Does anyone recognise this?

I got very anxious exactly a week ago - lots of things building up over a sustained period of time - and went to bed for the day. Probably what could be termed a shutdown. Laying in the dark silence was helpful, although I felt bad about missing work and not calling in sick (played truant again today, but for a different reason).

On the Friday I got really drunk. I was sick and passed out. This was also anxiety induced, and this was also helpful in reducing it. However, since then I have felt as though my brain is separated from the rest of my body, my eyes don't seem to be functioning as well as they should (sometimes they go a bit blurry, sometimes it feels like they're not really my eyes and I'm looking through someone else's), I keep getting headaches and I struggle to open my eyes in the morning. I've gone from my normal 4 hours to over 8 hours sleep a night, with the compulsion to take a nap during the day (although I can't). I can still function on the whole but I just feel very, very strange.

Do you think this could be the fallout from the anxiety attack, or a consequence of my bingeing (I only had 15 units - recovering alcoholic so very much used to counting my intake in units!)? I'd go see the GP except I don't have one. I was deregistered after a series of heated debates. A new surgery has agreed to accept me but I have to wait for a couple of weeks until I'm put on the system so I'm in limbo and would appreciate if anyone could share a similar experience..? That might help in the meantime. 

Parents
  • Have you dialed the NHS advice line number 111?

    They will go through a series of questions with you and advise you what to do next.

    Another alternative is an NHS walk in centre, which have nurses on duty and sometimes a Doctor and they will be able to advise you as well  A lot of NHS walk in centres are open until quite late and you wouldn't have to have a GP to access them.  Be prepared for quite a long wait though.

    You need serious informed advice and I don't think this forum is the place to offer a diagnosis.  Most problems do go away and are not serious, but you need this assurance from a trained professional who will go through all your symptoms.

  • I don't use the phone so I couldn't call 111 really. In Scotland though there is a webchat option on nhs inform website and I was able to talk to someone using that. They advised me to wait for the GP to open and register with them asap, and I did that the very next day but just waiting now to be added to the patient list so I can actually make an appointment. I know that it's nothing serious otherwise they would have dealt with it when I was chatting with them. Not looking for a diagnosis, just curious as to whether anyone else has ever experienced something similar. Thank you for your advice, though.  

Reply
  • I don't use the phone so I couldn't call 111 really. In Scotland though there is a webchat option on nhs inform website and I was able to talk to someone using that. They advised me to wait for the GP to open and register with them asap, and I did that the very next day but just waiting now to be added to the patient list so I can actually make an appointment. I know that it's nothing serious otherwise they would have dealt with it when I was chatting with them. Not looking for a diagnosis, just curious as to whether anyone else has ever experienced something similar. Thank you for your advice, though.  

Children
  • Unfortunately medicine is like autism - no two people are alike.  So two people offering apparently the same symptoms may have two different problems.

    If you have been told that it's not serious, you will have either to accept that or get a second opinion.  Anxiety can manifest itself in many different symptoms and that may be the problem, but you need someone qualified to tell you whether that is the case.