Am I Making It Worse?
One of the first things I learned after being diagnosed with Meniere’s was to recognize stress. I didn’t figure this out for myself. My doctor sent me to vestibular therapy.
My therapist exposed me to situations that triggered my vertigo. Moving traffic, ceiling fans, wonky wallpaper, tiles, etc. The initial stimulus increased my heart rate. My fight or flight mechanism kicked in. I really didn’t want to do it.
The more I desensitized myself the less my anxiety. In this case the stimuli caused the anxiety which made the dizziness worse.
The opposite is true as well. When I allowed stress to rule my life my vertigo worsened. It’s not always possible to avoid stressful situations, but there are things you can do to stop it.
- Meditation is overall the best way to be mindful of things that cause me stress. The more I meditate the more I remain at peace. I have gotten away from this lately.
- Grounding helps in the moment of panic. Locate something to touch, taste, smell and hear. I find this gets me out of my head.
- Breath- pay attention to your breathing. You can slow it down by taking deep breaths and releasing it slowly.
- Mantra- have a mantra that you can say to yourself or aloud. I repeat the Serenity Prayer when I feel stressed.
There are many other ways that you can reduce stress or the severity of a panic attack, these are just what I have found that works for me.
Love, Peace and Light! Rita
My Crazy Life 