unbalanced, dizzy & brain fog for a year coming

[ddonaghey1989]

i have been feeling really awful since january :( i dont know whats wrong with me my family and gp think its stress and anxiety. my life is stressful and i am an anxious person but nt to the extreme that i am nw. ill tell u my story

in january 2013 i got a vomiting bug felt dizzy the next day so lay flat in bed a few days later i ended up in a&e with awful dizziness, diarrhea, nausea, unbalanced and the ground felt like it was spongy. i needed help to sit up and to stand and to take me to the toilet. it was the worse thing ive ever experienced. now 10 months later im still suffering. i can do everything but ita with me everyday. ive seen my gp, ent and neurologist who says its anxiety and stress bt could it really leave me this ill?

would love some experiences or advice please i dont know what else to do :'(

[PanchoGoz]

I'm sorry to hear of your troubles, You couldn't feel much worse than that on a boat feeling and throwing up.
It sounds to me like you're still experiencing wha tyou had vividly in your mind. It upset you so much that you think you still have those symptoms, and you probably do to an extent because the mind and body chat away like that. Plus these are typical anxiety symptoms so when they fire off your mind automatically goes "sickness bug - last january - ill - " It's on high alert in case it happened again. It might help to tackle the idea that it might happen again. You may feel you could not possibly come to terms with that idea right now but if you softened yourself to it and convinced yourself you could cope then you may find that, strangely, the dizziness goes. This is ultimately exposure therapy. The next step would be to make it worse, perhaps by spinning around then stopping, or breathing heavily for ten seconds and standing up. Deliberately making the sensations worse so you get used to them as something normal. Get used to them, you know longer fear them, they no longer bother you. Also the brain fog is very common with stress and you are probably feeling overwhelmed.

But for now, as you are distressed, practice just relaxing. Have you tried to some relaxation exercises or meditation? Do the symptoms seem less when you are doing or have done these? Also try reducing caffeine and alcohol.

[ddonaghey1989]

i think your exactly right and what makes it worse is tonight i think ive caught the bug off the kids ive had awful nausea for three hours and i can feel myself getting closer to throwing up :( im so scared. i dnt find that anything makes it better unless im busy that helps sometimes bt im feeling to sick tnyt to do anything. i dnt take caffeine or alcohol since this happened. i just want this to go away :(

[PanchoGoz]

Well now you can see what the problem is, it's juest fear :) That's all you have to deal with, overcoming your fear of this scenario. If you do have a bug now, it will help you overcome it a little bit as you will be exposed to what it actually feels like. Now if you bump up your confidence and smile your way through this bug you will prove to yourself you can handle it and your fear and symptoms will decrease. What do you think about the relaxation ideas?

[ddonaghey1989]

im really struggling to overcome thw fear as the feeling is so awful that i dont even want to move. ive had nausea constant nw for four hours and havent stopped shaking my back is now sore. i can feel myself rpcking to my pulse its horrible. im rly struggling to relax its impossible

[PanchoGoz]

You anxiety is probably making the nausia worse. Sipping some hot water may help, or if you have any herbal tea, peppermint that sort of thing.
You can relax if you really let yourself. Relaxing is about what you stop doing, rather than what you do, you can't force yourself to relax I understand that.
Even if it's the las thing you feel like doing, just lie down on your bed without a pillow. Take 5 deep breaths in through your nose, and out as slowly as you can, nice and controlled. Then just focus on each part of your body in turn and let the tension out of each part. Pay particular attention to your tummy, shoulders and face. If you can't concentrate, just breathe deeply for a while and bring your attention to your breath, gently.
Remember this can't hurt you, even if you are sick and dizzy you are still carrying on and it will pass. Keep telling yourself it's ok to feel like this. Accept the sensations and let them flow through you.

[ddonaghey1989]

thanks alot for your advice. i ended up vomiting last night and im still in bed i knew the nausea wass roo severe. im doing ok ao far havent been sick now in five hours. just gonna stay in bed today and try get out tomorrow. everytime i stood up i had to be sick. so far the anxiety hasnt been too bad x

[PanchoGoz]

Oh dear I am sorry to hear that. Better out than in, best to let these bugs do their thing first. It's hard to know how well you are over a forum.

[ddonaghey1989]

yea ino im just hopig tomorrow bes a better day so i can get out of bed and be with my kids. my partners been dealing with the three of them today and i miss looking after everyone. my hearts pounding alot even tho im feeling relaxed ita really annoying my heads soo sore too :(