lavendertealatte: Hello and hello

[Rosetta]

The mind is scrambled by the adrenaline and cortisol.  It keeps trying to determine the threat, but there isn't one. So, it tries to find an issue for the person to address.  For each person in WD there is a different focus or obsession on which the mind focuses, but the process is the same.  Some people have health anxiety, some have an OCD issue that is more esoteric, or they have a clutter issue as I do.  Your mind has focused on your religion.  That sounds pretty uncomfotable.  Worrying about faith and salvation probably ranks above health anxiety for many people.  

 

If I were to analogize your OCD issue to mine and tell you how I have struggled to address the issue for the past year with very little success, I'm sure it would feel inconsequential.  Clutter is pretty unimportant compared to faith.  But whatever the issue one's mind has decided to obsess about, I don't think it can be fixed until the adrenaline and cortisol and neurotransmitter imbalance is starting to resolve.  Then, you will get moments or hours of seeing your concerns more clearly and they might even feel simple and easy to resolve.  Once that happens a few times you might consider taking a long break from church.  Right now, you could try staying home to see if it would make you feel better or worse.  Then, go back if you feel worse.  

 

Is the worry over your faith always there?  Or is it only when there is an event at the church that you feel anxious?  Are you able to distract at all if you are not at the church?  I hope so.

[lavendertealatte]

Hi Rosetta,

Thanks for the reply.  Yes it's very uncomfortable because it feels very threatening as you say.  That is exactly the word for it. The worry mainly happens with events/groups, and it feels very limiting and distressing to me.  I am able to distract from it when I'm at work and when I am with those who are nonbelievers, I am quite clear where I stand.  It is very strange.  I did decide to take a break this weekend.  I felt like I was fairly at rest and accepting of my situation, and not jumping to conclusions like because I was not participating that must mean I am falling away.  But then I participated in one group time, only to have the anxiety come back, and to feel resistant to participating in the next.  Members in the next group suggested I rest, probably sensing my hesitation, and at that suggestion that I rest, I felt so defeated and downcast.  

I am curious what is your clutter issue?

 

[lavendertealatte]

Been practicing meditation in the morning.  If I don't leave for work right away I can get myself into an anxious situation pretty quickly.  Saw a picture of my friend with some of her other friends, and immediately started feeling concerned that there's something about me that I don't know that is pushing people away, that there's some reason why I don't have as many friends as I used to, that I don't make friends as easily, maybe it's the anxiety that is causing people to not want to be around me and not be normal.  Something.  It's so disheartening to not be able to think objectively.

[lavendertealatte]

To go back on meds or not, that is the question.

[Surfchick]

hi, what dose are you on?

 

i just read your intro thread, i do think a big part of what happened with your symptoms was that you were not using a syringe for quite some time...measuring with a teaspoon? super erratic dosing each day causing total turmoil..rough!  up and down up and down, you never stabilized... 

i know you started with the syringe a few months back? have you been super accurate with taking every day?

If it was me, I would plan an extended hold (with your current syringe dose) for many months..

[lavendertealatte]

Hi there.  I just tapered down a little more last week to .5 using a syringe but yeah it's a little tough with the dosing.  How are you doing??  honestly am getting impatient.....  how can such a small miniscule difference matter.. when I explain to my doctors what I'm doing they think I'm whacko.

[Surfchick]

ha i know, right! my MDs are shaking their heads at my 1mg per week reductions (currently at 10% month reduction)

[lavendertealatte]

Is anyone here... How do you decide what supplements to try?  The list is absolutely overwhelming.  I have been browsing the internet for hours and my head is spinning.. L tryptophan.. vitamin C? 

Then there's.. vitamin D .. which I have had documented deficiency in .. as well as in iron.  is it all connected?!  Is something causing me to be more susceptible to anemia?  B12??

 

I thought I should try a paleo diet but today it has made me feel worse.. more akathisia, jittery feelings, angry/irritable, anxious, and numb/tingly feelings which are new..

 

I tried rhodiola.. that made me feel more jittery as well.  Fish oil didn't work either.  I'm feeling like I really need some sort of supplementation or food change, because I have been in therapy for months now and I feel like I am plateauing.  Also I'm still experiencing loose stools (sorry TMI) every morning since my initial taper.  Wondering if I should consult my doctor.  I have struggled with IBS in the past and thought it was a direct result of the anxiety but now I'm not so sure, maybe it's a sign of something else.  Paleo seems too restrictive for me at this time, too many ways for it to go wrong.  I might just go in the direction of eliminating gluten....

