Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => Other Health Discussion => Topic started by: rebel2 on October 02, 2017, 08:43:28 AM
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As readers of my other posts will know, I have suffered for around six weeks now with trapped wind feeling under left ribs which then moves round to my back, intermittent stomach issues, gurgling, etc. It has coincided with a really bad period of stress/anxiety - for the four weeks before this I had another health anxiety wobble about something else and before that we suffered a really bad financial blow. So it's no wonder I'm bad. Yesterday I thought I was 'cured', then at around 11pm I had a row with daughter and got upset - stomach started going bad about 4 am...
I haven't bothered the GP with it, as one day out of five days it goes [always when I'm busy and out and about], so I assume it is yet another manifestation of anxiety.
Stomach issues are common with HA but what other issues have people had? I had a 'nervous bladder' for months a couple of years ago. My GP at the time seemed very harsh with me and kept telling it was anxiety. I hated her, but with hindsight I think perhaps the harsh approach was better for me than loads of sympathy.
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Any stress causes tension in the muscle groups: neck, chest, belly, thighs ........ gut kicks in ........ appetite goes away. Or someone might eat more.
Stress can increase IBS symptoms. Can cause over-all aching because the body becomes tense all over. Stress can cause people to sleep heavily or not at all .........
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I've suffered from anxiety since I was a child then after I had my own children, I started suffering from Health Anxiety. I hate that I can't get over it. I worry that it's no good for my health all the worrying I do. When I was 'younger' i always looked younger than my years but now I feel all the worry has caught up with me and I look old! I'm sure some of that is peri. As Sparkle says, a lot of peri symptoms are similar to anxiety symptoms but I've also read that someone who suffers from anxiety will experience a worse meno and I think that is true as my friends who are all positive, glass half full types have sailed through peri.
I feel my anxiety has become worse since I'm in peri, I feel it has taken over most of my life. I'm not as outgoing now as I was as I get anxious just going to the shops etc. I wish my brain would shut off from listening to this bast*rd called 'anxiety' but it always tries to get the better of me. Basically, I just take each day as it comes and the days I'm less anxious are a blessing and I try to get out and do all the things that the B normally holds me back from.
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4 me anxiety hits the gut, into the thighs which go weak, into the calves ; then my head starts to think 'OH NO!' - Despair and rolled into a ball: all within 2-3 seconds :'(
I do think that stress can lower the immune system. It can make the sufferer feel really tired. Which can't be good for the body/brain. It also causes me to think hard about whether I really want to go out and about right now ......... but am better if I get up and go rather than sitting around .......... then I get fidgety!
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Sparkle you could have wrote my post and add dizzy, lightheaded. Snoooze and CLKD I have also suffered with anxiety for years on and off, long before meno. Some days are better than others but for me feeling dizzy is the most debilitating symptom of all. It really scares me and stops me in my track. Am sitting here in bed not wanting to get up because I know as soon as I do I will start to feel dizzy and the anxiety will set in. This is no way to live :'(
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Yammy - your final sentence echoes what I say most days!
I have had everything since this anxiety really hit. Can't get rid of this trapped wind issue at the moment -but have been told that it is always there, it is just the degree to which you concentrate on it that matters!
Will try doing some work to get rid of it.
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Social anxiety for me was feeling faint and on the verge of depersonalisation
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Anxiety, particularly health anxiety, can cause all sorts of symptoms. Several years ago I was given the IBS diagnosis but eventually it seemed to resolve itself! I now have bladder problems and I am convinced that to some extent these are made much worse by anxiety. I think that when you are anxious you can focus very much on the part of the body you are worried about and this causes tension and more discomfort. I find yoga very good for this although only when in a class- can't relax enough at home. I have recently retired from a very demanding job and I think too that I have too much time to think about things.
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My HA has kicked in again today over something so ridiculous I daren't even mention it. That's the trouble...I'm often embarrassed by what I panic over health wise and although I have over the years shared my panic, I feel that people just look at me as if I'm mad so nowadays, I tend to keep it to myself but not sure which is worse.
So as I was panicking today, I took note of my symptoms and they were nervous feeling, shaky, feeling hot, racing heart, hearing my heartbeat. I've calmed down a bit now but the thing I'm panicking about is still there but I must rationalise it and tell myself I'm being ridiculous. It really is mind over matter although I find it hard to follow my own advice. I'm on my own today, I do find it worse when I'm on my own, I think because there is nothing to distract me but hopefully sharing on here helps although not sure if it's a good thing to keep reading on here about anxiety, I feel it makes me worse :'(
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Jemp and Snooze [sounds like a yoga class!!] -I think you have hit the nail on the head about how we fixate when left to our own devices. I am usually fine when out and about, but I really miss feeling calm and settled when I'm on my own. I used to love pottering about the house.
