12-18 month support

[[mr...]]

Wow gang, night and day difference from yesterday to today! Last night I went to bed early, as I was that "tired/unmotivated" feeling for a good portion of the day, and today I have been feeling so much better Been "wandow-ish" for a week or so, so I am just relishing the moments today

 

Out walking now, getting my exercise on! All the while thinking of my buddies here Just wanted to stop by with an update - you know, 'document' the moment!

 

Take care,

 

Mrs.

[[Wi...]]

Does anyone here experience, for lack of a better word, flashbacks that are as constant as they are random?  Usually it's remembering things, whether good or bad, but feeling bad about them. Feelings of failure, even when it's not deserved.  It's a combination of flashbacks and constant mind chatter and rarely is it any good. I've used all of the techniques I've learned here, breathing, distracting etc but it doesn't stop. Has anyone found anything that has actually worked for them?

 

Thanks...WWWI

[[mr...]]

Does anyone here experience, for lack of a better word, flashbacks that are as constant as they are random?  Usually it's remembering things, whether good or bad, but feeling bad about them. Feelings of failure, even when it's not deserved.  It's a combination of flashbacks and constant mind chatter and rarely is it any good. I've used all of the techniques I've learned here, breathing, distracting etc but it doesn't stop. Has anyone found anything that has actually worked for them?

 

Thanks...WWWI

 

Yes ma'am

 

From what I've found, I had to sort of redirect my thinking regarding the techniques used to help soften their blow. For a while, I was quite disappointed because I was hoping that the thoughts would "lessen" the more I used the coping techniques. But, I discovered that the techniques were not there to "get rid of" the thoughts, but to merely help me cope with them when they happened (Ha - you'd think I would've known that, considering they're called "coping" techniques... Lol). Once I realized that it wasn't my job to reduce their frequency, or lessen their subject matter, but that it was only my job to get good at recognizing them for what they are (just "thoughts"), and as such, get good at not letting the "Real Me" take them seriously, it was a HUGE relief for me I just needed to get good at playing an "observer" in my head - I often envisioned myself, the "Real Me", getting up atop a footstool inside my head and just sitting there and observing, saying things like "Oh, there's XYZ thought over there" and "Alrighty then, there is ABC memory over here" and then do NOTHING in response to them. I mean, sometimes I had to physically take time and sit it out on a footstool, lol. And it took time. But it did help.

 

And, as a side benefit, that same time it took to get practiced and good at "coping", I was also healing As are you, dear Keep your hand gently on the plow, you're doing everything right

 

Mrs.

[[dr...]]

Mrs-glad you adopted my wandow;).

 

I just teturned from my walk. Jogged two days ago, elliptical yesterday, and walk today. Tomorrow massage!  My body is so sore.  It was funny I got some chest/shoulder pain and I also had leg, stomach, back pain, etc...but all my conditioned brain wanted to focus on was the chest. I just accepted the thought as an irrational one and continued on. My brain can be silly

 

Overall I feel wandowish too with a slight leaning to positive. No panics or fear and made work, whole foods, another grocery, and walked.  All that and no anxiety spikes.  A bit uncomfortable for short bursts but I'm still in recovery.  I'll take it.  Hope everyone's day was ok

[[je...]]

Wwwi-- yes, I get those flashbacks all the time! They always make me feel sad as if all my memories are bad, which isn't true. I wonder if its the brain working to return some lost memories.

Mrs-- so glad you feel better today, yay!

Drew-- you are sounding better too, way to go with the exercise! Just hearing all you did is making me feel sore! A massage sounds nice, does it help with sx  at all? I've haven't had one in years, but it might do me some good with all the pain I've had lately.

HH-- you are sounding much better than a few weeks ago, feel better hun.

 

I just got back from a hour hike at one of the mountains behind our house, and I feel so weak and exhausted. This is w/d right? I just turned 40, and sometimes I worry its because I'm getting older, but damn it can't be normal to feel this bad... And stiff I forgot to mention how stiff I feel, joints ache. I hope everyone is doing well, Jenny

 

[[dr...]]

Jenny-I find the massage very beneficial for my soreness and mental state. 

All natural too!

