Help

[Ruthie1984]

Please can someone reply to earlier post? Am worried and a bit stressed out

[Biggles22]

It sounds like you're working yourself up into a panic.

You've seen your doctor recently and been reassured, but anxiety and ruminating will make things worse.

Try and distract yourself and settle this. Mindfulness meditation and that sort of thing may help

[Jeff1943]

Ruth, you know you have anxiety and you have seen your doctor who has told you that your symptoms are anxiety-based. Doctors have a sixth sense as to whether someone has an organic illness or whether it is anxiety and I strongly suggest that yiu now accept your doctor's opinion and acknowledge that you do NOT have a serious illness.

The thing is, Ruth, that when our nervous system becomes sensitised through stress and worry it can mimic organic illness very well, all sorts of symptoms (such as the ones you describe) can appear but they are fake symptoms because they do not really exist but are caused by blips in our sensitised nervous systems. They are not life threatening and can do no damage to your body.

You problem, common to so many of us, is that you are too introspective about your symptoms, you obsess about them too much, and this causes more tension and anxiety which keep your nerves sensitised.

There is only one remedy that I know that works and that is to Accept your symptoms without fear because you now know for sure that they cannot harm you, no matter how bad they are then let all the muscles in your head and body relax and go limp and do not add second fear to first fear. If you can do this, and it takes time and practice, you will stop anxiety from constantly re-sensitising your nervous system which will eventually return to their normal state and you will recover from the symptoms you describe, believe me.

[Ruthie1984 in reply to Jeff1943]

Thank you so much for that. I am saving your message to re-read when I need to. At moment I keep having ups and downs. Am sleeping better but keep relapsing into worrying about it again. I know in my head I won't get better immediately but I will get there in time and feel like you and other people who have replied to me have really helped so thanks.

[Jeff1943 in reply to Ruthie1984]

Ruth, the method for recovery I referred to which is called Acceptance was devised many years ago by Doctor Claire Weekes who suffered from anxiety disorder when she was a young woman. She cured herself and set out her method in a short easy-to-understand book titled 'Self help with your nerves' (or called 'Hope and help with your nerves'). I read her book back in the 1970s and it is life-changing: it has helped literally hundreds of yhousands of people to recover and I commend it to you. It is available from Amazon and although she wrote many further books this first one is really all you need.

Her Acceptance method is not a quick fix, it takes time and perseverance, but you will immediately gain reassurance through understanding and you will recognise yourself in its pages. Yes, it is possible to recover by reading a book no matter how long you have been suffering and there is nobody who cannot be cured in the fullness of time.

[Ruthie1984 in reply to Jeff1943]

Thank you. I have just ordered a copy. Really appreciate your help.