Hello all!
I have been reading the posts in these forums as I have searched the Internet for some type of explanation as to what has been going on with me lately and I thought it be best if I asked the community to see if anyone can relate.
I am a 24 year old male. I have just graduated college and moved to Florida with my sister, which is something I, for all intensive purposes, was happy about. I started an internship in my field and was told there would be a job opportunity for me with the company in the next few weeks. While I do the internship, I also work a full-time retail job and am a freelance writer. While I know it seems I may have a lot on my plate, I was doing just fine with balancing everything until this past weekend.
It started Friday evening. Now I will note, I was anxious about having an STD, but on Friday it was confirmed I did not. Friday night I ate shrimp that my sister cooked, which is a meal I have had at least five times since living here. However, I have an allergic reaction in my mouth and took to 25mg Benadryl to relieve the pain. I was working on a script, but was naturally dozing in and out of sleep because of the Benadryl. I also have routinely smoked marijuana on a daily basis since I was 19 to help alleviate stress and for an increase in creativity when writing. I smoked the night I took the Benadryl, but I fell asleep with no worries or concerns.
When I awoke Saturday, however, my head began to feel cloudy and it honestly felt like I was in a high state. I smoked before heading to work, thinking it would alleviate the pain, but it did not. Instead, I went to work that day with a headache and still feeling like I was high and my cognitive thought process was not all the way there. Work did not help either. It was only a 5hr shift and my head was pounding because there was added stress going on at work.
I got home Saturday night and smoked, but again coming down from the high only made my head feel worse. I took an Alieve PM to relieve the pain, and it did the trick and put me to sleep. Sunday, I woke up with the same cloudy feeling and this is when I guess you could say I became anxious. I still had the head high and I had no idea why, but I pushed through work and made it home.
I explained my symptoms to my sister and father and they both said it is most likely anxiety because they both have experienced anxious moments out of nowhere. However, I began taking my blood pressure on Friday night and each time I have checked it, it is slightly high. Hypertension runs in my family on both sides, so the possibility of why my head feels so groggy is because I could have prehypertension. Yet, on Sunday when I checked, it was 113/77, which is normal.
On Sunday night, however, I was able to only get 2hrs of sleep and tossed and turned through the night. My sister immediately concurred it was anxiety and advised me to seek the core of my symptoms. However, I have no idea. On Monday, I worked a 12hr shift, which is normal, but confirmed work was a stress trigger. At the same time, I still felt anxious talking through the problems at work and my head hurt either from sleeplessness or anxiety, or a mixture of both. I did not smoke marijuana Monday night, but I did take an Alieve PM to ensure I went to sleep. Again, I was in and out of sleep for the first couple hours on the couch and I was sweating in my sleep, but then slept until 5. Woke up and went into my bedroom and was in and out every two hours, still sweating but not as bad as I was on the couch, until I finally got up at 10:30 this morning. I still felt slightly clouded in the head, but not as bad as Sunday or Monday. I took my blood pressure again this morning, and once again it was high.
Note: everytime my blood pressure was taken, it was taken twice for an accurate reading.
Like I said, I am happy with where I am in life and I am not discounting the possibility of me having anxiety, but I have no idea where it is coming from or how to get back to my normal cognitive thinking. I feel slightly disassociated with reality when I wake up, but as I progress through the day, the feeling wears off until I get back home and go back to my normal routine. My sister says it could be I am experiencing loneliness because I have very little friends here and rarely go out and socialize. I am an introverted person so I appreciate my alone time, but I did go from an environment where I always had something to do (college) to now focusing on work and achieving my career goals as a writer. On the other hand, I do not feel a panic attack or a sudden rush of adrenaline anywhere in my body. The uncertainty of what's happening in my head is what is distracting and causing me anxiety, and I'm not sure if it is anxiety or symptoms of prehypertension. I have a doctors appointment scheduled next Tuesday, and to be honest, I know whatever anxiety I have will be alieviated after my visit.
However, what advice can you spare me on handling my condition until I see my doctor?
Thanks!