This is my first post here. I don't have a particular question per se, but if its ok I would just like to say some things about me incase anyone anyone can relate. I have done some searches here and couldn't find anything quite like what I what I want to say.

So I will start at the beginning. I have always been quite shy - probably since primary school. Nothing unusual, alot of kids are.
I always did my best to avoid 'limelight' situations such as when I was asked to captain a football team or lead in a school play. I simply got by by avoiding situations I didn't like.

My first real anxiety symptoms were when I started going to pubs in my teens. I would get anxious about going out. At this point I would be physically sick. I wouldnt say it was agoraphopia, it was probably more of a social event thing - even though I was with people I knew and liked.
I also think I was afraid of being sick - which is a very vicious cycle!

I like to consider myself a rational person - so when the nausea was triggered by something that I knew was irrational, it becomes quite frustrating.

I saw a doctor and got help. I now take medication and have been doing so for about 15 years now. Mostly this helps tremendously with my day to day life.
I also had councelling but I didn't find this helpful at all. The councellors focused on finding a trigger and then reassuring me that the trigger wasn't a rational thing to fear - I KNEW THIS! lol.
My mind knew it as completely irrational, making my body understand this was a completely differant story.

I found this forum today after having a rare recurrence of anxiety. I was a bit poorly over the weekend and so felt sick - then my fear of being sick kicks in.

This is my problem - once I hit the anxiety, I really struggle to get over it. I can go for years absolutely fine but when it does hit me, my symptoms totally take over.
I feel sick, so I get anxiety, the anxiety makes me feel sick, I can't eat. Not eating makes me feel sick blah blah blah.
I know its completely irrational - I want to get up and move about but it's like my brain just want's to shut down, my eyes just close on their own. I curl into a ball with my eyes shut and I just shiver. This isn't great when I have things to do like go to work etc!

Seeing people here dealing with anxiety helped me out this morning for some reason. Although Im still tense and feel a little nauseous, I think I'm going to try to go out later - which I know will help. So thanks everyone here!

So I guess my question is this - how can I break my anxiety cycle once it has started?