Wowwwweeee

Hi Friends,

I’ve been reading through the posts here. I thought I’d write something here about what I’ve been doing and have done to maintain myself with my own experiences of panic and anxiety. Hope it helps someone.

If you read through these all these postings, you will find the majority of sufferers experience anxiety, panic AND depression on differing levels. And note that it's very common when dealing with chronic medical conditions to pick up anxiety-related issues. I deal with an inner ear problem, and when your balance system is off, it's hard to be in control of yourself physically, and that can cause all kinds of fears, even for people who normally aren't panic prone.

Easier said than done, I know, but you really need to find a way to take some sort of control over your terror. It's much easier to cope with whatever comes your way when you are calm or at least able to look at things (like scary symptoms) objectively.

I say this with a lot of heart! My wooziness and related symptoms provoked MAJOR intense anxiety. I was at a point with my woozy symptoms that I just couldn't even be left alone. Not even to go downstairs in my house to take a shower. Everything came crashing down at one point for me, and my world became very small and very limited. It was a horrible time for me, and coming back to a level of normalcy that felt even remotely comfortable for me was one of the toughest personal challenges that I still work on.

The thing about anxiety is that you reach a point where it builds and builds and builds, and then you just plateau. Meaning, you reach a point where your anxiety doesn't get any worse, but it stays "right there" with you and you're stuck in it. It doesn't matter if your anxiety related symptoms and fearful thoughts diminish once you're at that point - the littlest scary thought or tiniest bodily symptom can throw you back into a whirlwind of paralyzing panic. So working through anxiety and panic is hard work and you have to work DAILY at overcoming it, because it can grasp you quickly and tightly. The anxiety can turn into “what if” fears, which can linger long after the actual panic attack.

The trick to pushing past these intense anxious feelings is just that - you need to push past. Sometimes without additional help or guidance, it's hard to learn to push past the fear.

If you are feeling out of control with your situation, I can completely relate to that, because as I’ve said, I’ve been there many times, too. First, realize that you are not alone. Second, I think putting together a plan to take care of yourself during this rough time is a good idea. This way, at least a part of you won’t feel so out of control. For me, I was able to do a few things, without medication, to regain trust in myself and my body so that I wasn't so fearful anymore.

-continued