Moving anxiety

[Turtle07]

Hi all
Not really an AIBU but hoping for traffic here. I am moving house on Monday so have had a weekend so far full of boxing up and cleaning. Up until this point I have been fairly calm about the situation and not overly stressed. All day today I’ve been absolutely fine. And then bam, an hour ago out of the blue I have been hit will a full on panic/anxiety attack. I suffer from these from time to time. And they are so debilitating because they are entirely physical in nature. I am shivering, light headed, desperate for sleep, having bouts of diarrhoea and feeling like I need to vomit. That is how these episodes go for me, and they last for what feels like an eternity. Now I am in total spiralling mode because I feel so physically unwell, and my mind starts worrying “what if I feel like this on moving day, what if I’m like this on the day and I can’t cope with it, what if I’m this unwell and there’s all these people turning up to my house to help”. It’s absolutely crippling. The fear of “what if this physical anxiety attack happens when…” is the source of my anxiety itself. I am terrified I’m going to be feeling like throwing up and needing to lie down or having diarrhoea when I have a bit event on.
I have taken propranolol a while ago but got a feeling it’s not going to do anything for me.
Not sure why I’m posting really but thought it might help to put it down in words what I’m feeling and fearing, and assurances from anyone else who experiences this kind of anxiety.
thanks xx

Here's a tip that may help you. When you start those pre-panic attack feelings grab a small water bottle or wallet or similar and start throwing it from one hand to the other, keeping your eyes on the item. It forces the two hemispheres of your brain (the logical and the emotional) to work together so as not to drop it.

It works. 😊

I have anxiety. The worst things that can happen, do happen. I always prepare for the worst and then the worst happens. I've got myself in to a cycle of not daring to be happy in case something bad happens. So I'm always on high alert if you like. I bit the bullet and started taking anti anxieties and did CBT. I had insight in to my anxiety and just needed to talk my anxieties through with someone while slowing my thoughts. I did it by doing this combo. I came to realise that: I'm anxious over situations I can't control and start panicking over what if this and what if that. I realised what I can control is my emotions towards this. And realised that I can control how I feel because worrying doesn't make the bad things any easier when they happen, it just means I'm constantly miserable and anxious for nothing. Rubbish things happen anyway, might as well not feel shit inbetween all the rubbish events. My point being, think about what you can control and not what you can't, and then go from there. HTH. X