Does anyone live with this feeling? I always feel like I am awaiting some Major health crisis to occur......
Or maybe that I might just keel over and die.
Posted by seekhelp (Member # 15067) on :
I to some degree think I'll feel bad doing activities over the last year. The worrying doesn't keep me awake at all when I go to bed.
I try not to worry a ton over "what ifs" because whatever is happening today to me is more than enough to deal with. I can't even handle this!
I'm sure all people with TBIs have anxiety to some degree and may always as it's a traumatizing experience. One never forgets being very ill even if you recover. There's always the "why me?" question.
Posted by UnexpectedIlls (Member # 15144) on :
everyday Posted by venus (Member # 16991) on :
Do you mean just that feeling that something is wrong all the time when nothing at all is wrong? I have that everyday. No antidepressants or anti-anxiety medicine have made it go away.
I just started treatment - first for bart. I hoping to see improvement with it.
Posted by Ocean (Member # 3496) on :
Oh yes, It started when I first got sick, that lovely 'flu' the doc said I had in the middle of July, as a healthy 17 year old athlete. Lasted from 1996-1998, I got better through lots of supplements and very strict mostly raw, vegan diet. I wasn't quite the same though, but that feeling and the panic attacks went away.
came back in 2003 and went away in 2005 for about 2 years (after eating super strict again), have had it for almost the past year again.
When I wake up it's there, when I go to sleep it's there, almost like I'm constantly on the verge of a panic attack.
I thought I just had anxiety in 2003 and have been thinking it as such.
I am wondering how many anxiety suffers actually have Lyme Disease. I have spoke with 2 who got sick (one when she went to MExico on her honeymoon) and have had anxiety and feeling of impending doom ever since.
Hmmm...you are definitely not alone and while I'm sorry you are feeling this way, it makes me feel not so alone too.
take care, ocean
Posted by seekhelp (Member # 15067) on :
Has anyone actually tried meds for anxiety even if it's a by-product of a TBI and not an isolated cause? If so, any improvements?
I often equate it to heart issues cause by Lyme. If you get a skipping heart beat, do you treat the Lyme only and hope for it to resolve or do you take the appropriate meds to treat the new condition caused by Lyme or both?
Posted by designt1 (Member # 16568) on :
quote:Originally posted by Ocean: I am wondering how many anxiety suffers actually have Lyme Disease. I have spoke with 2 who got sick (one when she went to MExico on her honeymoon) and have had anxiety and feeling of impending doom ever since.
I've been wondering the same thing lately about anxiety sufferers.
Posted by feelfit (Member # 12770) on :
Oh, I take meds. Klonopin and Paxil, but the feeling is still there.
I think that the very odd and disabling sensations/symptoms over time have just wrecked me emotionally.
Maybe PTSD.
Ocean, you described it perfectly. Normal panic attacks last for about 30 minutes. All day 24 hr panic and anxiety are not the norm.
These bugs really affect our brain chemicals. And us Lymies do not react to psych meds in the same way that non-lymies do.
Fear of something terrible happening is overwhelming me. If I did not experience these head sensations everyday, I know that the feeling of impending doom would lessen as well.
Very hard.
Seek, if you have anxiety issues, ask Dr. for some klonopin. If you have never taken it, .25 mg will prob. work.
Shandy, i think we're driving the same car. ((( ))
Feelfit
Posted by venus (Member # 16991) on :
I have tried meds for anxiety. In fact, I have had terrible anxiety today. I took an Ativan. It helped some. Ativan/xanax definitely help. They are the only way I have been able to sleep pre and post diagnosis.
The SSRIs made me even more anxious. I am on a tricylcic anti-depressant. Can't say that it is working for me. I am seeing my shrink next week to talk about other options.
Posted by Nebula2005 (Member # 8244) on :
I feel like my body is panicking, but my mind is wondering why.
I constantly feel like I'm forgetting something. The "did I leave the stove on when I left the house" feeling.
And my ears ring so loud that my mind must think it's an alarm of some kind.
At other times, I just space out and I DO forget everything.
I've never taken any anti-anxiety meds so I don't know if it would make a difference.
