Overwhelmed
 

I'm talking overwhelmed as a symptom, a sensation. Not overwhelmed by a specific situation, but chronic... overwhelmsion? Overwhelmation? Overwhelmism? Overwhelmth?

It's right up there for me with fatigue, cog fog, etc. Just a generalized feeling of being overwhelmed. You know, the feeling that you just can't deal?

That's another one that's almost impossible to describe to John Q. Public. I can barely explain it to myself. It doesn't have to be a lot of things at once, it doesn't have to be something bad, it doesn't even have to be something I even KNOW about. I just feel overwhelmed, and want to crawl back under my rock.

I know what you're talking about, B2Y.

How can we explain it to others when we don't even fully understand it ourselves?! :confused:

Sometimes it just feels like I cannot tolerate one more thing.....but then I stop and realize that I really am not dealing with anything out of the ordinary to begin with! It's just that feeling of "too much". I know what you're saying....and I can't explain it any better, either! :rolleyes:

I get overwhelmed as an sx too. Seems like everyone wants an answer, does not understand the sx emotion.

I'd so like to come up with a different term for it that people could relate to (non-MSers, I mean), but so far haven't. Nothing else quite describes it.

"Sorry, I can't go, I'm feeling overwhelmed right now."
"Overwhelmed by what?"
"I don't know."
"Well, can you cut back on some of the things you do?"
"I don't do anything."
"Then why are you overwhelmed?"
"Bite me."

My friend with fibro, and a friend with Lyme get it also. Sadly.

I would put it right up there with Anxiety. Perhaps it's sidekick..:mad:

God Bless whoever invented Prozac..etc..:hug:

I will not allow anyone to demand things of me anymore or let them overwhelm me, by daring to ask me to be normal.:eek:

I hear Ya, Blessings.:)

After reading this thread in great analytical detail, I can safely say you have a severe case of chronic/acute overwhemingismitis to include occasional bouts of overwhemingnesstosis.

I too have experienced this at many times on many levels and can range from a cause of many things to actually just one specific thing depending on the timing.

However, there is both a temporary and eventual permanent cure for such a situation. It's very simple, but not easy. But nothing worthwhile ever is, right?

Step 1: When faced with this situation, simply say, "Screw it!"

Step 2: Should step 1 not be successful, simply say and make it very clear to everyone associated around you, "I don't give a $h#t!" Followed by a serious dose of "Just do it!"

Step 3: If steps 1 and/or 2 are not effective, simple ask and answer to yourself, "What is the absolute worse that can happen if I _______?

There you go! It works every time for me and I have the added benefit of being a person much easier to live with. Who knew?

I think I have been experiencing this. I know my daughter seems to think I should not be overwhelmed, as I do not work or even get out much. Just the thought of making the trip to Portland to see my grandson can feel overwhelming, even though it is something I greatly enjoy. I rather hate the feeling that I am becoming inflexible (like sleeping in my own bed, need my familiar surroundings to feel comfortable, etc.) because just ten years ago I loved adventure and welcomed challenge and difficult tasks. It was just 13 years ago that I was camping in the snow in the Olympics for a week-end, hiking the ridges and helping a friend trim trees for the forest service. And 15 years ago I was climbing mountains. And now going shopping is something I often have to psyche myself up for!

But sometimes, like you say, there is no trigger for the feeling of being overwhelmed. It just comes on like a chill, or tiredness.

I am having a flare up of overwhelmeditis. I am now unable to read my email, and hear the TV in the other room. its just too many things at the same time. My to do list grows by the minute and its getting heavy to carry. I just want to slap my hands over my ears, tuck my head into my lap and sing "LA LA LA LAH I cant hear you!" I want the world to just STOP! I want to get off and rest!"

I never considered this a sx before. it does make sense tho.

Does prozac help this? Not taking anything right now, but having major issues with overwhelming. Most of the time I sit and stare and can't even move. Don't know what to do!

debw,

It has been my experience Prozac may be a viable, as needed, medication for this type of situation. I personally have used it for this specific scenario, as has my wife. Prozac is a fast acting short lived medication affecting the chemical balance in the brain.

Of course, one should consult their Primary Care Physician for specific medical guidance on this subject unique to their own situation.

Everything overwhelms me. It doesn't make sense, but it exists. I can be mentally overwhelmed or externally (i.e. too much stimuli). I find making decisions fries my brain cells and I take a long time to really make my mind up about even small things now. Too much stimuli really flips me out.

If too much is coming at me, my brain just freezes completely. It's kind of like when your computer freezes and you bring up the task manager and it tells you that the program is "not responding". That is my brain. I feel like my face goes blank and I get a deer in the head lights look. I don't know how many times that I tell people that I just can't think right now.

