Holiday anxiety and after

[soulboydk]

Hi there I have been building myself up for years to have a holiday and felt like i could do it at last. But some days before I lost my sleep and lay awake tormented until early hours. I had to keep saying i don't have to go at all. But deep inside I wated to try after such a long time. I did finaly wake up ok on the day and left my home early. I only stayed in the country I reside in as am ex pat of UK. So it was a long drive to a summer house near the sea. I also had to cross a 15 mile bridge I did that quite ok. but after about 1 hour of being in the house I started to feel quite bad and away from busy places and seeing life. I was ready to leave. But just went in my car alone for a drive around the area and to some village shops, and later a talk with my wife on the beach and i calmed down, then later drove to a bigger town about 18km away it helped me out. I just had a dose of fears on and off and music stuck in the head drove me crazy at times. But on the other side once I was ok and ready i did drive some distances away from the summer house and enjoyed the freedom of seeing other town and places. I had many peak points. And some struggles also this time was the longest I stayed away only 2 nights in the past, and this time I used no sleeping pills. So I am pleased I did it and it was a victory after so many years. But since I came home and this is my question I have more anxiety than normal and pains in my stomach which i get sometimes and it hurts. I don't feel like leaving my home much at all now and can't get a good routine back yet. I am sort of disapointed to feel so bad since I returned home. Anyone had this experience after the holiday is over. I just feel out of my normal ballance and unable to funtion like before. I am also sleeping so much at different times of the day. Since I came home.

[Anxious_gal]

It's nomal to get anxiety afterwards, people here often talk about anxiety after a nice day or night out. In a way it's almost to be expected. But you did really.
Welk and enjoyed parts of your holiday, it was a big step , to be fair it was hard for you but you did it anyway! :) it'll take a few days to get back to normal, try not to dwell on the anxiety too much n be proud of yourself x

[jill]

Hi hun :D:hugs:

WELL DONE :yesyes: on going on holiday, you did GREAT :yesyes:

Anxiety IS a very strange thing, it can happen, anytime, anyplace, anywhere, hunny, YOU HAVE anxiety right now, at THIS present moment in time in you life, NOT forever, JUST FOR NOW.

It is dame hard for me to explain how anxiety can work, how it can feed on many, many different things, we all may have similar/same/ symptoms, but what brought us to panic/anxiety and whats keeping it there is different for us all.

It is normal to have anxiety at this time hun, PLEASE don't be to hard on yourself, YOU HAVE done really well and in time, YOU WILL get back to your routine.

The big questions to WHY you have anxiety right now, is the question that we ALL ask . What I found helped a lot, (with the thought why) was to change my way of thinking, instead of thinking WHY, I would think, WHY NOT, this is what I have right now, AT THIS present moment in time, NOT FOREVER, I WILL learn how to bring it down to a more manageable level, but FOR NOW, it MAY HAPPEN, but learn that it IS normal, when you have anxiety, I MAY get it at funny times BUT, IT WILL PASS. The way I looked at it was, take the surprise away and look MORE how to learn short term coping skills, just like you did on holiday, taking a drive, walking on the beach, finding things that will take your mind off how you feel. I felt, that for myself, when on alert, the more I asked WHY, the less likley I was going to find the RIGHT answer, as we all know, when anxiety is high, are minds are NOT in the right place, it puts 2 and 2 together and comes up with 5.

SO, FOR ME, WHY when in anxiety mode did not matter, YES if I could find good reason, that would be better, but most of the time there seemed like no good reason, BUT, Ohhh I had a good reason, I HAD anxiety/panic and I had a lot to learn, SO YES, there IS a good reason, I HAVE ANXIETY and it MAY happen, BUT FOR NOW, JUST FOR NOW, that reason is GOOD enough, what I needed to learn was to TRY and give myself that good reason, THEN go on and try and distract myself from how I felt and all the irrational thoughts anxiety can bring.


OHHHHH PLEASE, PLEASE, DON'T be disappointed in anything you have done, it doesn't matter how you feel now,YOU STILL have DONE GREAT, going on holiday, PLEASE DON'T take all your hard work away from yourself, PLEASE. :hugs::hugs:

We can unknowingly programme our minds, ( when we have anxiety ) in sooo many unhelpful ways. One of many ways, is to tell ourselves that when we go on holiday, when we come back, we are going to feel MORE anxiety, although this IS normal hun IT WILL NOT, always happen, BUT, there is a saying, "if you say it will, it will, if you say it won't at some point in time, it won't" Mmm does this make any sense?

I have had many strange things regarding holidays with panic/anxiety. Ohhh if I told you all the stories I would be hear forever LOL

When I was acute, (regarding holidays ) I told myself I would NOT go abroad on holiday ( there are reasons for this but will not go into that at this present moment in time, not unless you want me too) NOT FOREVER, just for now, because at that present moment in time, I HAD panic, high levels of anxiety. BUT, I was NOT going to let it stop me from going on holidays in uk. Ohhh blimey, it was blinkin hard, changing the way I think and allowing the anxiety/panic, to just be there, allowing it to come with me, not matter where I went, YES, just like you anxiety, went up down, panic, would happen too and even when I came back and feeling ohhh crap, trying sooooo dame hard watching the way I thought, trying soooo dame hard to think MORE about the progress I had made instead of thinking how crap I felt, IT WAS HARD WORK.

I know this is DAME HARD for you right now, but please try and think of how well you have done, anxiety plays with you, YOU PLAY BACK, think of how well you coping skills kicked in on holiday and how good you felt and WHEN you do it again, it WILL get easer and easer each time you go on holiday, IT DOES HUN,

Our thought pattens play a big part of how we feel, we need to try dame hard to work on thought pattens, this is not easy, it takes alot of hard work, time and the right support, BUT, with time, IT DOES WORK

SO, what can you do now, ALLOW, your anxiety's to be there, after all hun, this is what you have FOR NOW, at present moment in time in your life, ANXIETY, it doesn't matter its there, try and not let it surprise you, use reassuring statements, eg, Mmm I can only say some of the statements used....

"Oh you hear then, Mmm, thats normal, for me, " when we are surprised on anxiety's arrival, this is when she gets us and our thought pattens go all over the place, so first we must try and learn, to except it, FOR NOW, never expect it, but except it IF it does happen, give is good reason for it being there eg ( well I do have anxiety, ) SO HAY, if it happens, NO surprise there then. THEN, go on and try and distract yourself from how you feel, by using reassuring statements.

You sleep patten can be all over the place too, thats normal with anxiety. Hun, go to bed at set times get up at set times, plan your day, do things you like doing and keep your mind busy with more reassuring things, in time, these thoughts and feeling WILL pass.

I do hope this has been of some help, even if its just knowing your not alone and whats happening to you is normal AND it does pass.

YOU TAKE CARE

LOVE JILL XXX