Please help im scared

[anxious elephant999]

:weep: Hi is it just me or is anybody else scared of everything , i know the health anxiety is the main problem but i have GAD and OCD aswell and from the moment i wake up im scared of everything, im scared of taking my daughter to school even though husbands with me im scared of being left on my own and scared of going out , scared to have company round in case i feel crap and scared to go to anyones house in case i feel crap , sometimes scared of going to mum and dads or sisters , sometimes scared of having a bath or shower, scared of standing up and moveing incase my dizziness gets worse basically scared of everything and dont know what to do , im on meds and have in the past had cbt can anyone help me ciz im terrified , and scared i will always feel like this

[MOJO]

Hi!
I know exactly how you feel. I am frightened of absoloutely everything in my day. Even in my house I feel so anxious and scared. I don't understand it either and am so worried that I will feel like this for ever, even though everyone reassures me that it will go eventually. I am trying all the suggestions about distraction and the "accepting" the feelings and going with the flow etc. It's so hard though. I just want to feel well and free of all these horrible symptoms. Sometimes I wonder how I can face aother day of the same. I'm sorry I don't have any helpful advice. I just wanted you to know that I really do understand. I could have written your post myself it is so much how I feel.
Judy.:hugs:

[JohnLuke300]

Hi, I am only scared of 50% of everything so I am twice as lucky as you I guess. I think you may have too much time on your hands thinking about being scared. You need to have some activities and a daily routine to distract you from having so many negative thoughts. If you are spending a lot of time by yourself thinking of all the things that make you anxious you are going to continue being scared. It is these negative ideas that maintain our anxiety. As we think about them we become more anxious, as we become more anxious we continue to think in a negative way. You need to use forms of distraction to break this cycle. Secondly although you are scared DO NOT avoid the situations that you fear. This is a poor coping strategy that will maintain that fear. The avoidance gives you an instant payback because you don't have to face the anxiety of dealing with the situation. But avoidance only maintains the fear, you need to expose you self to it to overcome it.

[anxious elephant999]

Thank you for your replies i am sat on my bed, husband downstairs and im too scared to go down not coz of husband but i just feel less anxious in my bedroom and more anxious downstairs i know this must sound really pathetic to some people but it really does scare me , i have tried distraction but the dizziness which is my main problem is still there when i try and do anything and makes me feel sick and very anxious

[JohnLuke300]

First of all you are avoiding, the best solution is to go down stairs.
Secondly thinking the dizziness will make you feel sick if you go down stairs is another negative thought. It is not the dizziness that is making you feel sick, it is the anxiety that you are creating by having these negative thoughts.

[anxious elephant999]

Hi me again ive been downstairs for an hour and it just about killed me i kept getting those adrenaline rushes which just make me more anxious , ive got to go and fetch my daughter from school in a bit and im terrified even though my husband comes too , ive done the school run numerous times with my husband since ive been ill but it dosnt seem to get any easier im still scared in case the dizziness i suffer with gets worse while im out and i cant see or fall over or get disorientated

[LisaLisa]

:hugs:
Thank you for your replies i am sat on my bed, husband downstairs and im too scared to go down not coz of husband but i just feel less anxious in my bedroom and more anxious downstairs i know this must sound really pathetic to some people but it really does scare me , i have tried distraction but the dizziness which is my main problem is still there when i try and do anything and makes me feel sick and very anxious
hi

Was thinking that that is no way to live, If I were you i would go to the dr and speak about the effectiveness of your medication. I have been where you are before....i was anxious about everything.....it was a very astrange upsetting experience. Somethings even made me feel sick with fear just randomly.....like my cat?!! Sitting in certain rooms made me feel frightened and others were okay...I know exactly where you are.


Medication got rid of this for me but it wasnt the first type and it wasnt the dose that i started on. I think you really would be able to feel better than this with meds looked into.

Lisa
xxxxx

[sue.b]

Hi ya

You do not sound pathetic at all.

I can relate totally to our thoughts and what you are feeling.

I too have been suffering the same, it seems there is no place of refuge. Everything feels too much to deal with.

I know what John is saying is absolutely correct. I had this 13 years ago and had CBT, faced my fears gradually. Eventually the anxiety and panic went.
I was able to face situations that I had never been able to face before.