Someone will ask me to do something and I will say "I don't know". Then they want to know why I don't know. Well, I don't know that either. I don't know is a perfectly reasonable answer, but other people don't think so. Why is it that I should have to just answer on the spot? I will eventually come up with a yes or no, but dang it, give me some time / space to get there.

This is absolutely a sx and a common one. Just go see a neuropsych and get the cognitive testing done and you will have it confirmed. My results proved that this was part of the damage that has been done to my brain.

Amen, Holly. My Neuro/Psych said the same thing. All of these disorderes may be a direct result of MS damage.

It's the same feeling I used to get in math classes...I could look at a problem, and just not get it, and then a fog would come over me, and the whole thing would grow in gargantuan proportions, until I couldn't get anything out of it...

Just too much...too much.:(

Thank you so much for this thread - I sooooo get this one. I liken it to how I imagine drowning to be. EVERYTHING is just too hard, and I can't face things. Things just seem to big, too confusing, too hard, or too complicated to get my head around and deal with.

It is probably a combo of stress, depression and anxiety because all of the messages are not getting through and the brain is trying to be protective.

Who knows, but you couldn't have summed things up better for me.

Lyn :eek:

Thank You all too, for this thread!
I feel the exact way you guys do!!! My big problem has been, I can't even get it out what I am feeling, you all have said it perfectly for me! I appreciate it from all of you. The only description I can get out right now, is I'm right in the middle of a tornado, I'm trying to reach out to grab something to take care of it, and it whirls right by. Does any of this make sense?
The other day, our administrator at work, had a problem and wanted to address it in front of the customer, like, right now!! I looked up and him and said, I can't do this right now, please can we talk about it later, when the customer is not here. I just can't do this now.
He looked at me like i was crazy.
I have always been able to take care of everything for everybody, now I can't even take care of myself. It's getting very scared right now.
Between increased dizziness and confusion, something is not right. I do have more stress, right now.
Thanks for being here!!:)
Nobody really knows whats going on, but me.

I thought only the computer could catch a virus
 

:Good-Post: I thought that ONLY COMPUTERS CAUGHT VIRUS' & SUCH OVER THE NET but I seem to have caught this overwhelmitis. It began with what to have for breakfast this morning & went downhill from their. What pants to wear? What t-shirt matches the pants? :Scratch-Head:Then of course the scoks had to match - this was all too much.:confused2: By the ime it got to sneakers I put on my hot pink ones. I was wearing a bright yellow shirt, bright yellow socks & burgandy sweat pants - the PCA asked why pink sneakers? I couldn't tell her all I knew is that by the time I reached that point I could not make any more decisions. The decisions just kept getting harder - do I make a meeting or not? If I go which route do I take? Went to Staples for printer ink - do I just buy color ink which I need now or buy the twin pack with a color & black cartridge? It never got any easier - spent 3/4 of an hour looking for a phone number only to check the built-in phone book on the phone for another number & found the first one. :thud:

Talk about BRAIN FOG. :Head-Spin:

Next big decision do I eat dinner :pizza: then take a nap :Zzzz: or do I take a nap :Yawn: then eat dinner when I get up? :Bang-Head:

Today is one of those days I wish I could arrange my life so I didn't have to be present!:confused: :holysheep:

Thanks so much for this thread - you have described exactly how I feel - OVERWHELMED! While it happens to me mainly at work, I've been known to have that feeling at home, which is where I'm supposed to be relaxing.

Holly had the perfect description of how I feel - same thing happens to me, my brain decides to freeze and it's program isn't responding. LOL

So glad to see I'm not the only one feeling this way.

Thank you SO much for the replies so far...several thoughts have been expressed that I hope to remember!

Funny how much it helps to know that somebody else feels the same way and understands. I mean, even though I know intellectually that other people must experience this feeling, I sometimes fall for the lie that my own brain tells me: "Freak! You're a freak!" :D

Loss of bladder sensations
 

:eek: Here's my latest funny...Went to urologist to find out why I could not pee for 3 days during last flare-up. As I laid on exam table , uro sat back and said "OK you can get dressed." HUH?? So, I sat up on elbows and asked, "Arent you going to examine the bladder?" He stared back stunned. "I did" HUH??? One of those confusing moments in life. "Didn't you feel anything, he asked?" I began gigling...thinking he was joking...cuz if he had DONE anything...surely I would have FELT it! "No, I replied." He quickly inched back to area and said, "Do you FEEL this?" NO..."THIS???" Now, I really burst out laughing and asked, "Are you really DOING something??" I asked.
Well, apparently he had and there are only 2 things that cause that kind of loss of feeling-cancer or MS. "OH!! I burst out laughing, "I just KNEW there HAD to be something GOOD about MS!!!" NO PAIN with bladder exam!:wink:

LOL TRESA, I don't think you should giggle while the URO is ...uh...working.:D