Posted by seekhelp (Member # 15067) on :
I know what you mean about 24/7 vs. 30 minutes Feelfit. Unfortunately many psych docs are way too ignorant to understand / notice this differentiation. They know it can't be TBIs...well because they just know.
I believe I had one real panic attack back in Oct-07 due to severe neck stiffness and weakness. It frightened me. It was a new feeling for me.
I was just simply curious if TBI sufferers feel relief from Benzos / anti-depressents at times. My anxiety is hard to describe. I read THE ANXIETY DISORDER book.
While I could relate to a few things, mine aren't true panic attacks in any way. I feel terrible many times and it upsets me. When I'm having a better day, all anxiety disappears miraculously.
It's hard to put a finger on exactly what's happening in your body and how to deal with it.
I'm afraid of all psych drugs so I guess I'll never rule out / know what is the root cause if I don't try sometime. In my heart, I believe it's a true disease I have such as Lyme.
quote:Originally posted by feelfit: Oh, I take meds. Klonopin and Paxil, but the feeling is still there.
I think that the very odd and disabling sensations/symptoms over time have just wrecked me emotionally.
Maybe PTSD.
Ocean, you described it perfectly. Normal panic attacks last for about 30 minutes. All day 24 hr panic and anxiety are not the norm.
These bugs really affect our brain chemicals. And us Lymies do not react to psych meds in the same way that non-lymies do.
Fear of something terrible happening is overwhelming me. If I did not experience these head sensations everyday, I know that the feeling of impending doom would lessen as well.
Very hard.
Seek, if you have anxiety issues, ask Dr. for some klonopin. If you have never taken it, .25 mg will prob. work.
Shandy, i think we're driving the same car. ((( ))
Feelfit
Posted by Vermont_Lymie (Member # 9780) on :
feelfit,
I totally agree with you. I believe that anxiety is one of THE hallmark symptoms of TBDs and lyme.
I had awful feelings of doom before starting treatment for lyme. Fortunately, those have largely passed from years of antibiotics, and I am a much happier person than I was before starting treatment.
I hope that they pass for you too. My anxiety is much better too, but not entirely gone from treatment.
I have never taken klonopin -- does it make you very sleepy or knock you out?
Posted by BOOB00 (Member # 17526) on :
I've been on every anti-depressant known to man kind! They have the opposite affect on me. I get more depressed, panikie. As with lots of TBI sufferers I was miss diagnosed with Bi-polar and the massive drugs they put me on for that pushed me over the edge. The Lyme took over and I almost died.
I was lucky/desperate enough to finally find a psych who took me off everything, but the anti-depressants and xanax. He just wouldn't listen to me about those meds having the opposite effect on me. So I went off the anti-depressants on my own. He left me alone about the anti-depressants, but insisted on weening me off the xanax, even though I didn't really take them much. My depression is a fraction of what it used to be.
He is the best psych I have ever come across! He doesn't just write rx's and send you on your way, he does group therapy. Insists on spouse involvement and picks up the phone 24/7! Can you believe it?
My "doom" feeling is still there and I think always will be, but I know it is a symptom of the disease. My psych has given me tools to help me deal with that fact. When that feeling gets up in my face I remember the things I can do and I do them! I'm on Klonipin when high anxiety gets in the way.
Posted by backintherain (Member # 14385) on :
I don't remember feeling at ease in the past year. Even tho most of my physical symptoms are gone, I have this constant sense of anxiety and paranoia.
The worst is how I see I am affecting people around me. I am sad or irritable or act really strange. I am gripped with fear and picture little black clouds following me around. It's hard for my boyfriend, friends (are there any left after all this grumpiness!?), and coworkers.
The paranoia in particular is hard to pinpoint - is it me? is it drugs? or is it bacteria/protozoa? I SURE don't want to feel and act this way!
I just read an article in a climbing magazine about how Larium made this guy suicidal for something like 10 years after he took it. And how it's been linked to all kinds of suicides and homocides.
So, I don't think it's just the Bb that make us anxious or psychologically off. The better a drug can penetrate the BBB (blood brain barrier), the more likely it is to cause neurotoxicity. Side effects can include anxiety, I would guess.
