# I am completely DP/DR Free



## Simone1986 (Apr 13, 2014)

I'm writing to give people hope. DP/DR is 100% reversable, without drugs and without therapy. I went though a good year of pure hell and today I'm back to normal. And I have been back to normal for a good year and a half and I know I will never go back to that place because I'm not afraid of it. I don't even think of DP/DR anymore... ever! Even when I think about the way I used to feel, I feel no anxiety. It is important to understand the DP/DR is a result of severe anxiety. In my case it was anxiety that buit up over time and one day it was just a switch that was flipped and like I said, I lived in pure hell. I will never forget the day it happened, I had exams coming up (and I think it was just built up anxiety over the course I was doing), and I was just sitting on the floor playing with my 6 month old daughter. I did NOTHING to provoke what happened to me, it just came over me like a wave. I immediately got up because I knew something was wrong. I went into a full blown panic mode and I was pacing the house looking around and just feeling "off", but I couldn't explain it. All I could say was I felt foggy or dizzy even though that really didn't explain it the way I was feeling. I had my mother come over because I didn't know what was going on. I thought maybe if I went to sleep the feeling would go away if I just got some sleep, but no. The next morning I got up and the feeling was still there. I was constantly focused on this feeling and I thought of nothing else. It consumed my world. I couldn't even focus on a television program, and I felt so jealous of people that could. All I thought about day and night was this feeling. I thought I had a brain tumor and I've never been to the doctors so many times before in my life. But all they kept telling me is that I was having a panic attack and that it is just anxiety. I of course didn't believe them because I know what anxiety feels like, the butterflies in your stomach before doing a speech in school. But what I learnt is that severe anxiety is so complex and has so many symptoms. I had completly disassociated myself from my feelings. I remember calling my mum and just telling her, I feel nothing. I feel no emotions, no happy, no sad. I realise looking back that all I felt was fear. I wanted to cry so bad just to feel something. So anyway, they sent me to a psychologist which I only attended twice because I felt she had no idea what I was going through, she just had textbook knowledge and no personal experience. I left so lost. So, I turned to the internet. I just googled "foggy feeling" and it brought up DP/DR and it eventually brought me to this site. It is important not to research symptoms becuase it can bring on symptoms that you initially didn't have because it is all in your head. But in saying that, researching helped me realise what I was going through and I learnt how to approach this. Now, you must understand that there is no quick fix. It does not go away overnight, it takes months. You need to accept that, and if you can't then you will never recover. What I did was, instead of staying at home and constantly living in my head, I went out. I did things that helped me take my mind off it. At first you feel like it is futile becuase you are always in your head, but the more you go out and do things the more the feeling dissapates. It would start with me forgetting about it for 5 minutes, then and hour, then half a day, then one day I realised that I haven't thought about it in a while day. You must ACCEPT the way you feel and just tell youself, ok I feel like this now, it is not permanent and it will go away eventually. I used to obsess about the most stupid things, and thinking back I think how the hell did that cause so much anxiety. I remember I had a full blown panic attack at work simply because I could see my nose in my field of vision. For a long time I would contantly focus in my nose in my field of vision or I would contantly be checking my perhiheral vision because I was convinced I was going blind. That is anxiety, constantly worrying about everything. Really stupid things. Now I can look at my nose in my field of vision and feel no anxiety and I laugh at my frame of mind when going through this. Anxiety is curable without medication. It is a bumpy road. You will have good days, and you will have day when you think you are starting back at square one, trust me, this WILL happen. You will even convince yourself that you will never get better. DO NOT believe this for one second. It does go away, it just takes time. If you have any questions, you can contact me. I am happy to answer any questions you have. I will add, because this used to bother me a lot, but after iamges and trails are absolutly anxiety related and they 100% go away when fully recovered.


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## katiej (Jan 21, 2012)

Thanks for your post .did u feel like nothing made sense and have strong existential thoughts. Absolutely everything I see terrifies Me.I like don't wanna go on as normal cause it feels like I have uncovered some truth that I cannot reverse. Any tips for this. Katie


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## eddy1886 (Oct 11, 2012)

You are very brave to have fought through this for months until you got better without medicine or therapy...Especially with a young child to look after...To put up with the symptoms and fear day after day until you recovered says you are a very very determined and brave person...Well done!

