So the absolute scariest experiences I've had while dealing with DP have been these episodes of absolute panic and nausea and extreme disconnect. They've been relatively infrequent, but they're horrifying when they happen. It has only occurred at night/early morning, when I haven't been able to sleep or when I've woken up halfway through sleep, in that half-conscious state when my derealization is at its worst.
In the attacks, my brain feels like it's gone into warp drive, completely separate from my head, but I still feel a horrible pressure and heat in my skull. I get intensely lightheaded to the point of barely being able to walk, and this contributes to the nausea. I've only thrown up twice in the handful of times this has happened. I feel like I have to get outside where it's cool, and eventually, after sitting and shaking and trying to calm myself, it fades. The whole feeling is a lot like a normal panic attack after hyperventilating; that tingly numbness from not enough air, the tight-chest, the lightheadedness, the gnawing sickness, but all intensified with the overwhelming pressure of DP and the half-awake state of mind. Each time I've been legitimately terrified that I was dying.
I have noticed in the last few months, as I've been working on facing my DP and combatting it, that I haven't had these attacks. I was too scared to talk about it while they were happening, but now that I'm starting to feel better, I'm curious if anyone else has experienced something similar.
In the attacks, my brain feels like it's gone into warp drive, completely separate from my head, but I still feel a horrible pressure and heat in my skull. I get intensely lightheaded to the point of barely being able to walk, and this contributes to the nausea. I've only thrown up twice in the handful of times this has happened. I feel like I have to get outside where it's cool, and eventually, after sitting and shaking and trying to calm myself, it fades. The whole feeling is a lot like a normal panic attack after hyperventilating; that tingly numbness from not enough air, the tight-chest, the lightheadedness, the gnawing sickness, but all intensified with the overwhelming pressure of DP and the half-awake state of mind. Each time I've been legitimately terrified that I was dying.
I have noticed in the last few months, as I've been working on facing my DP and combatting it, that I haven't had these attacks. I was too scared to talk about it while they were happening, but now that I'm starting to feel better, I'm curious if anyone else has experienced something similar.
