Anxiety increase after lap

[luuccee]

Had my lap 4 weeks ago, had a few complications so didn’t leave the house for 3 weeks! Now slowly going out and my anxiety is so much higher! I’ve always suffered with anxiety but now it’s like I can’t leave the house without having an anxiety attack or feeling anxious and sick. Any ideas or tips to help with this? Thankyou

[weekari]

Awe you've gone through so much. You poor thing. I think there's so little support after surgery. It's a lot to go through.

I think there are a few things to consider. The first is you've gone through something traumatic so you're going to be processing that, which might leave you a bit more on edge. If you've had other traumatic events in your life, then it might be a bit more heightened. This will likely just pass in time. I know I was definitely a bit traumatised from mine for quite a few weeks afterwards.

The second thing is, after spending a long time in the house, the outside world can feel a bit overwhelming. It's a bit of a sensory overload. Which can leave you feeling anxious and like you can't cope.

The first thing I would say is to go easy. Don't expect yourself to just jump straight back to what you were doing before. You're still recovering (physically and mentally) and you need to do things gradually. Maybe just start by standing at your door and just notice the noises, smells etc. And then take very short walks. Start with what you know you can cope with. If that's taking 10 steps out your door, turning round and going back in, then that's fine. Then just build up gradually.

Have you had the chance to talk about all your experiences and get it all off your chest? If you've not, then maybe writing everything down could help. Especially to release how you may be feeling about it all. Give yourself the chance to release all the emotions.

And the other thing is maybe trying some relaxation or meditation to try calm your mind down a bit.

I think it's really pretty coming to feel anxious after surgery. It's a lot to go through.

X

[luuccee in reply to weekari]

Yeah, 2 weeks before my lap my mum had a hysterectomy for cervical cancer and then she caught sepsis and we almost lost her so all throughout my lap and my recovery I’ve been worrying about her.

I’ve tried writing things down but I’ve found that as I write it down I think of more stupid situations that won’t happen. It’s like I need the reassurance from someone else.

[weekari in reply to luuccee]

Oh wow! No wonder it's been a bit overwhelming! That's so much to be dealing with and a lot for your mind to catch up with. It's honestly really normal to be feeling this way while you're going through all of this.

It must've been so frightening to go for your own surgery after your mum's experiences. I was terrified before mine and I didn't have anything like that to worry me. You must be a pretty strong, courageous person!

Something I use to deal with things is EFT (emotional freedom technique) its a really simple thing using tapping on meridian points. It sounds like total nonsense but it really helps to release emotions. There's a brilliant guy called Brad Yates on YouTube who has done hundreds of videos you can follow. You just follow along with what he does, tapping and saying the things he says. He's done one for everything. I'd recommend just thinking about how you feel (probably anxious is a good place to start) and find a video of his on that and see if it helps. They're only about 10 mins.

You just need your mind to catch up with the fact that everything is OK now. You're not in danger, you're safe, your mum is safe. Everything is OK and you can relax now. Even just telling yourself that might help 😊

Xx