Reassurance ??

[Nridley25]

I have serve anxiety and I do not know how to control it. A lot of people say that it doesn't last forever and it will go away, I just need to know does it because this feeling that I have currently I don't think will ever go away. I want to do so much with my life and this is seriously effecting me. I can not do what I love most anymore or see people due to serious panic attacks and constant dizziness. Just some advice, please !!

[Nridley25]

I am on no medication. It's really silly what triggers my anxiety, I think that the world is going to start falling and go from behind me

[Nridley25]

Thankyou for you I understanding... I have never heard of that routine. I would try anything to help

[Nridley25]

I will definitely try this!! I hope you get well soon and you give good advice

[TrippyMcGuire762 in reply to Nridley25]

My military buddy who got anxiety and I use a technique of tapping our thumb to each finger and counting 1-2-3-4 from pointer to pinky then 4-3-2-1 from pinky to pointer when the trigger feels like its coming on. Don't know if it helps for you, but it does on our end. Also the 4-7-4 breathing. Breathe in four, hold 7, and exhale 4, then repeat.

[Nridley25]

All the same to you

[Hidden]

I've found out if I have anxiety and panic attacks while out in a shop to look at all the things on the shelf and read them to take my mind off my heart racing and dizzy and that works. Also some people said running is also a good trick. At home when I feel it happening as it mainly happens when I wake up at home or hunger. I try to lay down close my eyes and practice breathing and put on a meditation video as that helps and lowers my heart rate. Everybody's different and gotta find what works for you. I feel the same it won't ever go away but I have to think positive and these symptoms aren't gonna kill me and I'm not gonna have a heart attack and I'm ok and just to distract myself from it.

[Nridley25 in reply to Hidden]

Thankyou ! I do the same with reading things and I try and think of 10 thing beginning with each letter of the alphabet. This is a good technique

[Jeff1943]

Nridley, you are not going to feel like this forever and you can hasten the day when you recover your peace of mind by obtaining knowledge, reassurance and a road to recovery that has worked for so many others.

Something in your life has caused you worry, stress, strain or disappointment (did I mention overwork) and as a result your nervous system has had enough. It becomes over sensitised and goes on the blink, so to speak, bombarding you with all kinds of symptoms including the dizziness and panic attacks you mention. This is what we call anxiety disorder and it's a frightening experience when it hits for the first time and continues to put the fear of God into us.

The trouble is that the fear we generate further sensitises our jangled nerves which respond with more symptoms that cause more fear that causes more symptoms that causes more fear. We have entered a vicious circle that rolls on and on.

Although the symptoms of anxiety are extremely unpleasant in fact the power of anxiety is limited. It isn't lifethreatening, it can't physically disable you and it will never send you out of your mind. It's only us with our fearful imaginations who start to believe that it can. These symptoms are blips and glitches in your nervous system and they can be overcome. So be reassured your life is not over and you will not have to spend all your days housebound.

The self help method that with practice and persistance leads to recovery was set out 50 years ago by Doctor Claire Weekes, who herself originally suffered from anxiety disorder. Instead of 'fighting' the bad feelings, which only causes more tension and stress, she advocates that we should do the opposite and accept the symptoms of anxiety for the time being - as calmly and with the minimum of fear that we can. So when a panic attack strikes, for example, just relax and let every muscle in your body go limp and let the wave of anxiety sweep over and past you. The bad feelings will still be there of course, you spent a lot of time getting anxiety disorder so you must be willing to let time pass for it to yield. Acceptance is the essence of the method because as we learn to accept the symptoms for the time being we begin to fear them less: you cannot both accept and fear the bad feelings at the same time. And as our fear recedes our nerves recover and we regain our quiet mind.

Of course, there is much more to it than that so even if you're not the sort of person to look for solutions by reading a book I recommend you make an exception in this case. The book by Claire Weekes is titled 'Self help with your nerves' in the U.K. and 'Hope and help with your nerves' in the U.S. and both are available from Amazon where you may notice that 90% of the several hundred reader reviews rate it Very Good or Excellent.

I wish you all the very best for your recovery which I have every confidence will be yours.

[Nridley25 in reply to Jeff1943]

Thankyou so much for your support!! And excellent advice, just reading that gave me hope.

[MrsB08]

My heart goes out to you honey. We are all here for you and we understand how difficult things can be. I too suffer and let it consume me ..therefore taking over my entire life. I want to live not just struggle through each day and merely exist xxx

[Nridley25 in reply to MrsB08]

Mine does to you too😕it's an awful feeling that few do understand. Just want it to all go away xxxx

[MrsB08 in reply to Nridley25]

Yeah it's a daily nightmare and trying to be ok is tiring. I only feel ok these days when I'm asleep. Horrible existence. But.... with hope it will pass xx

[Nridley25 in reply to MrsB08]

Yes I feel exactly the same!! Just happy to know that I'm not he only one and I'm not alone xx

[PhillyW]

Firstly welcome to the forum. Ok, so having read your comment I think you need to understand a few things about anxiety. Firstly, anxiety isn't bad. Do not think of it as bad, it is just an emotion. Everyone gets anxious, the same as everyone gets sad, happy, upset, bored, excited etc etc. They're all emotions and are inherently neither bad nor good. They just are :-). Now some of them are more pleasant feeling than others. No one likes feeling sad or stressed or angry or bored or upset, and everyone strives to be happy, content, relaxed or maybe even in love. So saying you want to control your anxiety essentially means you need to accept it, accept that it is there and that it won't hurt you.

The same goes for the panic. I've had panic attacks, still do. I have anxiety. However I know that no matter how bad it gets...it won't ever hurt me. You need to really understand that thought, especially when a panic attack grips you. When it arrives, welcome it. Smile like an old friend. Take nice slow deep breaths so that you don't hyperventilate (practice this daily through meditation exercises so that when it happens it's a natural thing to do) and just remember that everything you are feeling, the dizziness, light headed, chest pains, racing heart, detachment, tingling fingers and toes etc etc, are all caused by a rush of adrenaline in your system, it won't last. I promise you.

I could write so much more but really the best I can do I suggest you go to wwwanxietynomore.co.uk and read that website.

Your struggle with anxiety WILL pass, but only when you are ready. Might be a month, might be a year.

The biggest thing you can do to help is really face your fear. Anxiety is essentially fear.Asd I said at the start, it is an emotion that every single person living has and will feel. Perhaps before a job interview, public speaking, a big race etc, the only difference is that we feel it randomly or with certain situations which "shouldn't" cause it to happen.

So write down a few things that you think "if it wasn't for my anxiety, I'd do this". It doesn't need to be big. You don't need to climb Mount Everest as your first step. It might just be walking to the shop and buying some milk. Then you go do it. You take that first step. When the anxiety rises, welcome it. Say hello, then take another step.

Fear will stop you doing the things you love, but only if you let it.

Good luck.

Phil.

[Jeff1943 in reply to PhillyW]

Excellent reply, Phil.

[Nridley25 in reply to PhillyW]

Thankyou so much!! That's very thoughtful