Please tell me this will get better

[Amandala]

Hi everyone! Well after 3 months of severe anxiety and panic and doing nothing but sit on the couch or lie in bed all day, I want to start getting up and doing more. Problem is- I get so out of breath and tired and dizzy even just doing laundry I am reluctant to do anything at all. Then when I do and all this happens- back to bed terrified I go. Any suggestions on how to work through this? I want my active lifestyle back and I know the bed isn't helping my anxiety at all, but I'm just too scared to get moving :(

[Serenity1990]

Of course you'll get better, your nervous system is simply exhausted, and getting more so because of the worry. As soon as you accept that it's all anxiety you're well on your way to recovery. It won't be overnight, but as someone who two months ago was almost too scared to be by myself and now can have completely normal days, I know you can get there. :)

[Leslie735]

Take little steps, get out of bed in the morning and make breakfast, next few days do teh same thing but add maybe a load of laundry or clean a bathroom, few days later add a small walk etc. etc. *hugs*

[NotCool]

I know exactly how you feel. I wanted to go on a long forest walk the other day, after a looong time of staying at home, being passive (either sitting behind the computer, or lying in bed). There's a forest path with a slope - and around 5 minutes after I started "climbing" up, I started having a high BPM, and felt a bit dizzy - and voila, a mild, just-under-the-surface panic attack ensued. I guess the body is associating the fast heart rate symptom with anxiety, and starts producing adrenalin automatically? I don't know. Anyways, I turned around, and went home.

I guess my advice is to go slow. Start walking daily, then start walking faster, then try running for short distances etc.. Eventually, we'll get there.