zacman777
02-08-17, 18:30
Okay, here it goes.
I am getting ready to go on a 12 hour drive with my girlfriend to our vacation destination. I just recently finished tapering off of Sertraline so I'm experiencing a lot right now. The reason this is so frustrating is I drove about 11 hours earlier this summer to another trip, but I was still on 12.5 mg of Sertraline daily at that point, so I don't know if that had anything to do with it.
Recently I've also been hyper focused on my breathing. Like to the point that I feel like I try so hard to keep my breaths normal, that I get out of my natural rhythm and make things worse. Even when I'm not focusing on it I'm constantly monitoring it, and when I notice something I think "here it goes". It gets worse when I am in the car because I'm really focusing on it. It's like my thought is a little tighter, my chest is a little heavier, and every breath seems to be a challenge. That's when the panic starts to set it. I feel like my breathing is just off, my head starts swimming and I start asking the bad questions. Is this the big one? What if I pass out while driving? What if I breath so irradically for so long it does perminant damage to my body? Fill in the blank and I've asked the question.
I've really been trying to face my anxiety head on, so that I don't feed it, but in these circumstances it's so hard. I've been so worried about this for weeks now, it's like all I have been thinking about, the car ride and the trip. Even when I find moments where I get truly excited, there is that little "what if" voice in the back of my head. This is all also related to my health anxiety.
I feel like I know deep down somewhere that this isn't serious, especially since I've had these feelings before and nothing has happened, but we all know that voice that says "what if this time is different". So that is adding a whole new level to the anxiety. I guess cars and planes are the worst for me because I feel so far away from medical help IF something were to happen. I also keep trying to remind myself that it's been just over a month since I've stopped my medicine, and that is more than likely the culprit here as to why it's so hard to shake these anxious thoughts and feelings. Another thing that keeps eating at me is I think "I don't have to go on this trip, then I won't have to deal with the car ride. But if I do go, and then get there without any issue, I then HAVE to come back" almost like at that point I'm trapped into a 12 hour car ride, whereas if I don't go in the first place, I have the control. But that's not what I want at all.
I want to be able to enjoy this trip, I haven't gone on vacation with my family in about 10 years, and this is the first time with my girlfriend, and I absolutely LOVE the place we are going. I'm writing this to see if anyone has ever been in this situation. Or if anyone has any advice, success stories, or just anything that you feel will be helpful.
Thank you so much to all of you for reading this, you're the best!
I am getting ready to go on a 12 hour drive with my girlfriend to our vacation destination. I just recently finished tapering off of Sertraline so I'm experiencing a lot right now. The reason this is so frustrating is I drove about 11 hours earlier this summer to another trip, but I was still on 12.5 mg of Sertraline daily at that point, so I don't know if that had anything to do with it.
Recently I've also been hyper focused on my breathing. Like to the point that I feel like I try so hard to keep my breaths normal, that I get out of my natural rhythm and make things worse. Even when I'm not focusing on it I'm constantly monitoring it, and when I notice something I think "here it goes". It gets worse when I am in the car because I'm really focusing on it. It's like my thought is a little tighter, my chest is a little heavier, and every breath seems to be a challenge. That's when the panic starts to set it. I feel like my breathing is just off, my head starts swimming and I start asking the bad questions. Is this the big one? What if I pass out while driving? What if I breath so irradically for so long it does perminant damage to my body? Fill in the blank and I've asked the question.
I've really been trying to face my anxiety head on, so that I don't feed it, but in these circumstances it's so hard. I've been so worried about this for weeks now, it's like all I have been thinking about, the car ride and the trip. Even when I find moments where I get truly excited, there is that little "what if" voice in the back of my head. This is all also related to my health anxiety.
I feel like I know deep down somewhere that this isn't serious, especially since I've had these feelings before and nothing has happened, but we all know that voice that says "what if this time is different". So that is adding a whole new level to the anxiety. I guess cars and planes are the worst for me because I feel so far away from medical help IF something were to happen. I also keep trying to remind myself that it's been just over a month since I've stopped my medicine, and that is more than likely the culprit here as to why it's so hard to shake these anxious thoughts and feelings. Another thing that keeps eating at me is I think "I don't have to go on this trip, then I won't have to deal with the car ride. But if I do go, and then get there without any issue, I then HAVE to come back" almost like at that point I'm trapped into a 12 hour car ride, whereas if I don't go in the first place, I have the control. But that's not what I want at all.
I want to be able to enjoy this trip, I haven't gone on vacation with my family in about 10 years, and this is the first time with my girlfriend, and I absolutely LOVE the place we are going. I'm writing this to see if anyone has ever been in this situation. Or if anyone has any advice, success stories, or just anything that you feel will be helpful.
Thank you so much to all of you for reading this, you're the best!