Question:
I can’t stop thinking about existence (kind of obsessive, it happens almost unconsciously), and sometimes it leads to bad episodes where I begin to puke and have diarrhea. I start to believe things that I would normally think are extremely speculative and outrageous (philosophically), and I have an extremely vast fear associated with it. Like a bottomless well of terror is stuck in my mind This morning I puked twice, and had diarrhea twice. I’m on prozac – I had these symptoms before, about three months ago, and I had the same horrifying feeling about existence. Am I having panic attacks, or is it psychosis? Or what? I thought it was panic attacks at first, but the crazy/obsessive thoughts aren’t typical of panic attacks are they? I will also sometimes begin to believe in really paranoid things, like conspiracies and such. Tom
Response:
Hello Thomas, We can get very compulsive about our Panic disorder, and the condition itself produces "crazy" thoughts or way of thinking. But I would strongly suggest seeing your psych.doctor and tell him/her about your diarrhea and throwing up. This might be a side-effect of Prozac, or it might not be the right med for you, meaning it’s not doing the job of calming your panic and anxiety. This is definitely something that needs to be discussed with him. Hope this helps a little, Love, Rita Got questions? Get answers over the phone at Keen.com. Up to 100 minutes free! http://www.keen.com
Response:
HI Tom, I’ve had that fear.. just the thought of my being hit hard in the pit of my stomach. I had the feeling of unreality with it. . It was fear of living..IME. Charla —
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I can’t stop thinking about existence (kind of obsessive, it happens almost unconsciously), and sometimes it leads to bad episodes where I begin to puke and have diarrhea. I start to believe things that I would normally think are extremely speculative and outrageous (philosophically), and I have an extremely vast fear associated with it. Like a bottomless well of terror is stuck in my mind This morning I puked twice, and had diarrhea twice. I’m on prozac – I had these symptoms before, about three months ago, and I had the same horrifying feeling about existence. Am I having panic attacks, or is it psychosis? Or what? I thought it was panic attacks at first, but the crazy/obsessive thoughts aren’t typical of panic attacks are they? I will also sometimes begin to believe in really paranoid things, like conspiracies and such. Tom
Response:
Hi Tom. I agree with Rita and think you should talk to your doctor about this. Unless he knows exactly what you’re experiencing it will be hard for him to help you. A lot of us have these huge fears about life and so on, is quite a common link here – fears of life and or death. If it is so bad that you get sick over it, I really think it is something that must be addressed as soon as possible. There’s no reason you should be going through that. You can get help whether it be through counseling or meds (continuing yours or changing it). Maybe the prozac isn’t enough or isn’t really the right med for you. I was on a number of different meds, and while I found the anti-anxiety/anti-depressants to be a help, I found that my paranoid type thoughts and stuff were not being helped by it. I recently went on an anti-psychotic drug, and am not sure yet how helpful it is, as it’s too short a time to tell, but i know it might be a big help. I don’t know whether or not what you are experiencing is psychosis, nor do i know if such a drug would help or if your doc would prescribe such a drug, but i think if you talk to your dr and explain the symptoms you have, he can help you much better. I found this out through experience – that keeping things to yourself only gets you stuck with them longer, while telling your doc gives him the chance to try out different things to help you. hope that helped at all. good luck les. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I can’t stop thinking about existence (kind of obsessive, it happens almost unconsciously), and sometimes it leads to bad episodes where I begin to puke and have diarrhea. I start to believe things that I would normally think are extremely speculative and outrageous (philosophically), and I have an extremely vast fear associated with it. Like a bottomless well of terror is stuck in my mind This morning I puked twice, and had diarrhea twice. I’m on prozac – I had these symptoms before, about three months ago, and I had the same horrifying feeling about existence. Am I having panic attacks, or is it psychosis? Or what? I thought it was panic attacks at first, but the crazy/obsessive thoughts aren’t typical of panic attacks are they? I will also sometimes begin to believe in really paranoid things, like conspiracies and such. Tom
Got questions? Get answers over the phone at Keen.com. Up to 100 minutes free! http://www.keen.com
Response:
I understand how you are feeling. When my anxiety was at its worst I would obsess about living in a community isolated from other communities. I would mentally calculate the distance between towns trying to find a safe distance that to me would not signify isolation. I also obsessed about living in a coastal town almost to the point that I feared it really was the edge of the world and I could fall off into oblivion. Pretty weird, huh? I assure you that I am totally sane-just panic had control over my thoughts. Irrational thinking tends to go hand-in-hand with panic disorder. I pray that you will share your thoughts with your doctor and find that you are not so different after all. Charley
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I can’t stop thinking about existence (kind of obsessive, it happens almost unconsciously), and sometimes it leads to bad episodes where I begin to puke and have diarrhea. I start to believe things that I would normally think are extremely speculative and outrageous (philosophically), and I have an extremely vast fear associated with it. Like a bottomless well of terror is stuck in my mind This morning I puked twice, and had diarrhea twice. I’m on prozac – I had these symptoms before, about three months ago, and I had the same horrifying feeling about existence. Am I having panic attacks, or is it psychosis? Or what? I thought it was panic attacks at first, but the crazy/obsessive thoughts aren’t typical of panic attacks are they? I will also sometimes begin to believe in really paranoid things, like conspiracies and such. Tom
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I can’t stop thinking about existence (kind of obsessive, it happens almost unconsciously), and sometimes it leads to bad episodes where I begin to puke and have diarrhea. I start to believe things that I would normally think are extremely speculative and outrageous (philosophically), and I have an extremely vast fear associated with it. Like a bottomless well of terror is stuck in my mind This morning I puked twice, and had diarrhea twice. I’m on prozac – I had these symptoms before, about three months ago, and I had the same horrifying feeling about existence. Am I having panic attacks, or is it psychosis? Or what? I thought it was panic attacks at first, but the crazy/obsessive thoughts aren’t typical of panic attacks are they? I will also sometimes begin to believe in really paranoid things, like conspiracies and such. Tom
Just wanted to give you some hugs. Di
Response:
Hi Tom, I have had very big thoughts about existence during irrational panic experiences. Unfortunately I didn’t write them down because they were really big thoughts that I could conceive in my mind but couldn’t use words to explain them. I believe when I have a severe panic experience that my mind will focus like a laser on a subject that has been floating around unanswered in my mind and I will have an epiphany where I clearly understand the answer. During a panic experience the mind will either go scatter brain or will focus. My mind does both but when it does focus I have really insightful thoughts like you are talking about. These new thoughts or perspectives of life on earth can rattle your old way of thinking and it takes time for your soul to be realistic about the use of this new knowledge. Have you ever heard of a mystical experience ? Have you ever thought what it means when spiritual teachers tell us that we are going to live forever ? Forever ? No end in sight. It just keeps going forever. That was one of the big thoughts that I grasped to the core of my being during an experience. You are not alone. You might needs meds if you are obsessing and it is affected your quality of life. Tony — "Let there be songs to fill the air"
I can’t stop thinking about existence (kind of obsessive, it happens almost unconsciously), and sometimes it leads to bad episodes where I begin to puke and have diarrhea. I start to believe things that I would normally think are extremely speculative and outrageous (philosophically), and I have an extremely vast fear associated with it. Like a bottomless well of terror is stuck in my mind This morning I puked twice, and had diarrhea twice. I’m on prozac – I had these symptoms before, about three months ago, and I had the same horrifying feeling about existence. Am I having panic attacks, or is it psychosis? Or what? I thought it was panic attacks at first, but the crazy/obsessive thoughts aren’t typical of panic attacks are they? I will also sometimes begin to believe in really paranoid things, like conspiracies and such. Tom
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