Posted by SDA on January 20, 2004, at 21:35:11
In reply to Re: Sharp pains in head caused by anxiety?, posted by mtdew on January 18, 2004, at 16:51:28
To answer your questions:
The OCD symptoms I had last year were mainly repeated checking of things like my alarm clock and whether or not my door was shut before bed. I was also constantly concerned with the cleanliness of my living space, and avoiding damage to myself and my material possessions. This year was mostly more of the same, but I also had the added stress of switching majors (which could cost me an extra year in college). This brought about new obsessive thoughts, which are rather hard to describe. It was when these thoughts were at their worst that I experienced the onset of brain fog.
I don't think physical or mental exertion helps me much. There have been a couple times when simply pushing myself to death has yielded positive results. I couple months ago I was able to VERY briefly resurrect some of my old way of thinking. I was doing homework for my linear algebra class (solving systems of equations, VERY easy stuff), and after a couple hours of intense concentration I was able to visualize the math in an intuitive three dimensional sense as I was once easily able to do. The next day, however, the fog was back. I might be able to do it again, but I simply can't work that hard every day of my life.
During the same time period, I had a gym class in which I played volley ball and ping pong (sad, I know). Neither of these things are particularly physically demanding, but there were a couple times while playing that I began to see stars. This should give you some idea of how physically active I am...
Something else to note:
Yesterday was an awful day. I was up until around 5am Sunday night (mostly just worrying). I couldn't get out of bed Monday morning, so I just slept off and on all day. Most of what I did that evening seems fuzzy and hard to recall exactly. I ended up lying down on top of my bed and sleeping for a couple hours, and then waking up. I changed clothes and got back into bed, but could not sleep again for many hours. Every time I started to doze off, I got violent spasms in my neck and legs (almost like mini seizures). I also had a strange feeling of paranoia, as if someone was watching me in the dark. When I finally fell asleep I had very strange and exhausting dreams. When I rest my head on my pillow, there's also a strange sensation of pressure being transferred to the opposite side of my skull.
I might post a more in-depth reply to the thread you linked.
poster:SDA
thread:301420
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040118/msgs/303489.html