I think the key is baby steps, but recognise that although you feel scared nothing bad will happen. Dizziness and feeling disorientated are unpleasant but could you walk with your husband holding his arm or with him close by so that should you feel dizzy you have support. Dizziness is probably due to the anxiety/overbreathing. Also recognise when you make progress and praise yourself.

Today I went into Tescos while my husband waited in the car, first time in 11 weeks I managed to go in on my own. It was unpleasant, but I kept telling myself i would be okay, (wouldn't charge for the nearest exit, or lose control and become a babbling heap on the floor) and I was okay.

Have you seen your doctor, if so did he give you any meds just to help with the anxiety a bit. Sorry don't mean to pry.

Hope your day gets better for you.

Sue. xxxxx:hugs:

[JohnLuke300]

The next time you feel the adrenaline rushes coming on, rather than fight them or fear them (which is a common reaction) accept and observe them. Don't try to think what they mean, what they might do or how bad they might get just try and relax, breath slowly and deeply using you abdomen and feel the sensations as they happen. These are the natural symptoms of anxiety, concentrate on how many you can identify and don't give a single thought on what they might do to you, just observe them.
If you do this correctly you should find that the rush subsides and you have a feeling of calm. Panic lasts merely minutes if you don't fuel it, it will then pass leaving you feeling much calmer. The common mistake is to fight or fear the panic itself, this is what is fueling it. Observing the symptoms distracts you away from the negative thoughts and allows you to realize that they are not as bad as you believe. It is the thought processes that go on in you head that are elevating the effects. Fighting panic means you tense muscles that are already tense from anxiety this makes the sensation even more acute. By not fighting and observing you stay more relaxed and don,t fuel the fear. Your liver quickly filters the adrenaline in you blood out of your system and you begin to relax and wonder what all the fuss was about. That is when you start to take the first steps to defeating panic.

[anxious elephant999]

Hi lisa lisa in the last year ive tried 5 different meds which didnt work or didnt suit me , ive just started escitralopram about a week ago , ihave tried these before last year and they didnt work im just giving them another chance as lots of people i know are on them and they seem to work for them,the last meds i was on was duloxetine and although they lifted the depression only slightly they did nothing for the anxiety and after all the horror stories i read about them i was more anxious being on them , ive trid prozac -didnt work ,venaflaxine- made my heart race, in the past have been on sertraline which worked for 2 years then suddenly stopped working ,and years ago was on paroxetine but came off them coz of all the things that was being said about them in the media , just hopeing escitralopram start to work im only on 10mg this week and have to go up to 20mg on monday,time will tell x

[barbn]

LisaLisa I agree - get the meds looked into! I have so much emphathy for people going through this as I have been there done that. Everyday I wake up and am not sure what kind of a struggle I am going to have. There have been days I haven't wanted to get out from under the covers....but I new I had to! I refuse to let this beat me! I FORCE myself to do a ton of things! And when I am finished I tell myself "YOU DID IT" and give myself a pat on the back. Now I don't even know if my personal medication are the right dose or even the right type right now, my GP and I are still figuring it out. The meds are not going to cure everything but they should at the very least take the edge off so you can function somewhat normally (the rest is going to be up to you and retraining your mind). I'm not saying any of this is easy - we all know it isn't!!! There is no majic pill or cure - it is a lot of hard work, but oh so worth it!

[barbn]

JohnLuke you are so right - in the AM's I would wake up in a panic and fight it making my self throw up just about every AM. I now wake up and if I feel a panic, I tell myself it will go away and I am NOT going to throw up - I then take a deep breath a do my best to relax. I take a few minutes for myself and I don't fight it - I let it happen and guess what - for 3 mornings in a row I have felt pretty dern good! Oh, the anxiety is still there, but I am managing it! If this basket case can do it - any of you can too!!

[anxious elephant999]

hi sue b just wanted to say a big well done for going to tescos i really wish i could do the shopping , my husband dosnt get what i ask him to get ,i used to love shopping on my own now i cant even go in the shop , well getting out the house without fear would be a start:hugs:

[anxious elephant999]

Hi babni too heave first thing in the morning but even if i just sit there and let the feelings flow it still happens ,like today i have pressure in my head and my eyes dont seem to focus right ,and it isnt going away even though i am trying o relax and ignore it :hugs:

[barbn]

Well, unfortunately ignoring it doesn't work too well - I think your subconcious kicks and and does a number on you when you do that. I litterally have to tell myself, "Okay, I know I am going to feel like this this morning, I am not going to let this stop me, I am going to function today" - its like acceptance that this is the way it is and I am going to beat it. I say it out loud to myself a lot! And it ISN'T easy at all! Its hard, sometimes I force myself to do things in tears - but I do it! I also try to keep my hubbie in the loop - I make sure I tell him what is going on, sometimes he has to be firm with me. At the time I don't think he is being nice and hates and is frustrated with me. But, I know he needs to be firm in order to get me to move, and because of this I know he loves me!

