possible cause?

[recember]

i recently visited a doctor for anxiety and panic attacks after a traumatic event happened in my life. he sent me to get some blood work done, i had to wait two weeks before i could get the results back and within that two weeks i started experiencing depersonalization (not feeling like a person, obsessive thoughts about existence/myself, etc...) and a little bit of derealization. my anxiety usually happens when im asleep and i wake up in a panic attack. all in all its just all in my head and i cannot make it stop, i cant stop worrying, or i will for a short while and then i think about it all over again and my heart sinks to my gut, and i get extremely frightened and feel so alone and alienated--like i am not myself. i also get to a point where i tell myself ''oh youve always been depressed and you dont know how to live otherwise'' and i get scared that i am infact getting better but i have just never realised how i am supposed to actually feel so the RIGHT feeling feels horrible and scary to me and i will have to live with it forever.
i just want to feel like my old self, and i dont know if that is what is going to happen--and i feel like if i wasnt so drained because of being anemic i could easily get over the traumatic even but because of feeling so ''blah'' i have no motivation to do so, i am stuck.

today i went in to get my bloodwork results back and i was told i was extremely anemic, and i also have extremely low levels of vitamin D.

my doctor has me now taking 3 iron tablets a day, 4 vitamin D tablets and 3-4 krill oil a day.
i read on a different message board that fish oil helps out with depersonalization and anxiety and depression in general and im hoping it will do so.

to make a long story short i was wondering if me being so anemic and lacking vitamin D along with that could be the core problem as to why i have axniety and depression so bad? while i continue to take these vitamins to help my body get back on track will the anxiety/depersonalization symptoms subside? and how long does it take?

[nursegirl6572]

Yes, the abnomal lab work could definitely be affecting your anxiety issues...but from what you've said...it seems like that in itself isn't the sole cause.  The traumatic experience, along with what seems like a history of anxiety problems may be (more likely) the underlying cause, IMO.

Once you have treated the anemia and Vit D, I think you will definitely notice an improvement in your symptoms...but for them to resolve all together?  I'm not so sure, to be honest.  I hope for YOUR sake that they do.  Give it some time...and see what happens basically.

In the meantime...it wouldn't hurt to contnue addressing your anxiety.  Are you CURRENTLY in therapy or taking any meds for the anxiety?  If not...you may want to ask your PCP for a referral...and have a thorough psych eval.  Your levels should normalize pretty quickly....so if you want to wait it out and see....that's not a bad idea either, considering that they definitely could be exacerbating the anxious issues.  At least get the ball rolling on the anxiety treatment if you haven't already.

Lastly...read my journal about depersonalization/derealization.  Also, if you do a search on those terms...you will find a recent thread where a bunch of us discussed that.  Those are two of the more frustrating and debilitating symptoms of anxiety...and I dont know if this is the first time you've ever experienced it....but I can tell you from personal experience that once the anxiety is brought under control...those symptoms disappear.  It just takes time, unfortunately.

Hope things improve for you as you normalize your deficiencies.  Let us know.

[recember]

thank you.

no i am not currently seeing a psychiatrist or taking any medication for the anxiety.
i am really considering getting a referral to a psychiatrist though. i am iffy about taking medication because i am not so sure that i need to take any. i think talking it out along with fixing up my anemia could do the trick.

ive always been a little bit ''hazy'' im sure it was because of putting of getting my blood work done so long, and that i'd always been having low iron. but ive never experienced depersonalization as intense as i have lately.

i feel as if my brain is numb. and it is frusterating. but i am hoping that doing all of this will sort it out over time. i was happy to see that many people suffer from depersonalization and that it is a common symptom though, it is nice to not feel so alone in that sense anymore.

i just have a lot of things going on at once, and it is stressing me out/causing anxiety along with all of the anemia stuff i just found out about, i am only 17 so it is alot for me to handle and is scary for me. after i talked to my family about the traumatic experience a huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders and i felt pretty good, but a few days later i got to thinking about it all and felt extremely guilty and i fell into anxiety and depression all over again and thats when the depersonalization started.

its just a horrible feeling when you KNOW things should make you excited and happy and you really want them to but you just cant get yourself to that point. not to mention  not feeling like a person.