Relapse! Coping, Symptoms and Tips.

[Carnation]

Oh yes catkins, you will often find me doing stuff like that.
7 years ago it was a eucalyptus tree at my mum's house when the tree surgeon never turned up so I thought I'd do it myself, lol. Luckily a neighbour spotted me swinging about in the tree and rushed over to help.
Strange how there is no fear with something that is perceived as scary and a normal day-to-day task like going shopping or visiting someone sends out alarm bells to our brain. Maybe it proves our capabilities are much more than we realise and we just put too much emphasis on the little things in life.

[Catkins]

You could be right, those little things just feel so incredibly huge sometimes though.

[Carnation]

The clocks went back last night but I find myself still waking at the normal time because my body / mind doesn't realise that. Neither does my cat. Anyone else have difficulty adjusting to the clock change? I know my tummy will and already planned to have an earlier lunch and dinner. For me it's like having a longer day instead of gaining an extra hour of sleep. I know I'll be looking at the clock thinking, it's really this time and not the new adjusted time for days!

[Catkins]

It always takes me about a week to adjust and during that time my body seems to struggle. I'm usually completely knackered and don't know my arse from my elbow.

[Carnation]

I know that feeling catkins

[Jem1603]

Hi Carnation

You responded to my post and I was really grateful - however, not realising the tremendous amount of pressure you yourself have been through. This shows that despite everything you are still a caring and kind person, able to support others and offer sound advice.

I have just done the week in bed with the fear in the bowel/kidney area and panic attacks - so know what you mean about the relapse physical symptoms. It seems that any situation set back will have us relapse, so I'm grateful I found this site and people like you understand.xx

Thanks for your post - it's so helpful.

[Carnation]

Thank you for your kind words Jem.
I expect you already know it takes someone to know how you feel when they've experienced it themselves.
I've relapsed many times to the point they now become a blip and I give myself a good talking to and carry on. Health anxiety being the main culprit.
We have to remind ourselves that the only fear is fear itself. And what we sometimes feel and think ourselves into something which is not real. But never think you can't, but think you can do what you want to achieve. x

[Carnation]

I had a bit of a weird day yesterday. All involving electric.
Started with a power cut just before lunchtime. My immediate thought was "NO TEA!" That's the drinking kind and not food. Although that did cross my mind too. I'm a massive tea drinker which is why I converted to decaf.
I have to admit I did get a bit panicky about it, especially when I realised it meant no heating either. So there I was looking for those battery operated fairy lights and wondering what I was going to cook for dinner. Realising it was not even midday I was obviously going into overdrive assuming I was going to be without power indefinitely. Just shows how our brains overthink and catastrophise a situation. Never did it cross my mind at the time I could pick up fish and chips or a takeaway for dinner and get takeaway hot drinks. Or realise it was a very sunny day and the heat through the windows was sufficient enough not to be cold. No, I was already going through my wardrobe for extra cardis and scarves and blankets for the bed. Lol.
I can laugh about it now. My main thought was I was not prepared and us anxious people like to be ready for any event, good or bad.
The power was back on after an hour and I felt real stupid to be honest that I overreacted.
So I decided to pop out to the shops, just to get out of the house. On the way I noticed a flame coming from sky, inches from the tops of a group of trees. It seemed to be coming from a pole. It didn't look great and I didn't hesitate to phone the emergency services. Assuming it was an electricity pole I phoned them first. Can you believe It was a good ten minutes before they answered including press 1 for this, 2 for that and you are in a queue and will be answered shortly. Eventually I got through and I reported it. But it did leave me feeling like I'd been wound up by a key permanently stuck in my back and going shopping was now a little edgy. Also thinking maybe I should have stayed home and calmed down from the first incident. "No" , I thought, I'm out and I'll carry on with my plans.
On the way home we passed the said incident and part of the road was blocked with a fire engine and workmen and it all looked pretty much under control.
And it looked as though there was another power cut while we were out because my cooker clock was flashing.
The moral of this story is....
You can be anywhere and find yourself in a situation. You can catastrophise yourself into unnecessary panic. And sometimes carrying on with your living is the right thing to do because you can sometimes feel worse by doing nothing and it's better to achieve and succeed than to lick your wounds and feel the fear.

[Carnation]

Interesting today that I forgot where the bin was again after all this time, you could say I had a momentary relapse into a past memory that the bin was still under the sink. Interesting because I'm now thinking the same can apply to our old habits in other areas and when you are doing so well and you experience a blip, is it an overload of the brain and we revert back to subconscious memory?
At the time I was doing several jobs at once, clearing out the fridge, unpacking the supermarket delivery, prepping lunch and I'd just finished making the bed. Interesting

[Catkins]

Interestingly I was talking to my counsellor the other day about what had been happening at work and that I'd got quite angry about something that was happening and I kind of waffled past it to something else. She took me back to what I was saying and asked how I felt about it, I suddenly remembered something from when I was 15 and the situation that had happened at work had made me feel exactly how I felt then. It was quite a revelation to me that I could revert back to how I felt at 15 about something now. Things still lurking way down deep in the subconscious!