Andrew Croxall
09-04-2012, 04:42 AM
Hi there - first time poster.
I'm hoping if I describe my situation someone may say they can associate with it and that there is hope, which I'm sure there is. Sometimes it doesn't feel like it, though!
A few months back I caught quite a debilitating virus. It first manifested itself in feelings of imminent fainting. The virus has gone, but panic attacks remained. They have subsided somewhat, but over the last week or so it's turned into a more generalised, always-there anxiety.
Mornings are particularly hard; I feel empty, lost and without help. There is a plethora of books and techniques, but they can be overwhelming and ultimately you don't know which to give attention to.
The worst thing is I don't know what I'm anxious about. How I'd prefer to have an anxiety about SOMETHING - work, a particular person, or whatever. As it is, I feel lost.
For a while I thought perhaps it was an obsessional worry about my heart, since the initial near-fainting episodes planted this idea in my head. (I went to A&E, or ER if you're American, and they did blood tests, ECGs, chest x-rays - the works - and there was found to be no problem with my heart. I have been reassured by a doctor that it is not a heart problem). Still I get seemingly random, mild, sporadic aches and pains scattered around my abdomen and arms, which only fuels this fear.
It sort of feels like I'm not me when I'm anxious, like I've lost myself.
Now, I have booked myself some sessions with a private hypnotherapist, and am excited at what this might bring. Have others tried this?
What is your view on medication? It gets such a bad name, people saying it's addictive and you shouldn't go down that route. Right now it sounds quite attractive if it's going to pick me up out of this.
I am quite active in yoga and meditation. Has anyone found that these alone can beat anxiety, or are they the wrong tools for the job?
Sorry for the rambling post. If anyone has any thoughts, I would be delighted to hear back.
Thanks in advance, and peace
Andy
I'm hoping if I describe my situation someone may say they can associate with it and that there is hope, which I'm sure there is. Sometimes it doesn't feel like it, though!
A few months back I caught quite a debilitating virus. It first manifested itself in feelings of imminent fainting. The virus has gone, but panic attacks remained. They have subsided somewhat, but over the last week or so it's turned into a more generalised, always-there anxiety.
Mornings are particularly hard; I feel empty, lost and without help. There is a plethora of books and techniques, but they can be overwhelming and ultimately you don't know which to give attention to.
The worst thing is I don't know what I'm anxious about. How I'd prefer to have an anxiety about SOMETHING - work, a particular person, or whatever. As it is, I feel lost.
For a while I thought perhaps it was an obsessional worry about my heart, since the initial near-fainting episodes planted this idea in my head. (I went to A&E, or ER if you're American, and they did blood tests, ECGs, chest x-rays - the works - and there was found to be no problem with my heart. I have been reassured by a doctor that it is not a heart problem). Still I get seemingly random, mild, sporadic aches and pains scattered around my abdomen and arms, which only fuels this fear.
It sort of feels like I'm not me when I'm anxious, like I've lost myself.
Now, I have booked myself some sessions with a private hypnotherapist, and am excited at what this might bring. Have others tried this?
What is your view on medication? It gets such a bad name, people saying it's addictive and you shouldn't go down that route. Right now it sounds quite attractive if it's going to pick me up out of this.
I am quite active in yoga and meditation. Has anyone found that these alone can beat anxiety, or are they the wrong tools for the job?
Sorry for the rambling post. If anyone has any thoughts, I would be delighted to hear back.
Thanks in advance, and peace
Andy