Will we ever be free?

[holly1986]

Hi all
normally im fairly upbeat on this site but im struggling just now and wondered if you think we'll ever be anxiety free? im so sick of feeling dizzy and panicking about every ailment i get. I hate that everytime i sit down i cant just relax like everyone else i just sit and worry. Im fed up of wondering when i'll next be plagued by it, will it be in public? im so fed up of feeling like im dying. can someone, anyone, recommend how to get rid of this? if ill have this my entire life? if ill ever just be able to live my life without fear?

[SarahCuervo]

I wish I could say for DEFINATE if you, me or any of us on here will ever ever be truly free of feeling like this.
I am in the same boat as you tonight...keeping on feeling like this is making me want to cry! I am usually very upbeat and try to help myself with these horrible feelings, but today they are kind of taking over. I posted my first 'panic worry' that I have right now on here this afternoon hoping to get some feedback as it is so lonely feeling like this (mine at this moment being about a headache I have that is scaring me) but I have had no feedback at all.
I do take comfort in the fact that I am not alone in this...this site is very helpful for putting all of us in touch with each other, so we are always supported to some extent. That kind of helps me.
Hope you feel better.x

[holly1986]

Hello
well i just went and read your post, and i can tell you ive had the same thing, its a sinus blockage - no you may not realise its as high as your eyes but i can assure you thats what it is and its lasting and worsening because of your anxiety, when i went to the doctor over your exact problem, i said i wouldnt believe that anxiety would cause such physical problems, he said;-

"my lass, let me assure you, if you have a broken leg you can see it heal, if you have anxiety it can change the colour of the sky to bright orange when in fact it is blue, anxiety can tell you the sky is orange for as long as you believe it, give me the broken leg anyday."

I promise your symptoms are not a brain tumour or clot, you would have a million and one other symptoms and ailments. Take a walk up the local hospital, you'll soon realise that you are nowhere near as sick as those people.

Hope that helped
Thank you for your advice and input, im 24 and this is ruining my "fun" years im always so afraid of every twinge and sensation, i swear blind that im the only one who gets them and still find it hard to believe anyone else does. Thanks again.

[karlwirral]

Hi Holly!

Keep positive im only 24 aswell and ive beaten it once it wetn away for almost 2 years and im confident i can do it again! of course there are going to be relapse moments but there alllowed on our path to recovery.

[SarahCuervo]

Thanks Holly!!! :)

[Ella_Jayne]

Things will get better. Trust me, they will.

You just need to accept that it's anxiety that's causing you all of this stress and horrible symptoms. It can't hurt you, and you CAN deal with it.

Nobody is ever going to be anxiety free, it's a normal emotion that everyone has but I definitely believe that it's possible to overcome panic and an anxiety disorder.

I'm certainly not 'cured' or anxiety free, but I've seen myself go from someone who was afraid of everything and ending up in the hospital every second day, afraid to sleep because I thought I wouldn't wake up, I couldn't function, couldn't go anywhere alone, shopping was a nightmare, I was a wreck... and now I can do all of those things NOT completely anxiety free yet but I can manage it.

I get days where I think something is wrong, that I'm dying, but I've learned lately that I have to take one day at a time, we all do.

So last week I had a horrible anxious day, for the best part of the morning I kept thinking that I was going to drop dead, that the tests I had weren't good enough and the usual anxious thoughts, I was getting worse and then I just said to myself, for the rest of the day I'm going to treat all of my symptoms (dizziness, adrenaline rushes, lightheadedness, palps) as anxiety symptoms, and anxiety isn't scary as I'm not going to drop dead from it. So I did it, and I felt great for it. Everytime I felt dizzy or had a palp I just told myself "stupid anxiety" and carried on. It really did work. It made the symptoms a lot easier to deal with, I mean, why be scared of something that can't hurt you?

We will all get through this if we start accepting that what we have is anxiety and not heart problems or tumors or cancer etc. It's a lot easier said than done but at one point after all of the tests we've have we have to look at ourselves and think maybe we are wrong, maybe it is just anxiety.

We'll all get there. It's just a matter of time. :) x

[holly1986]

thank you all for the lovely posts.

