Lying down to do it and not being embarrassed about that

Started 22 October 2024 · 24 replies · 278 hearts · read 4.2k times

WinkleWeymouth, UK · 22 October 2024

1.7 years ago

Lying down to do it and not being embarrassed about that Writing it down partly to work out what I actually think.

Squeamish subject, so I am going to be plain about it and get it over with.

Before anyone says it: yes, I have an appointment booked. I would still like to hear from people who have had this, because I would rather go in able to describe it properly.

This started at the same time as two other things, which is why I cannot attribute it to anything with any confidence.

I will come back and say what my appointment produced, because I hate reading threads that stop before the answer.

HéloïseGeneva, CH

A specific technique taught by somebody trained is worth ten pieces of general advice from anybody, including me.

DelythBala, UK

My partner learned to do it, which I resisted because I felt it was my responsibility, and which was the right answer for about eight months.

13me too 3

BramwellRipon, UK

Nothing useful, just that I have been exactly here.

EsiFacilitatorToronto, Canada

Facilitator note: the guide on when a symptom needs a clinician exists for exactly this question and is worth reading before the next reply.

Bryn MNeath, UK

Mine is still there. I have a set of things I do that make it manageable, and the fear itself has not gone, and that is an honest description of where I am.

8me too 5

BronLincoln, UK

Talking about it here was the first time I had said it out loud to anybody who did not immediately try to talk me out of it.

IslaOban, UK

What Bron described happened to me too, in a slightly different order.

I found the anticipation ran for two days beforehand, which meant a weekly thing was taking up two sevenths of my life. Reducing the anticipation was the whole project.

TavitaApia, WS

What helped was having a plan for if it went wrong. Knowing what I would do if I fainted meant I stopped being frightened of fainting.

Ollie OPeterhead, UK

What worked for me was somebody else being calm. Not encouraging, not enthusiastic. Calm. That was the whole ingredient.

TaaviTallinn, EE

#10

I have read this twice now. Thank you for writing it.

PietPretoria, ZA

#11

Building on what Taavi wrote rather than answering the original question.

I worked with someone for six sessions, specifically on this, and it was the best thing I did that year. It is a treatable thing and it does not have to be endured.

BassCoventry, UK

#12

Mine has a fainting response attached, which meant the advice aimed at anxiety did not work at all. Lying down first was what changed it.

BessLouth, UK

#13

What I would say is that this is not the same as squeamishness and you do not need to justify it as more than that.

WinkleWeymouth, UK

#14

Graded exposure over about three months got me there. Slowly, in small steps, with somebody who knew what they were doing, and none of it was dramatic.

HéloïseGeneva, CH

#15

I could not be in the room with the box for the first fortnight. That is where I started and I now do this weekly without difficulty.

DelythBala, UK

#16

My GP took it seriously the moment I described the fainting rather than the fear. The physical detail was what got me the referral.

12me too 3

BramwellRipon, UK

#17

Thank you for writing this down. It helped.

PerrineStrasbourg, FR

#18

Gently disagreeing with Delyth, or rather adding the other half of it.

Applied tension helped my fainting more than anything else. It was taught to me properly, it is a specific technique, and it is worth asking about by name.

Bryn MNeath, UK

#19

Distraction did nothing for me and preparation did everything. I have watched other people here find the exact opposite.

BronLincoln, UK

#20

I would say to anybody starting: tell your prescriber the actual word. I described mine as being a bit nervous and got advice for being a bit nervous.

IslaOban, UK

#21

I keep a small written plan of my own steps and I still read it sometimes, eighteen months in. It costs me nothing and it steadies me.

TavitaApia, WS

#22

Please do not let anybody, clinical or otherwise, make you feel unreasonable about this. Mine was dismissed twice before it was taken seriously and the delay cost me a year.

EsiFacilitatorToronto, Canada

#23

Two things. First, nobody here can tell you what is happening in your body. Second, the conversation you want to have is with a clinician, and we can help you write down what to say.

TaaviTallinn, EE

#24

A phobia is a different thing from being nervous, and I spent a year being told to just get on with it before somebody used the right word for what I had.

13me too 7