Whenever I think I'm doing great...

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Some random physical symptom will hit and cause me to start having a physically-frightening panic attack.

For example, had a normal'ish day yesterday. At bedtime, my throat gets sore, but it feels more muscular. So, I start moving my hyoid gently. It makes a cracking sound. THE SECOND IT DOES THAT, I start physically flipping my shit. Dizziness, faintess, weakness, head fog appear and then the other stuff starts coming.

The whole time I'm telling myself, "you've felt this before, it's probably pain from gerd and there's nothing to worry about with the hyoid." etc.

 

Anyhow, it's rather disappointing to have such a physiological response that is a million times worse than what I'm responding to. Anyone have any suggestions on how to retrain myself? CBT work for anyone?

[Guest [Or...]]

CBT worked for me during the first month when I had real, rebound anxiety. After the first month it all stopped working as the anxiety became chemical in nature. However, this doesn't mean it won't happen to you! You could give it a try. There's a good workbook on Amazon called Mastery of your Anxiety and Panic workbook. They explain a lot of the symptoms you are experiencing and demonstrate why you shouldn't be afraid of them. However, not all of those will resonate with you as benzo withdrawal has its own SRT of symptoms. @_@

[[ci...]]

I have a great CBT psychologist. I think it helps somewhat with the positive affirmations. But there is so much CBT and relaxtion videos on line, that works just as well. My insurance covers costs of CBT, so I will continue to see my psychologist, just if I had to pay for it myself, i wprobably would not go. Once, you know the techniques, you can pretty much practice them.

 

 

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Cool!

I'm pretty sure that I just need to retrain my brain to not freak out every time I have a physical sensation that isn't expected.

[[ea...]]

Hi RP,

You cold turkied the end of this September, right? That's only a month! You're still in acute, and will be sensitive and jumpy and scared a lot. At this stage, new symptoms Do happen, and because your system is "freaky". you are going to over react. I think if you just accept that new weird symptoms will pop up, you'll be better prepared for them.

 

Next time a new symptom happens, start telling yourself "this is JUST A SYMPTOM and SYMPTOMS PROVE I AM HEALING."  Because that is true! Start doing deep breathing to relax yourself, and refrain from poking and prodding at your body. Do simple home remedies for symptoms - if you have gerd-like symptoms, do what you'd do for gerd. If you have pain, use heat or cold. Take a warm bath to relax. But above all, keep repeating to yourself that symptoms are just that: symptoms, of the healing process. Withdrawal symptoms are not like the symptoms of disease! They are actually proof that your body and brain are normal, and trying to regain their normal state.

east

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Just wanted to update:

Had some ups and downs, but the roller coaster isn't as bad as it was.

My symptoms now are mostly uncomfortable and not as much scary as they once were.

I'm at least 50% better, which I'll happily take.

[[ea...]]

Way to go, RP!!! I knew you could do it.

 

As for retraining your mind - what helped me was getting an understanding of what exactly causes withdrawal symptoms. Once I had the basic idea, it was a lot easier for me to say to myself "Knock it off! You don't need to be afraid of this, its just a symptom, nothing more."

east