Heart palpitations? Stroke? Cancer?

[Vbee]

I rarely post here but I do offer the occasional bit of advice or encouragement. I would like to offer a ray of hope. But.....only read this if you are prepared to face your fears.

I have read so many many posts and lots of them from the same people complaining (yes, complaining) about how bad they feel. How their heart feels like it is going to stop, how their tight throat might be thyroid cancer, how their muscle spasms might be leprosy, how their headache might be a brain tumour. STOP GOOGLING!!! some doctors would be lucky to see one of these diseases in a year let alone all of them! Chances are you don't have any of those things wrong with you and Google is just terrifying you.

It's not that I don't have sympathy for you all, it's just that not many of you appear to be educating yourself about anxiety and panic and even fewer.of you are trying to recover from it. Don't think I don't know how you're feeling - because I do. I have felt every "symptom" you have described. Heart palpitations, diarrhea, muscle aches, head aches, pressure in eyes, racing thoughts, shaking weak legs and on and on - i fit the text book description.

I have also been the medication route years ago - zoloft and xanax. I have also read a mountain of information and bought just about every book on the market about the subject. So I want to let you in on a secret. ....... you can recover!!! Isn't that just the best news you have ever heard?!?! No more racing thoughts! No more crazy heart beating! Oh the joy of being free!!

It's simple. Get one of two books. First one that Jeff (on this very forum!!!!) has been singing praises about is by Dr Claire Weekes called Self Help for your nerves (or something similar depending which country you live in) and the other is The DARE Response by Barry McDonagh (whose approach echoes Claire Weekes'). I promise you they will turn your life around and you will recover.

The approach is this. Face your fear and give it a good "so what you don't frighten me" and flick it away like a pesky bug. Secondly accept and allow the feelings of anxiety - don't try to fight them or get rid of them, just accept that you feel shaky, wierd, sick etc but DO NOT BE FRIGHTENED of them - they are just responses to adrenaline that you yourself are producing!! Thirdly ask your body for more. Demand a panic attack on the spot, ask for a racing heart to beat faster, ask for a tight throat to get tighter - you known what? It won't happen because this time YOU ARE IN CHARGE! Fourthly, engage in an activity that takes your mind away from the sensations - read, play candy crush, talk to a friend on the phone, knit, paint, throw a Frisbee, ride a horse - anything...just be engaged fully in the activity. Finally don't be impatient. This takes time - not hours or days but most likely weeks or mon the. And it is not easy - it takes daily practice and can be hard work at times.

Lastly check out your lifestyle. Foods that you eat and drinks you consume.can be making your anxiety worse. If you're sitting around too scared to exercise just in case you make your heart beat faster then that will make you worse too. Get up and move even if it's just a walk. Take some B12 vitamins and magnesium and cut out alcohol.

Good luck everyone! And just do these things and post your successes!!

Cheers vb

😎😍💗

[Sandy1710]

Thanks for this. It's the approach I'm taking this week. I spent a whole week in bed last week so that stops this week. In regards to the magnesium and vitamins, can anyone take this and be mixed with any medication?? Can you recommend any from store?

[Vbee in reply to Sandy1710]

You can have magnesium no matter what. Best way is transdermal by way of magnesium chloride in a spray or foot bath. Oralet magnesium can play havoc with your gastrointestinal system particularly mag citrate. Mag glycinate is awesome and try a little at a time and increase up to total 300mg per day. A multivitamin is a good way to get some B vitamins - b6 and b12 are very important. I can only recommend australian products so best thing is to have a chat to a pharmacist to get their recommendations. Also vitamin D is essential so if you don't get enough sun exposure then check out a D3 supplement - get you doctor to do a blood test to check your levels. Good luck and thanks for reading my essay!!!

😀v

[Jeff1943]

This is an excellent posting about anxiety by someone of great experience and knowledge on the subject, it should be read by everybody who visits this forum, probably read at least twice so it sinks in. Many thanks for sharing this with us, Vbee.

[Vbee in reply to Jeff1943]

Thanks for your endorsement Jeff but I also bow to your wisdom and insights - we have taken the journey and can now offer hope!