 

 

I'm 46 and I can't believe how out of breathe I get after a bit of exercise.  I see the fatigue mentioned so often that I know it's withdrawal.  Even when I was on the drug in tolerance I couldn't finish an hour exercise class. Also, intense exercise never made me feel better.  This is when I started to realize it was the drugs making me so sick. I was watching people in their sixties or obese be able to finish the class. i jogged two miles two days ago and I might have to limit my exercise to walks as it really beat me up. 

 

[[pe...]]

I love, love, love the positive posts. I really do. But it's a bit overwhelming to see so many people crossing the finish line and I'm just stumbling towards it as I pass the one year mark. You're not all symptom free, right? For now, at least, there's still a few people rowing alongside my silly little boat? Right? Cuz, I got symptoms! Like the funk. Oh my, I've got the funk!

 

Ok, that's my childish rant for now.

Peace2

[[Wi...]]

Does anyone here experience, for lack of a better word, flashbacks that are as constant as they are random?  Usually it's remembering things, whether good or bad, but feeling bad about them. Feelings of failure, even when it's not deserved.  It's a combination of flashbacks and constant mind chatter and rarely is it any good. I've used all of the techniques I've learned here, breathing, distracting etc but it doesn't stop. Has anyone found anything that has actually worked for them?

 

Thanks...WWWI

 

Yes ma'am

 

From what I've found, I had to sort of redirect my thinking regarding the techniques used to help soften their blow. For a while, I was quite disappointed because I was hoping that the thoughts would "lessen" the more I used the coping techniques. But, I discovered that the techniques were not there to "get rid of" the thoughts, but to merely help me cope with them when they happened (Ha - you'd think I would've known that, considering they're called "coping" techniques... Lol). Once I realized that it wasn't my job to reduce their frequency, or lessen their subject matter, but that it was only my job to get good at recognizing them for what they are (just "thoughts"), and as such, get good at not letting the "Real Me" take them seriously, it was a HUGE relief for me I just needed to get good at playing an "observer" in my head - I often envisioned myself, the "Real Me", getting up atop a footstool inside my head and just sitting there and observing, saying things like "Oh, there's XYZ thought over there" and "Alrighty then, there is ABC memory over here" and then do NOTHING in response to them. I mean, sometimes I had to physically take time and sit it out on a footstool, lol. And it took time. But it did help.

 

And, as a side benefit, that same time it took to get practiced and good at "coping", I was also healing As are you, dear Keep your hand gently on the plow, you're doing everything right

 

Mrs.

Mrs I think if anything is going to make this manageable, what you are suggesting might.  I'm going to keep this little gem of a post. Thank you 

[[mr...]]

Jenny & Drew, I'm 33 and I have it too, so its not age!! I knew something was up too, drew, when (at 30 yrs old)  my friend had to drive us home after roller blading because I was too wiped out - she kicked my arz, and she's 80+ lbs heavier than I (overweight) and hadn't bladed in years - while I had been doing it daily for months! It was like, sumthin's UP HERE. Bah! Lol

 

Peace...the "funk" is leaving, and the "spunk" will replace it... YES, I'm still symptomatic - I'd say its probably 95-100% of the time still, in varying degrees. My baseline is much improved, and holds better than it was...but I still "swim" in "the funk" - feels like a "fog" or "veil" Gets better all the time, its just that it takes TIME lol...and grr...

 

Love to you guys 'n girls

 

Mrs.

[[Co...]]

Peace, ...is there some room in your boat?...I have sx too..and the funk...all day today. Yesterday...effortless mind day.. .today acute. ...Peace, I was very iffy at 13 months and got hit with a week straight of the worst body pain I have ever had in my life....20 years of RA,..nothing like the Benzo Mac truck that ran over me. ...Green too. ...I am still months away from healed. I am just getting more windows and a reliably improved baseline. I am very grateful for that, but I get really depressed when my windows close and the funk rolls in. The difference for me is the wavy days don't last as long and my windows sometimes last 2/3 days in a row.

........So move over and hand me a pair of oars...

...You are going to see increasing improvement Peace, but I think it is still an up and down process. I am looking towards Spring /Summer...you and I and the rest of us are going to smiling at the geraniums. ..You are going to be so healed Mighty Girl.....Wishing you a bright open window tomorrow...love to you....coop

 

[[Gr...]]

I am doing great! Feeling good for about a month now! Never had a wave during my cold/flu! Praying I'm healed!!

 

:smitten:

 

Wow!  I just read this.  Missed it the first go round.  I am so, so happy you are feeling well, and hoping that continues.  Hoping we all write our success stories from right here.

