Traveling With Anxiety

This weekend I am going on a trip to Las Vegas with my husband and some friends. What a fun thing to do right? However I have had some minor anticipatory anxiety worrying about it this week since the last two trips I went on was either an anxiety nightmare, or at least had some smaller setbacks.

Following my true natural instincts I procrastinated all preparation for the trip until the afternoon before we leave. This is because then I wouldn't have to think about it and worry more than I need to. Not very smart after all because now I am a little overwhelmed with everything I have to do and that is stressing me out.

So I thought I would take my lunch hour and go over some previous posts I have written to help me be more prepared. Hawaii I didn't prepare at all because its the land of relaxation so why would I have any anxiety there? That was an extremely painful lesson to learn. San Fransisco I prepared only a little bit because I thought I was beyond needing to do prepare. After all at that time I was 4 months free of a panic attack and in a really good place. That quickly ended my panic free streak as I spent a whole day sick with panic.

Third times a charm. I am hoping. I am learning from my past mistakes and taking the time to really work it out before I leave by creating a game plan for the worst case scenario, working through some of my fears so I can rationalize them with some positive thoughts instead, and whatever else I can do with the time I have.

No matter how absurd it may sound I am going to break down and then analyze my anticipatory anxiety.

What am I telling myself to make me feel this way?

• Its a longer car ride and sometimes I get carsick. If I get sick that will ruin the trip.
• If I get an anxiety attack on this trip than I will be a downer and ruin the trip.
• My friends will think badly of me if I get sick or panic or don't want to do something they want to do.
• I have to eat a lot because I am pregnant so I can't let myself get super panicky the whole time.
• I am not on any medication so I worry I will be more prone to panic.
• The last couple trips have had lots of anxiety so this one will too.

Ok so now I am going to replace these fears with more positive thoughts that I can write out on a card to take with me and read any time I start to feel panicky while breathing. Or I can just read it when I wake up in the morning even if I don't feel panicky to help me throughout the day:

• Its a longer car ride and sometimes I get carsick. If I get sick that will ruin the trip.
• I have never thrown up as a result of getting carsick. The worst is just a bad headache. I can bring Tylenol and a baseball hat and sunglasses to help me if I start to feel sick. If the worst happened and I got carsick, I could ask to pull over and get some fresh air. No one will think badly of me. My friends and family or not that cruel. This trip is my vacation just as much as anyone else's and I deserve to be able to be myself.
• If I get an anxiety attack on this trip than I will be a downer and ruin the trip.
• If the worst case scenario happened and I got an anxiety attack on the trip I can stay in the hotel room until I feel better. Everyone else can still have fun without me. It won't ruin the trip for anyone. No one will think badly of me. My friends and family or not that cruel. This trip is my vacation just as much as anyone else's and I deserve to be able to be myself. I can take as small a step forward as I choose.
• My friends will think badly of me if I get sick or panic or don't want to do something they want to do.
• No one will think badly of me. My friends and family or not that cruel. I believe in myself apart from other’s opinions.
• I have to eat a lot because I am pregnant so I can't let myself get super panicky the whole time.
• I have already gained more weight than the average at this point and my baby is normal in weight if not on the higher end for how far along I am so far. If I listen to my body it will take care of me and my baby. It won't let me starve myself. If I don't want to eat when everyone else does then I can eat at a later time when I am more hungry. There is nothing wrong with that. I don't have to eat to please others, I only have to eat to please myself.
• I am not on any medication so I worry I will be more prone to panic.
• If the worst case scenario happened and I had an anxiety attack where I couldn't take my medication, I can do some deep breathing techniques, get distracted, or leave the situation if I need to. I have the tools I need to survive a panic attack and even minimize it or make it go away faster. 
• The last couple trips have had lots of anxiety so this one will too.
• I have not always had panic attacks on every trip I've gone on. Having them in the past is not enough to prove that I will have one again. If I do get panicky, I have the tools I need to manage it.

So my game plan is to have these positive thoughts I can read when I start to panic. I can figure out which one I am feeling and repeat the positive thought instead.

