Health anxiety - on a train - can feel myself spiralling

[tomissmymum]

Help, I’ve got another hour and forty minutes and really struggling. Horrible sense of impending doom. MH team said they’ll ring me in an hour or so but how do I calm myself down meantime?

Didn’t want to read and run. Have you got anything that can distract you? A game of cards on your phone? Get a pen & paper & plan out your dream house?
Concentrate on your breathing… long deep breaths in and out. You will get through this!

Concentrate on your environment-

If you're feeling particularly panicked, see if the 5,4,3,2,1 technique helps you:

5: list 5 thing you that you can see right now

4: list 4 things that you can touch right now

3: list 3 things you can hear right now

2: list 2 things you can smell right now

1: list 1 thing you can taste right now

Ive been there and I promise you are ok.

I’ve got music on yeah. Taken my PRN too but feel really disssociated and spaced out. I keep thinking I’m going to have a stroke or something like that.

5 - chair with blue stripes. Girl with beautiful blue and red top drinking coffee. Mum with a pink pram. Older woman in a spotty top. Young woman with a huge long bow in her hair.

4 - broken table tray thing, my suitcase, my top, Asda carrier bag

3 - train door beeping alarm. Guy in front of me eating. ‘Next stop is Perth, see it say it sorted etc’

2 - alien perfume and whatever he’s eating in front of me

1 - sausage sandwich

In an emergency I used to run the timer on my phone, watching the numbers down from 1
minute to 0 over and over again while tapping along on my foot or hand. Adding small things like blinking on the fifth second, scratching my right ear every thirty seconds, adding to the sequence each time to distract myself.

Square breathing- slow count 1,2,3,4 in, hold, 4 out, hold, 4 in again. You'll be fine

You're ok. Hows your breathing? Can you try and pretend you're singing long with your music? I've done this but actually sing out loud in a hospital corridor before when I was panicking. People thought I was a nutter, but I find it regulates my breathing well. 💐💐💐

Or try alternate nostril breathing
You'll be fine

Thank you. I remember nostril breathing yeah. I keep ‘forgetting’ where I am/blanking out and then trying to remind myself. One hour to go now.

How are you doing? You’re almost there!

Hope you are doing ok @tomissmymum and are nearly there now. With you in spirit

abour ten minutes left now. Now worrying about getting off! Hopefully it’s Ok.

Hope you got off ok op

Got off and threw up everywhere. Seriously, everywhere - projectile force. Still sitting in station. Probably panic attack related but smell horrendous and feel even worse.

They’ve rang an ambulance (I was booked for assistance anyway) as tbh no taxi would take me like I am.

Oh, bless your heart :( Do you suffer with migraines at all? I feel spaced out and dissociated with migraine, and I don't always get the headaches, but I recognise the spiralling all too well.

How are getting on OP? 💐💐💐