Big improvement

[ferdricko1]

Soooo.... I haven't been on here in a few months, probably because I have genuinely been feeling a better.  This won't be a terribly long post at all, but I can think of a couple of things that have changed in my life lately that have contributed and I thought I would share them in hopes that maybe they will benefit others.  If I think of more, i'll post it on later.

• I'm a college student and so after summer ended and I went back to school AND started a new job, I was SUPER busy.  I think I was so busy that I in a way, literally had no time to think about anxiety, and I think that helped a ton.  My symptoms (palpitations most of all) slowly decreased.
• I also began individual and group therapy.  My individual counselor is doing an approach called schema therapy.  Apparently, it was created because sometimes, traditional CBT wasn't working for some people.

A few notes on it:  My symptoms faded over a few weeks.  It's not completely gone - but palpitations that I've felt since have only been a few specific times.  That's a dramatic improvement for me.  I also had an 'empty' feeling much of the time, and that's gone too.  I also noticed a link on the palpitations - it seemed to happen when I was tensing my muscles.  For example, I live in a cold place (the high yesterday was 3 F, and the low -17 F), so if I shivered intensely or was clenching my muscles against the cold, the palps would be more likely to happen.  So i've learned to relax my body some in these situations.  Deep breathing exercises definitely help.  Practice them 5-10 min at least daily, if possible.  And of course, diet, exercise, sleep, hydration, and all of that play a role.  Good luck to everyone.  Like I said, I'll post more details if I think of any other things that have helped me.

[floridaguy65]

Awesome F:) Thanks for sharing!

I think I was so busy that I in a way, literally had no time to think about anxiety, and I think that helped a ton.  My symptoms (palpitations most of all) slowly decreased.

Yes, being active and involved and diverse can certainly help. Not letting how bad we can, sometimes, feel keep us from being busy is very important. Often, because we are feeling "off", we can become inactive and stagnant worrying about that actual way we might be feeling, currently. Pushing through is paramount. If we wait until we feel "normal" or "our old self" again, then we might be waiting for a loooooooong time. Our perceptions can get mightily skewed by our hyper anxiety, at times, and we don't even know what "normal" really means anymore. We have to set "new normals", so to speak....and this is AOK. Don't sell ourselves short in our ability to to live with passion and desire and purpose and trust. Keep in mind that an overly anxious mind tends to breed feelings that we will be be 'stuck' like this (feeling "off") forever, with little chance of living well. Not true:)

 I also began individual and group therapy.  My individual counselor is doing an approach called schema therapy.  Apparently, it was created because sometimes, traditional CBT wasn't working for some people.

Tremendous! The actions and habits and techniques you learn can become part of your self-help work. What we embrace in therapy we can continue on our own, for sure:)

 So i've learned to relax my body some in these situations.  Deep breathing exercises definitely help.  Practice them 5-10 min at least daily, if possible. 

Fantastic! Deep diaphragmatic breathing was (is) a huge part of my healing path. It is, without doubt, a wonderful exercise with incredibly powerful health promoting effects:) It can be a struggle to get on board with it, when we are floundering in our anxiety issues, but with practice (and practice:) and some patience and some belief and acceptance, it can be one of the more dramatic helpers in our learning how to better live alongside a lot of our trials:) It can become almost automatic in its presence....very natural in its ability to reduce stress:)

And of course, diet, exercise, sleep, hydration, and all of that play a role. 

Of course:) There is little rational justification to say otherwise....we MUST pay attention to these things to give us the best chance of moving towards a lasting healing path:)

Again, thanks for writing some of your story. Keep on truckin', brother!

Peace and Feel Well:)

[Happy sailing]

HEY Floridaguy!   

I have a question for you.  I noticed you seem to really have agood grasp on somethings RE: anxiety..
As per your comment below:

"Our perceptions getting mightily skewed by hyper-anxiety, and so we don't even know what "normal" is anymore".
Could you elaborate?
I find it difficult at times to even accurately explain a symptom to ask a question on here.like I find it odd that I seem to have this constant fear state.. Also that my thoughts/fears are not necessarily formed in the "front" of my mind, but sort of there in a cloudy faint reverie at the "back" of my mind as I go along.
Also, since when I was "normal" before, that wasn't going on, and I wasn't generally afraid of the things that "foggy-cloud" consists of... I find I am sort of confused regarding those things.  Like, what is real?  I am NOT detached from reality...like, I am cognizant of all that is going on and am registering it all and reacting to it normally... Just why do I have this strange blob of fears ?  Since they are not normally there in one's "normal" state...yet they seem real-since you are "experiencing" them... making one wonder what the truth is?  When you are worried about making sure you ARE in touch with reality, since you know the "experience" you are having with the fears "seem" real...UGGHHH...
Does ANY of this make sense??? LOL!!!