u/rainbrg

Hello. I (20M) would like to describe my current situation and the symptoms I've been dealing with for the past month in hopes I can get some help or reassurance. Sorry if it's long.

Everything started when I was stuck in a backwards sleep schedule, which usually wouldn't be a problem for me but then I started feeling like I wasn't resting as properly as before. The first symptom came in the form of a weird weak/floaty feeling in my forearm while using it (computer, cooking, etc.) but it didn't stop me from living my life. This evolved into an increasingly frequent sense of panic and muscle tension + a subjective feeling of my arms and legs lengthening/getting thinner after using the computer for some time, during which I felt an urgent anxious need to lay on my bed to calm down and rest. I don't know where it came from, but I had recently already started getting the same feeling before once or twice a month randomly, which went away quickly with rest.

Maybe it all started with me stressing about my health or some underlying mild anxiety (I've had scoliosis since I was 14 years old and around the same time I'd had an appointment with a doctor to evaluate it) but I'm not fully sure if there was a concrete reason for it.

It got to the point where I stopped using the computer entirely due to the fact that I couldn't spend more than 20-30 minutes using it without the sensation appearing. I started to mostly spend my days in bed. Then came the nervous system sensitization. I would react strongly to mild stimuli, including small arguments in the house, noises outside, and unpleasant videos on my phone. I'd also periodically get an ant-like nerve feeling in random parts of my body or a mild numbness in my arm. I would monitor my body, every little feeling felt amplified and I was looking for things wrong with me. At the same time I started dealing with insomnia, a week or two of barely (if any) sleep at night.

Then came the first panic attack of my life. I felt physically off and my breathing became erratic, etc. I was then given one pill of diazepam to calm me down which worked. After seeing the doctor, I was prescribed diazepam short term as well as lexapro once daily to lower my baseline anxiety. The medication has helped so far in getting rid of the worst symptoms of anxiety but I still don't feel fully recovered although I haven't had a huge panic since. At first my anxiety spiked quite a bit during the evening but that's also stopped.

After my second checkup the doctor saw that I was slowly improving, including mild improvement in my sleep. I was prescribed a multi b vitamin for my nerves, which has made the ant-like feeling almost fully go away now, and melatonin for sleep. we also got a valerian root tea but the problem is to this day I don't feel 100% rested even though I get 7-9 hours of sleep some nights. I stopped taking diazepam as well, which was replaced with buspirone 3x a day.

I've been able to use the computer again for a little each day after a month of avoiding it and can accompany my family to the store. I can spend some time outside without major difficulty. At first, I felt mildly anxious when cars drove past me and would deliberately walk on the side of the street farther away from traffic. This anxiety gradually improved and has since disappeared. I also used to get a slight numbness/tense feeling in my legs while walking which has also mostly gone away. On a side note, I have noticed a reduction in my libido since starting Lexapro.

I'm just not sure what to do about the leftover symptoms and if they'll naturally go away as I keep taking my meds. I'm not able to handle as much load on my body and sometimes my neck tightens/hurts when standing or sitting. I still get the "thin limbs" feeling periodically (which I don't think is depersonalization, it's likely more tied to my nerves) my body doesn't recover enough during sleep and I'm still staying in bed for quite a while instead of normally spending my day by walking around or sitting for a long time. I heard exposure therapy could help so I'm trying to at least do a little bit of activity when possible.

Also, a few weeks ago I felt better about my situation and tried using the computer for a couple hours to play a game (which I guess was too early) and that made my elbows hurt quite bad for some reason (but it got better after sleep) and since then they've been sensitive/have started to mildly hurt after being in one position for too long or too much activity.

I have an appointment with a psychiatrist in a couple weeks since she'll be a much bigger expert than my family doctor. My family members have mentioned before that I might have depression as well. I do feel like I'm mostly monotone, hard to converse with due to some social anxiety/fear of being seen as weird and am withdrawn due to the fact that I haven't had much real social interaction with my peers for years. I don't exactly feel super sad or suicidal. Slightly unrelated but I don't know how much of that might be autism (which I strongly suspect I have a mild variation of). One slight fear I have is being prescribed medicine I don't actually need or being "drugged out" since I've never been to a psychiatrist before.

Either way, thank you to those who read this fully. I hope I'll be able to get some meaningful insight from people who have had a similar thing happen to them that'll help me out.

serious question: why did we not see ononoki's panties when araragi pulled her skirt up?

did anyone else forget bladee dropped these tracks?

recovery from sensitized nervous system and a period of acute anxiety/mild insomnia

anime to watch with CLAMP-esque art style?