the physical truth about anxiety disorder

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ugh I thought I had it so bad wah wah!! !.

It all started with a terrible nail bed fungus that spread through all ten fingers. That led me to believe that I have every deadly disease known to man.( Because I felt it has gone into my bloodstream-- which is rare. and I don't want to list those diseases because
I'm still in pain and still doing a ton of blood work. I've been to the hospital three times, clinic four times and private doctors three times in two weeks.

Now because all my symptoms could all just be anxiety? they could also be other problems too but its hard for the doctors to diagnose. And these test cost money which I don't have cause remember I left my job because of a stupid panic attack wah wah.

If anyone has an anxiety disorder please tell me if you experience and over time the frame
Let me tell you in order

1) Creeping sensation from just one arm up to neck down to bak down to legs.(One side only) mine is right.
2) Slight creeping headache on just one side (right) now I feel a little on the left. Headache gets painfull sometimes especially in the morning.
3)Numbness and pain in arm, neck and head (one side)
4)The worst- a BURNING sensation on one side from my head down spine down to my right leg) no fever 'they' say.
Volcanic heat from only right ear - with all this heat done four temp test no fever.( As I'm typing under my fan my neck back is on fire.
5) Constant diarrhoea (yuck)
6) Vomited three times but persistent nausea for two weeks. (Just Awful)
7) First week I couldn't eat I would throw up now I'm starving every hour - I can eat but I still feel a bit icky.
BLOOD pressure of 160/100 the doctor was shocked!!
9) Just tired and weak and now I have under arm pain.
10) Terrible chest pains only on right like my liver and lungs
11) Persistent dry cough and spitting. ( Ew)
12) Peeing like every hour
13) Oh and the general neck and shoulder stiffness and tension.
I literally feel like I'm dying. Serious

Um I. Tell myself this is all anxiety induced, I'm on valium for a week it only makes me sleepy plus I feel its damaging my liver, because I'm taking fungal meds (which just over works the liver) antibacterial, pain meds which are all metabolised my the liver) plus I'm stressed so I have to worry about liver failure too.

Um I just don't want my own anxiety to give. Me a brain haemorrhage or stroke or heart attack or liver disease or or or , worry. Worry.

I'm just 24 and I believe I'm going though this to get closer to God. But it aint easy.

In addition I'm taking deep breaths, walking, exercising and to not think of the pain and what could be causing it . Hence I won't be talking about this anymore. And I won't read the comments - if there's any until I've fully recovered which I do believe will happen, and soon. So until then.

Tschuss!! !
Oh And I love you all I have just like five physical friends but coming on this site made me feel more welcomed in a very long long time. I really like it and hope to return soon to rant some more. ha ha

For me panic attacks are more like almost fainting and anxiety does not feel like all that. But I have no doubt you have anxiety over this, but don't let them tell you it's caused by anxiety.
I hope you will get help. Why have you seen so many different doctors? Are they not listening to you? That's a pretty common way for doctors to behave towards autistics. Is there a local organization that can help you with communicating with them? I'm sorry, I don't mean to stress you further.
Pain under arm (if you mean your armpit) = lymph nodes reacting to infection. It could be sepsis, meningitis or tetanus. You have too many physical symptoms for it to only be anxiety.

Definitely make sure you have a competent doctor that listens to you.

Severe anxiety can mess you up physically, especially if it's long term. Outside of the fungal situation, most of that list could be symptomatic of severe anxiety. It can mess with you physically as much as any "serious" illness would, if not worse. Just something to keep in mind...

Notebook, I studied a lot of epistemology (i.e., the study of whether or not knowledge is possible, and if so, under what conditions) in college. One of the primary problems in epistemology is the relationship between mind and body. Modern science has put the lie to mind-body dualism by showing that mind is merely a component of body. So, mind problems ARE body problems, and frequently vice versa.

As far as the fungus goes, what I use is a mild boric acid solution. Boric Acid is the main ingredient in the laundry additive Borax, which is sold to kill fungi on clothing. You should be able to find boric acid wherever organic gardening supplies are sold; and you should be able to find Borax in any decent grocery store. It works. I regularly use boric acid as an eye rinse.

The other thing I would recommend you do is to look at your diet. I too suffer a lot of physical problems, and while diet hasn't cured them by any means, it has done more to alleviate them than anything else I have found. And when my body feels better, so does my mind, since, again, mind is part of body.

In particular, I would strongly recommend avoiding yeast, casein, gluten, and as many food additives and preservatives as possible. I would also look at probiotics, such as natural sauerkraut. I can't say this approach will work for you. But it has helped me, and it might help you too. In any case, you won't know unless you try.

