mjh74
05-05-06, 08:55
Hi all,
Not quite sure how I dare do this, especially after such a bad year of anxiety but I did anyway! (JFDI sprang to mind many times) :)
The story goes a little something like this.... :)
My partner and I decided to book a holiday in Crete to stay in a friends house while she wasn't there. I hadn't flown for 13 years but didn't feel too bad about the thought of it. My anxiety had been under for a good 5 months or so so I thought, why not!
All had been fine up until 3 days before the flight, I was to travel to my partners house on the Friday evening to fly out on the Tuesday.
Just before leaving out for the train station my heart started to race and I started to gag, here we go I thought! So... on my back I lay, chewing gum rammed into thy mush and deep breathing commenced as I rode out a horrible panic attack. A little phased, I left the house for the train station with flushed face and shaking hands, got there, purchased my ticket and sat on the platform with racing heart feeling pretty disappointed that all this had flaired up again.
The journey wasn't as bad as I thought and I arrived at the other end to be greeted by my partner. We drove back to his place and I managed to eat a large pizza! (another JFDI moment!) :)
The next morning I awoke, first thought being of my throat (damn). Out came the good ol rescue remidy and out we went on a few errands, one of these being to get some money changed ready for the holiday. All was fine until I was approaching the door and my heart race and gag reared it's ugly head once more, once again another JFDI moment as I rammed myself through the door and shakily asked for some Euros! :)
Got back to my partners and was shaking like a leaf so I laid down and worked on calming myself down again. After about 2 hours the worst had passed and we got on with the day.
The morning of the flight and I woke up with very little anxiety which I found strange. I wasn't complaining so I went along with things, had some breakfast, got our bags in the car and started the journey to the airport. I was a little nervous as we got to the airport but was also 'sort of' enjoying it too! After a 2 hour wait after check in, we went down to the departure lounge where I had another small panic which I managed to nip in the bud quite quickly, mounted the plain and flew for 4 hours! Wow I'd just flown!
After walking out of the airport in Crete to the lovely warmth and views I felt SO much better. We got to the house, unpacked a few bits and rested for the rest of the day. The next morning and Mr anxiety had settled right back down again which was wonderful!
Through the 7 days we met various interesting people and even started to use our limited Greek vocabulary aided by a 'learn to speak Greek' book! lol. I only had one little bout of panic through the 7 days and had what I would describe a truely wonderful holiday!
Since being back I have picked up a new anxiety symptom but the strange thing is, it doesn't really worry me. My past symptoms have been somewhat petrifying to me. I am having bouts where I feel like I can't breath deeply enough or can't get my breath but it isn't bringing on panic at all, it's just a symptom that I'm aware of. I'm sure it's just a mere after effect of the BIG step of having a holiday abroad after so long and will pass.
So all in all (if you're still awake), I'm feeling really happy, life is great, my partner and I are looking at more houses to buy (an offer already fell through sadly) and we are looking at a civil partnership ceremony sometime in September or October fingers crossed!
So I'd like to say thank you once again to the wonderful people on here that have helped me cope with my symptoms and answered all those questions in my times of despair and fear!
Hugs and Affection....
Mark XXX
Not quite sure how I dare do this, especially after such a bad year of anxiety but I did anyway! (JFDI sprang to mind many times) :)
The story goes a little something like this.... :)
My partner and I decided to book a holiday in Crete to stay in a friends house while she wasn't there. I hadn't flown for 13 years but didn't feel too bad about the thought of it. My anxiety had been under for a good 5 months or so so I thought, why not!
All had been fine up until 3 days before the flight, I was to travel to my partners house on the Friday evening to fly out on the Tuesday.
Just before leaving out for the train station my heart started to race and I started to gag, here we go I thought! So... on my back I lay, chewing gum rammed into thy mush and deep breathing commenced as I rode out a horrible panic attack. A little phased, I left the house for the train station with flushed face and shaking hands, got there, purchased my ticket and sat on the platform with racing heart feeling pretty disappointed that all this had flaired up again.
The journey wasn't as bad as I thought and I arrived at the other end to be greeted by my partner. We drove back to his place and I managed to eat a large pizza! (another JFDI moment!) :)
The next morning I awoke, first thought being of my throat (damn). Out came the good ol rescue remidy and out we went on a few errands, one of these being to get some money changed ready for the holiday. All was fine until I was approaching the door and my heart race and gag reared it's ugly head once more, once again another JFDI moment as I rammed myself through the door and shakily asked for some Euros! :)
Got back to my partners and was shaking like a leaf so I laid down and worked on calming myself down again. After about 2 hours the worst had passed and we got on with the day.
The morning of the flight and I woke up with very little anxiety which I found strange. I wasn't complaining so I went along with things, had some breakfast, got our bags in the car and started the journey to the airport. I was a little nervous as we got to the airport but was also 'sort of' enjoying it too! After a 2 hour wait after check in, we went down to the departure lounge where I had another small panic which I managed to nip in the bud quite quickly, mounted the plain and flew for 4 hours! Wow I'd just flown!
After walking out of the airport in Crete to the lovely warmth and views I felt SO much better. We got to the house, unpacked a few bits and rested for the rest of the day. The next morning and Mr anxiety had settled right back down again which was wonderful!
Through the 7 days we met various interesting people and even started to use our limited Greek vocabulary aided by a 'learn to speak Greek' book! lol. I only had one little bout of panic through the 7 days and had what I would describe a truely wonderful holiday!
Since being back I have picked up a new anxiety symptom but the strange thing is, it doesn't really worry me. My past symptoms have been somewhat petrifying to me. I am having bouts where I feel like I can't breath deeply enough or can't get my breath but it isn't bringing on panic at all, it's just a symptom that I'm aware of. I'm sure it's just a mere after effect of the BIG step of having a holiday abroad after so long and will pass.
So all in all (if you're still awake), I'm feeling really happy, life is great, my partner and I are looking at more houses to buy (an offer already fell through sadly) and we are looking at a civil partnership ceremony sometime in September or October fingers crossed!
So I'd like to say thank you once again to the wonderful people on here that have helped me cope with my symptoms and answered all those questions in my times of despair and fear!
Hugs and Affection....
Mark XXX