[[Gr...]]

Thanks Beulah, ....I agree there are just times when you have to do something to sleep or get some relief from severe pain. I think the recommendations of the article leave some latitude for some use of these drugs. I have been successful in managing RA pain with yoga and hot soaks with Epsome salts. So I have avoided ( to the frustration of my RA doc) the big dangerous RA drugs, although I took plenty of Tylenol 2/3 or Ibuprofen with codeine. Now I am worried . I dropped the codeine , tylenol whend I went on the ativan because the ativan pretty much masked all my RA pain. I dropped the codeine without any problem, but know I know the ativan also masked any codeine w/d.  I may ask to have my liver and kidneys evaluated for health.  Although that has been about 4 years ago that I dropped those ...ironically, because the atitan was such good pain relief...man o man...Even when I told my doctor that I thought the I uprofen raised my b/p he didn't believe me. I also gained a lot of water weight on the Ibuprofen.

  ...Well, having said all of that....If nothing else, I have learned to use natural remedies and self care as a front line defense for pain, w/d and fatigue. I have also learned to eat very healthy. Nearly Paleo with modificat ions for vegetarian and allowing some diary...so pretty much Mediterranean /Paleo..lil.....So I have learned a lot on this crazy painful travel.

.....How is your leg pain. I remember so clearly when you couldn't walk and had so much pain. Mine came on late..month 12/13....so it caught me off guard and scared me

.....thanks so much for your reply Beulah...I think of you often We were on the boards early on ...14/15 months ago!  Boy, we have been at this for so long..I hope you are feeling mostly healed.  Love to you Beulah.....coop

 

Coop,

 

Take milk thistle for a month.  It will clean your liver right up

[[mr...]]

Does anyone here experience, for lack of a better word, flashbacks that are as constant as they are random?  Usually it's remembering things, whether good or bad, but feeling bad about them. Feelings of failure, even when it's not deserved.  It's a combination of flashbacks and constant mind chatter and rarely is it any good. I've used all of the techniques I've learned here, breathing, distracting etc but it doesn't stop. Has anyone found anything that has actually worked for them?

 

Thanks...WWWI

 

Yes ma'am

 

From what I've found, I had to sort of redirect my thinking regarding the techniques used to help soften their blow. For a while, I was quite disappointed because I was hoping that the thoughts would "lessen" the more I used the coping techniques. But, I discovered that the techniques were not there to "get rid of" the thoughts, but to merely help me cope with them when they happened (Ha - you'd think I would've known that, considering they're called "coping" techniques... Lol). Once I realized that it wasn't my job to reduce their frequency, or lessen their subject matter, but that it was only my job to get good at recognizing them for what they are (just "thoughts"), and as such, get good at not letting the "Real Me" take them seriously, it was a HUGE relief for me I just needed to get good at playing an "observer" in my head - I often envisioned myself, the "Real Me", getting up atop a footstool inside my head and just sitting there and observing, saying things like "Oh, there's XYZ thought over there" and "Alrighty then, there is ABC memory over here" and then do NOTHING in response to them. I mean, sometimes I had to physically take time and sit it out on a footstool, lol. And it took time. But it did help.

 

And, as a side benefit, that same time it took to get practiced and good at "coping", I was also healing As are you, dear Keep your hand gently on the plow, you're doing everything right

 

Mrs.

Mrs I think if anything is going to make this manageable, what you are suggesting might.  I'm going to keep this little gem of a post. Thank you 

 

 

Mrs.

[[Gr...]]

Green,  you are sounding so good. The fact that you can even consider a bike trip is big..Thanks for posting about your body pain too...it goes a long way in helping me believe my crazy body pain is w/d rather than ms or some other awful condition. ...There are so many positive posts here in the last 48 hours. It must be contagious. I woke up feeling fine this morning after pretty decent sleep.. then I read GMT's post and I practically jumped out of bed and did a happy dance. All of the posts of recent healing has totally renewed my belief that I, and my BB friends will heal.  We will all get our lives back. I just re-read  Billy's success story and he as well says that after healing he had no.  none...lasting fear or inability in any way. He said the most that he experiences is a once in awhile "nervousness"...which to me seems part of ' normal' life...

