Jump to content

Constant fight or flight sensation in stomach??


[El...]

Recommended Posts

Went to the dentist last week, was extremely anxious about it for a while. I had two fillings done with no numbing agent. It was a very syressful event, but by God's grace i made it through. But now I can not get my body to calm down. I have a constant nervous energy feeling in my stomach and my hands drip sweat. I am so anxious about these symptomss that it is a vicious cycle now and my long gone insomnia is starting to come back.

Please please, has anyone here had this stomach nervousness before that lasted all day for days. It feels like a thousand butterflies are in my stomach. I had this with insomnia for alittle bit back in November, but it has been gone for awhile. The thing is I have to get alot of work done on my teeth, i need this anxiety to settle down. I really think itwas the stress and anxiety about the dentist that triggered a wave. If you have had sometging stressful like this set off a wave like this, please respond. I really thought my constant anxiety days were behind me, i was doing so well.

 

Eliza

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello Eliza:

 

I understand your anxiety very well. I also have needed a lot of dental work during tapering and post. My last intervention was two months ago when I needed a root canal. It was just awful and painful. Hopefully I wont' need any more work for awhile. My anxiety jumped a bit but nothing really major thank God. After I jumped I had the worst benzo belly that affected my GI system for six months. My gaba receptors in my gi system were probably so down regulated that I felt I was not going make it. Insomnia, stomach pain, and anxiety were up the roof. The vagus nerve is connected to the GI system and people who are prone to anxiety (I was diagnosed with GAD) will tend to have more GI issues than others. Regardless of this, just going to the dentist causes anxiety to anyone. I will guess that in your case going to the dentist triggered an underlying issue with anxiety so it is normal to feel this way. Don't panic! It will pass. What helped me a lot was to learn deep breathing exercises and guided meditation. I did take some supplements like Taurine, amino acids, 5htp, Valerian, Magnesium, Chamomile tea, essential oils; however I now recycle them and don't use them all at ounce. You have to be aware that all these affect the gaba receptors. I am 15 months off and I am doing okay no more GI issues. Through meditation and self-talk, eft techniques, qi Qong, tai chi, and yoga for the last three years (ever since my ordeal started) I have developed good skills to be able to control my emotions and feelings better. Most of the time now I can ride my anxiety without any aids. I had to cut on coffee and stop alcohol altogether. In addition I am following the Atkins diet and it has helped me tremendously in healing my stomach and anxiety. Also, during all this time I have become so much closer to God that I attribute my faith to my recovering and feeling normal for most of the time.

Good luck

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have the same thing going on to.  I’ve been off Klonopin for 9 years and was having no problems.  I had one panic attack recently my first one since withdrawal but I was sick and not resting and pushing myself to get to work.  Since then it feels like my central nervous system has been out of whack. My body is tense, my stomach is tight and I keep getting chemical releases in my body.I feel like if I could just get my CNS to calm down I’d be ok.  Not sure why it’s happening. My best guess is my body is remembering the trauma of withdrawal.  But I’m a vicious cycle too.  So yes I totally understand your anxiety. You will still have waves every once in a while as you near the end of withdrawal.  But your system will right itself again. Try to keep to your regular routine and do fun things. 
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have the same thing going on to.  I’ve been off Klonopin for 9 years and was having no problems.  I had one panic attack recently my first one since withdrawal but I was sick and not resting and pushing myself to get to work.  Since then it feels like my central nervous system has been out of whack. My body is tense, my stomach is tight and I keep getting chemical releases in my body.I feel like if I could just get my CNS to calm down I’d be ok.  Not sure why it’s happening. My best guess is my body is remembering the trauma of withdrawal.  But I’m a vicious cycle too.  So yes I totally understand your anxiety. You will still have waves every once in a while as you near the end of withdrawal.  But your system will right itself again. Try to keep to your regular routine and do fun things.

How long have you been like this. My system is still not quite right for a week now. Though the anxiety is alittle less, I sm still in some kind of fight or flight mode all the time. As soon as I think about it, my anxiety rush comes over me.

Is yours getting better now?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

:smitten:

 

Eliza -

 

Yes Yes I have had this.  I totally felt like I was the only one on the planet to experience this.  So what I finally did after a long period of not eating or sleeping well is got a massage.  The massage therapist talked to me about calming down in order for the cortisol levels to balance out.  He could tell I was all amped up all over my body.  Especially the stomach. 

Gently massage your stomach as well, this really helps a lot and maybe take an Epson salt bath and just do deep breathing for like an hour. 

 

Just know you will recover and get better from this.  Once our bodies get stuck in these viscous cycles it's hard to snap back, but very possible.

