Cityoflostdreams
New Here
I wrote a post a couple of years back about my past and how my struggle with PTSD. With the comments I had received and from having a look around here I saw some great advice and I’ve managed to clear up the majority of my PTSD symptoms through therapy and self care but the one thing I’ve never been able to shake is my anxiety.
I am anxious about pretty much everything and it’s really starting to take a huge hold of my life. The best way I think I can explain it is a recent holiday I went on for 3 days, I took the train (from the UK to Spain, about a 15 hour journey) because I am now so terrified of flying I refuse to do it, but while on the trains I was feeling anxious at the speed we were going, terrorism and if the driver was really paying attention. Once at the destination (a sea front hotel) I started obsessing over the thought of a tsunami hitting, getting bitten by a mosquito and getting a disease or having a medical emergency. I was very cautious about what I ate, making sure I didn’t eat anything that was likely to give me food poisoning, every weird smell would give me thoughts about a chemical leak and anyone who looked slightly out of the ordinary put me on edge. I didn’t really partake in any activities because I was so scared about having a heart attack from over exerting myself. Really, I just spent the 3 days counting down the minutes until I could come home. These are just the examples I can think of from the top of my head but they’re are many more. This isn’t isolated to my holidays too, it’s starting to creep into my everyday life more and more but it’s just heightened when I’m out of my familiar surroundings. I feel exhausted, out of breath and faint most of the time, I’ve gained 2 stone because of feeling this way and this is of course adding to my anxiety.
I am now unsure of what to do to treat this, I’ve had lots of CBT, counciling and even hypnotherapy to treat my PTSD and I have always mentioned my anxiety. My therapists have always given me techniques and I’ve left the session feeling optimistic but within a few hours that horrible voice in the back of my mind would be back drumming up anxious thoughts. I’ve tried self help techniques, meditation, yoga and eating healthy. I feel like no amount of reasoning or rational thinking can get rid of it, and it really feels like it’s something which is sub consciously going on in the back of my mind. I have tried anti anxiety medication before but if I’m honest I’m even feeling too anxious about the side effects to try them again. I was just wondering if anyone else has suffered this problem and if so, how did you learn to live with it and stop it from taking control of your life? Sometimes I wonder if there is some miracle tip I just haven’t heard yet!
Anyway thank you for taking the time to read my post.
I am anxious about pretty much everything and it’s really starting to take a huge hold of my life. The best way I think I can explain it is a recent holiday I went on for 3 days, I took the train (from the UK to Spain, about a 15 hour journey) because I am now so terrified of flying I refuse to do it, but while on the trains I was feeling anxious at the speed we were going, terrorism and if the driver was really paying attention. Once at the destination (a sea front hotel) I started obsessing over the thought of a tsunami hitting, getting bitten by a mosquito and getting a disease or having a medical emergency. I was very cautious about what I ate, making sure I didn’t eat anything that was likely to give me food poisoning, every weird smell would give me thoughts about a chemical leak and anyone who looked slightly out of the ordinary put me on edge. I didn’t really partake in any activities because I was so scared about having a heart attack from over exerting myself. Really, I just spent the 3 days counting down the minutes until I could come home. These are just the examples I can think of from the top of my head but they’re are many more. This isn’t isolated to my holidays too, it’s starting to creep into my everyday life more and more but it’s just heightened when I’m out of my familiar surroundings. I feel exhausted, out of breath and faint most of the time, I’ve gained 2 stone because of feeling this way and this is of course adding to my anxiety.
I am now unsure of what to do to treat this, I’ve had lots of CBT, counciling and even hypnotherapy to treat my PTSD and I have always mentioned my anxiety. My therapists have always given me techniques and I’ve left the session feeling optimistic but within a few hours that horrible voice in the back of my mind would be back drumming up anxious thoughts. I’ve tried self help techniques, meditation, yoga and eating healthy. I feel like no amount of reasoning or rational thinking can get rid of it, and it really feels like it’s something which is sub consciously going on in the back of my mind. I have tried anti anxiety medication before but if I’m honest I’m even feeling too anxious about the side effects to try them again. I was just wondering if anyone else has suffered this problem and if so, how did you learn to live with it and stop it from taking control of your life? Sometimes I wonder if there is some miracle tip I just haven’t heard yet!
Anyway thank you for taking the time to read my post.