converted into other things (serotonin, I think) which can keep you up.
It’s not perfect, but, without it, I was like you and had to give up my drugs.