....Happy healing to everyone....coop

 

Coop, I don't know that I'll be able to do that cycling thingy, even though it's with a group of ppl 50s and 60s, some of these ppl are in pretty good shape and I don' know if I can keep up.  Don't know how I'd handle sleeping in a tent, lol.  I've done it before.  The healing is I felt well enough to dream, to plan.  I put myself on a wait list.  Didn't spend money or commit to anything yet.

 

Yes, the body stiffness is crazy, it's so bad I know it can't be anything else but withdrawal, lol! 

 

And this morning my ankle was swollen, sore and painful.  I limped down the stairs, knowing I didn't hurt it in any way the day before, that whatever happened, happened while I was in bed.  Now this thing was painful tender, and I had a marked limp.  Damned thing was gone by 3 p.m.  I'm just sharing that so people know, in case it happens.

 

I think because our sleep is off that the body doesn't go into proper levels of REM, or whatever it is, and the body doesn't repair all of the micro tears, everything it's supposed to do during certain levels of sleep.  I think.  Who really knows? No one.  Not even the doctors.  They have no idea why any of this happens to us.  They just know it does.  I don't think they know why, the mechanisms that cause it.

[[Co...]]

Jenny, Drew and Mrs....you guys are athletes...running, walking roller blading ( for goodness sakes) and Green is bikining .....Today I did some dishes.  had to rest and put heat on my back...rested...made my bed and was exhausted. More heat...a second labender Epsome salts hot soak.. another rest. All day I couldnt stand in my walker for more than 10 minutes. ....Yesterday.  energy...way decreased body pain..happy with some bounce ..held up to 4 great hours of shopping with my daughter and still felt good in the afternoon ....This body pain that we are all going through is going to end. I read through s bunch of success stories last night and many mentioned body pain all the way through....and then they healed and it was gone.

......Hoping we are all at least walking tomorrow....coop

[[Gr...]]

Just an update....I am 14 months and 11 days out. ...

......I still have on again off again sx. My new sx is bad body pain that caught me off gaurd...hard in month 12/13 and comes and goes. I believe that I am having more good days than bad. I have windows and some effortless days. Often my good /window days come in 2/3 day strings followed by a half day or 12 or so hour wave. My baseline remains at a consistent 85-95%. Most of my remain sx seem to be more physical rather than mental....however the physical sx more often than not engage my health fears. I consider the persistent health fears to be a PTSD of sorts from the heart scares and er trips during months 4 and 6. I may need to do some ' clean up' therapy for these health fears following healing.

.....I woke up great this morning with only moderate body pain. I went shopping all morning with my daughter. No anxiety, dizziness,,d/r, headache or head pressure. We were out and about doing serious shopping for about 4 hours. Usually shopping bothers my eyes and thus triggers my dizziness...not today...I know 4 hours is not a long time, but even before w/d 4 hours in my chair caning my neck and twisting and turning was about as much as I could tolerate.

  . .friends...we are getting better. I know we have months in front of us to go but...from what I am reading on our posts...none of us are where we were this time last year.

....Wishing everyone a string of windows. Our worst days are behind us...our best days are right in front of us.. love , Coop

 

 

ds,....we are getting better...

 

Coop, wonderful, wonderful news!  And shopping is really intense.  I'm not kidding!  Four hours out there is huge, really wonderful.  Yes, there's healing. I can't say I have the 85% you talk about because I know I lack certain physical strength and energy levels,  I really feel it when I try to pick up a box, or even my heavy purse.  Just seems to weigh a ton, but I know it doesn't.

 

I find the best thing for me to do is ignore symptoms, never body scan, just go, go easy, but go.  Put on my horse blinders, don't look back, don't look to the side, just keep my eyes on the road and go.  And try not to think too much, stay out of my own head as much as possible.  I am very aware that there's a lot left to heal.  I have to make sure I don't dwell on that.  Then I'm in trouble.

 

Glad to hear a lot of people are feeling better.

[[Gr...]]

Just an update....I am 14 months and 11 days out. ...

......I still have on again off again sx. My new sx is bad body pain that caught me off gaurd...hard in month 12/13 and comes and goes. I believe that I am having more good days than bad. I have windows and some effortless days. Often my good /window days come in 2/3 day strings followed by a half day or 12 or so hour wave. My baseline remains at a consistent 85-95%. Most of my remain sx seem to be more physical rather than mental....however the physical sx more often than not engage my health fears. I consider the persistent health fears to be a PTSD of sorts from the heart scares and er trips during months 4 and 6. I may need to do some ' clean up' therapy for these health fears following healing.

