# once DP/DR is over..



## Justin Bivins (Mar 17, 2011)

For those that have been "cured" from these feelings from hell or know anyone who has been.. do you just bounce back to reality and your emotions and feelings are restored? When it's over, you can look in the mirror and KNOW that it's you in the mirror? You can look at your hands or your feet and body and FEEL that you're reconnected with yourself? I know we probably won't wake up and be cured one night and it's a process but when these feelings have left, do you just feel like yourself again.. and feel normal?


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## yesyes (Oct 19, 2008)

Hi there,
I experienced bad derealization from 1997-2002 (at that point I had no idea what I had and always thought that I had a problem with blood circulation or lack of oxygen in my brain) I started feeling dp/dr again in 2008. I remember around 2002 that my dr started going away the same way when you are drunk and you start sobering up (that process which takes 12 hours when drunk, took one year for the dr to go completely away) The beauty of it is that once your dp goes completely away it is almost impossible to remember how having it feels like. 
I hope my dr goes away soon..... 3 years already and counting. Ugh!


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## Justin Bivins (Mar 17, 2011)

ahhh man i know exactly how you feel! for like 5 months when DR first came, i had know idea what is was at the time. but my perspective and outlook on things had changed and then i finally found out i was struggling with derealization. i completely ignored the symptoms of it and went on with my life.. then i noticed a change within MYSELF and later realized that the depersonalization had started to kick in. but it's good to know that once they are both gone, then they are gone for good and i'll even forget what it feels like! that just gives me something to look forward to and keep pressing on!

i pray that things progress and finally be done away with for the both us


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## ValleyGirl (Nov 10, 2017)

yesyes said:


> Hi there,
> I experienced bad derealization from 1997-2002 (at that point I had no idea what I had and always thought that I had a problem with blood circulation or lack of oxygen in my brain) I started feeling dp/dr again in 2008. I remember around 2002 that my dr started going away the same way when you are drunk and you start sobering up (that process which takes 12 hours when drunk, took one year for the dr to go completely away) The beauty of it is that once your dp goes completely away it is almost impossible to remember how having it feels like.
> I hope my dr goes away soon..... 3 years already and counting. Ugh!


That is EXACTLY how recovering from Dp feeling, like sobbering up from being drunk. I have had and recovered from dp once and yes, you go back to reality, have all of your emotions, know who you are when you look in the mirror. You feel completely normal again. I currently am easily 90% recovered from dp and have really noticed in the past month that the old me is really coming back. All of my weird little quirks and thought patterns. I am becoming who I was before dp.


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## Justin Bivins (Mar 17, 2011)

oh that's really good! but i don't get when people say they've recovered from DP once.. i mean how did it come back because people usually say once they are "cured" then they even forget what it feels like to have DP anymore. and what type of things did you do to help on your road to recovery? looking in the mirror still freaks me out a little bit and i can't really give an accurate percentage on how much i am recovered but i know i feel alot better than i did previously!


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## violetgirl (Apr 11, 2011)

ValleyGirl said:


> That is EXACTLY how recovering from Dp feeling, like sobbering up from being drunk. I have had and recovered from dp once and yes, you go back to reality, have all of your emotions, know who you are when you look in the mirror. You feel completely normal again. I currently am easily 90% recovered from dp and have really noticed in the past month that the old me is really coming back. All of my weird little quirks and thought patterns. I am becoming who I was before dp.


Soberning up is an excellent analogy!

I went through a kind of withdrawal from DPD, my head was a bit of a mess for a while. But it was great because i was able to feel things and put them into place.

I always wondered how the hell I would know if i was better? DPD had been my reality for so long, i wondered if i would even recognize reality.
I went through a stage of not knowing who i was, which was scary.
But the happiness and relief I felt got me through it all.

I also am having trouble remembering what it felt like, which is why i'm posting about it, in case i forget and also to throw some ideas out there that might help other people.


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## ValleyGirl (Nov 10, 2017)

Justin Bivins said:


> oh that's really good! but i don't get when people say they've recovered from DP once.. i mean how did it come back because people usually say once they are "cured" then they even forget what it feels like to have DP anymore. and what type of things did you do to help on your road to recovery? looking in the mirror still freaks me out a little bit and i can't really give an accurate percentage on how much i am recovered but i know i feel alot better than i did previously!


