Lived Experience Forum

[BrokenPrincess]

Ok, probably a longish post...

so, what came first, the chicken or the egg?

then what came first, getting sick, getting majorly stressed (even though I thought I was coping with it), the dissapearence of my appetite, or the anxiety I have been feeling lately?

it could be that the anxiety is happening because I am not eating enough (mostly just a sandwich a day). I eat when I get a headache that I know is there from lack of food. But then the anxiety could have been building quietly for weeks and that is why I haven't actually felt hungry for weeks...  it is like that whole sensation has vanished from my system. Obviously I still need food, but the part of my brain that figures that part out is on holiday or something.

i just don't know anymore. I have had so much happen lately, I just wish I could take a break from everything. You know those nice pics people share on Facebook about "could you live here for x months with no tv, no internet etc and we will give you...... " I would do it in a heart beat. Just go, unplug, disconnect from everyone. I so wish I could do it.

then, did I get sick with a gastro bug and that killed my appetite? Or was the gastro thing actually a gastro thing or was it just a stress thing? 

Its 2am and I am jittery as anything. Normally I would have been in bed an hour or so ago. Maybe that is what I should try and do, maybe go to bed. My brain is so scattered at the moment, I wish I knew what was happening, I haven't felt like this in so very long, things had been going so well, I don't know what has happened or what to do to fix things, but I feel like I am losing control of things which is scary

well time to stop this ramblings 🙂 catch you later.

[Former-Member]

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@BrokenPrincess wrote:

Ok, probably a longish post...

so, what came first, the chicken or the egg?

i just don't know anymore. I have had so much happen lately, I just wish I could take a break from everything. You know those nice pics people share on Facebook about "could you live here for x months with no tv, no internet etc and we will give you...... " I would do it in a heart beat. Just go, unplug, disconnect from everyone. I so wish I could do it.

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Hi @BrokenPrincess

Which came first? - I think you already answered it above. Your mind is overwhelmed - won't stop worrying and going round and round. Excessive worry/stress = high anxiety. One of the first things to go when living on the edge of excessive worry and anxiety is appetite. Feeling we cannot cope and/or not in control and just want to run away from it all. But we can't. 

Seeing someone to talk things over may help you tremendously. If you are still not eating please see your GP whom may prescribe an anti-d or something similar to help you there. As when the body becomes weak the mind will go further down and burn out can result. Looking after you now is the priority. x

[BrokenPrincess]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

Already taking those things, have been for about a year and just need to make an appointment to talk to my someone. 

I guess you are right on the stress thing, it's just a little bugger cause you don't see it building until it smacks you in the face.

[Lemonjuice]

@BrokenPrincess Between the ages of 14 to about 30, I had migraines, three days out of every week. From my mid 20s till my early 40s, I had constant panic attacks. Which I can tell you with some authority that it's both the egg and the chicken. You need to break the cycle and the only way to do that is to fix the body issue up no matter how your brain feels and then see how much left over is the mind. Here is my suggestion...what saved me.

When there is not enough water in the gut, what happens is food blocks in your insides, doesn't move as easily, causing irritation and inflammation. Increase your water throughout the day. The other part of this is eating throughout the day, veges and fruit. It takes about a good week to two weeks for your system to calm down. Slippery Elm and acidophilus...swear by them. The mind stuff can wait a week or two until your body heals. You should find that the jitters, hot flushes, electricity, hazy thinking and many of the symptoms dissipate. But remember, do it throughout the day...don't just starve all day and then try to eat veges at night to fix the issue. All that will happen is you will go to the loo with a flush of stuff and then the section of empty bowl will go back to being dry and inflammed. Just gentle stuff, water every few minutes, a banana for breakfast, salad for lunch, orange for afternoon, apple after dinner. Try it and see what happens.

[BrokenPrincess]

Hi,
Thanks for this. Over the last few days I have been trying to get back to making myself eat. Thinking my body is trying different strategies cause now I start feeling sick and when that happens, I know I need to eat. That said, I am watching the clock a lot more and eating more by what the time is than how I am feeling.
Fingers crossed 🙂

[Lemonjuice]

@BrokenPrincess That's great. Just remember that if everything has been standing still in your gut for awhile you might get a few unpleasant symptoms for a few days...nothing major...you might feel a bit nauseas or growling tummy. Whatever you experience, stick to the routine as much as possible. It should come around in about a week depending on how bad your gut problem is.

Btw, I have been experiencing severe pain in my pelvic region for the last few months. It would get so bad that my sciatic nerve would send jolts of pain down my legs and even landed in hospital thinking it was diverticulitis. So, I began the same routine that I suggested to you yesterday. My pain has gone today...like magic. It's the combination of constipation (cause I have been ignoring my health) and I'm due for periods. All that, places pressure on the sciatic nerve that runs inside the pelvic bone. They ought to teach this stuff in highschool. Good luck with your attempts.

[Former-Member]

HI @BrokenPrincess
Im not sure we've 'met' so hello and welcome 😄 I also find that my appetite disappears when im stressed. Often its lucky that my kids get hungry and iknow i need to feed them and make meals at the right times. When they're away im not as organised. So i keep stuff frozen in the freezer that can be reheated... to make it easier and more likely that i will eat something better for me...
I feel constantly highly stressed with so many things and its not easy to manage. i tend to bury myself in work which goes ok until im exhausted and i tend to fall in a bit of a heap or i run out of work when im suddenly on holidays and i cant cope with time.
Wondering if it might also be worth seeing your GP/mental health support person about how high the anxiety and stress is at the moment for you? they might have some suggestions to help.

@Lemonjuice we are teaching primary school kids interoception skills at the moment. recognising internal signs and messages that we're hungry, thirsty, hot, including how they can analyse their own urine and no. twos! And then moving onto recognising when we're stressed or angry etc followed up with activities and strategies for going back to feeling focussed and calm... it's been kind of interesting and can see that its making a difference for some kids (sorry for the spiel..)
take care

[Lemonjuice]

@Former-Member OMG...brilliant! Thankjs for letting me know this. It really made me happy. I went through years of suffering weekly migraines as a teen and young adult cause no one ever suggested the connection between drinking water and having fibre in my diet with migraines. I saw so many doctors, but not one of them asked me about what I ate and drank. I was nearly 30 and starting to have panic attacks for the same reason when I struck up a conversation in a shop with a woman who suggested I flush out my system instead of taking panadols and panadeines. It worked. To this day I send her a blessing whenever I think of her.