.....I woke up great this morning with only moderate body pain. I went shopping all morning with my daughter. No anxiety, dizziness,,d/r, headache or head pressure. We were out and about doing serious shopping for about 4 hours. Usually shopping bothers my eyes and thus triggers my dizziness...not today...I know 4 hours is not a long time, but even before w/d 4 hours in my chair caning my neck and twisting and turning was about as much as I could tolerate.

  . .friends...we are getting better. I know we have months in front of us to go but...from what I am reading on our posts...none of us are where we were this time last year.

....Wishing everyone a string of windows. Our worst days are behind us...our best days are right in front of us.. love , Coop

 

Hey coop you sound sooooooo much better. Wow.... it feels like not so long ago that you started the 6 to 12 month thread and here we are on the 12-18 month thread... Baby we have come a long way.... I do not want to say it yet but I am getting this sense that I am healed -- not in the sense that I am 100% but in the sense that there seems to be some constancy in my thinking. I can make plans weeks in advance or ever even days in advance and I show up with a good attitude.

 

I had such a wonderful email sent to me just recently. It was a person that wrote only 10 posts in all and she was on benzo buddies no more than 5 times in 12 months it took her to heal. She came back and posted to say that she wanted to thank me for writing my posts. Now, I do not think that I am the warm and fuzzy type so I thought "what could I have written that touched her so much?" She pointed it out and how it affected her so positively her whole healing recovery changed with my one post. She just wanted to thank me. The moral of the story is that we post on these boards and we do not realize the impact that we have of peoples lives -- some of them that just read us and do not write so we never get to really know them -- like this lady that posted me. BB does a worlds of good.

 

I still have re-entery to deal with which is my dealing with the stresses of life. I have to reach deep into my CBT skills some days. Over all I am feeling really good. Boy how thankful I am to God to say that with certainty. We all do heal... for me it was definitely month 14 that healed me -- coincidentally the average time of healing on BB. As I write I have to figure out what month I am going on -- I think it is month 16 on the 19th of this month.

 

I know that all of you will be healing -- soon sooner than I am and some a little more. But we all will heal. Do I go through periods where I think a wave hits me -- sure --- like on Christmas week but it lasts about a week and goes away. What's life without a little spice? I long for the days where there are no waves at all for me or anyone here.

 

God bless you all. You have helped me get through the most outrageous and trying time in my life. As I start to look back it was like a distant memory. Love to all.

 

Life

 

 

ds,....we are getting better...

 

Life, I sure do remember those dark scary days on the 6-12, and before.  Your posts helped a lot of people.  You were very, very supportive.  I am so glad you are doing well.  And even though you feel mostly healed, you're going to get even better by the two year mark. 

[[Gr...]]

Life and Coop, your words are beautiful, and you BOTH helped me through the nightmare.  And so did Green, and Garton and Mommy and HH and many others from here I'm probably forgetting.  Thank you all.

 

Yes, Floc, and Coop, those dark cave days.  Thank God we all had each other.  Thank God for this site.  I'm not saying this lightly, I mean it from the bottom of my heart.

[[mr...]]

Jenny, Drew and Mrs....you guys are athletes...running, walking roller blading ( for goodness sakes) and Green is bikining .....Today I did some dishes.  had to rest and put heat on my back...rested...made my bed and was exhausted. More heat...a second labender Epsome salts hot soak.. another rest. All day I couldnt stand in my walker for more than 10 minutes. ....Yesterday.  energy...way decreased body pain..happy with some bounce ..held up to 4 great hours of shopping with my daughter and still felt good in the afternoon ....This body pain  we are all going through is going to end. I read through s bunch of success stories last night and many mentioned body pain all the way through....and then they healed and it was gone.

......Hoping we are all at least walking tomorrow....coop

 

Green...bikinis.., you saucy mama, you... :

 

Mrs.

[[Co...]]

Green, you are so right...." just go, go lightly but go" ...stay in the moment, ignore as much as you can"...that's exactly my coping too. Today the body pain and fatigue was back .I wanted to go back to bed...but I tried to push through gently. I have had enough bed days in the last 18 months....I never want to spend another day in bed again.