The first time I had it for a week and a half and completely recovered. It went away for about 3 weeks and came back and I have had it non stop for a year and half since then. Recovery, for me, wasn't a set of list of stuff that I did. I have been recovering since about 4 months into getting dp. It's an incredibly painfully slow recovery. I think the things that help the most are to accept how you feel and no longer fear it. After you do that, you are able to start to live life, even if it feel unreal. Get out of bed each day and do what you need to do. 
I have been reading Overcoming Depersonalization Disorder by Fugen Neziroglu and there are some therapies in that book that have really helped me in the past month. I recommend you buy it and read it.


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## Justin Bivins (Mar 17, 2011)

oh okay! i'm kind of at that point of accepting this feeling so it can go away since my anxiety isn't as bad as it used to be. but i'm going to check out that book! thank you for the tips


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## Justin Bivins (Mar 17, 2011)

violetgirl said:


> Soberning up is an excellent analogy!
> 
> I went through a kind of withdrawal from DPD, my head was a bit of a mess for a while. But it was great because i was able to feel things and put them into place.
> 
> ...


wow! that is exactly what i've been feeling. like, questioning who/what i am. i say "what" because i feel like i'm just HERE, with no purpose and i just feel empty inside, like an open vessel. it's pretty scary because if i like check my facebook or something and see myself in pictures it looks like it's a totally different purpose and it's pretty scary! i just try not to think about it or else i just might go insane, lol but it's gonna get better for all of us! the cure is within ourselves and this "disorder from hell" will NOT defeat us!!!


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## yesyes (Oct 19, 2008)

Justin Bivins said:


> oh that's really good! but i don't get when people say they've recovered from DP once.. i mean how did it come back because people usually say once they are "cured" then they even forget what it feels like to have DP anymore. and what type of things did you do to help on your road to recovery? looking in the mirror still freaks me out a little bit and i can't really give an accurate percentage on how much i am recovered but i know i feel alot better than i did previously!


Justin,
During all the years I experienced DP/DR I had no idea what it was. I thought it was something to do with my inner ear, lack of oxygen in my brain, etc. etc. No clue! Drs had no clue. I remember going to back doctors thinking that I had a nerve problem etc. Since I didnt know how to describe this, I told people I felt dizzy all the time and people confused it with vertigo. We all know that DPDR feels completely different. It is a symptom that cannot be compared with anything else I know. So around ages 22 or 23 I experienced dpdr less often - the symptoms were less and less severe and I had days that I didnt experience them, but I was always on the lookout for them. 
When I was 31 I took celexa to treat depression. It was moderate depression due to my divorce and I was feeling more nostalgic than depressed. As soon as I took celexa, and I mean, two hours later: POOM!!!! the dp/dr came to me full blown. All I could think about was- omg, please, this dizziness no, please, no, no, no. I remembered right away how feeling dp.dr was - who wouldn't?
I have tried psychologists for 3 years - 4 diff ones, several meds, etc. without any luck. 
BTW, when it went away I did nothing. It just went away by itself. Knowing that what i experience has a name and the fact that I am always testing reality and writing on this forums is a reminder that I suffer from this. I honestly don't have any hope this is going away anytime soon.... 
Cheers!


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## Justin Bivins (Mar 17, 2011)

noooooo, don't say that!! there's always hope. i'm really sorry about your divorce and depression does hurt, i've experienced it full throttle on top of dpdr but i promised myself that this is not the way i am going to be the rest of my life. i know God has big plans for me and all of our stories are going to be a testimony to many people once we are delivered from this! i'm not sure if you are as spiritual as i am and if you read and study the bible but praying and believing has really made a difference in my life and i know it can for you! i have had days just like you where i just felt like giving up and losing hope and faith but you need to know that this will go away. like the girl said earlier.. our bodies are just sobering up and need time to heal. don't fight the feeling because the more you resist the more it will persists. i am praying for each and every person on this forum because NO ONE deserves to go through, i wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy! the pain and suffering will be over soon, i just know it will!!


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## Guest (May 5, 2011)

ValleyGirl said:


> That is EXACTLY how recovering from Dp feeling, like sobbering up from being drunk. I have had and recovered from dp once and yes, you go back to reality, have all of your emotions, know who you are when you look in the mirror. You feel completely normal again. I currently am easily 90% recovered from dp and have really noticed in the past month that the old me is really coming back. All of my weird little quirks and thought patterns. I am becoming who I was before dp.


wooow. this thread is so motivating for me, because on the first day (after my panic attack) of DP, I said "this whole thing is feeling like I'm not completely awake or like I'm drunk".

And I always believed it's a strange brain state between awake/sober and sleep/drunk. And I feel like once it drops everything goes clear.


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