Am I at risk for dying young
 

I keep having insomnia anxiety and brain dysfunction/health problems from drug abuse and PAWs which comes and goes. I am sensitive to just about everything out there now because my nervous system has been so sensitized, I experience side effects to everything. Taking zoloft made me want to kill myself. Taking an antibiotic made me anxious and depressed. I am always fearing death, what if I get sick and dont get better? What if anxiety or fatigue makes me get into a car accident? What if I lose my job and have to be homeless? I have these thoughts every day. I am still able to manage my life for the most part but I have these health issues that make it a lot more difficult than before drugs. What do I do? Help.

Hi Thompson - good to see you again :)

I went through years of health anxiety too.
It was a long process but things got a lot better once I stopped drinking and drugging.

I see my dr regularly and that seems to stop a lot of the anxiety too,

Have you considered seeing a counsellor about your anxiety?

D

I had the same experience with the first few prescriptions I tried, seeing a new wellness physician helped me find something that worked over time to ease the anxiety. Those "what ifs?" eased over time and eventually went away as I stayed clean and sober, and actively engaged in a program of recovery.

Dee

Yes I see a therapist regularly it seems to help. I dont know why but it's like I cant take any drug at all. Even tylenol makes my heart rate go up. I can take some supplements but that's it. I'm basically screwed if I need any major treatment for anything. If I had to have surgery God forbid the anesthesia might give me brain damage I'm sure. Who knows. My therapist keeps telling me to try things trial and error. But I need to work! And bad reactions to things will keep me from working sometimes. I have no one to blame but myself for this situation I've gotten myself into. Drug abuse can really mess you up. I'm almost 30 and here I am lamenting like an old man.

Astro

Yes I'm getting used to this being the new normal but somedays I dont know if I can do it.

My mother died suddenly of cardiac arrest when I was 23, she was 54, and I had lots of health anxiety. What I learned in AA was to a) stop projecting and keep reeling my mind back into today, b) realize the fear was really about something else (from my childhood), c) therapy and helping others. As an alcoholic (27 years in recovery) I had self-centered fear. I realized I'm not only powerless over alcohol, I'm also powerless over people, places and things.

What can be an huge help is meditation. There are dozens of free guided meditation apps you can download. Start with ten minutes per day and increase. Also prayer is a big help, as is keeping a journal.

Realize that this is a temporary situation and it will pass!

I got diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. The kind you have to inject insulin.

I had to learn about it and used the internet but I realized "Dr Google" was just making me worry and worry.

For some reason medical writers have to start every single article with a paragraph on the long term effects of diabetes.

How many times do they think we need to read "long term effects include blindness and amputations" ??

I am diabetic, I don't have memory problems and need to be reminded of that every time I look up a carb count or anything diabetes.

Just Google the simplest thing like "can a diabetic eat a banana" Half the articles start with that list of possible horrible long term effects.

I just quit online health research. Did me more harm then good.

I was raw like that when I got sober after years of drinking and Rx drug abuse. Beznsodiazapines.

That Paws thing should go away. Took me 6 months to sleep right and stop having anxiety attacks and a year to learn what normal even was.

I have problems now, overwhelming anger about events in my life but that raw anxiety or as you call it sensitized that took time but it passed.

Yeah, I googled some symptom I was experiencing and got it narrowed down to having drunk too much caffeine and ALS (Lou Gerigh's disease).

Mercifully, it was the former and not the latter.

Until I was drug free for at least a month I didn't see any positive changes to my obsessions and anxieties.

They are still there but now see them through 4 years of sobriety.

The only way I got this long sober was to suffer. Using meds would have drug this.progress out or worse.

I had to just deal with the crazy until my brain adjusted to no drugs.

This definitely is not for everyone. Suffering hurt like hell and caused me some PTSD. Some folks have it better, some worse.

Thanks.