I think mindset is the most important part of the whole process, especially for protracted. If you can get into a certain mindset, one where you can fully accept the process as it is without judging it as horrible, unbearable, the worst thing ever and feeling desperate for it to be over as soon as possible, then it loses it's power and it no longer matters so much how long it takes to recover. I mean, I'd love to recover soon, but if I don't, I'm still going to have a decent life.

Personally, my main goal is to create the best possible conditions for recovery. My goal is not recovery itself, because that's something I can't control and I don't want my well-being tied to something I can't control. I can only ensure that I'm doing everything within my power to create positive conditions for my healing and everything beyond that has to be released.

Once the process is accepted and I've released the timeline, then I can focus on being as happy as possible in the state that I'm in rather than needing things to be different. This is what I've focused on, especially through using meditation and mindfulness practices. I feel like it's done me a world of good because for the most part I'm happy and relatively relaxed. I don't get too upset or overwhelmed on a daily basis or when things go wrong. I'm definitely not perfect. I still have down days and there's certain things I don't handle particularly well and my anxiety does get a bit out of hand from time to time. But overall, I feel calmer and more resilient than I did in my life before withdrawal, and I know I'll be able to carry this forward with me.

So basically, I think it's really important to:

A) Change what you can change and accept everything that you can't.

B) Notice negative thoughts without believing in them or encouraging them. Every time we tell ourselves how terrible this is and how much we need it to be over and how we can't stand it, it creates resistance and resistance is stress. More stress is the last thing we need with a ramped up nervous system, so that's why I think lack of resistance (aka- acceptance) is so helpful.

The way I've been able to do this is by doing stress reduction techniques (yoga, meditation, EFT) very regularly, whether it's a bad day or a good day. Also, meditation has helped me learn how to let thoughts come and go without taking them too seriously or getting too involved with them. That has been super helpful. The mind can really generate a lot of disastrous worst-case scenarios in this process and it's useful to figure out how to let those thoughts be without buying in to them. A thought is just a thought. It's not truth.

I still have some specific triggers that I need to work on, like illness. When I was in tolerance withdrawal, my immune system was not functioning super well, and I still find that I'm afraid of getting sick. On the other hand, I tend to overreact to meds of any kind and to vaccines, so this whole area is one that I struggle with. Other than the whole medical/illness thing, I feel pretty capable of handling things well, so overall it's still an improvement on my previous self. 

Cheers all.