.....In spite of the 'crushed body ' feeling and 200# weights on our legs and arms we are healing. Things sound so improved ( with tough days thrown in) for everyone.

.......Thank goodness for every single one of you..I could not keep doing this without you....coop

[[Gr...]]

 

Hi Coop, what is this body pain you and green have talked about? I have been getting very achey lately with some joint pain, and just an overall weak feeling. Just wondering if that's what you guys are talking about. Jenny

 

Yes, Jenny, my girl, how is it possible you've missed this until now?  You described it perfectly, very achy, some joint pain, and an overall weak feeling.   And when I stand up after sitting a little while, or try to get out of the car, ouch, I think I make a noise, like ohhh, ouch -- actually, I groan.  I swear, it's humiliating.  My 85 y.o. neighbor has more spring in her step.

 

And the weakness, when I pick up my purse -- well, it's heavy, but still -- it feels ridiculously heavy.  Same thing food shopping, items I know are not that heavy feel like I'm lifting a ton.  No strength.

That's why I can't put an 85% on my best day.  I feel that weakness, fatigue, whatever. 

We'll get there. 

 

 

[[Gr...]]

Thank you so much for the reply Coop. Yeah, that sounds exactly what I've been dealing with and yes it comes and goes too. I notice sometimes after a long walk, I will get so stiff and feel like I walked a marathon-- so tired and weak. It makes sense now. Thanks for the ibuprofen info too, I take it maybe once a week for headaches, but honestly its the only thing that works and I never seem to have any ill effects. I will just make sure not to over do it. Thanks for everything! Jenny

 

Jenny,

I get it after walks, before, there's no rhyme or reason.  I think the best thing to do is proceed with your activities if you're able.  It comes and goes on its own.  I would, however, not run, and be very careful stretching, b/c when you're that tight you can injure yourself.  Once I felt a little energy and tried to jog a few steps, and I injured the back of my knee, it took a long time to go away, long after the aches did.  So just be careful.

[[Gr...]]

Good morning,

I have had a pretty good past 4-5 days. It's been nice and has done a lot to restore my belief and hope in healing. My window closed some last night and I woke up several times from about 2:00 on with anxiety/fear. I feel exhausted, nervous, and bluesy right now....I wish I could get a sub for today and stay in bed for a while more. My head is clear and all my anxiety is zinging around my rib cage and is centered in my gut. <sigh> I'm so burnt out by the length of this process.

 

I have to figure today out though, wave or no. My older daughter has a game and she is also the junior class Homecoming princess.

 

I've still not heard anything from my 24-hr halter monitor heart test. Hopefuly I'll hear something today.

 

Ok, time to drag myself into the shower and start getting ready for the day. I think I'll pass on dressing up for the Homecoming theme of the day, though. I've done about 1/2 of the dress up days this week, but I don't think I have it in me today.

 

I hope you all have a good day! Lots of people are so close to healing...it's exciting!

Love,

HH

 

Hi, HH.  You sound a lot better.  I was reading through Heather Ashton and thinking of you.  That shaking you talked about in your wave, it was there, and it's normal.  I'm so glad things are calmer now.  By Easter/Passover break, you're going to feel a lot better.

[[Co...]]

Mrs. , thank you for the great visual on being the observer of your own mind. I have been able to that better as of month 12, but still get in the undertow. ...You are so positive Mrs...I think we all borrow 'positive' bits from you.

    .here we all are...still in it together...why don't you all live in my city.....?.....here's to a better day tomorrow.

.....btw, anyone getting burning legs and feet...

[[Gr...]]

Does anyone here experience, for lack of a better word, flashbacks that are as constant as they are random?  Usually it's remembering things, whether good or bad, but feeling bad about them. Feelings of failure, even when it's not deserved.  It's a combination of flashbacks and constant mind chatter and rarely is it any good. I've used all of the techniques I've learned here, breathing, distracting etc but it doesn't stop. Has anyone found anything that has actually worked for them?

 

Thanks...WWWI

 

Hey, WWWI

 

I have it, yes, and I don't know how to stop it.  It just stops when it stops.  It's like a damned wave.  I had it the first year, worse. In some ways that was easier because my thoughts were so wildly out there, even I knew to ignore them.  Now it's tricky, because the thoughts are almost normal, except they're intense, the memories are random.  But yes, it's a symptom, and just do your best until it goes away.