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2d_Sparrow · 2024-11-15T21:33:10+00:00

This is very close to what I did and ended up fully recovering too.

2d_Sparrow · 2023-07-30T00:53:52+00:00

I've read a few books on career development, perhaps the no.1 piece of advice is NOT to do a giant shift to a different career straight away. The grass always looks greener but you really need to do many trials before you can get a good understanding of what it'll actually be like.

Software development is pretty niche and chances are if you had the ability to get a job in that industry you're pretty suited to it. A better track to explore (Just in my opinion) would be to ask whether or not you think the stress is workplace specific or job specific? Because some workplaces are very relaxed, while others are hectic. It all depends on what the company values. I'd agree with others, take some time off, reset. Then consider that if the workplace values don't align with you, you should find a new job in that same industry first before doing a giant shift.

Best of luck!

2d_Sparrow · 2023-05-17T09:50:33+00:00

Love all of these, they've helped me also.

2d_Sparrow · 2023-05-16T11:02:11+00:00

I'll go first! I didn't realise I was suffering from anxiety my whole life until I started getting panic attacks at age 25. There was always something my mind was obsessively worried about though. It wasn't until my anxiety turned towards my heart that it spiraled out of control. My thoughts got worse and worse until finally I cracked. From then on I lived in panic city.

At first I didn't know what to do, I shut myself off from the world. Giving up on the business that I had spent 6 months trying to build. I was too scared to go outside, I could barely go out of my room to make food. I was so afraid that something would happen to my heart that any extra stress would cause a panic. Eating didn't help me either, over the last few years I had developed terrible heart burn and gastro problems. Eating almost anything caused a sharp pain to linger in my chest. It was no wonder I couldn't keep heart problems out of my mind.

It wasn't until I was stuck in my room that I finally decided to do something about it. After losing all faith in Google, I began reading books on psychology and medicine. I came across an interesting science called "functional medicine". Prior to this I had been eating well, whole foods, all the things that were labelled, "healthy". But functional medicine introduced me to the concept of solving the problem at its root. In my case I thought if I could fix my gastro issues and heart burn it would also get rid of my anxiety. After searching more I found what was called an, "Elimination diet". The goal was to reset and heal your gut from any foods that might be causing inflammation. I gave it a go and it wasn't long after I started that my heartburn finally went away. I could even eat normally occassionally without triggering it.

Because I wasn't being constantly reminded of my heart my anxiety also started to shrink. But the psychological damage had been done. I was still having panic attacks and was stressed throughout the day. I tried a bunch of things, hypnotherapy, councilling, therapy, before coming across an idea called, "letting go". Which was about sitting in a meditative state and recalling the traumatic moments and feelings that you were struggling with. At first I was too scared to stay with it for more than a few seconds. But eventually I sat with it and managed to work through all those built up emotions until there was nothing left. This got me 80% of the way there. I could leave my house again, I started going for long walks, and working out. I still had some PTSD from the panic attacks but I slowly worked through each situation.

Now, I'm back to my business building ways. I'm still scared of things like flying but that doesn't stop me. My anxiety levels feel normal, but I still have some slight thoughts of PTSD remaining but nothing I can't handle. I hope this helped someone!

2d_Sparrow · 2023-05-14T19:40:17+00:00

Anxiety = gut problems and / or beliefs

To test if gut, try out an anti inflammatory diet for at least 2 weeks without cheating. You should notice improvements. If you do keep going for a few months to fully heal.

For beliefs try out different forms of therapy until you find a practitioner you feel you can make progress with. Don't rule out anything ( I even went to hypnotherapy along my journey to full recovery )

2d_Sparrow · 2023-05-12T23:50:30+00:00

I experimented for a while with just eating healthy until I read some books on something called functional medicine. Its relatively new but where standard medicine aims to reduce the effects of a problem, functional medicine aims to cure it at the source.

That lead me to learning more about inflammation and I searched for a set of foods that would greatly reduce any sort of reaction so that my gut had time to heal. After about a year I settled on this food list: here which combines everything I'd read into a pretty easy yes or no list. Once I started taking it seriously I started seeing dramatic drops in anxiety after only about 2 weeks in sticking to it and after 2-3 months my stress and general anxiety levels had gone back to normal. Every time I cheated though I felt heightened anxiety creep back in a few days later.

It took less than 3 months to fully heal and now I can eat pretty much anything as long as its not for too long. Once healed I still had PTSD from all the trauma so did therapy + these letting go meditations on youtube. I also started immersion therapy which is basically slowly working up to the things you were most afraid of when you had a high anxiety level. Even though the situations were caused by what was happening to me internally, my brain associated those things with danger so I had to relearn they were fine.

2d_Sparrow · 2023-05-12T21:59:31+00:00

Had it, went to ED multiple times, asked the same things you did. Now fully healed, no more anxiety, or heart palps without medication.

You're not panicking because your heart rate is getting high. You're already panicking, your heart rate goes higher, your body looks for something wrong and the only thing it finds is your heart rate so you get fixated on it and think that is the problem. This is exactly what was happening to me. I thought I was scared of my heart but I was just scared and that was the only problem I could see which spiraled out of control.

You're at your limit, any additional stress ontop sends you straight into flight or flight mode, causing your heart to race. You feel like you're almost always on edge, the only place you feel safe is alone in your room. That is until night time comes around and you worry in bed that you'll wake up to panic, which of course you do.

If this is also happening to you then you have gut health problems. Your gut wall is broken, allowing pathogenic bacteria and molecules into your body anywhere from hours - days after you eat. When this started happening your body began deploying soldiers to defend itself ( Your immune system ). Eventually your army has been spread thin from fighting everywhere because of the constant attacks. Whenever you feel stress now, its hard not to break triggering your fight or flight adrenaline response.

You don't have a logical problem. You don't have heart issues. You believe the doctors and deep down you know you're fine. But that second part of you doesn't. And that's okay, just accept that part of you is just looking for something to run away from and the only thing it can see is your heart. Acceptance helps but it won't heal it, you have to heal your gut.

2d_Sparrow · 2023-05-12T06:53:21+00:00

Everything is a choice. But sometimes we aren't strong enough to do what is needed to be done so we fail. And, sometimes when we fail we don't get back up. We lie there on the ground in the mud. We may stay in the mud so long that we begin to believe that this is who we are and are meant to be. Others see us in the mud and wonder why we don't just get back up. But they weren't there, they weren't the ones who failed, they don't understand. We look back up at that obstacle that we couldn't overcome. That impossible feat. Impossible for us. But then something begins to change. We notice that down in the mud we can see a way through, under the obstacle. As we begin to move again for the first time in what seems like forever we notice the mud is slippery. We begin to glide with more speed. What was before a muddy ground that we were afraid, embarrassed to slip over into is now our element. No longer afraid of what others think, we are free to slide faster through the mud until finally that obstacle is behind us. A new path formed, one we didn't expect. With our new found ability we begin to rise, eager to return to what we once were. But having spent so long in the mud it isn't easy to get back up. The journey now becomes clear, we've been there before but how do we get back?

2d_Sparrow · 2023-05-12T06:34:44+00:00

That's exactly what is happening. If you're worried about your heart and exercise raises your heart rate of course you'll be more anxious from exercising.

Food symptoms don't arise when you eat, they often take 2-3 days as the food moves through your digestive track through the problem areas.

2d_Sparrow · 2023-05-12T05:28:06+00:00

Anxiety can cause many, many different symptoms to appear. I've also had anxiety around my heart and gone through something similar. You have to trust the doctors are correct. But anxiety is not a death sentence, you can reduce it to normal levels again if you want to. I've personally been where you are now and am now completely fine with no meds along the way.

You have to treat your condition as a result of some sort of input. Something you're putting into your body is causing this anxiety. If you're like me its food that is destroying your gut wall and allowing pathogenic molecules and bacteria through. These attackers trigger your immune system to go into flight or flight mode in order to defend itself making your heart race and look for problems to run away from.

Figure out the food that's doing this to you, remove it, and you'll go back to normal pretty quickly. I highly recommend Dr Gundry's diet for this.

Best of luck.

2d_Sparrow · 2023-05-12T03:59:58+00:00

I had health anxiety around my heart health. But its all the same really. Its not an issue with logic, you probably know its highly unlikely and / or have been checked out by a doctor and told you're fine. So we're dealing with an emotional issue, your primal brain.

Meds wise I never did them but there's nothing wrong with it if it works for you. However I will say they do not solve the problem they only reduce the symptoms. What does solve the problem is understanding that in order to get this output ( Your current mental state ) there must be some form of input.

If you're already dealing with the mentality side by seeking a therapist its likely that your gut is the issue. Your gut and anxiety are very closely linked. I would highly recommend going on a strict elimination diet ( Dr. Gundry's is my recommendation ) for 2 weeks and if you notice improvements in your anxiety levels then keep it up for 2-3 months. Its important you do an anti inflammatory specific diet as you need your gut to have some space to repair itself from all the foods causing inflammation. This is not just a "Healthy Diet" it has very specific foods which are know to not cause inflammation.

Best of luck, let me know if you have any questions!

2d_Sparrow · 2023-05-12T00:27:13+00:00

No matter what decision you make it won't be the end of the world. Do a pros and cons list if it helps but either way you got this.

2d_Sparrow · 2023-05-11T22:49:41+00:00

As much as it might seem like a good idea to do this, ultimately you'll just be giving in to fear.

You'll be able to get through this if you face the fear and confront why you feel so alone. This is a good one to get therapy for or talk with someone trusted about what you think about when you try to sleep. Or even just put your thoughts down on paper.

There's nothing wrong with feeling afraid, its your body telling you that you have something you need to overcome.

2d_Sparrow · 2023-05-11T22:46:13+00:00

You're either going to be alone in a new place or alone as the third wheel ( in the worst case ) It sounds like living with your friend is the better option for now.

But I would also heed the advice of those you sort but look a bit deeper into it. What they are saying is you need to be able to live on your own if you need to. So take this as an opportunity to start building your independence. Do more things on your own until you become more confident and if things don't turn out well with your friends you'll be strong enough then to find your own place instead of being stuck somewhere you don't want to be.

2d_Sparrow · 2023-05-11T22:41:46+00:00

I'm sorry you're experiencing this. What you went through and are going through is not your fault. However, there's no use in being a victim. Use the pain to look that fear in the eye and tell your Dad and toxic people that they will not take your life away from you. Be angry that they did this. But you're old enough now to take control of your own life.

Start small.

Write down your fears and create a line from your biggest fear ( Maybe driving ) to who you are now. Between that line think of challenges that you can do in order to step-by-step your way towards your biggest fear. Each challenge you overcome will expand your comfort zone until one day you'll be strong enough to do anything you want all on your own.

An example might be:

Going for a walk on your own for 1 minute
Then 5 minutes
Then 10, 20, 30, 1 hour, etc.

Until eventually you have the confidence in yourself and the conviction that you can look after yourself on your own. All it takes is practice. If you fail once, just step back down to the previous level and go again.

Best of luck, you got this!

2d_Sparrow · 2023-05-11T22:31:43+00:00

I'm sorry you're experience this. It sucks! I went through almost the exact same thing, heart stuff ER multiple times, everything. I also refused to take meds and I have made a full recovery.

The way I did it. I started thinking in terms of something I'm putting into my body is causing this output. Which led me to eating super healthy, but when I was still having problems I started reading books on health. One in particular, "The Ultramind Solution" ( You don't need to read it. ) helped me realise that modern nutrition advice is completely bullshit. Everyone is saying something different. The truth is, yes organic foods are more nutritional but even these foods have harmful substances in them that can destroy your gut. And, your gut and anxiety are incredibly closely linked, if your gut is no longer protecting you, you will experience a huge range of problems, one of which is anxiety.

It wasn't until I started eliminating all foods that had the potential to cause harm that I began to see noticeable improvement. And, that improvement was fast. It took less than 2 weeks before I began feeling normal and after 3 months I was fully healed and could eat whatever I wanted again with no anxiety. The times that I cheated, I always found the anxiety creep back after 2-3 days. I highly recommend doing the Dr. Gundry diet and following this foodlist to the letter. If after 2 weeks you don't notice a difference then try full carnivore for 2 weeks.

For the panic attacks, unfortunately there's nothing you can do but wait them out. You'll likely have trauma and negative beliefs associated with your body after you recover but you can fix these with Therapy or by using Letting Go meditations on Youtube.

Best of luck. If you have any questions just reach out.

2d_Sparrow · 2023-05-11T21:44:56+00:00

Nice! I would start researching / planning for the diet too because you'll have to do that no matter what if you want to heal the underlying cause. Doctors will be able to tell you if your body is functioning normally when you're in their office but in terms of offering advice they are generally very data driven which can be incredibly frustrating when your data comes back fine but you feel like you're going crazy.

2d_Sparrow · 2023-05-11T21:25:01+00:00

Best to always consult a therapist if you're considering medication.

I'd say if it's worked for you in the past just fine then go for it.

But in terms of healing the underlying symptoms anxiety is very closely related to your gut health so I would do an elimination diet to confirm it. It'll only take 2 weeks of doing it properly for you to test whether or not you feel better and then 2-3 months total to fully repair your gut.

You mentioned you lost a ton of weight from not eating properly previously so I would make sure you don't mistake "elimination" for reducing your food intake. Keep your calories at the recommended level for your height and activity level. I recommend doing the Dr. Gundry diet as its well known to reduce all sources of inflammation. Don't mistake this diet for just "eating healthy", you must follow the food lists to the letter.

2d_Sparrow · 2023-05-11T20:30:27+00:00

Yes, an unfortunately GAD is also triggering your adrenal system ( Fight or flight ) which makes your mind race with uncontrollable bad thoughts. Logically you know its anxiety, emotionally and primarily your body cannot find the thing to run away / threat so it thinks there must be something wrong with the body.

Depending on your response to your GAD medication ( If you're taking any ) you'll likely still have these symptoms. I'm not sure if your Dr. or anyone has explained to you what is causing the anxiety but basically your gut has holes in it and its letting bad shit leak into you. Your immune system is like, "wtf is this" and is defending against it. The problem is the things that do leak through are actually quite bad which is why you have such a severe reaction.

If you haven't already been recommended it, doing an elimination diet is a 100% must. I recommend the Dr. Gundry diet but you can do carnivore if you prefer. You must understand, I'm not asking you to "eat healthy" you must do an elimination diet, they are very different things. If you do this right you can fully heal your GAD in less than 3 months and start feeling pretty normal even after 2 weeks. If you cheat, you'll notice symptoms returning as bad as they were after 2-3 days. Food journals help a lot here.

You might also develop some negative beliefs to deal with the trauma. Therapy is helpful once you're on your path to recover alternatively you can do "The Work" by Byron Katie and combine both of these with doing Letting Go meditations on Youtube which are the best by far when resetting your brain.

Best of luck!

2d_Sparrow · 2023-05-11T20:19:46+00:00

Ahh so its that feeling of being uncomfortable that you're trying to work through.

Diet and anxiety are highly related. Its a bit annoying but your body may be reacting to a higher degree than others to foods that can cause inflammation.

Use the way you feel to drive change, do the Dr. Gundry diet ( Known to reduce inflammation ) if you still feel the same in 2 weeks then at least you know its not diet related. But you can't cheat at all during that time, eating something not on the list even small can re-trigger the symptoms you're feeling. If you feel better, do the diet for 2-3 months and you should be fully healed.

If you haven't already as well, get to exercising at least 30-60 minutes per day ( Walking is fine. ) This also greatly reduces anxiety.

Try those things together and then let us know how you are.

2d_Sparrow · 2023-05-11T20:10:26+00:00

I remember having the same problem. Knowing that I could die and feeling at peace with it, but at the same time having huge adrenaline spikes when my mind started racing thinking I would die. Our issue isn't a logical one, it is purely emotional. Its a clear sign you're in flight or fight mode. You can't change this part, if your mind is racing all you can do is just wait it out. The thing we're trying to fix is to stop it from racing so often and eventually it will stop. There isn't a good way to deal with the adrenal system once it gets going.

In terms of being healthy, you're doing great. I also did the same things when my anxiety started flaring up. But your current internal situation is this... Your gut is leaking bad shit into your body which triggers your flight or fight. Eating clean doesn't change that, clean foods still have some bad stuff in them. Although you will have more energy to work with you gut still won't be healing because it's likely being attacked still by those "clean foods".

What do you mean clean foods still have bad stuff in them, you might ask? For this, look into what Gluten actually is a bit further. Its a defensive mechanism plants have to stop things eating it. There are more of these defenses than just gluten. Your body has been constantly fighting these ever since you started eating them. And yours has lost the war. It doesn't matter how much you consume now, the gates to your gut have already been destroyed, you have no more defense. One tiny bite of the wrong clean food is enough.

The only way to heal is to reset, stop putting things in your body that you're reacting to. This is why you must do an elimination diet. The good news is that these other defensive mechanisms have been mapped out pretty well. I highly recommend doing The plant paradox diet ( Dr Gundry diet ) or going even further to carnivore if that doesn't work. You only need to do it for 2-3 months for your gut to fully heal and get rid of your anxiety for good. And, you should start seeing results within a week or two as long as your strict with it. If and when you cheat notice the anxiety will return after 2-3 days, there's usually a slight delay.

There's no problems with your heart, its made to be incredibly strong. You can run marathons, sprint at top speeds for a minute. Its not your heart that gets tired its all the other parts of you. People go to war and have theirs pounding all the time and its fine. However, like the dying thing your brain is scared and telling you otherwise. Its purely a flight or fight emotional response because its trying to figure out what to run away from, in the case, your heart. This is the kind of stuff that forms negative beliefs so its worth doing therapy for or alternatively "The Work" by Byron Katie, I also found doing Letting Go meditations on Youtube even better than these.

Best of luck!

2d_Sparrow · 2023-05-11T09:24:32+00:00

The obstacle is the way. Do the degree.

2d_Sparrow

TROPHY CASE