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16 years ago 0 +0 / -0 3043

Hi Wildcat,

My "what ifs" are tied to my anxiety also. And I also have heart pounding that I can feel throughout my entire body, like my heart is trying to separate from me. I become nauseated, get a headache or worse a migraine, my chest becomes tight, I shake and become dizzy. I am not sleeping even though I am exhausted. I have the desire to run but there is nowhere to go. Sometimes I talk too much, other times I can't say anything. I take medication for reflux but at times it still breaks through. That's just the physical aspects.

I have fears that are longstanding, some I am able to hand to God, others I have not been able to let go of. Not because I want them but because they seem too deeply ingrained and perhaps tied to my negative core values. I know this doesn't change overnight. It is difficult to spend your days and nights like this. It makes me less of a person and is making the overall issues worse.

16 years ago 0 +0 / -0 3043

mom-of-3

are you negatif " what-ifs" truely realist? 80% probablility that what you are running is what you will have to face within 24 hours? I have the "what-ifs" tied to my anxity disorders so I have to recognise the signs my body gives me ...

Often my heart speeds up and I become restless and figity. I cannot sit still.

My stories are small things at first and I want to talk, talk more than usual to check them out.

I am uncomfortable and do not enjoy being with ME! I want to escape, and be with the fun people. (oh trouble brewing.)

I want to go shopping... and search for that elusif something ... and get myself into more financial trouble

By now my feet are unconfortable when I am still, I have that big pain in the middle of my chest, I breath in shallow breaths, and the acid is up in the back of my mouth with the sulphur taste!

Sometimes i grab the huge old time film that is playing in the sacred room in my head and I cut the horror flick onto tiny pieces. Sometimes i burn it.

Sometime, I see the the what-ifs as a trail and i am pulling a cart, the wheels are moving in the dry-earth tracks, and the hurt and tears are where there is MUD - and I get stuck in the ruts... of course I need help to move off the road or to get out.

Then there are the what-ifs that are the the filing cabinet explosion and I have to pick everything up and file it away. I have to avoid looking at every picture of my past and go over every memory.

16 years ago 0 +0 / -0 142

hey rosie,
i don't think you "love" to sit and run the what-ifs. it's anxiety! when i get to ruminating i'm like a cow chewing on her cud. all day long..................lately i have been letting them run to the worst possible conclusion. it's like a horror show. i'll let it go on for a half an hour or so. then get up and get busy. even if it's walking, cleaning, or pulling weeds. i figure if you can't stop them, join them. but only for a half an hour.

16 years ago 0 +0 / -0 3043

I'd like to stop the "what if" thoughts as well. But really only the obsessive ones. "What if" thoughts do have a place in thought processes. It is how we problem solve, make plans, etc. So.. Not all are bad. It is only a problem when I begin to obsess or get stuck on one particular scenario with only negative outcomes. I understand that challenging with looking at the positives can be helpful but my problem is that I don't have enough information at times to really be able to challenge the thoughts. Either the positive or the negative could be true depending on the information I am missing. How do I just turn it off? Once the thought enters my head it continues to nag at me until I can't handle it.

16 years ago 0 +0 / -0 538

What ifs,...What ifs, are a curse! They used to plague me all the time!All the time! Now I find myself better at just staying grounded in the present moment. I find that the present is the only place I have power. Although I still find myself doing the what if thing. I just think being aware of it enbables me to catch myself and make myself stop. Still a work in progress though lol!

16 years ago 0 +0 / -0 12049

Rosie,

Keep your down time busy with relaxation techniques. If you are sitting down to relax or keep calm, then do just that!

Stretch, breathe deep, ready, soak in the tub, write, paint, color. Let your mind explore the relaxation techniques and not the "it won't last chapter"

Relaxing your mind and body can also help you de-stress after a hard and long day.

Josie, Health Educator

16 years ago 0 +0 / -0 3043

Rosie, I try to run through every "what if" scenario until I get to the "worst" case scenario. Then I think it through, how I would handle it, what I could do, where I could go if I needed to, who I could get to help, etc (depending on the situation). It then makes what if not so unmanageable and when it keeps popping into your head (they do mine) then you can play out your solution. Also I breath in through the nose out through the mouth as I do this (not kidding, some relaxation breathing while I work through them).

Hope this helps. I'm sure others will have great ideas too. What were you watching on TV, did it spark your thoughts?

16 years ago 0 +0 / -0 3043

I have been feeling a bit better the past week (even though I am back at work) but last night I was watching TV and out of nowehere I just got this feeling of panic and fear that it won't last. I have noticed through my thought records that I love to sit and run 'What if' scenarios over in the head. How do I stop the 'what ifs' and just appreciate where I am now?

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