[sue.b]

You will be able to shop again and enjoy life. It's just at the moment it feels as though you won't.

It is soooo unpleasant the peaks and troughs of anxiety.

Are you able to go out at all apart from the school run with your husband?

Maybe you could try standing at the front door for 5 min, then 10 etc. When you feel more comfi with that go to the gate etc. Please don't think i am being patronising, but this method does work. I am on Propanalol for the anxiety, a beta blocker may help you to start with, it might be worth checking with your doctor.

Please pm me if you need to chat.

Wish you well

Sue xxxx:bighug1:

[anxious elephant999]

Thanks for yor reply barbn,i do tell my husband who is surely starting to lose his rag with me and tells me to shut up he dosnt want to know how i feel or that im dizzy as its all hes heard for the last year , i know its hard for him too but shouting at me just makes me more anxious and i dont think he tries to understand how it fels to be dizzy all day everyday and scared of everything or how ill it makes you feel and i do try and do little things but as soon as i start feeling crap its like my body shuts down and wont let me carry on ,the dizziness is the most frightening thing i think and i dont think i will ever not be anxious while i have the dizziness xxx

[mila]

Hi, anxious, i am having my own dizzy/fainty spell right now, well for about 3, 4 days now, and it is there all the time. I know how you feel about it, feeling this is very frightening and i still haven't managed at any time i've felt faint or dizzy not to be anxious and scared about it. Even if i wasn't scared of it, the way it feels, just can't handle doing anything, how do u go on about doing things while u feel like u're going to pass out...
I used to be scared of everything and anything, some really weird things people would think i'm sure :-) lying flat down for example, i felt it makes me dizzy. Millions of things. Number got less now i think, but some things just got easier to do, not that they still don't make me think.
I know it's like your husband isn't trying to understand what it's like, but it's hard for people who don't know what it's like to understand, they can have patience for a while, but it can wear out. It changes us, what we go through, i feel i've been so much more understanding for other people, even for things i didn't experience or maybe wouldn't understand before.

[sedalia]

Hello

Just wanted to say I am going through the exact same thing at the moment. I know that if I could only get out of the house on my own and have a change of scenery and do different things, my anxiety levels would drop. But like you I am terrified of the dizziness and derealization, and although I know people say you mustn't avoid going out, it's so difficult. Knowing what you should do and actually doing it are two entirely seperate things! Each evening I say to myself right, I've had enough of this, tomorrow I am going to make a real effort to try and start to beat this, but when I wake up dizzy and anxious it's just back to square one again. (sorry I don't have anything positive to say to you, just wanted to let you know you're not alone).

[kathee]

are you sure the extreme dizziness is in fact due to anxiety or could the anxiety be because of the dizziness? i have just had a cold virus which has left me with labyrinthitis (ear problem) which makes me feel extremely dizzy- and everything looks wrong and feels sureal which then makes me feel anxious ... just a thought?

[anxious elephant999]

Hi its me again Ive had such i bad day ive been feeling dizzy all day, very anxious ,Sick from the dizziness,loads of adrenaline rushes that make me so tired all i want to do is sleep , i really have had enough , it seems im getting worse not better , dosnt matter what i try and do to get over it , it just dosnt seem to work coz im still the same as i was this time last year,
Sorry for the rant just needed to tell someone well all of you really ,

[sue.b]

Hi ya

So sorry to hear you are having another bad day.

Could the dizziness, sickness and excessive anxiety be a side effect of the new meds that you are on?

I say this because when i have been increasing my ad's over the last couple of months i have had these symtoms for a couple of weeks each time i have increased my meds.

I think it is quite common to get these side effects too. Have you tried relaxation exercises, it takes a while to perfect but once you have got the hang of it you will get some respite from the anxiety.

Hold on there, I know how scary these feelings can be, but you will get there it just takes time.

If you want to chat at any time pm me.

Take care

Sue:bighug1: