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[ATB]

You’re welcome, anxiety has been a long and difficult journey for me so I totally empathise and happy to share tips. I developed OCD responses to my anxiety and didn’t even realise until therapy so it’s helped slowly but surely to stop some of that. It’s a trust thing for me. I can’t trust myself because my mind has let me down. So I check things over and over and over, in case I forget or mess up as I do when I’m anxious. It can really overtake your mind so important to address ASAP. I also avoid things that cause anxiety, as is normal, but this does make it worse. Therapy helps me slowly confront rather than avoid. Avoidance feeds anxiety. It’s a coping mechanism and short-term is ok but makes it worse in the end. Small steps though.

[CLKD]

JoJo42 - Tour de France begins today from Copenhagen  so get those feet up, turn on TV and watch.  Even if you don't like cycling, the French scenery from the helicopter is Fab., like going on holiday without requiring a Passport ;-).

Avoidance helps me cope.  Spontaneous me: we are 'out' this evening and already I can feel my anxiety levels rising  .  It involves food and talking to others 

[sheila99]

Are you on HRT? My anxiety was purely down to oestrogen deficiency, 3 months on HRT and it went completely. Of course there are many other causes of anxiety but oestrogen deficiency is a relatively easy one to cure or eliminate.

[Lynda07]

Hi again JoJo42

That does sound like a form of OCD, checking is one of my "things" with OCD, and it can be exhausting because as you say, you don't trust the checks you have made. Mine gets worse the more anxious I get. There are days I don't check anything - and am aware that I'm not checking an dmore than happy with that- and days where I check and check. CLKD's suggestion is good, I was also told during counselling to tell myself I had checked - e.g. lock door, check door, say "the door is locked" and move on - but it's not that easy some days. It has been a lifelong issue for me and looking back I can see my dad had it too.

My husband suffers from ME/CFS so again, I feel for you. x

[CLKD]

It isn't easy to tell myself that I 'have done X, Y, Z', it's less stressful to go and check.  Hence the list.  It's what works for each 1 of us!

[QueenofReds3]

I completely sympathise with what you experienced. I used to have bad OCD. I have managed this in recent years to avoid checking everything like the doors windows but now and again if my anxiety rises I start doing it. One of the things I used to do was madness, I would check that all plugs did not have the plug in them at night by putting my fingers in the holes. It used to drive my husband to despair but he helped me stop this. I think it started as a child. Our boiler tank thermostat failed and it was about to blow up the house with the pressure from the heat, we had to run out of the house in our night wear in the middle of the night whilst my parents turned every tap on to relieve the pressure, it cracked all the ceramic in the sinks etc. I think it scarred me for life. It is exhausting though.

[CLKD]

Certainly such issues can cause lasting fears.  WOOOOW that was something!

I put my fingers between a plug and the socket  .  I was planning on doing some ironing ..........

[JoJo42]

Thanks, CLKD xx I went to bed in the end . I try not to if I can, but the M.E has flared up and I just had to go and curl up for a couple of hours. I was going to watch the tv but fell fast asleep - woke myself up a couple of times - snoring! I was convinced all these years I wasn’t a snorer. Hehe! 

Hi Sheila99, yes, I’m on evorel sequi. Have been on hrt for the last ten years so I think the anxiety is related maybe to chronic fatigue and also family issues.

Hi Lynda07, yes it’s exhausting isn’t it. Sorry to hear your hubby has M.E. I’m in the grip of a flare up at the moment. Sending love xx

Hi QueenofReds3, I check plugs too by counting the holes! I totally understand where you’re coming from. I also pass my hand back and forth under the tap berore i go out to make sure the water’s off. I also take my ipad cable out with me to make sure it’s not plugged in My gosh! That incident with the boiler tank! Very scary for your family and you as a child. My husband despairs of me. I used to try and hide/make excuses for what I was doing, but now I’m just totally out in the open. I think mine stemmed from health issues cropping up out of the blue all the time, unexpected deaths in the family and an unexpected issue with my abusive mother - all lead me to believing that bad things happen suddenly and without warning. It may have been simmering under the surface childhood too as my childhood was very chaotic and violent. I feel like I’m walking on a railway track and feeling the rumble of the oncoming train. xx

[CLKD]

Nowt wrong with an afternoon siesta  when DH is fishing I often sleep all day in the camper 

[JoJo42]

I sleep better in the day than I do at night sometimes! In the winter if I go for a snooze I put the electric blanket on - feels like heaven. My body seems to shut down in the afternoons - It’s like my body temperature drops and go to feel really cold and shivery and then it takes me a couple of hours in bed with the electric blanket to warm up.

[CLKD]

Listening to our bodies is important.  We are after all creatures designed to get up at dawn and go to bed (in the cave) at dusk.  Mainly to avoid predators. 

I sleep well in our camper, as well as sleeping at night.

[JoJo42]

I think I’m part dormouse     xx

[QueenofReds3]

I agree with CLKD in listening to your body. I like a nanny nap now and again! X

[RobinRose]

Hi lovely, I have had anxiety most of my life. But always managed it. Menopause related anxiety however knocked me totally. It was totally different, irrational and my usual coping mechanisms didn’t work. I felt utterly defeated when my Dr recommended anti depressants. When I agreed and first started in them things got even worse, but then things levelled out and I actually feel good most of the time.

Take care of you and sending a big hug x

[JoJo42]

Thank you so much for sharing that, RobinRose. Sometimes I think AD’s might be where I’m heading. All the meno issues are pretty much under control, but the M.E has gone haywire along with the Vaginal Atrophy which mainly affects my bladder. I can’t seem to get these things back under control so at the moment the anxiety has gone off the scale and I’m feeling utterly exhausted and very low.

I double up my dose of vagifem to x2 per day for two weeks and that got the va under control, but then after two weeks of x1 a day the issues came back so I’m trying x2 a day again for a few days. This is the exact same pattern of V.A flare that happened to me last time so I’m hoping a few days of doubling the dose might get it under control again. It’s not a uti because I was tested. I don’t even know if I’m doing the right thing, but it helped last time. I’m now full of anxiety that I might be in a situation where x1 vagifem every day no longer controls the v.a. I don’t know what the hell I’ll do then. It never rains but it pours as they say.  On the upside I am hopeful that things will improve both M.E and V.A and then the anxiety might level out again.  I had a little cry this morning when I read your post and the other messages again. I’m very grateful to everyone for their advice and input and kindness. xxxx