to ask for help with my travel anxiety

[Stellaroses]

I love holidays and love planning them. Look forward to it all year.
But when it comes to a few days before the holiday, I get terribly anxious. I regret ever planning it. I can't sleep easily and wake up several times in the night. Get sudden lurches of the stomach and butterflies/nausea during the day. Hot prickly skin. It usually lasts until we've spent our first night away. This time it's started over a week before we leave.
Is there anything I can do about it? Is there something I could ask the GP for? Or anything easy to take?

I should have mentioned I actually do have a supply of fluanxol (previous history of depression and anxiety with psychosis) but I've never taken it and I'm not sure if it would help?
Sounds silly now I say that. maybe I should just take it.

Have you ever had any counselling? This approach might not be for everyone and you perhaps need the support of a counsellor to try it…

Rather than fighting it, how about accepting it?

oh here’s the fluttering stomach…
heres the prickly skin…
hello, middle of the night…

Listen to your body and be curious about what it’s telling you.

Have you ever had any experience of being away from home or travelling not going well?

Thank you, that is very useful.
Counselling is a good idea. Too late for this trip but next time.
When I was in my early 20s I travelled a lot and was ill a few times (ie had to see a dr and was presecribed anti-nausea meds) but looking back, all those occasions were actually anxiety, I now recognise. I never had any physical symptoms except "feeling awful". So it has gone on for years but I hadn't realised. I don't think anything in particular happened to trigger it.

It’s sometimes that the more you practice sitting with the feelings instead of fighting them, the more your mind will reveal to you about the reasons. And maybe there is no reason - I went through a period of terrible health anxiety which was more about my mind trying to latch onto the nearest possible culprit when actually it was deeper stuff going on underneath.

‘The Body Keeps the Score’ and ‘The Wisdom of Anxiety’ are both great books if you’re interested in this approach. And mindfulness meditation can help you learn to practice accepting your feelings instead of fighting them.

Hope you enjoy your holiday!