I wish you well!


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## katiej (Jan 21, 2012)

Eddie . U were very helpful last time . Do u think if I accept these feelings in time they will go . I feel like everything is new .


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## Simone1986 (Apr 13, 2014)

Thank you Eddie, that was really nice of you to say. I just want to give everyone words of encouragement because I want ever one to get better, because I lived in a pure hell. It's hard when you look at your baby and just feel nothing, no love, nothing.

Katie, absolutely give into these feelings. Easier said then done TRUST ME. I constantly felt that if I relaxed and stopped worrying that something bad would happen, but you know what, nothing ever did. I was so scared to go to sleep because I thought I wouldn't wake up. Slowly, after I stopped caring so much, it went away.


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## eddy1886 (Oct 11, 2012)

Katie what i would say to you is to eliminate any stress in your life for the time being (this really helps ease anxiety)....Are you in the throws of full on DP? Because if you are and its a total hell you cant cope with i would maybe consider going to see a doctor about some medication to help you through the rough period....Have you got any family members or someone close to talk to about this....Suffering in silence is also one of the worst things you can do! You need support! Is there any mental health people in your area you could talk to...You should go see them if there are....If you are constantly worrying about your DP it simply wont go away.....I have found a combination of medicine and stress elimination has done me the world of good and ive had DP for over 20 years


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## simonlebon (Apr 13, 2015)

Preach! This is pretty much exactly what anxietycentre.com says about anxiety. The body is hyperstimulated. Takes time and patience, but once you get the body calmed down it goes away. The hard part is getting to that point of acceptance, being patient with yourself and containing your fearful thinking (don't follow it).

Great post.

Peace!


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## Chukka (Aug 24, 2015)

katiej said:


> Thanks for your post .did u feel like nothing made sense and have strong existential thoughts. Absolutely everything I see terrifies Me.I like don't wanna go on as normal cause it feels like I have uncovered some truth that I cannot reverse. Any tips for this. Katie


 I know exactly what your talking about! And feeling it's almost like you don't care if it goes away but at the same time you hate it and want your self back but can't do much about it and if you think like wow this is weird it scares the shit out of you but let me tell you this is dissociation going on in your head from all these anxious thoughts... You'll be ok I hope you recover soon


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## Victor Ouriques (Jul 15, 2011)

Did you have floaters,BFEP? I started having it after anxiety/derealization too,glad visual stuff goes away.


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## hopefuluk2 (Aug 20, 2015)

Did not you get depressed while fighting it?


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## katiej (Jan 21, 2012)

Chukka said:


> I know exactly what your talking about! And feeling it's almost like you don't care if it goes away but at the same time you hate it and want your self back but can't do much about it and if you think like wow this is weird it scares the shit out of you but let me tell you this is dissociation going on in your head from all these anxious thoughts... You'll be ok I hope you recover soon


Yes exactly. Thank you for relating. ! i hope in time it goes away. it almost feels likeit couldnt be anything doin it it just feels like its the way im thinking sort of ? if u get me.


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## sunshine22 (Sep 11, 2015)

Hi everyone. I've been struggling for four months with anxiety/dp/dr and it has probably been the worst experience of my life thus far. I sympathise tremendously with those of you who have had this for such a long time, you are all truly some of the stronges people this world has to offer. I think (which is all I seem to do) that what makes this thing so difficult is its self-sustaining nature, meaning the feeling of dp/dr triggers abstract/philisophical thoughts and then these thoughts cause anxiety, which increases the dissociative sensations leading to more thoughts. But here's how I like to see it. People always tell you "the good things never last." And I think we know as much as anyone else that good moments are fleeting and sometimes short lived, especially while suffering through dp/dr. But if good moments don't last, then wouldn't that also apply for all the awful ones? I guess I'm just saying that these dark days will pass. I can't say when, but they will. Someday we'll all forget about this forum, these irrational thoughts, and how we feel right now. We'll all find a way to be happy.


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