Good luck.

Last edited by Thelibrarian on 10 Jul 2013, 11:53 am, edited 1 time in total.

Probiotics cause decreased brain activity. http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/ch ... 45617.aspx
Of course, autistics have more active brains than NTs, so it could probably make an autistic look more normal. Hyperactivity is not a bad thing though.

Anomiel, though I have become skeptical of all of the conflicting health claims coming out of studies, the study you cite probably has some truth in it. Too much of a good thing becomes a bad thing. For example, the amount of vitamin C found in some pills would require one to eat a rose hip the size of a watermelon. Our bodies simply didn't evolve to handle nutrients in these extreme quantities. This is why I recommended natural sauerkraut over probiotic pills. What I don't believe is that eating natural sauerkraut will impair or damage the brain in any way.

As far as hyperactivity goes, I can't say your wrong on that either. But I'd be happy if my own ADHD was attenuated, and substantially.

It's good to be skeptical, it's also good to be able to sort through studies to see what is valid. Mostly findings from accepted research can't be refuted, the only thing that can be refuted is the (often biased) conclusion.
I was referring to brain hyperactivity (what they call more active brains than NTs, meaning they work better), but I can see why it was interpreted as ADHD.
They have also found that autistics have less gut diversity, which links nicely to that study. The areas in the brain that decreased in activity by the probiotic yogurt are some of the parts that are "hyperactive" in autistics (and alexithymics). Here's a thread with link to the gut diversity study: http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt234893.html if you're interested.
Yes, sauerkraut is probably much more preferable than probiotic pills, I agree. But we shouldn't have to make ourselves sick (as in the study posted in this thread http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt234993.html ) or decrease our brain activity in any other way to be accepted.
I agree with your other advice, and probiotics might "help" having sharp senses, but you have to be aware how they do it. Now I'm interested in hearing about vitamin C? I thought a lot of vitamin C was pretty harmless or beneficial at best?

Last edited by Anomiel on 10 Jul 2013, 12:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I agree that some studies are valid. One thing I'm not is a postmodernist; I believe in true and false, and right and wrong.

As far as yogurt goes, it took me forty-nine years to learn that dairy is pure poison for me, and therefore I would never counsel another aspie to consume it even if some aspies do just fine on dairy.

As far as brain hyperactivity--or whatever you want to call it--goes, I do the things I do to feel decently and to be functional; I have lots of responsibilities.

As far as being accepted goes, I think if we tell ourselves we don't want to be accepted that we are lying to ourselves. Normally, the sex drive is considered to be the strongest drive that humans possess due to the fact that humans wouldn't even exist without it. I won't quarrel with that. I will add though that two millenia of Church and Western history shows that it is possible to lead happy, fulfilled lives while being celibate. I'm not convinced that anybody can be happy or fulfilled being roundly reviled and despised, which is what not being accepted means. It is also the case that even we aspies need the world far more than the world needs us. This old world will keep turning long after all of us are gone.

Having said this, we are different, and need to chart our own course to be happy and fulfilled. But this doesn't entail antagonizing the rest of the world in any way. It's about live and let live.

You see, NTs have less brain activity than autistics. They will have to accept that That is the kind of acceptance I am speaking of. They should not view themselves as the ultimate version of homo sapiens and try to change us. It's up to you if you want to change yourself to be more like them, but we should not be expected to want that. I did not say that we do not want to be accepted, I said we should not have to change to be.
But I can see this communication is not working out, so goodbye.

Humans are social animals, and we do want to be accepted--for ourselves. I don't believe tiptoeing around and refusing to challenge certain "status quos" is going to grant acceptance or respect. It can be done, perhaps more subtly than we'd like at times, and we can still be liked and accepted. The old world is also very roomy, with a place for just about everyone. We have other options besides assimilate or die.

Veering OT a bit, but I wanted to respond. Not as antagonism, but to challenge that world view a little. Lots of interesting info, btw.

I have panic disorder and do not have these symptoms with the exception of 5) but then not "constant" --but extreme anxiety almost always upsets my stomach and bowels.

My symptoms are:
Tightness in the chest, upset stomach, asthma (sometimes), lightheadedness, a strange tingling sensation in my palms that sometime travels into my arms and seems connected with the upset stomach, a general sense of dread, doom and imminent death, a tendency to imagine worst possible scenarios for every upcoming event and sometimes fleeting suicidal ideation. I am not tired and weak during an attack, but it is exhausting and I feel drained after.