And Snooze - I bet we wouldn't find your current worry ridiculous - bet we've had it...
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I have had 5 years of health anxiety being with me most days. You name it , I've Googled it. Tried the NHS self help courses...didn't really help. But I also think the hormone churn of peri-menopause itself can really upset the gastric and nervous system which then ramps up the anxiety. Over the years it has sometimes hit me in the middle of the night; hot, pounding heart, thoughts of doom, walking around the house thinking I'm going to have a heart attack. I have even phoned NHS 24 a few times or been up to A & E..which turned out to be trapped wind / gastritus / and a strained muscle from playing X Box Golf to my shame.
I do think the hormone changes / fluctuations upset your gut - any friend food / wine / bread / cabbage / lettuce gives me bad guts now and I am sure at certain times of the month my anxiety reaches super levels where no logic can reach. It is so good to get this out here and not feel like a freak as I do when I go to any of the 10 local GPs. My recent panic was a couple of spots on my face which I thought was skin cancer...I couldn't leave them alone for wanting them to go... so they got infected. But guess what...2 wks later they have gone. P.S. My GP gave me Ranitidine/Zantac for my stomach after I had discomfort under my left rib whilst on holiday (I was so worried). He said " its just gastritus, I get it after eating lettuce now, take this " and boom in 3 days it has gone. Most things are simple but the GPs can give you something to fix it.
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Why is it mind over matter :-\ ..........
Go on, do share ;-) Snooze
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We are all in the one boat or as i like to put it (up Sh.. creek without a paddle). Snoooze totally agree with you regarding mind over matter, When i'm having a very rare good day I tell myself how stupid I am to let these feelings and thoughts take over, but as soon as the blooming anxiety rears it's ugly head all rational thinking goes out the window. we just have to keep going and hopefully come out the other side fairly normal. It's great to be able to come on here without being judged or ridiculed and chat with women who know exactly how you are feeling.
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A particularly low point for me was googling bladder cancer in the caravan in the middle of the night and being absolutely convinced I was about to peg out. I was mentally writing letters to the kids. No-one who knew me in my previous life would believe it of me! I was always the calm confident one who coped with other people's anxieties!!
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I beg to differ CLKD, It has taken me many years but there have been times when I have overcome an anxiety attack with 'mind over matter'. It's not easy but with practice it can work. I'm not saying all the time but it's no harm to try. While it may not work for you please don't dismiss it if it works for others x
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Why is it mind over matter :-\ ..........
Go on, do share ;-) Snooze
You have your own way of coping and I'll have mine. Have a read of this then...
http://www.thecenterforortho.com/Mind-Over-Stress
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I beg to differ CLKD, It has taken me many years but there have been times when I have overcome an anxiety attack with 'mind over matter'. It's not easy but with practice it can work. I'm not saying all the time but it's no harm to try. While it may not work for you please don't dismiss it if it works for others x
Thank you Yammy as I didn't like the tone of CLKD's question.
With HA, you must learn to rationalise it. So now hours later, I'm over my silly panic about what set my latest attack off but at the time it was very real to me but I had to keep telling my MIND to stop being stupid and that there was no way the stain remover I had soaked some clothes in had been digested into my system and that is why my tongue felt tingly and the roof of my mouth felt like it was burning!
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Interesting read Snoooze, and I totally agree. I would never dismiss anyone's method of coping, if it works for them then that's all that matters
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Thank you Yammy.
As you say, it's not easy and it doesn't always work but it's my way of coping.
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Snoooze I'm sure I read somewhere that burning tongue can be a meno symptom? Worth doing a search and having a look. might put your mind at ease :bighug:
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Yes I've seen that mentioned. I've always suffered with geographical tongue but I do keep getting this burning feeling but when I look up the symptoms of burning tongue (naughty, naughty googling!) it says it can occur in meno or due to anxiety and depression. It also occurs alongside dry mouth which I also have.
Thing is, with my HA I can convince myself I have anything. I only have to read symptoms and I start experiencing them!
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Ditto Snooze, I think I have diseases not even invented yet :P. I see an article in the paper, on the news or on facebook about heart attack or stroke or any ailment really and convince myself 'oh I was meant to read this', it must be a warning, how sad is that :'(
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What's lovely about this thread as it shows we are all the same! I think the mind over matter thing is massive - my mind creates physical symptoms that disappear when I manage to distract myself from them.
Although the best cure is unfortunately a different symptom taking over!!
