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Just after some thoughts and suggestions on ‘Acceptance Strategies’, by that I mean if anyone currently suffering from HA would like to share some methods they use to deal with the physical symptoms of anxiety. I am currently dealing with a tight/dry throat and that awful ‘lump in throat’ feeling that has been constant for about a week or so now and is really getting me down. I am doing all I can to try and accept that this sensation is just a symptom of my HA and not something sinister, although as well all know, this is easier said than done.
I have been reading ‘The power of now’ by Eckhart Tolle and he describes just accepting things as they are instead of panicking etc, he describes observing your thoughts and feelings instead of being your thoughts and feelings or ‘The Mind’ as he calls it. I have found his writing helpful at times and sometimes have been able to remove myself from being and living all me anxious thoughts. I have managed to be ‘The peaceful Watcher’ as he describes it. But recently with these throat symptoms not going away, I have found accepting them for the anxiety symptoms that they more than likely are, very difficult and today I am quite concerned that I have a serious throat issue. L
I don’t come to this message board as much as I used to because I don’t particularly find the pages and pages of people posting about symptoms very helpful, in fact if anything it makes things a bit worse for me. At the end of the day, some people have fully become their health anxiety and coming here is a habit and an addiction almost as bad as the HA itself. I don’t want to be one of these people. Yes sharing and talking can help, but I would be so happy if I never saw need to come to this forum ever again (as great as you all are!). We all know that reassurance from other people/docs/friends over symptoms only results in temporary rest bite until the next symptom raises its ugly head.
So in the interest of escaping this horrible mental affliction does anyone have any coping or acceptance strategies? Maybe a mantra? Or other techniques they use to help ease theirI mind?
Hi Frank
I go along with what you have said about finding that coming on here can be less than helpful sometimes - and it can be addictive. This is the first time I've been on today, and I don't think I'm going to read any more posts than yours - which had a positive thread title! When I had those throat symptoms last year they were related to acid reflux, which of course can be exacerbated by anxiety. I did get over them.
As for acceptance strategies, I have one 'mantra' which I use if I am really anxious and breathing too fast, it is a 'mindfulness' technique from a meditation book.
Breathing slowly, as you breathe in say to yourself 'breathing in I calm my mind' and as you breathe out 'breathing out I smile' and the attempt to make your mouth turn upwards even a tiny bit helps to take your mind off your worries, even if only for a few minutes. Done repeatedly it can calm me enough to help me go back to sleep.
Hope that helps.
Hi copper, you sound similar to me in that I come here looking for positive and helpful posts rather than a symptoms roll call! Not knocking people who need to do this, but I find it far from helpful myself.
Cheers for the advice about your coping and acceptance strategy, mindfulness can indeed be a very powerful aid although it is very hard to practice in the hustle and bustle of modern life I find!
Funny you mention acid reflux as I have had stomach acid issues in the past. I really want to go to my doctor about this but trying not to as I only went about a few weeks ago about something else, I also opened up to him about my anxiety for the first time which was really hard.
Don't want to be constantly at the doctors but also worrying about my throat. Damn this HA! :-)
I'm feeling the same at the moment. I know coming to the board isn't helping my HA.
Don't get me wrong I think the people are great and I do find it useful to know that other people are experiencing similar symptoms as I tend to think we can't all be terminally ill so there is obviously some link with the anxiety producing the symptoms.
Having said that my goal is to come off medication and to be able to deal with my anxiety myself. Honeylove posted on one of my topics the other day lots of useful things to do to try and combat the HA and ease the symptoms, so I have taken on board a lot of what she has said, regarding reading, relaxation techniques etc. I'm also changing my diet and starting to do some exercise to try and help.
I've also been reading a lot on just accepting the thoughts and not trying to battle them all the time.
I think it's going to be a long road but I'm hoping that one day I can deal with my HA and thoughts without having a full blown panic attack.
I wish you luck in overcoming your anxiety.