[lavendertealatte]

Reinstated back to .6 .. feel a lot better.  wow.

[ChessieCat]

I've moved your post about passion flower to the existing topic on the subject:  https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/10793-passion-flower/

 

If you used google and search survivingantidepressants.org passion flower you can find other mentions of it on the site.

 

[lavendertealatte]

Hi everyone,

Ever since weaning I noticed I can't handle many situations like I used to, especially with people, new people, large groups, even small groups are hard, especially I can't take pranks .. I've never liked them but now I respond super uncomfortably.  Basically I'm super sensitive and socially uncomfortable and feel awkward. I started to be very involved in church service while on medication with people but now I find it triggers a lot of anxiety and feelings of failure....    I'm debating whether I should just pull out of everything for sometime .. whether that means a few years or what I don't know, but I'm afraid that it means I'll be pulling out of it forever and it'll just be my new normal to be a hermit and not interact with people since they stress me out.  The other option is to try another medication.    People who are further along in this process, what is your experience??

[ChessieCat]

This topic might be helpful:  are-we-there-yet-how-long-is-withdrawal-going-to-take

 

Other members have posted similar thoughts in this area of the site:  relationships-and-social-life

[lavendertealatte]

I'm doing better, but it's because I'm fairly certain my anxiety is just another part of mindbody syndrome and I found the app Curable which is walking me through the neuroscience of pain.  It's awesome and I can feel it in my bones that this is what will work for me.

 

Took this list from the app-- if you have these personality traits and identify with this, I urge you to try seeing if therapeutic neuroscience education will help you.

 

Perfectionism

Goodism

Serial caretaking

Low self-esteem

Strong inner critic

Bottling up emotions

Hypervigilence

 

I've listened to the stories and one story in particular of a woman who suffered all kinds of pains but eventually also got horrible panic and anxiety, made me feel like okay, I'm not alone in this.  This can be helped through thinking of pain within the context of  what they call the biopsychosocial model.  Along with this I have been going out for runs every day for the past week and removing stressors from my life.  Feeling   

[lavendertealatte]

Going to post about it in the symptoms page so other people can try it out and see if it works for them.. I don't work for Curable by the way.  I know I probably sound super enthusiastic.  But I am SO happy with the results and the progress I have made so far.  I was able to work today and go play piano for a bunch of kids and feel confident the whole time, it was great.

[wantrelief]

Hi there - This app was recommended to me but I couldn't tell from their website what exactly it does for people.  Is there a way you can explain what it is about?  I am so glad you've gotten such good results!!

[lavendertealatte]

Hi there!  It's unlike anything else which is why it's so hard to explain!! -___-

  I really hope you give it a try if it was recommended to you!  The first few lessons will not cost you anything and you should get a pretty good idea of whether it resonates with you or not just by listening to those.  Also that personality profile should give you a hint as to whether this could be what you're experiencing.

 

I'll try to explain since you asked... I hate explaining cause I fear my explanation will leave you thinking I'm just weird.  BUT HERE WE GO.

It's based on the research of the late Doctor John Sarno (so if you want to save me explaining, you can start googling there), but also more recent neuroscience on how pain works (which makes it even better).  I got into John Sarno's theories about ten years ago and healed myself of RSI just by learning that nothing was structurally wrong with my hands but my brain, whether because of stress or who knows what, was producing these pain feelings (legit pain feelings, btw, no where in this are we saying the pain is all in your head).  Basically, the point is, our understanding of pain is off, and a correction to that understanding can do a lot to unravel the pain/fear feedback loop, a loop which causes a lot of physical reactions in some people (typically of the personality area I described above)...  which some folks have dubbed "mind body syndrome" .. there have been a few names over the years, the first one being "TMS", which they ditched I guess as they found more info. 

