8 replies to this topic

[Ramona80]

How do you pass your minutes while you are suffering? Just wondering how others handle it, minute by minute, when you don't feel well enough to do anything, but your brain won't let you sleep, either.

[lady2882Nancy]

You have to find things to distract yourself from your symptoms.

Go for a walk, read a good book that you like, do some yoga anything to take your focus off what you are feeling and on to something else.

Sitting and focusing on your symptoms will only make them worse. I found walking around the house even helped.

If the withdrawals are too bad then you may need to go back up to the last dose you were stable at and stay there for a bit.

[FiveNotions]

I quit cold-turkey, and for the first month or so, I was far too sick and miserable to do anything to distract myself, I was pretty much bed-bound ..... so, I decided to get to try an experiment ... to get to know my pain ... make friends with it ... an odd activity, but really an amazing experience ... I learned that, at least for me, the suffering/pain/misery was sorta' like a ring of fire .. I learned that I could step inside the ring, and right in the center of it was a still, quiet, patient .... and safe ...spot from which I could sit and watch / feel what was happening to be as an observer ... I let the fire burn around me, and realized that I am not the pain, the suffering ... that's just my body ...

 

After that really tough time passed, I was able to do what LadyNancy suggests ... but just be sure that what you do is easy ... and gentle ... walking, yoga, restful music, movies ... whatever strikes you as appealing ... spoil yourself rotten !!

 

I learned that what freaked me out was when I was standing in the pain ... stepping back, out of it calmed me ... didn't stop the suffering, trust me ... but it did stop me from flailing around emotionally and making it worse for myself ...

 

but, and a big but, again, just speaking for my own experience ... dealing with anxiety is a whole different challenge, and I can't seem to use this trick with it ... my experience of anxiety is that it isn't a ring of fire ... it's being trapped in a snake pit ... nowhere to go ...

[gail]

 
but, and a big but, again, just speaking for my own experience ... dealing with anxiety is a whole different challenge, and I can't seem to use this trick with it ... my experience of anxiety is that it isn't a ring of fire ... it's being trapped in a snake pit ... nowhere to go ...

Perfectly described FN. Nowhere to hide, no doors to enter and no doors to come out...

[lady2882Nancy]

Anxiety requires practicing relaxation techniques when you are not anxious then as soon as the anxiety starts you have to start using them to reduce the amount of anxiety you feel.

For example my PTSD causes me to immediately go into panic mod when I hear an ambulance siren but with much practice I can now begin to do Deep breathing, and recite to myself the words that will lead me out of the panic.

 

You have to plan for your anxiety or panic 

Visualize yourself in the situation that causes you stress and anxiety, come up with ways to handle it then practice, practice, practice until it becomes second nature to employ these ways as soon as the situation comes up.

[butterflygt]

What helped me with the anxiety is this free app I got at the app store. It is a meditation, hypnosis app. Actually this app helped me thru some rough patches of withdrawals.  Combining that with breathing techniques, drinking lots of water and even green tea with ginseng and lemon it made everything bearable. I am on day 16 of quitting cold turkey and compared to what I was like last week and today, I feel so much better.  I use my coping skills to get thru the hard times. I even push myself to go for a 15 minute walk even if I don't feel like it. I take my time and take deep breaths. It takes a lot out of you, but it does help and promotes better sleep.

 

Also, coming on this forum for support is the best thing I ever did.  Surrounding yourself with support is so important. Nobody understands what you are going thru better than these wonderful people in this forum. I could say that they saved me a couple of times from the darkness that overwhelmed me but got thru it.

 

Take care, hope you feel better real soon and if you need too, keep coming back here and vent out your feelings frustrations, it does help!!

[Cse70]

Butterflygt,

I would love to know the name of the meditation app. Thanks!

[butterflygt]

Cse70,

 

The name of the app is "Relieve Depression Hypnosis-Guided meditation and Mental Health". There is a few different ones on the app store you can try and they are free, I really liked this one. 

 

Good luck, hope it helps as it did me.

[thismoment]

butterfly

 

You may search YouTube for "Mindfulness Meditation" and watch some helpful guided sessions there too.