Who has DP/DR and how long have you had it?

[Jenijar]

Hello, I just wondered who else is suffering with DP/DR at the moment? And...

How long have you had it for?
Is it constant - do you ever get a moment's peace from it?
Has it improved over time?
Do you get obsessive strange thoughts with it over existence?

Thank you xx

[caz21]

Hey mines has started to fade and pretty much feeling normal again so it does go. I had it constant

[netminder1976]

When my anxiety is high I have it. Kinda feels like I'm in a dream world or stoned or something. It goes away when my anxiety is down.

[ana]

I get it when I'm highly anxious; depersonalisation is how my panic attacks manifest. In fact, during my first panic attack, I felt like I was leaving my body; as if nothing, not even myself, was real. Since then, I've been having the feeling on and off for 15 years.

[Jenijar]

Hello, thank you all for your replies.
Caz that's really good that you are feeling nearly back to normal, are you back at work? I'm still signed off. Did you DP go suddenly or did it gradually go? And do you know anything that helped make it better? X

[caz21]

Hi

yes I am back at work and have been for about 3 weeks now and it's going well. I think a combination of things Meds, being busy, not dwelling, exercising and socialising all helped. have u had any Improvement? wat med r u on? so trust me it gets better as wen I was unwell I felt like absolutely everything was unreal felt so detached really bad floaty not here etc but gradually has started to fade out and feeling more normal.

[Jenijar]

Hi Caz, that's really good news, I'm pleased for you. Did you stay on the Paxil or switch to another med? I've tried socialising, I forced myself to go out for a meal with a friend, but everything just felt so strange that it put me off going out. Did you really have to force yourself to socialise and did it feel awful to begin with? Did you have lots of strange thoughts while you were out?
I started seeing a bit of an improvement, but then my meds got changed again and my anxiety went through the roof and made my DP worse.
I'm on so many different meds but the psychiatrist is trying to get them down slowly. I'm on 5mg escitalopram (which I am to come off completely over the next couple of weeks), 30mg mirtazapine (also to come off slowly over the next few weeks), I've been on 50mg sertraline for 3 weeks and just increased to 100mg yesterday (I think starting the sertraline caused my increase in anxiety) and just started 5mg Olanzapine. Also take 0.5mg of lorazepam a day which I've got to come off.
I just keep feeling that life is so strange and doesn't make any sense anymore, and whenever I do something I question whether I know how to do it and I doubt whether I'm actually understanding it. I worry that I'm just going to forget how to do everything and won't be able to function. For example when people speak or when I speak I question whether I know what the words mean. Xx

[fishman65]

Hi Jenijar, I tend to get this more in the summer months, not sure why but it feels as though anxiety has to manifest itself in some way. It feels that when high anxiety/panic is not present, unreality steps in to fill the gap. I now sound completely bonkers