Posted by lymeHerx001 (Member # 6215) on :
yes, it gets worse with vertigo
Posted by Geet3721 (Member # 15751) on :
I understand completely I feel like this not all the time but almost its really bad when you have these rushes of panic. I suppose you'd call it a panic attack.
I take a valium when I get that way and it helps me to calm down but it doesn't make the feeling go away.
I'm hoping Lyme treatment will make it all vanish but that might be wishful thinking.
Posted by feelfit (Member # 12770) on :
Thanks Guys....
For all of your responses. Helps to know that there are others having the same feelings, even though I wish that you didn't!!!!
Vermontlyme, Klonopin is awesome for me. .25 mg which is a very small dose works very well w/o the hangover affect. Also, it is longer acting and causes less rebound anxiety than xanax, which is shorter acting.
for some, this may be too sedating, worth a try though.
I hope that we are all moving towards wellness and that peace will soon be our constant friend.
Feelfit Posted by disturbedme (Member # 12346) on :
This used to be very bad for me. I think Bartonella treatment helped that a ton. I still have that feeling somewhat, but nowhere like it was, that's for sure. And I don't have that feeling every day anymore.
Have you treated Bartonella?
Posted by troutscout (Member # 3121) on :
Yes....until I started a SOLID weight lifting progam...the resulting change in endorphins and endocrine activity....blows that away for me.
Also....my abx only work best when I am weightlifting.
Trout Posted by Liz D (Member # 16739) on :
I was bitten by a tick and had the bullseye approx 23/24 years ago. For the last 20 years approx I have had the feeling of doom. Have been on antidepressents, tranqs, zanax, sleeping pills, phychiatrist, the whole lot and still the feeling is there. I have also spent hours thinking, trying to find out what is terrorising me so much and filling me with doom. I dont know how many times I have been in my docs office bawling my heat out and saying "I dont know whats the matter with me'. I am hoping if I can start being treated for Lyme (I am in Canada so I have to give up my first born child) that maybe blissfully the doom might recede.
Posted by Ocean (Member # 3496) on :
Liz, I'm so sorry that you have felt like this for so long. I've never been treated for Lyme either in the last 12 years so I am hoping that it goes away with treatment.
I also get emotional about it, I just want it to go away so that I can live my life! It's much easier for me to deal with physical pain than this kind.
Keep us updated on your progress!! Ocean
Posted by Kiwikid (Member # 12974) on :
Yes, every morning when I wake up I go into a full blown head to to sweat before I barely move or get out of bed. It doesn't matter if the room is 62 degrees or not. Then I chill. It's a constant reminder to me that I have or had Lyme and now maybe Babesia and I get ****ed and depressed. I am a miserable person.
Posted by Liz D (Member # 16739) on :
Thanks Ocean - I start meds on Tuesday.. maybe the start of a new life ! Kiwi kid.... YOU are not a miserable person. its the awful disease we have. Hugssssssss and best wishes for better health for all.
Posted by Ocean (Member # 3496) on :
Yeah for you Liz!! Let me know if it works, I'm waiting for pending results and am anxious to see how quickly treatment can help anxiety!
Take care, Ocean
Posted by Liz D (Member # 16739) on :
Ocean - after all these years without the dread and doom I just cant imagine how wonderful it would feel. I have a lovely life; I live in paradise, a wonderful family, a handsome wonderful loving husband, an adoring cat, an interesting fulfilling job, a roof over my head, (almost)enough wine to soothe me, good food, all the 'toys' that we assosiate with a successful good life. The dread and doom make me feel so guilty and that compounds the problem. I feel like I am 'hiding' from something..... its horrible because I dont know what it is. I feel like a hopeless weak spineless wimp. But the dread and doom are real in my world.
Posted by Liz D (Member # 16739) on :
Kiwikid - your sad note is touching. Are you being treated for lyme?
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He doesn't just write rx's and send you on your way, he does group therapy. Insists on spouse involvement and picks up the phone 24/7! Can you believe it?![[group hug]](graemlins/grouphug.gif)
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