# Feeling Much Better and Wanted to Share



## Mar1982 (Feb 14, 2013)

Dear DPSelfhelp Community,

I just wanted to say that I know how important recovery stories were to me when I was in the throngs of DP and so I wanted to drop a note to say that I am feeling much better.

First off, I am not a doctor, nor an expert on DP or anxiety-therefore I can not tell you that I have found "the one and only cure" like some people have claimed.

Having said that I am not an expert, I do believe that I have learned quite a bit in the 5 years since Panic Attacks and DP became an issue for me. In those who have recovered I have seen a trend and my story is not that different. I followed the advice of people like "Someone" who used to be on here- not sure if they still are- and especially the person who wrote "The Holy Grail of Recovery" and I believe Delicate and a couple of other women. The most help came when I found Shaun O' Connor's website and his "DP Manual." Though we must all take what EVERYONE AND ANYONE says about DP with a grain of salt, because no one is an expert- except possibly the doctors who are researching it- some people's advice helped me more than others.

I'm sure you all know the general advice that is given and I can't say that I'm an exception to the rule. What worked for them, generally worked for me:

*Letting go-* I mean really letting go- going about your daily life even though you have DP. When I finally stopped fighting it and wishing for my pre DP self, I was able to cope better. I would say to myself, stop fighting it, just learn coping techniques to help you handle this." I am not saying I forgot about it, I am saying that I stopped catastrophing my thoughts. I accepted that I was going through it and then I gave myself tools to cope.

*Work Around It* Mine was worse at night so I would do things that had to be done in the morning and during the day and then in the evening, come home and cook dinner and watch my favorite TV shows. This gave me a sense of control. I could predict what would make it worse and when it would be worse. If my friends wanted to go to a scary movie, I would just say, "no, I'm sorry. It will upset me" I knew that things like that would make my DP worse. Instead I would do something that would calm me. Also, as a woman, I deal with bad PMS and my DP is always worse during that time fo the month so I try to be low key and not make so many committments until once my period has passed.

*Distraction *I know that some may say that this is just a crutch- but I don't care. It works. When I was in the deepest depths of DP- when it was relentlessy with me, I remember that I had a heated politcal debate with someone and for those 15-20 minutes of my arguing and focusing on my points, I was relieved of DP. It was the first time I noticed just how obssessed I had become with the DP because for MONTHS it had been the only thing I thought about. The more and more I started doing other things that needed my focus, the better I became. When the DP was really bad, I would try to do 2 things at once- like read and watch TV at the same time, or Sew and watch TV or color in coloring books (they have grownup ones now too) and watch TV at the same time, or listen to music.

*Get ALL HEALTH ISSUES STRAIGTENED OUT- *Right before I got my DP, I had my thyroid removed. The thyroid regulates and affects so many things in our bodies- energy, metabolism, anxiety, depression, concentration, memory and lots more. I believe that the removal of my thryoid and taking thyroid replacement therapy (T4) contributed a lot to my anxiety rising and then causing me great stress. *STRESS*- I had never been as stressed in my life as I was right before I developed chronic DP. I had moved away from home, started an intense Masters Program and got very little sleep for a month and a half from studying and going to school. I was drinking too much caffeine and not eating right. Another issue I had was *Sleep Apnea. *Sleep apnea affects anxiety too. It makes you tired all day and makes concentration difficult as well. If you are overweight, snore a lot, wake up with a sore throat and are tired a lot, look into it. *BLOOD SUGAR* - I find that when my blood level is stable, I have less headaches, and anxiety.

These are very basics things but they have helped me, and if they can help even one of you, I would like to do that.

Just to let you know, I am not 100% yet. I am about 85%-90%. I *do not suffer *anymore, and am able to live my life. I have had moments of being 100% this year which I am very grateful for! That makes me very hopeful! Since 2010, when it began, I hadn't been 100% until this year so this is progress. When it began, I had DR too and everything was hazy and fuzzy and I had the *wall* between me and everything. That went away when I started followingn Shaun O"Connor's manual. That was about 2012. At that point I was saying that I was about 65-70% better. I started to get better gradually and then this year got to about 85% with hours that I was 100% out of it! This makes me hopeful. *Valerian root, vitamin Bs and Magnesium.-* Valerian root is a natural relaxant and has helped me a lot to curb panic attacks (please note that I also take the SSRI Paxil), Vitamin Bs are good for the nervous system and Magnesium helps you to feel calm and sleep well. If you have trouble sleeping, you might want to look into melatonin too.

*Past and emotions still a bit numb- *The only thing that is still hard for me is that when I am in the moment- I am present and I am ok but it's still hard to connect with my past. I remember everything-that isn't a problem, but sometimes I find it difficult to connect with my memories emotionally. I believe that this is still lingering DP and left over from the trauma of going through DP and lingering anxiety. I think that this will also go away with time.

This has been my experience. I know it's not as great as the 100% stories but still being 85% after the hell of the depths of DP is still good and I hope my days of being 100% get more and more!

Be well and keep strong!


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