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Isn't it amazing rebel2, if for example if I'm feeling dizzy i forget my chest pain or acid reflux. I was very bold at the weekend and had a bottle of wine, BIG mistake, the acid reflux was so bad during the night I ended up vomiting. :'( :'(. My head ached so bad the next morning I forgot about being dizzy and achey, it seems my mind was too busy feeling sorry for my poor head. Just goes to show if the mind is distracted then 'mind over matter' really does work
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Hi Sparkle,
Yes I had my B12 tested and it was OK. I think geographical tongue may be hormonal for me as I first got it years ago when I was pregnant with my first child. My Dentist diagnosed it. Then I seemed to get it with subsequent pregnancies and now I've had it quite a bit during peri. Apparently there is not much that can be done about it. I sometimes think it comes about when I eat sweets or spicy food but it does seem to come and go. I do keep getting a sore/burning feeling on the roof of my mouth and my tongue is often sore so I do wonder now about burning tongue syndrome. I will mention it to my Dentist next time I go.
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I wouldnt wish health anxiety on anyone, it's literally hell on earth but I have to admit it's SO reassuring to read that we're all feeling very similar. I find it so difficult to rationalise once the anxiety sets in, but I desperately try to remind myself that I've been here so many times and (so far) it's never been anything life threatening!
I've literally just had a mad panic about something so ridiculous I haven't even mentioned it to my husband, I'm sure over the next few days it'll be on my mind constantly but as others have said, I'm sure another symptom will soon come along to freak me out and I'll forget all about this one!
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The mind can be your best friend and also your worst enemy
If I'm not too anxious I can talk my self down but when it's at its peak I just have to run. I've left full shopping trolleys before in my haste to escape.
I don't have health anxiety but I do hold my hand up about consulting Dr Google. I go to the doctors at the drop of a hat and feel I've been practically weekly for past few years. I suffered for many months with a sore burning tongue I had to be careful what I ate. I didn't know it was a meno symptom until recently.
X
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Do you know what your b12 reading was? I only ask because the 'normal' range is so wide. You can be within range but at the lower end which is so frustrating. Does sound like hormones play a big part though doesn't it. X
Hi Sparkle,
No, I wasn't told the reading. I think it was about 18 months ago I had the blood tests so I may make an appt and go back to have some rechecked.
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Having a totally crap day today. :-\ Still got funny feeling under ribs, but have to admit it goes [or I don't notice it] when I am completely distracted. I'm now aware of it when I wake - or perhaps I just think about as soon as I wake and 'scan' for it.
I also have the beginnings of a cold...
Saw GP yesterday who, when I told him about the funny trapped wind feeling, asked me about blood in my stools and diarrhoea, which has obviously set me off... even though I don't have them! Last time I went and mentioned it the GP mentioned ovarian cancer and I have had some backache [after first yoga session in months] so went the lung cancer route in my mind..
I am literally going mad. I cry at the drop of a hat and can't seem to shake it off this time. Perhaps because I have been anxious/stressed since a traumatic event in early July - so this is now a habit. Was offered propranolol but will panic about side effects so it might be counter-productive! And still have Sertraline to take but again, am worried that is just adding another issue!
Just wanted to vent!
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Hi rebel2. Your posts remind me of me! I had spoits dozens of holidays i the past 5 years convinced I have had everything from skin cancer to Dementia. I think find when I'm in that zone I just can't relax and all the recommended breathing / relaxing just goes out the window. I also had that dull feeling under the left ribs (felt like a brick) for weeks then ended up at the GP in tears and he said it was just gastritus (inflamed gut/stomach) stress related! - went of its own accord after about a month. Ditto dizzyness being an inner ear virus. For the last week I have been freaking out over a pulsing / tump sensation under my left rib followed by a quick nerve jolt in my hands under my left ribs which I'm convninced is something wrong with my heart. I have thought of nothing else for 4 days now and am in total panic that I can't get a GP appointment for two weeks. This is is no way to live and ten years ago I wouldn't recognise myself. Miserable :'(
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Roseneath, as I sit here reading your post I have awful pain in my chest and weird feeling under left breast. I know it's my hiatus hernia and ibs acting up, but my mind keeps thinking what if it is a heart attack this time. This really is no way to live, I feel I've lost the last few years of my life wishing them away.
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Roseneath, as I sit here reading your post I have awful pain in my chest and weird feeling under left breast. I know it's my hiatus hernia and ibs acting up, but my mind keeps thinking what if it is a heart attack this time. This really is no way to live, I feel I've lost the last few years of my life wishing them away.
Hi Yammy, have you had any tests for a stomach ulcer? My mother in law has one and she gets pain in her chest but specifically pain under her left breast.
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No snooze, I was diagnosed with a hiatus hernia some yeas ago but I think I'll ask doc to send me for laparoscopy (not sure if spelt right) to see what's going on