Ability to Relax

[[of...]]

Since I've come off Xanax, I've suffered a persistent symptom that I'm just now acknowledging.

 

I can't really Relax. During a movie, get together, when I go out with friends or family. When I lay in bed I don't feel tired. My body feels stiff and ampt up.

 

This symptom used to be accompanied with racing obsessive negative thoughts. I've got ahold of the thoughts but still, I feel trapped in my body.

 

Side effects from this tension are low libido, insomnia, and deep depression.

 

Note: I've recently had little Windows where all symptoms seem to go together, and come back together.

 

Does anyone else suffer from having a inability to relax? I feel like I'm in a state of hyper awareness. It's difficult to process emotions when I'm in this state.

 

Though it has improved significantly in the past six months, I'm curious to hear from people who have the same range of symptoms. I feel so damn TENSE 

[[Bh...]]

You just described me to a "T"...it sucks. I wish I could relax and just chill.  I don't know how to....I try to watch movies, lay on the couch, relax in bed and yet I still can't unwind. 

 

Is there anyone out there (that has healed) that can tell us when this "wound up" feeling will reside?  I know we are all different, but any kind of bone would help.  Thank you!

[[Up...]]

I always carried a lot of tension in my body, since I was little. I had so many different symptoms I thought I was either going crazy or had some horrible illness.

 

Some, like what we now call Restless Leg Syndrome, eased when I started on benzos. But as tolerance grew, they came creeping back.

 

Massage always helped. Of course, I had to self-administer a lot of it, which means teaching part of your body to relax while another part (arms, hands, fingers) is exerting.

 

The game-changers for me were mindfulness meditation and CBT. They can be a hard sell, but I don't know how I'd manage without them.

[[of...]]

I always carried a lot of tension in my body, since I was little. I had so many different symptoms I thought I was either going crazy or had some horrible illness.

 

Some, like what we now call Restless Leg Syndrome, eased when I started on benzos. But as tolerance grew, they came creeping back.

 

Massage always helped. Of course, I had to self-administer a lot of it, which means teaching part of your body to relax while another part (arms, hands, fingers) is exerting.

 

The game-changers for me were mindfulness meditation and CBT. They can be a hard sell, but I don't know how I'd manage without them.

 

Mindfulness helped me alot and CBT too. But they really don't help the intense tension I have all over. Running is helping I guess. I miss being able to lay down and unwind or daydream and have that warm fuzzy feeling to help me process the world or problem solve.

 

It was much Much MUCH worse than it is now but it's still 'there', when I walk, drive, everything .

 

 

[[il...]]

offeverything -

 

Try to relax in knowing it's very, very normal to feel that way. This, too, shall pass. I have trouble focusing on anything more than a half an hour, but it's improved from the first two months when I literally was on the move every 5 minutes. Onward and upward!

 

Remember -

 

Meditation

Meditation music

Stretching

Epsom salt baths

Homemade Banana tea

Prayer

 

And something else I've to remind myself of constantly, something Challis told me a few times --

 

Humor helps.

Acceptance is key.

Time heals.

 

[[of...]]

Thanks! I guess I'm just worn out.. 26 months.. Meditation helps but it's still Always there. Acceptance is tough

[[Cr...]]

I have this really bad. Someone else described it well as not being able to "sink" into bed or a couch. It sucks, I'm never comfortable or even close to it.

[[bl...]]

I had akathisia for about five months while I was coming off of and withdrawing from Klonopin and even while I was tapering off of Valium. It didn't get substantially better until the very tail end of my taper. Over the course of the past month-and-a-half, it's all but gone away. Meditation helped me, because it forced me to sit and stay in one place, but I understand that's not an option for everyone.

[[Cr...]]

I don't think this particular topic is in reference to aka this's, which is fucking brutal and still shows up for me on occasion. This is more about just an all over tenseness and uneasy feeling. Unable to just lay back and relax, it's like my body is constantly keyed up for a fight or trying to protect me from pain by flexing