 

I rarely get on here anymore but this site is wonderful and literally saved me during one of the most difficult times in my life while tapering Klonopin. 

 

Good luck to you, and feel free to PM me if you like. 

 

Thanks,

Wolfie

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[4b...]

https://benzo.org.uk/manual/bzcha03.htm#24

 

 

“Anxiety persisting after the acute phase of withdrawal may be partly due to the uncovering of a learning defect caused by the benzodiazepines. These drugs specifically impair the learning of new skills, including stress-coping strategies. Such skills are normally acquired continuously from childhood to middle age or later as experience of life accumulates. Their development may be blocked for a period of years during which benzodiazepines are taken. After withdrawal the ex-user is left in a vulnerable state with a decreased ability to deal with stressful situations. Full recovery may require many months of learning new stress-coping strategies to replace the years when this facility was blanketed by pills.

 

Secondly, benzodiazepine withdrawal may uncover life problems that have never been fully addressed. For example, the impairment of memory caused by benzodiazepines may prevent the normal resolution of personal stresses such as bereavement or a car crash. Such buried or half-forgotten experiences may have to be faced after withdrawal and may prolong both anxiety and depression. It is not uncommon for a widow or widower, first prescribed benzodiazepines on the death of the spouse, to go through the grieving process for the first time after withdrawal, even though the bereavement had occurred many years previously.

 

A third factor may operate in people who have had frightening experiences during withdrawal. This is not uncommon in those who have undergone rapid withdrawal without adequate explanation, often in hospital or detoxification centres but sometimes at home when their doctor has withdrawn prescriptions. Such people may develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in which their experiences are constantly repeated as flashbacks or nightmares and so prolong the anxiety.

 

In addition, many (though by no means all) long-term benzodiazepine users are constitutionally highly strung, sensitive people with relatively low self-esteem, whose anxiety problems have led to the prescription of benzodiazepines in the first place and whose continuing anxiety (possibly heightened by the benzodiazepines) has prompted the doctor to go on prescribing the drugs. It may take a long time for these people to regain, or attain, full confidence in themselves.

 

Despite these factors, protracted anxiety symptoms, including agoraphobia and panics, do tend to subside gradually and rarely last more than a year. The process may be hastened by good psychological support and by the measures described under acute anxiety symptoms. Believe it or not, people often feel more self-confident after withdrawal than they did before starting to take benzodiazepines.”

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Eliza, why no numbing agent when you had the fillings?

I  have alot of chemical sensitivities,so I can't  take the chance. I reacted badly to one years ago and I don't  want to go through that again.

Its not just that its alot of things, so I have to be careful.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

I am one year off and get this from time to time. Lately it's been pretty bad. Also, I just CANNOT get in the shower and wash my hair. I took a shower about 4days ago but haven't washed my hair in two weeks. But when I have a doctor's appointment or something and am forced to clean up, I will. So to deal with this, I bought non refundable theater tickets online for this weekend for my husband to take me . I know I will shower up, shampoo and fix my makeup. Also, when I have something to look forward to, the anxiety in the pit of my stomach decreases. Right now, It is about 8:30 on here. I washed and changed my bedsheets, and put clean pajamas and underwear in the bathroom. I have been trying for an hour to get into the shower, but when I walk towards it I get that feeling in my stomach. I could have a few glasses of wine to help that, but my stomach digestive problems from the benzos will not allow me to tolerate it. This is good, because alcohol is bad for recovering benzos sufferers. I hope it helps to know others are going through this as well. Try to get an activity scheduled to look forward to. I am lucky that my husband will take me places because I haven't driven for 3 years!

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...
Old post so I may not get a reply but were your fillings composites or metal amalgams? The metal ones are 50% mercury which is a neurotoxin and can cause the exact same symptoms we experience.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Hello,

Yes some of my old fillings are mercury. I am having them removed. So far, since I posted this old post last year. I have had 11 fillings done and have 6 more to go. Last two were the first of my amalgams that are being removed. I thank God He is giving me the strength to get through these without being numbed. My dentist is very good. But I still have a flare up of symptoms for awhile afterwards. It can take weeks to get back to my regular "normal". I have had to space out my dental appointments because the anxiety from them is just to much I need to be able to recover.so it's taking longer than it should, but at least they are getting done.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
Please be careful when removing the remaining ones. Do this safety with an IOAMT dentist. The website has a ton of information and lists of certified dentists. Removing them without a dental dam, filtration, nose mask, proper water cooling, goggles, and two suction devices can result in exposure to mercury vapors from removal. Good luck!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...