Oh and just to let you know my husband has the same dry throat lump sensation you are talking about and has had it on and off for a couple of years. He doesn't have HA so didn't worry about it but eventually went to the doctors as he was convinced he had a lump in his throat and they put a camera down and there was nothing. He still gets it when he has a stressful time at work but he has now accepted that it's stress causing it as it can go for up to a few months at a time and then reappear.
Very easy for someone who doesn't have HA to do but just wanted to let you know he has very similar symptoms and there isn't anything underlying.
Take care
Hello Frank, I'm glad to see you working this way on your anxiety. It's my firm believe that this is how we recover. I know what you mean about coming here being an addiction for some. I'm new to these boards myself, but when I see the patterns that you mean and say to myself that I don't want to become like that.
That's a good start I think, being able to see your anxiety for what it is and starting to work with it rather than being absorbed by it. I really think this is the first and most important step towards getting out of the cycle.
With regards to acceptance I've found Claire Weeke's book Self Helf For Your Nerves really good. She's the first person I came across who suggested that you stop battling the anxiety, just accept it and learn to work with it. It just makes so much more sense. You might find her book helpful too?
I also posted recently under the General forum about a new technique I learned from a friend that's really helping me. She called it Seperating the Facts from the Story, and it works very well for health anxiety. To explain I'll use the example of bumping my head hard while getting into a car - my HA flared up and I began worrying about getting a concussion. But the concussion was the story I had invented, the simple fact was I had just bumped my head. If a concussion came along I could deal with that fact then, but there was no point in giving time to it when it was just a story in my head and not an actual fact. Does that make sense? You can apply it to so much in your life, and you'll be surprised by how a little logic can help. It works well with HA where we can tend to diagnose ourselves with crazy diseases before ever seeing a doctor! We need to keep the facts firmly separate from the stories we scare ourselves with.
I wrote another big post about the things I do that are helping me handle the anxiety, but it's a lot of information and I don't want to bombard you with it all here so I'll just give you a link to it: http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showpost.php?p=1147731&postcount=6
I hope you find some of that helpful, and good luck with it, it sounds to me like you're in the right state of mind for recovery :)
---------- Post added at 16:15 ---------- Previous post was at 16:13 ----------
Having said that my goal is to come off medication and to be able to deal with my anxiety myself. Honeylove posted on one of my topics the other day lots of useful things to do to try and combat the HA and ease the symptoms, so I have taken on board a lot of what she has said, regarding reading, relaxation techniques etc. I'm also changing my diet and starting to do some exercise to try and help.
Munchlet, I think I was writing my post as you were posting yours! I'm glad you found that post helpful, I really hope that you can make your way towards feeling better xxx
That's more like it guys! A post about beating this!
Thanks very much for all the advice, will definitely be checking out some of those links provided. Will be bookmarking this post for future reference.
In a previous post I talk about how lucky I am in life, I really am. I owe it to myself and to everyone I care for who make my life so awesome to beat this useless misplaced concern and obsessive worry. Thanks for your help towards this!
That's more like it guys! A post about beating this!
In a previous post I talk about how lucky I am in life, I really am. I owe it to myself and to everyone I care for who make my life so awesome to beat this useless misplaced concern and obsessive worry. Thanks for your help towards this!
That describes me too, Frank, I have a terrific family - a lovely, patient husband, 4 fantastic sons and 8 wonderful grandchildren. I have to get myself sorted out so I can spend my life enjoying them all. Where on earth anxiety comes from when you don't have any real problems is a mystery! :shrug:
Hey frank.. i suffer with throat problems through my anxiety. Silly question but whilst you going about your business have you noticed where you tongue is?? i hold mine in the roof of my mouth, ive made a conscious effort to hold it down normally and it has made a difference I read it on here and believe that it helps...
http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=23461
Ria.xx
Hi Rita,
just checking in to say thanks for the advice above and also the thread recommendation. All good advice! Still haven't managed to shake my throat issues and now I have a nasty cold which isn't helping! Ah the joys of health anxiety... You gotta laugh!
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