 

Curable seems to focus a lot on migraine stories, but that's not say other chronic pain sufferers (and people like us with chronic anxiety and depression) can't benefit.  Right now I am suffering from a bit of a bout of RSI again, skin problems, and stomach issues, and headaches.  I believe it is all similarly sourced.  The basic understanding that has to get through is that pain is not as simple as saying I feel pain because there's something structurally wrong with me.  Your brain is actually sending signals to your body to experience pain and "protect you" based off of a number of things besides structural pain, the stress in your life, whether you've had a problem in this particular area of your body before, how important this part of your body is to you, etc etc but basically in chronic pain sufferers (and Sarno suspected, anxiety/depression), that pain pathway gets super well-traveled.  What I think the app does is a lot of exercises and education which essentially is retraining or physical therapy for your brain, what Dr. Schubiner called "unlearning pain" ...   A lot of people get a good amount of relief just by the education, that this pain is not harmful to me, that I am not damaging my body, and then within that context, and then on the app there are also evidence-based exercises, including meditation, guided writing exercises, more education, and brain training exercises (i'm not sure what those are specifically yet)   involved which I think would get you further, but I haven't gotten to yet cause I'm going through the free material first.  I really like how structured the app is, so even if you don't understand it, you don't have to do the hard work to find things like I did ten years ago, it's already organized there for you.

 

 

 

I hope that helps.  I think just download the app, they are MUCH better at explaining and MUCH more convincing than I am.  

[wantrelief]

Wow, thank you so much for that explanation....you explained it really well and in NO way would I ever think you are weird!  I will check it out given you are the 2nd person on here now to suggest it and I do fit some of the profile you mentioned.  Plus do have a lot of problems with headaches.  Thank you again for taking the time to write back. 🙏

[lavendertealatte]

Thank you! ❤️  I'm finished with most of the free stuff now, one of the things they teach you is to not catastrophize the pain.  So instead of saying something like I feel this stabbing pain .. saying, I don't feel as comfortable as I would like to right now, the word "comfortable" helps to calm your brain down.

 

I'm also adding a little zinc into my diet since that's the treatment for the non-existent pyroluria that someone thinks I might have.  Suppose it can't hurt.  I got nauseous yesterday and I wondered if it was because I supplemented with zinc two days in a row.  Don't know if it's placebo but I feel a difference in my mood.

[lavendertealatte]

Well, things got too rough and I am back on medication, a different one though, Prozac.

 

It's week 4, and it hasn't kicked in yet.  That's all, just wanted to post an update.

[ChessieCat]

Please update your drug signature with the date/s and dose/s you stopped Lexapro and the date/s and dose/s you started Prozac.  Thank you.  Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature

[lavendertealatte]

Chills were way too annoying and had some suicidal thoughts.

 

Getting off the prozac.  No more for me.

 

Starting low-carb/paleo/keto-ish diet..   cutting out sugar, wheat, dairy.

 

Want to look into magnesium more as I keep hearing about it in my different searches, but overwhelmed by all the different kinds.

[Surfchick]

yes, magnesium guru here  check out nootropics depot, high quality magnesium- the type best for the brain--> MAGNESIUM L-THREONATE 

for sleep support-->  MAGNESIUM GLYCINATE

[lavendertealatte]

Thank you SurfChick! 

 

Hey guys!  Ummmmm

 

Ok so I'm on 10mg prozac.. I think I've been taking this for about two weeks now or so.  Chills still suck.  My anxiety is still there but I think I'm more stable because of my diet (no carbs except rice and potatoes, no dairy, no sugar except fruits)  My pdoc doesn't want to acknowledge my symptoms so I'm not really interested in seeing him anymore.   He is quick to ask me to go to my regular doc and rule things out.  Well.. we did that already.  I had all sorts of tests, they all came back normal as I expected.  Nothing wrong with my thyroid...  Yet I still feel dreadful chills mostly in the morning and at night, sometimes waking up wet from sweat.  Gross.  Also experiencing anxiety in the pit of my stomach for no reason at all.

 

Question is.. It's going to be difficult to wean off the prozac cause it's a 10mg pill and I will probably be out in a few weeks.  I told the Pdoc I wanted to switch to lexapro.  So I still have liquid lexapro.  I don't really want to ask my pdoc about getting liquid prozac (do they have it even in liquid form?) because he already said to me that prozac is easier to wean off of since it "essentially weans itself".  

So I'm wondering, can I switch from my 10mg prozac to some sort of equivalent of the lexapro and then taper the lexapro?  Can anyone help me with this?  THANK YOU.

[ChessieCat]

You can make a liquid from Prozac tablets.  Tips for tapering off Prozac (fluoxetine)