The tightness in my chest is like having a belt tied around my chest, not a localized pain as you describe.
The rest of the symptoms you describe would suggest something else to me--a physical illness of some kind. But that's me.

Actually, I'm not sure the larger world accepts anybody for themselves, hence the need for what NT's call the persona. I think the most we can hope for is to be accepted for who we really are by our friends and loved ones.

Having said this, if you are talking about negotiating changes to accommodate us, I will agree. But I also think we set ourselves up for heartache and heartbreak--not to mention the problems the OT is concerned with--if we start demanding things from the world. NT's instinctively know this. This is why when it comes to unpopular laws or rules, NT's will try to find a way around it rather than challenging it directly. It's about taking the path of least resistance. And with anxiety issues, avoiding unnecessary sources of stress becomes paramount.

I particularly agree about there being options other than "assimilate or die". In my case, I was miserable when I tried to assimilate. I now do my own thing, as far removed from other people as I can get, and am much happier for it.

We do need the world more than it needs us, but this is true for everybody. When I was a kid I was thoroughly miserable. My obsession was with being a hermit, and much to my chagrin, I came to realize it's simply not possible to be completely independent of people. To understand my point, try the following thought experiment: Imagine being dropped on a deserted island--a very hospitable deserted island--with nothing created by another human--in your birthday suit so to speak. How long do you think you would last? As John Donne said, No man is an island....

We do need other people. Whether we like them or not, or are even accepted by them, are different matters. And this goes doubly for aspies whose only means of subsistence is a check from the government.

I'm glad you found my thought interesting. I find your posts to be the same even if we can't always agree.

Thelibrarian, NTs do demand a lot, but the laws and rules are already made for them. Actually, it's made for those with most privilege, and that is why the unprivileged groups always have challenged the way the system works, because it is unfair. If you are very privileged and demand even more it is another thing altogether. Why are you speaking of "demanding things of the world"? You see simple acceptance or fair treatment at the doctor as demanding too much?

MjrMajorMajor, I agree fully with your post.

When has the system ever been "fair"? Under communism? Communism killed a hundred million innocent people trying to create a "fair" world.

A disillusioned Marxist named Antonio Gramsci concocted a brilliant theory about this called the Theory of Cultural Hegemony (look it up on Wiki if you like). Simply put, Gramsci noticed that the system is set up for the benefit of the rich and powerful, and they make the rules for their own benefit, and nobody else's. He said that if a determined group could seize the cultural levels of power, they would gain cultural hegemony, and hence power.

An organization called the Frankfurt School applied Gramsci's ideas, and through the cultural revolution of the 1960's, this bunch did seize cultural hegemony, and that hegemony gets tighter every year. So, it's fair to ask, is the world more fair or less fair? If so, how?

No, the best hope we have to see fairness is in our own little corners of the world. And that starts with showing NT's the same respect we want. The world will never become more fair by becoming less fair.

I don't know the order of my anxiety. I may have had it my whole life and I didn't know it. It was probably mistaken for anger or me being a big baby because I can remember my mom getting mad at me for screaming. That may have been anxiety I was having.

Mine came from frustration, things not going the way I liked it or planned, when someone mess with something I built or made or mess with my stuff, not being able to handle stress. I can remember having to be the bad guy when I get home from school and find my brothers and their friends had wrecked the Brio train set i had build because my mother would get mad at me and didn't seem to care they wrecked it because the thing belonged to everybody so it wad theirs too. But I was going to play with it so to come home and find it wrecked was overwhelming and upsetting.

I find I don't have any anxiety when there are no demands set on me or when things go my way and things go the way i like it and I am not forced to do anything I find stressful and I am no being pushed out of my comfort zone or out of my routine. I don't bother will pills when it can be cured with avoiding things that cause it.


To me anxiety is just frustration, fear, being upset, being stressed out, being angry, crying, being overwhelmed, being a b***h, I was told I was having anxiety when I would have any of these feelings so when I see other people with these feelings, I think they're having anxiety too. I don't ever get any psychical symptoms so i have been skeptical about rather I have an anxiety disorder or not since I can't even relate to it when i read about it. Mom told me that is because I let it all out with my meltdowns and stuff, I don't hold it all in like everyone else does with the disorder. I don't see any information about emotional symptoms. it's always about psychical symptoms, not ever about psychological or emotional. I don't fit into any anxiety category either. I also can't even describe how it affects me because I do not know. I think it was really bad in my teens because of hormones and then when I was an adult, it was less so I don't get it as much.