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15 Tips for Eating When Nauseous

Over at the group forum I found out that having issues with eating while feeling anxious is more common than  I originally thought. If one of your symptoms from anxiety is feeling nauseous, than naturally food does not sound appealing. However, if you are having a hard time where your anxiety is extremely high on a daily basis, you could be worried about the effects of what not eating can do to you.



I face this issue constantly. At first it made me feel really guilty because I figured I was doing more harm to myself. But over time I have learned to listen to my body and follow its lead. For example, I have said this before and I'll say it again. Unless you have an eating disorder like Anorexia, your body won't let you starve. It is always looking out for its self preservation which is why you have the anxiety to begin with- your body senses a danger of some kind. (I am no doctor, so if you do starve, please don't haunt me).


I learned this lesson in a different way when I was pregnant. All my life I have tried to gain weight unsuccessfully. When I found out I was pregnant I was really worried I wouldn't be able to gain enough weight. However my body knew what needed to be done and I was able to gain 30 pounds. This let me know that when I am not pregnant, my body is doing what it needs to, and if gaining weight isn't one of them, than maybe I should accept my normal as ok.


So anyway, onto what I want to share. When your feeling sick but feel like you need to eat something, here are some helpful tips:The first tip is one I've figured out on my own.

1. I like to sip on Ensures when I am really anxious and nauseous because for some reason its easier to drink than eat. Ensures are considered meal replacements and are full of good stuff for your body. I personally like the chocolate flavored ones.

These next tips are for nausea in general. Found from thebody.com. "If nausea tends to occur at breakfast, try to take it easy in the morning and have already prepared foods on hand for when you're hungry. Try breakfast bars, dry toast or re-heat oatmeal that you prepared the night before. Consider not cooking breakfast as seeing and smelling food in the morning can trigger nausea.Consider the following tips to help manage nausea. These suggestions have worked for others."

2. Leave dry crackers by your bed. Before getting out of bed in the morning, eat a few and sit in bed for a few minutes.
3. Sip cool, not cold, carbonated drinks, like ginger ale, 7-Up, Sprite or cola. (make sure its caffeine free as that can aggravate anxiety)
4. Try some peppermint, chamomile or ginger tea -- they may calm the stomach.
5. Avoid hot, spicy, strong-smelling and greasy foods that might upset your stomach.
6. Eat foods at room temperature or cooler; hot foods may add to nausea.
7. Try using capsules of ginger root powder, available at health food stores. Ginger may reduce symptoms associated with motion sickness, like dizziness, nausea and vomiting.
8. Fresh ginger, lightly cooked or juiced with fruits or vegetables like carrots or apples, is great to add to the diet, and may be as effective as dried ginger.
9. Try the BRAT Diet (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce and Toast).10. Prevent dehydration during bouts of nausea by drinking small amounts of clear and cool beverages every fifteen minutes or so. Then gradually work your way back up to normal eating by taking small sips of water every several minutes. Increase the intake until you can tolerate a small meal.
11. If you vomit, replace fluids with broth, carbonated beverages, juice, Jell-O or Popsicles. 

This next tip comes from following my sister's advice of making every bite count. I wanted to make sure that when I could eat, it was something that would give me energy and nutrition so I could keep up with my child. So I did some research to see what foods could help the most. I found this:

12. "To get an energy boost, eat a snack with 200 to 2,000 mg of tyrosine, like 8 ounces of plain low-fat yogurt (656 mg); 1/3 cup of dried soy nuts (850 mg), or 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese melted on bread (1,314 mg)." For more info on tyrosine read the entire article here.

13. Eat slowly: Rather than chowing down on foods, take nice and small bites so that you don't build up more nausea. Eat more frequently throughout the day if you have to, but be sure to not eat such heavy meals for your body may have a hard time digesting it.

14. Resting with your head elevated: If you're lying in bed, be sure to keep your head elevated simply by placing two pillows on top of one another. If you don't want to be lying down, simply sitting up, rather than leaning will also do the trick.

15. Avoid brushing your teeth: It's not such a good idea to brush your teeth when you're feeling nauseous because having your mouth open for a while can really start to upset your system again. It's safe to brush your teeth when your nausea has greatly decreased.

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