Ella_Jayne, thanks a lot. tomorrow i am going to try that. I remember having all of the symptoms you described - not being able to go out and not being able to sleep for fear of never waking up. I remember it all so well, my problem is, that im afraid itll all happen again and no-one knows how to help me. i still get dizzy & lightheaded. Sometimes if i move and havent realised ive moved, i think im dizzy and get anxious and become worse and worse. Its a vicious cycle. Every now and then i burst into tears and i feel like i am so weak because i find it so hard to deal with what ive got sometimes, and i feel like i cant do anything, like i cant go on holiday because im afraid i might die on the plane of some unnoticed heart condition, and when im there i get overheated in the sun, get dizzy and then feel awful.

Anxiety is an ailment but im not ill, and its great that you took the time to remind me. Thank you :)

[Ella_Jayne]

I get that too, when you move and don't realise you have and think you're dizzy. LOL! Happens to me all of the time. What are we like, eh? ;)

Oh I had that worry about going on holiday too. Even now I'm a bit iffy about it but I need a holiday so sod it! :) As someone reminded me recently, we're not at anymore risk of dropping dead on holiday than we are tucked up in our beds at home. But we're not going to just drop dead now are we? :) We have anxiety and anxiety is a B**ch but it can't hurt is. The more attention we pay to it the more it grows.

I get dizzy and lightheaded every day, seriously I do. If I just get up and walk to another room I can sometimes feel like the I'm going to faint or that the room is spinning around. Even if i stand still I feel dizzy. But I've had it so long that it can't be anything but anxiety. If it was a brain tumour or heart problem I'd be dead by now! ;)

Next time you feel dizzy or lightheaded just say so what. Don't worry about it until you feel like you're going to pass out (which you won't).

You won't go back to the way you were, you're stronger than that now. I don't think anyone who has never had anxiety before knows how to help someone with it (apart form trained pros e.g CBT counsellors and so on) the best person that can help you is you! Honestly, it's the one key thing that I've learned. No amount of reassurance from doctors or family even compares to self reassurance.

So go on holiday and have a ball! Drink a cocktail for me ;) x

[Greenman50]

Hi Holly
Theres a book called "the power of now" , i,m part way through it , its not for anxiety suffer,s as such but it learns you how to "live for the now"

Theres no past , no future , just the now , in the now theres no worry as the past and present don,t exist yet .
Its a international best sellar and although not for everyone its worth a tenner to see if it helps imho .

24 eh...lucky git !:D

[Rhys1879SAFC]

Hi Holly. :-)

I'm sure we will all get there eventually, personally I have beaten it before, it took many months of struggle to get back to normal but I managed in the end, and I felt better than ever for 2 and a half years... and then it all came flooding back just after New Year. :(

So I know that because I've beaten it before I can beat it again, I just hope that when I do get over it again it never comes back because I had truly forgotten how awful it felt, I can't even leave the house because it sends me into a panic. I feel like a prisoner right now! Even going to College is a struggle but I know I have to do it because I won't let anxiety take my future away from me.

Chin up! You will get better!

Rhys

[holly1986]

Thanks so much again Ella_Jayne ! haha aye i get it all the time then instant wave of panic and self doubt creeps in and takes over. Crazy!
Youre right, its not going to hurt us, as much as we fear that it will. I, too get dizzy a lot and everytime i get it i go through the panic stages then i calm down and realise that its just anxiety and if i had any big problem id have millions of other symptoms, last night i was visiting a very sick friend in hospital, i realised then that they are sick, i am not and i am selfish to waste doctors time when these really ill people need them.
ps- ill have 3/4 for you!

Thanks for the book suggestion, youre right its worth the tenner! thanks!

as for Rhys, thanks for the post, it sucks, you feel like youre right back at stage one and then you start to wonder where it all creeped in because you were doing so well, but youre right, you can do it, all i need to do is read this forum to feel better. Please keep posting if you feel you need help, we've all been there :( you can do it, just like you said you did before, heres hoping this is just a brief 'lapse'.

Best of luck to all of you and thanks so much.x