Does anyone else have nervous convulsions and grunting?

[Insearchof]

My anxiety has progressed to nervous convulsions / tensing up randomly whenever no one is around. Almost like an epileptic fit. I yell out in fear. My stomach is chronically feeling like butterflies. I wake up in the morning and lie there for about 30 minutes while thinking of everything that can go wrong and then I get worked up into a panic attack that consists of my entire body tightening up, while I yell out "oh boy" / "oh no" while groaning and grunting and moaning. In between this I yell as loud as I can into my pillow. I eventually force myself out of bed so I can get ready for work and get my kids off to school. I am a 48 year old male who has had chronic anxiety, depression, and recently some events have turned me from a positive person generally to a walking fear factory. for my entire life my anxiety has been coped with by drugs, alcohol, food addiction, but I no longer use these things so now I am feeling it and I feel like I am going crazy.

 

[alienplantnapper]

I get nervous laughter a lot around ppl. Otherwise...i do a lot of rocking and pacing. When i get voices or memories or paranoia it gets worse and i yell at my mind to shut up.

 

[ladee]

Welcome @Andrew Morrison , thank you for sharing what is going on with you. Have you been diagnosed with PTSD? If not, that might be a good place to start. Especially now that you are not self medicating...And the anxiety symptoms are becoming almost paralyzing.

You came to a PTSD forum, so do you suspect this might be what is going on now? If so, that shows that you are serious about finding out what is happening to you. Anxiety is so powerful, have had it all my life. Much better now with medication and learning causes and how to calm myself down.

I have been so paralyzed by anxiety that I was unable to leave my home for a period of time. I was raising kids and worked, but had to quit my job as I was so unhinged I couldn't do the work. This was before my PTSD diagnosis. So I did not know what was going on...

Will suggest you visit your Dr. and let them know what is going on. I may be just Anxiety, without PTSD, but hoping you find a way to get some answers and some help. I do understand the feelings you described.... I still find myself 'making noise' when it's bad and I have let it sneak up on me..

Glad you are here, if not glad for the reason... hope you get more feedback, and also hope you invest in finding out why it has gotten so unmanageable... Best of luck to you.

 

[sleepingwolf]

Thanks for sharing about your experiences, it sounds tough.

I relate to the convulsions, as my body often has a lot of 'energy' in it, that comes out from the stomach and ripples through me up to the head. It can be quite dramatic and strange, but overall I feel it's a positive thing. For me, its a certain energy leaving my body, in the best way it can. I often experience it after relaxing or positive times, perhaps as if my deeper body is 'relaxing' too.

I know it is a very strange and difficult thing, but I consider it quite normal now. I try and lie down and relax as it happens, and often try to encourage more by focussing on my stomach.

I hope this helps.

Good luck out there! :):hug:

 

[Swift]

Thanks for sharing
Just to take a different tack, have you considered it might be a neurological symptom?
It's common to get these things when people stop self-medicating, particularly with alcohol.
I raise it as a possibility because it is actually treatable.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Swift is right. PTSD, anxiety, depression and seizures/pseudo seizures are commonly linked together. The research is overwhelming. The first time I visited trauma T that was one of the first questions asked. I have had epilepsy since I was a teen and it is controlled with meds. Some seizure meds have an added benefit that they reduce anxiety, too. Tics, jerks, and seizures of which I've had all .....are annoying at the very least, embarrassing, and can cause lots of problems. I'd check with my doctor....a good idea. If it is treatable...consider it.

 

[Insearchof]

Welcome @Andrew Morrison , thank you for sharing what is going on with you. Have you b...

Thank you for your response. I have been to my Dr. He put me on Mirtrazapine for night to sleep and Ciprolex in day for depression. He recently put me on Inderal for my panic attacks and chronic anxiety which is not helping. I had a plan of suicide this past January which is why I am on the antidepressants. I am 5 sessions in with a clinical councillor for CBT but my mind is racing soooo much I can't seem to apply the techniques he suggests. My friends say hang in there and it will get better but it is very tiring having chronic panic attacks.

 

[Swift]

Panic attacks suck.
I'm glad you're getting help, and I'm really glad you didn't follow through with your suicide plan.
Mirtazipine really helped me, though. Just be wary of the munchies!
The med that worked best for getting through the days of panic was clonazepam. Its from the same family as Valium (which I dislike, makes me floppy like a very anxious squid because it doesn't turn my brain off) and Xanax (to which my allergy is listed as irritation because the medical profession won't write that it turns me in to an absolute shit.)
Is there something that chills you out?
The more stressed and overwrought I am, the more likely I am to have a panic attack. When I'm getting a lot I know I need to ramp up my self-care like whoa.
It got better for me, it really did.
It wasn't easy, but I'm now largely panic-attack-for-no-good-reason free.
I hope it does for you as well.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Thank you for your response. I have been to my Dr. He put me on Mirtrazapine for night to sleep...

Glad you went to the doctor. I hope you find relief soon. I can't take most of the medications for anxiety/depression without becoming a dope-having gait problems, bizarre thinking, and other weird effects or it messing with seizure control.
You are fortunate in that respect.... I hope it improves soon.

 

[Insearchof]

Panic attacks suck.
I'm glad you're getting help, and I'm really glad you didn't follow through with your...

thanks for the response. What did you mean by ramping up your self care? What did/do you do? Nothing chills me out. I do have a lot of stress right now. Thanks

 

[Swift]

Self-care has never really been an easy gig for me.
Like, it was never an option before to do stuff that made me feel good for myself without taking someone else's needs into account.
I basically treat myself like I'm a kid I'm trying to look after really well and spoil a bit.
Like, I buy nice soap for the shower and eat food that fills me up, I play videogames for half a day if I can, I wear clothes that I like and that are soft, I put a fluffy blanket on the couch, I feed my dog more treats than I probably should because it makes me happy to watch her eat them. (Not enough to make her ill, of course.)
One of my best soothing things is tactile stuff, so I like soft textures. I also like nice smells - vanilla mainly. Because I'm 26 and a badarse, I cuddle my teddy bear. (He's a polar bear named bipolar bear.)
I make myself drink water and go to bed, I read a gentle book if I can concentrate, put on soothing music if I feel like it. I give myself permission to skip stuff or leave early if I'm there out of a sense of obligation rather than because I want to be.
I don't make myself do very much other than eating properly, water and turning the goddamn light off on time.
Sometimes the simplest things are the hardest. I use Habitica which is like a video game for your life, and it gives you rewards when you do your stuff.
For me, chilling out is playing music or drawing or playing video games, so I make myself do that because it makes me feel better.
I tell myself I'm doing the best I can with what I have and where I am, when I've got enough thoughts to think that.