Anxiety and stress

I've been crying too much lately. And forgetting way too much. Embarrassingly too much! Figured I was in trouble again and made the doctor appointment. I have a wonderful doctor, easy to talk to, personable, and oh-so-knowledgeable. Have you ever considered what position your doctor was in his graduation class. I won't claim first for mine, but he's up there. (Another doctor, I feel sure, is way down there.) But I digress.

I had to book the PA because MY doctor is so much in demand, being a good doctor and all. However, she is just a cute, young version of him (he's about early 40's). I have come to trust her, too. 

While I waited briefly for her to come in, I just sat and cried. She wanted to know what was wrong. So I just spilled my heartache. A student had called me a Nazi the day before. She started laughing and laughing. Wait, I'm thinking, that's not very caring or polite. She explained. "I'm a coach for girls in grades 6-12 at a private academy. I have to be tough on them. Would you believe they call me the Leprechaun Nazi?" So I had to laugh. (Yes, she's tiny and I understood why she laughed.)

I explained a number of family-related things going on that were breaking my heart, that I had no control over anything in my life, that I had regained six of the 30 pounds I had lost taking diet pills. That was in just two weeks. But the male doctor said I couldn't take any more until March, so I pretty much begged to have a single "subscription" She laughed again, making me laugh. "You wouldn't believe how many people use that word," she said. Ha Ha on me, a retired English teacher. OK, prescription. I would make a walking advertisement, I'm afraid, for diet pill addiction. They give me control over my raging appetite, so much energy I almost never get tired, and a much more frequent positive attitude.


And forgetfulness! See, I almost forgot to tell about how much I am forgetting. In fact, during my previous doctor visit (the male), the one thing I forgot to bring up was how I forget. (Yeah, pretty funny, huh?) So I asked this young woman if the onset of Alzheimer's was beginning. She ran me through a brief test, which I readily passed. "Anxiety and stress. Are you experiencing any?"

"Anxiety and stress often mask as Alzheimer's with the forgetfulness. Your brain becomes clogged and information can't get through," she explained. She asked if I saw a therapist, advised that I exercise, and do something fun.

I put a link to a website dealing with anxiety and stress, things that can happen to anyone. It's two days later and I'm already getting a grip, thanks to my smart little PA. I don't mean to seem glib, but talking to someone professionally, cutting up a huge tree limb struck by lightning, and putting a puzzle together with family seemed to get me started again. I did all those things just yesterday, the same day I saw the PA. And got my diet pills once again. All in all, a fabulous day!


www.helpguide.org/mental/generalized_anxiety_disorder.htm