Out of nowhere

Hello again,

I need to explain my symptoms to others that possibly can understand. The other night right after eating my stomach hurt & I had severe anxiety/panic. Symptoms at the time were feeling extremely "spaced out" like I wasn't "there" and had trouble swallowing, almost like I forgot how? I also felt or feared I'd forget how to breathe so it felt difficult.... I often times feel the spaced out feeling out of nowhere and it makes me question if it is just anxiety? But generally I have no pain of any type upon feeling this. I'm also really lacking patience :-( any help is greatly appreciated

Hi JPE,

Does this description sound familiar? If so, it is most likely this, which is a fairly common anxiety symptom. It always passes, and it not indicative of anything serious. The more I learned to not worry or focus on it, the quicker it would end, and I would feel 'there' again!:)

S.C.


Depersonalization


What can be more frightening than feeling as though you are detached from yourself? This is the central feature of depersonalization. It is a feeling of being outside of yourself without any sense of control. Some sufferers often describe the sensation as observing themselves from outside of the body.

Other sensations of depersonalization may include:

•feeling unhuman or robot-like
•feeling foreign or unrecognizable to oneself
•feeling invisible or unreal



Derealization


Where depersonalization focuses on one’s sense of self, derealization focuses on one’s sense of his or her surroundings. Sufferers often describe the sensation of derealization as being in a dream-like state where the environment seems unreal, foggy or hazy.

Other sensations of derealization may include:

•feeling cut off from one’s surroundings
•feeling like being trapped in a glass bubble
•feeling like surrounding objects are unreal or cartoon-like

Hello,

You will find out that there is no end to the symptoms of anxiety, which is not necessarly a bad thing. There is a list of the most comon symptoms, but in one year, since I am fighting anxiety and panic attacks, I had the most complex symptoms ever. One night I couldn't find myself, literally. I felt as if everything was a dream, and I wasn't myself. In fact I didn't understand what I was, what kind of entity. I couldn't concentrate, and felt I was literally falling apart like a puzzle, and I was terrified the puzzle could never be recomposed again.This sensation, derealization can be translated into fear of losing control, going crazy etc. Eventually, after a good night sleep, I woke up and everything was back to normal.

This was JUST ONE KIND of my panic attacks. One time I felt i was going blind, another that i am going to jump out of my skin. In one year, i was going deaf, thought i would never walk again, my brain was going to explode, my heart would suddenly stop, etc. Many times I felt i forgot how to breathe so i had to "activate the manual breathing mode" which made me feel dizzy. Every symptom was due to my anxiety, and still is.

You have to be very carefull and find the line between real symptoms, and symptoms of anxiety, and many times it is very hard to do that. I am currently fighting the dizzy symptom. I thought it was pshycotic, but last week I almost fell on the ground, and realized it was a pretty real sensation, and my appointment is due next week. The important thing is to understand that anxiety is extremely complex, and there is nothing wrong with you, you will be ok. When you understand that, you will stop focusing on each sensation, and be able to return to your normal life. Best of luck !