Telling the Difference

[thecheesecake17]

Hey folks!

Wanna say my sincerest consolations to those who are going through hell whether it's consistent dull n*, bugs, ill kids/family members, and all the associated deathly things to do with IT. Anyway, I thought it might be helpful to discuss or maybe share some ways to differentiate anxiety, anxiety n* and real n*... I feel like 2016 has been my recovery year as I am slowly but surely killing off any remains of emetophobia which haunted me everyday since 2014 when it peaked so much butttt since little twinges and 'threats' such as winter viruses, work related stress and other niggly things(I'm talking hormones..yay) are still passing by from time to time, I have been using each attack as a learning curve so I can train myself to calm down.

How do you guys differentiate between anxiety n* and real n*? On Tuesday I almost had a breakdown as I broke apart of my brace by biting into a piece of bacon, which cued an anxiety attack as I'm paying £1000 for this ... as soon as it broke in work, I discovered shortly after that the ATM had broken down which meant I couldn't get the bus down to the next bus I need to get to go home ... So I had to somehow NOT tick my boss off by leaving an hour early to walk down...all these three things sent me into a horrible anxious state and as it was the first in ages I almost cried. Queue the n*.

Just as I realised things couldn't get worse, I thought - "Maybe anxiety is the reason I'm GETTING worse." The more I speed-walked down town , the more n* I got and the whole forty minutes walk was a haze of people passing by me looking concerned. But then I stopped speed walking and asked myself
"Right Chlo. ARE you sick? Or are you completely fine and letting that anxious feeling get the better of you?" And so I did my trustee test where I swallow and confirm whether I'm actually n* or not...
Amazingly, each swallow I took, the more I realised I wasn't feeling sick at all. The second I arrived at my bus, I took ten deep breaths, hopped on as normal, stuck some music on and to be quite honest, felt amazing.....

Unfortunately it is my pms week and I do believe that part of the n* was that but! The more I told myself "override it. It's not even proper n*. Not worth fussing over. Save the anxiety for something else.." I know hypnosis is a tricky one, and one which personally has never worked for me during a real n* but if you're feeling horrific out of nowhere , try the test - really try pin down if it's n* you feel.. calming down will help 100x whether you feel sick or not...

Thoughts/stories/advice would be nice as I think we are in peak season for emet...

[Sarah429]

One of the tricks I use to tell the difference is I imagine being in the safest situation possible. For me it's usually lying in bed curled up with my dogs away from any obligations or stressors, and if I feel like I would STILL feel just as bad in that situation, I know it's real nausea. But 9 out of 10 times that thought makes me feel a little better and I realize it is just stress or anxiety causing my nausea. So I suggest everyone find your "safe place" and use it in those times you feel the most helpless or confused!

[Afdpt]

Depending on the situation I use a few different techniques.

1. Try to determine if there is a likely reason I might feel unwell or anxious. (Such as during my period, a really stressful/busy week, eating poorly or not eating, upcoming stressful situations, etc.) If I can pinpoint something that would likely cause me to feel unwell or have historically caused me to feel unwell then I feel pretty good about it being anxiety.

2. Have the symptoms been off and on? Like if I felt unwell in the morning, then while I was busy at work/with friends I didn't notice feeling unwell, then I get home and feel unwell again then I can reason that it's probably not a bug/sickness.

3. Focus on my stomach and see if I actually have an upset stomach/nausea or if I just feel a general sense of panic.

4. Do something relaxing or distracting and see if that decreases my symptoms - then it's probably anxiety.

I will also sometimes imagine what if I was hearing my symptoms from someone else - would I still think they were sick rather than anxious? What if I came online and posted my panicked moment - what would everyone else likely tell me ("sounds like anxiety yo me..") and that can helped a lot.

[Wynter Loveless]

I always say if you can distract yourself your not sick even if its just a few mins.

Also i ask if ive felt this way before.

And last time you had a cold did u know u were sick ? Last time u had a headache were u sure u had a headache.. yes. So if u were sick with a stomach bug you would undoubtedly know