# SCARED TO DEATH!



## tamachan (Apr 20, 2009)

So, I posted that I had recovered on here about 6 months ago. Some of you may remember that post.

I smoked pot in high school, had months of debilitating anxiety, and got better. I was symptom free for 3 years.

Now due to an unfortunate series of events, I am back to the beginning.

I got a concussion while on study abroad, and felt the similar mind symptoms (DR, panic, etc). I went home for about 2 weeks to get a check-up on my head, everything was normal, I started feeling better and was able to come back to study abroad.

I felt very much on top of my anxiety for about 2 weeks here. I was focused completely on other things, and only had 1 panic attack, which I calmed myself down during.

Then, I got sick here. I got extreme head congestion, and my ears plugged up as a result. They've felt weird for about 1 week. They crackle and pop all the time, but it's made worse when I fixate on it. It made my anxiety about 10X worse, and still hasn't gone away.

Due to this, I have been waking up every morning panicking, feel extreme stomach pains, and constantly obsess about how my ears are feeling.

I was wondering, does anyone else get extreme anxiety from being sick or having clogged ears in particular.

I feel like I'm going crazy, and the worst part is is that I don't know if it's due to anxiety, concussion, ear problems, or what. Please help me with any input you might have! Thank you so much. I hope to recover fully again. It's so hard being abroad with this problem, having no access to family, friends, support, doctors, or therapists. This community is all I have.


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## dragonhat (Oct 5, 2009)

You're not going crazy. Being sick can drastically increase anxiety levels.

Whenever I get a viral infection like the flu, I can barely function. My DP increases to almost an unbearable level, and I panic the entire time I'm sick.

You'll get better. You may want to get a checkup to make sure you don't have a sinus infection, and take some decongestants that don't have pseudoephedrine in them (I don't know if they have Mucinex in the country you're in, but it works great for me). Things like ear-popping increases my anxiety too. For a couple weeks, my left ear would pop every time I took a step. I could tug on my ear and hear crackling. Don't know what it was, it still happens when I tug on it but not when I walk.

Best of luck to you man... if you're in a country where benzos are over the counter (like Mexico) I'd get some for that early morning anxiety... just take a real low dose in the morning for maybe 5 days, and work on changing your thought patterns. Once you've calmed yourself a bit, don't take the benzo for a couple days and see how you feel.

That generally works for me, if I can just kill the anxiety temporarily to get a better grip on things, I have an easier time maintaining my mood.

I'm also taking b-supplements, choline and inositol at the suggestion of another site member (Tommygunz, who found that these eliminated his DP in a matter of weeks), I've only been on it for 3 days but already my anxiety is drastically reduced. Check out inositol on Wikipedia- a double-blind placebo controlled study found that choline supplements reduce anxiety and panic in people with panic disorder more than a daily dose of fluvoxamine does.


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## tamachan (Apr 20, 2009)

Thank you so much for your reply!

I'm sad to hear that your anxiety/DP/panic increases with sickness as well, but it's comforting to know I am not the only one!

Unfortunately, I am in a country where Mucinex is not available; and pretty much everything here has some sort of psuedoephedrine in it, which drastically increases my anxiety.

I am going to try the supplements you suggested, especially since perhaps they will boost the immune system as well.

As to the ear problems, I think maybe they are common for anxiety sufferers. Through all the internet research I've done over the past few days (pretty much constant), it seems that people who have recurrent problems with their ears when doctors can find nothing wrong complain of debilitating anxiety. So perhaps it is like everything else with anxiety, where a symptom causes anxiety which causes more symptoms, etc.

Also, advice which I need to follow, avoid looking up your health problems when sick. Every forum I've gone to is, "I once had a cold and now my ears are plugged up forever and I want to die!" I think you could find people convinced they are permanently dying from all sorts of normal, bodily symptoms.

But how do you stop fixating?


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## dragonhat (Oct 5, 2009)

I think the main problem with my ears is that I clench my jaw so much from stress/anxiety. I clench so much some of my molars are becoming impacted into my jaw, and I have clicking when I open my mouth.

Sucks. To combat that I have a night guard (which I never wear) and during the day, I'll put something like a highlighter in between my teeth to prevent clenching.

Do you clench your jaw?


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## tamachan (Apr 20, 2009)

I too sometimes clench my jaw, especially at night if I am stressed out.

I took your advice too and went to the doctor, and he thinks a lot of these problems are caused by sinus infection/post-nasal drip.

I have a question though-- for those who suffer health anxiety, do you think that symptoms of illness persist longer than they normally would because of worry?

Everything I get turns into a huge ordeal because I obsess about it.


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## York (Feb 26, 2008)

[quote="tamachan" I have a question though-- for those who suffer health anxiety, do you think that symptoms of illness persist longer than they normally would because of worry?

Everything I get turns into a huge ordeal because I obsess about it.[/quote]

I'm a huge hypochondriac and will freak out about anything; even though I'd never admit it. I actually think I got dp back partly because I worried so much about it. I also always think I'm having a stroke.. I think you can start to feel anything if you worry about it too much. Worry also lowers your resistance to infections...


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## Garjon (Apr 4, 2009)

i agree, worrying can definitely cause/extend sickness. Now that i am dp'd i worry about every little thing in my body. A simple headache makes me immediately think tumor. So i recommend just trying to calm yourself down. Drink some herbal tea or something. However, the good news is it doesn't sound (from my shallow understanding of your situation) like you actually have dp/dr and in your case it's more of an anxiety/worry thing. I know that can be uncomfortable as well but not nearly as bad as some people on here feel. Just try and relax and hopefully it won't progress any further!


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## tamachan (Apr 20, 2009)

I definitely am suffering from DR in addition to the extreme anxiety.

The last time I got better, I would just distract myself, sort of go on and do my work, get back into socializing. For a while I was in a state where I sort of knew things felt off and my world was a bit distorted, but I could work through it. Then I realized one day it was just sort of not there anymore and I didn't think about it again for years.

I was in that sort of in between phase before I got sick-- where your world isn't right, but you're trying to get back into it anyways. Sort of like pretending for a while I guess.

Now, after being sick, I am suffering panic from health anxiety, AND my world is distorted. I feel everything is too bright, I go to do something, and it doesn't feel like I've done it. I feel like I'm either obsessing about my DR or obsessing about the constant clicking in my ear.

Perhaps being sick can trigger intense DR again... It just sucks because I was working toward feeling better and now I feel back to square 1.


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## Garjon (Apr 4, 2009)

i know how you feel because thats what happened to me. I went from occasional dr that didnt bother me because i knew it would go away to a full blown "disorder" that has effected me getting a job and just doing simple things that people do every day. I am fine with friends and such but get uncomfortable around new people and situations like interviews and things. Sorry to hear that you aren't doing well but maybe it will subside soon! good luck!


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