# Help, need advice



## Guest (Aug 14, 2004)

I have been struggeling with this for four and a half years now. The entire time I have never been convinced that what I have is anxiety dp/dr. I would like to describe what I experience daily and get some opinions. I want to know if anyone here thinks that I could have some other undiagnosed ailment.

Here are some of my symptoms;

Perceptual distortions, things look strange, off, shadows and other shapes scare me, they look like other forms or creatures. Fear of hallucinating. If I see on of my friends out of the corner of my eye she looks like one of my other friends and my brain freezes and gets confused. I panic and think I am loosing my cognitive abilities.

Driving can be difficult at times, everything looks scarey, cars look weird, clouds, trees. I feel really anxious. It comes and goes while I drive.

My brain feels like it is not working properly. I feel confused at times, feel like I am on the verge of not knowing how to type, spell, remember things. I question what just said when in a conversation etc...

Feel a wave of "woosh" come over me and I feel turned around, disoriented, scared. Sometimes I just look at something and I feel scared, it's as if something is triggered in me and it makes me feel bad.

When I am on the phone with someone and they are in another state and they are describing perhaps a restaurant they went to the night before, I will suddenly feel as if I am at that restaurant they are speaking of. It is very scary, my brain gets very confused.

As I write this it may not sound that bad but I feel so off every day as if I am not operating at 100%. I long for the way my life us to be.

Someone from the outside looking in would think I am fine. I have an amazing life, great kids, husband, home, I can travel, laugh, workout, dance have fun, but internally I am suffering, always wondering what is wrong with me.

I have more to write but I have to go now because my kids need breakfast.

Thanks for reading my post and any replies will be greatly appreciated!!!

Sassy


----------



## gem (Aug 10, 2004)

Sassy, I understand how you feel. I have days also where things do not look right at all. Some things looks smaller than they really are, there is a fog over everything at times, there is not one part of me that has not been effected by this illness. I was so ill with this at one time not long ago that I could not take care of myself, I spent four months in hospital, they told me over and over again that I would be okay but I found it very hard to believe that the wierd feelings like the ones you suffer were part of anxiety. They told me that the fear I had in me was so great that my brain literally shut down emotionally. I spoke very few words for a very long time, I shut the world out, I did however suffer major emotional trauma in my life that caused alot of pain. Please do not feel alone, I know how you feel and my heart goes out to you because it truly hurts to be in this.

There is one other thing I should share with you, when I was very ill the specialist told me that I was having migrainne headaches and these headaches can cause you to have all the symptoms you describe, they can cause feelings of dp/dr. I know when I have a headache my symptoms are worse. Sassy I wish I knew the answers to help you more but for now I have found what helps me most is to keep concentrating on the here and now. Do not worry about yesterday or tomorrow, try to find ways to ground yourself and hang in there, life will get better. We all care here and always know no matter how frightened you are it is just the brains way of protecting itself. It is like a electrical socket when there is to many plugs going in, the brain needed a time out and I believe that is when dp/dr is born.

gem.


----------



## Guest (Aug 16, 2004)

OMG....I SOOOOO know how all that feels hon! I just found this forum tonight and I am soooo happy and excited. I know how all this feels. I'm so glad we can all talk about it here.


----------



## gem (Aug 10, 2004)

angeldustblossom, welcome to this site. You have joined a group of wonderful caring people. People who truly understand how it feels to suffer an illness that is not well understood. We all try and help each other through the good times and the bad times. It is a place full of hope. Having an illness can be a very lonely journey to walk alone, but knowing there are others who will walk it with you makes life a whole lot nicer.

gem.


----------



## Guest (Aug 20, 2004)

Thanks for your replies.
Gem, I am sorry to hear that you spent time in the hospital over this. Did it help? What was your diagnosis? Are you on med's?
The only thing I have ever been diagnosed with is severe anxiety. I went through some difficult times with my family and a trauma with my son. That is when this all began. I feel as if it is time for all the symptoms to go away, I don't know why the weirdness lingers. Most of the strange feelings I have are momentary, yet they still upset me and feel abnormal. What about you, are you still struggeling with the dp/dr?

I am sorry to hear about your cat. It is so hard to loose an animal. I hope you are feeling better.

Sassy


----------



## kenc127 (Aug 10, 2004)

same crapola here. hang in there because you're not going crazy.


----------



## Guest (Aug 21, 2004)

Dear Sassy,

Just a thought . . . has a doctor ever checked you out for temporal lobe epilepsy or some other form? http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/epilep ... llobe.html
Also, you might google "epigastric rising" and see if it sounds anything like the "whoosh" you mention.

Best,

Marjorie


----------



## Guest (Aug 21, 2004)

Hi, thanks for the replies and the web sites. I checked them out and they don't seem to fit. I am always looking for answers, perhaps that is part of the problem. When I first started experiencing this I went to a neurologist, had an mri and an ekg. I also had a second opinion just in case. I have been to a cardiologist, an opthamologist, who diagnosed me with glaucoma! Lucky we caught that. I have been to chiropractors, therapists, a psychiatrist and about three psychics!!!! The conclusion, Anxiety, or as Janine would say Massive Anxiety. I guess I just feel that it is too bizarre to just be anxiety, it feels as if my brain goes a little haywire at times. I am ready to heal, to feel normal again. I am sure we are all feeling the same way, ready to heal!!!!!

Love to all,

Sassy


----------

