Recently recognised being anxious.

[JuanVC]

Hi guys, I’m 35 y/o, healthy, so far, keep active, eat clean, 1 beer once in a blue moon and no drugs. I went to Thailand two months ago to meet some friends and on the very first night after a tiring flight, it was very hot in Bangkok, humid, loud and went to a restaurant which was extremely hot as well and as I finished my meal, I started to feel unwell, blurry vision and shortly after I passed out for 30 seconds.

After this even I have not been myself anymore, I’ve been worried about it and even though I had a FULL medical check once back to Oz and nothing is wrong with me other than having that faint episode according to the doctors due to heat and dehydration.

I still felt sick and felt lightheaded and dizzy for the majority of the trip so I could not enjoy. After coming back to SYdney been feeling fearful, worried, I have my good days and my bad days, I get this anxiety out of the blue. I have had a few things going on, moving houses, buying an apartment and in the middle of renovation and also going overseas for 2.5 months on a holiday with my partner, I have been looking forward to this trip but since the Thailand episode I’ve become worried about repeating the same thing, boarding the plane and when getting to destination passing out. I know it sounds dramatic and might sound stupid but that is the fear I have. I know that I’m healthy, I did loose weigh due to all the above events but have been eating healthy. Any advise to overcome and at least try to get excited for my trip on Monday? Somehow all I think about is what if? What if that happens again?.

This past 2 months have been very challenging for me. At the beginning I was denying anxiety, I would tell one doctor that he had no idea about me but he was right, I finally opened up and although I am not exactly sure if this is how anxiety feels, I know something is going on and reading this page and other post makes me understand myself a bit better. Any tips, messages and encouragement would be highly appreciated. All my love guys x

[Croix]

Dear JuanVC~

Welcome here to the Forum, and I'm sorry you have had a run of bad luck. Coming here is very sensible and you can get the experiences of others to help you see thngs as they are.

First off the illness in Thailand sounds as if if it had straight physical problems -dehydration, heat, fatigue and so on

Getting a full medical upon you return was exactly the right thing to do, and I'm pleased to hear you got a clean bill of health.

That incident in Thailand was very dramatic, you lost control and it was a real worry. Sadly not all that worry has gone -probably becuse the incident was so out of the ordinary and so traumatic.

As a result you now have the worry it might happen again. As you say yourself you are healthy, you can account for what happened but still have apprehension. Not surprisingly this puts a damper on your looking forward to the new trip.

If you think about it your life is not exactly stress free in other areas either. Moving, buying an apartment, being in the middle of renovations -all that plus the forthcoming trip

For me at least anxiety increases dramatically as stress increases, so the logical thing -in part -is to lead as stress free a life as possible. Exercise, nutrition, good sleep and avoiding stressful situations (for me the news is an example) and people with whom you do not get on all contribute to your well-being, as does doing things each day to look forward to, that distract and provide enjoyment. I read books or watch moves of an evening.

The other part of course is to get the correct medical help, and it sounds as if you are well on the way to that by acknowledging there is in fact a problem. A great insight not everything can do.

I would suggest that as anxiety builds you practice the free smartphone app called Smiling Mind, it certainly helps me take my mind off all the possible disasters my mind quite unjustifiably invents.

I'd also suggest looking at this rather long thread, it has helped me a lot:

Forums / Anxiety / SELF HELP TIPS FOR MANAGING ANXIETY

The other thing I've found is that having someone who understands who supports me - in my case my partner -realy helps too. One thing is that person can give a sense of proportion whee my mind dreams up unrealistic scenarios, another is simply not being alone. Do you have anyone like that? Your partner perhaps?

Please let us know how you get on

Croix

[JuanVC]

THank you so much for your reply. I have used the smiling mind app and it has been great. Although the stress factors are there I am making an extra effort to soften them by listening to the app, I went for 2 walks and one of them was appreciating the amazing sunshine and my surroundings, this really made me calm and felt in peace.

I have an amazing partner who supports me and understands me, he came to meet me after my quick meditation and we went to have a nice afternoon meal, I was actually starving and feeling hungry which is a great sign. I’m now back at home relaxing and staying positive that he evening will go well.

in terms of my trip, I will take it step by step. I have all my techniques, tools, apps and I’m ready to conquer all these fears.

Another big thank you for your msg, it actually made a huge difference in my day.

[Croix]

Dear JuanVC ~

You are very welcome, I'm glad it is a bit of a help. I'm also pleased for you that you do have someone supportive in your life, as I said my partner made a huge difference. Mind you, it can be hard for a partner too at times and they can need support to, my partner had her mum, and she helped her get though the hard times.

Now I'm not being negative, quite the opposite, but anxiety - as I well know - has ups and downs. If you find some days better than others please do not be discouraged, it is quite normal, things then improve again, particularly when doing those relaxing things like you walk. For some reason even gentle physical exercise and a change of location make a lot of difference.

Incidentally did you realise you could switch the horrible background music off in Smiling Mind? I found it much better without 🙂

Croix