# Recovery from severe DR.



## Yelnil_97 (Apr 24, 2017)

Hi guys,

I always promised myself I would post my recovery when I finally got there. Because I remember how terrified I felt and how scared I was when I first came down with this.

I had a huge panic attack in August last year whilst very high. The next two weeks were hell on earth, NOTHING felt real. After the first week I did not know how much more I could take. In fact, the first 3 months were torture. Gradually, I felt better but only when confined inside and had something to distract me.

I wouldn't say my recovery fully toke sway until around 9 months in. I finally said fuck it and stopped caring. I had grown deeply depressed during this period and had put on a tone of weight. My first year of university was a write off and it was basically a
miracle I did not get kicked out.

Anyways, when summer came around I started going to the gym, started working a part time job- this was great for taking my mind off DP/DR. Because I was on my feet all the time at work I felt great. Gradually after a couple of months I felt pretty much fine. I no longer felt weird all the time when I was outside. I could walk through busy cities and enjoy my days without thinking
about DP/DR.

Overall, I think the depression I developed was the main thing keeping the DP/DR around. I still have a long way to go in getting my life back on track but thus far I have lost a lot of the weight I put on, started talking to girls again and getting back to dating,
working and taking care of my appearance.

The only reason I did not overcome this sooner was because I gave up too easily and believed the worst; that I would never recover, that I was damaged for life.

I don't believe my DP/DR is 'over' just yet, I still get small bursts sometimes which last about twenty minutes- 1 hour a day. But that is fine with me, I had this chronically 24/7 before. So for me this is a recovery and I know this can be defeated if it does come back. Whereas before, I had given up hope and I believe this is what prolonged my recovery. Only when I stopped stressing about this disorder did I begin to feel normal again.

If you have any questions I will try my best to answer them but I am NOT A DOCTOR, I posted this to help give hope to some people. I am happy to answer more specific questions about my recovery e.g. what I found helped, specifics etc.

Stay strong, you can do this.


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## allison84 (May 4, 2016)

Congratulation thats great 
Thank you for coming back and posting a recovery story. 
It gives us all hope


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## simolongy (Sep 4, 2017)

Did you do any medication or just try to bide your time? I'm been going through about 4 months of this now and I've figured out that it's highly related to my mood. Sometimes I'll have something good happen and completely forget about it, or I'll be so distracted that it goes away. However what's hard is that i think it's triggered depression, so I really struggle to lift my mood. One indicator that it's mood / anxiety related is when I take Valium (a small dose only when I need to) I almost completely forget about DP and go on with my day. But when you start thinking about it you can spiral downwards... does anyone do meditation and does this help?? I'm about to go and see a therapist, someone who has dealt with this before and see what insight they have, although I've heard mixed reviews about this process


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## Yelnil_97 (Apr 24, 2017)

simolongy said:


> Did you do any medication or just try to bide your time? I'm been going through about 4 months of this now and I've figured out that it's highly related to my mood. Sometimes I'll have something good happen and completely forget about it, or I'll be so distracted that it goes away. However what's hard is that i think it's triggered depression, so I really struggle to lift my mood. One indicator that it's mood / anxiety related is when I take Valium (a small dose only when I need to) I almost completely forget about DP and go on with my day. But when you start thinking about it you can spiral downwards... does anyone do meditation and does this help?? I'm about to go and see a therapist, someone who has dealt with this before and see what insight they have, although I've heard mixed reviews about this process


I did not do any medication.

Mine was definitely triggered by me over thinking my dp/dr and thus getting stressed/anxious, it's a horrible cycle and one that's very difficult to get out of.

Honestly, the best thing I did for myself was to exercise everyday. An hour in the gym makes me feel better than any drug I've ever tried. Keeping productive also helps, if you're working then you will probably forget about it.

I have no experience with therapy either so can't help you there but if you think it may help then it's definitely worth a try.

Good luck.


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## allison84 (May 4, 2016)

Your right its the thinking about dp dr that makes it worse 100% i think it's an obession well with me it is ..

Gotta change the cycle
I'm gonna work on that


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## Mimoza (Sep 7, 2017)

Thank u For the post , i recovered too from sévère DP/dr and now Im suffering alot with feelings of low self esteem and lack of confiance , and honestly i prefere DP/dr than this disgusting feeling , the question is :did u passed this stage after recovery ?


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## Stevec1221 (Sep 3, 2017)

What steps did you take to get better? I've been currently stuck in dr for 6 months.


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## Yelnil_97 (Apr 24, 2017)

Stevec1221 said:


> What steps did you take to get better? I've been currently stuck in dr for 6 months.


I was stuck in a horrible malaise with dr for a long time, hoping I'd wake up one morning and it would just be gone.

I decided to get on with my life. Stop caring about it and stop worrying about it. Realise it won't just go suddenly one day, it takes time.

I kept myself busy, I would be in the gym for at least an hour a day. I would see my friends every day. I would work everyday. I'd forget about my dr and my dp and thus it would often disappear.

Days of forgetting about my dr turned into weeks and so on. Of course I had days thrown in where I felt bad, but I didn't let it get me down! I'd look to be productive and go to the gym.

Honestly, I know a lot of that sounds vague. I think the key is acceptance. Accept you have dr but that it can't hurt you and that IT IS NOT PERMANENT. I truly believed mine was permanent and it was the reason I did not recover sooner.

I'd say my key steps to recovery were:

1) Exercise. I did a lot of weights but doesn't really matter what you're doing I guess.

2) Diet, eat healthy!! Give your body what it needs to function! Eating right can reduce stress/anxiety.

3) Productive. Either by learning something new or simply being at my part time job.

4) Socialise. See your friends, laugh, have good times.

5) Get into a positive mindset. This is probably the hardest one, I have suffered a lot of depression so I know it's not as simple as waking up and deciding to be happy.

Sorry for not keeping it short, thought it was best to elaborate on a few points from my first post to help others with questions.


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## HopingCat36 (Jun 17, 2017)

Yelnil_97 said:


> Hi guys,
> 
> I always promised myself I would post my recovery when I finally got there. Because I remember how terrified I felt and how scared I was when I first came down with this.
> 
> ...


Did you have visual problems with your Dr? Like the did the fluorescent light bother you and make things look intense and dream like?


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## Yelnil_97 (Apr 24, 2017)

HopingCat36 said:


> Did you have visual problems with your Dr? Like the did the fluorescent light bother you and make things look intense and dream like?


Yes, supermarkets were horrible. Made things very intense. Wouldn't say 'not real' but just very horrible and weird. This was being anywhere busy in general.


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## Maddyn (May 4, 2017)

whats your opinion on a full time job, im struggling right now with is but i also think the fact so many people say its to much for people with dp/dr is playing a part in why i get so stressed, but my job is very full on and im scared i will lose my job to this


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## Lexy67 (Sep 23, 2017)

I couldn't hold my job,unfortunately, however I am planning to go back soon as I am feeling btr. A big difference for me was getting the right medication to sleep: serequol. 
Im not out of the woods yet.

But all this to say, that it might be too much for you to hold a job right. But have hope that your condition may get btr.


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