Intrusive thoughts help please

[[le...]]

Has anyone found any medication that helped intrusive thoughts. I know I have asked before, be patient with me. Get false memories as well. Am reluctant to try anything else, but they are the one remaining symptom that stubbornly refuses to shift no matter what I do. They did ease bit briefly last summer , never completely go, but got bad again last few months.  I tried SSRI’s meant be go to treatment, but didn’t help. Am trying exposure therapy at moment, and getting over Covid which probably doesn’t  help. But can’t spend rest of my life in this horrible nightmare, waiting fir next fear to raise it’s ugly head. If anyone had them and recovered please post. Have tried most things but any suggestions welcome. I can’t tolerate supplements. Depresses me so much this could be a permanent part of my life. I did look on surviving anti depressants, but scared me with all the horror stories. Mental symptoms truly are sent from hell in this journey, the worst things to cope with, feel they are slowly destroying what little hope I have.

[[Ga...]]

Leann, there are quite a few comments on intrusive thoughts on a BB thread, you just need to search for those two words.  I have read off and on of quite a few buddies having this symptom, and it came down to Time!  No one wants to hear that time is the healer, but in most cases it is just that!  I have had headaches almost daily for three years, but they are finally beginning to fade away.  Nothing helped, no pills, no supplements, nothing, just time. 

 

I will share one things that was impressed upon me by a neighbor who has a degree in neuroscience and it is this…..the more we focus and talk about our symptoms, the deeper and more rigid our neuro pathways become.  The brain is forced into a repetitive loop, which is very hard to break.  When we chat she will not listen to my symptoms, but will only talk to me about the positives in my life.  This came as a shock to me as all I wanted to talk about we’re my symptoms.  My doctor also has a PHD in neuroscience and agrees with my neighbor.  Hard to swallow, but the truth really can hurt.

 

Just my two cents, as that is all I have.  No one can tell another buddy what their recovery will entail or how long it will last.  Just keep doing all the healthy things you are doing, and whenever you begin to hear and feel those negative thoughts, double down and keep saying to yourself, I am fine, I am fine, I am fine.

 

Hugs,

 

GG

[[le...]]

Thanks GG, I do understand what you are saying, just much harder not to dwell on things when your symptoms are largely mental as distractions only help for little while. Guess we are all different in how we cope with things, but I can cope with physical symptoms lot better. Think coz I’ve had migraines for years, and never have a day without a headache, just got used to that, and have had IBS as well, I had recurrent UTI fir several years as well, so can deal with physical pain. There is a lot of older stuff on intrusive thoughts, not much more recently. I do see logic in what you are saying, just hard to put into practice. Covid definitely affects you mentally as well doesn’t help, my husband very depressed after having it. How are you doing?

 

[[Be...]]

I read this article on intrusive thoughts and find it interesting...

https://www.anxietycentre.com/anxiety-disorders/symptoms/racing-thoughts-anxiety/

[[le...]]

Thanks that was really interesting, explains a lot.  Reassured not a sign of serious mental illness. I could cope with physical symptoms, as had daily headaches for years, but when your are fighting against your own brain for me, it’s so much harder. No recent posts on intrusive thoughts when I searched, all pretty old, helps if you can find others who are going through same symptoms as you

[[Be...]]

That site has pretty good information... About anxiety...

[Guest [...]]

Leann, there are quite a few comments on intrusive thoughts on a BB thread, you just need to search for those two words.  I have read off and on of quite a few buddies having this symptom, and it came down to Time!  No one wants to hear that time is the healer, but in most cases it is just that!  I have had headaches almost daily for three years, but they are finally beginning to fade away.  Nothing helped, no pills, no supplements, nothing, just time. 

 

I will share one things that was impressed upon me by a neighbor who has a degree in neuroscience and it is this…..the more we focus and talk about our symptoms, the deeper and more rigid our neuro pathways become.  The brain is forced into a repetitive loop, which is very hard to break.  When we chat she will not listen to my symptoms, but will only talk to me about the positives in my life.  This came as a shock to me as all I wanted to talk about we’re my symptoms.  My doctor also has a PHD in neuroscience and agrees with my neighbor.  Hard to swallow, but the truth really can hurt.

 

Just my two cents, as that is all I have.  No one can tell another buddy what their recovery will entail or how long it will last.  Just keep doing all the healthy things you are doing, and whenever you begin to hear and feel those negative thoughts, double down and keep saying to yourself, I am fine, I am fine, I am fine.

 

Hugs,

 

GG

 

Thanks for the update GG!

I’m entering a radical acceptance phase.

Need to get off and do this.

 

A neurologist just diagnosed me with Functional Neurological Disorder.

Is this correct? I don’t think so, but when I read about it, it’s as close as you’ll get to them saying it’s the meds.

Basically, nothing structurally wrong, but they know your brains not working right.

It is a very real diagnosis, she’s sees it a lot with people with POTS and seen it happen from medication.

 

I’m really going to do as you say and not fight it anymore and try to live my life through my taper and spend my summer in the garden. You know how scared I’ve been.

 

Hugs my friend. I miss you.

 

Winnie

[[I ...]]

I had them as the main symptom in my acute and because of them started many other problems (anxiety, insomnia and not bearable mental discomfort.

They are real nightmare, especially if they are connected with your beloved people, and usually they goes there where you are the most pure to torture you.

They stopped after the jumping for 3 months and before a few weeks they arrived again in setback, but this time a learned to make joke of them and to not try to analyse them no matter how they convinced me to ruminate them..

I started to go at work last week and these days I don't have them at all nearly because I'm preoccupied with other things and I'm not afraid of them anymore.

They not defined me like person.

How much you try to suppress them that much you'll have them. Leave them to fly in your head.

My psychologist helped me a lot with this advice last week, then I started with work and now I forgot them..

 

[[le...]]

I think if you work is a very good distraction. Forces you to think about other things. I’m retired gives you too much time to ruminate. Tried every hobby and distraction under the sun they never completely go. Haven’t been able to go on holiday or go out fir the day in over 2 years. Been very bad recently. Think that is result of Covid. Read half of people can have mental symptoms after. Plus it makes existing ones lot worse. Really does make for a miserable life living with fear constantly. All the posts I’ve found seem to be from several years ago on here.

[[Ma...]]

Keep in mind that you might do exactly what needs to be done but you just cannot feel the effect yet.

It is a cycle after withdrawal or in withdrawal, we monitor ourselves - logically - and our brain just freaks out. It is difficult for the hole system to find a way out of this cycle. For me food was the main help, I could find out or better said test out which food would slow down my brain and bring me a calm mind. But to be honest the first 2,5 years after I had stopped everything .. well.. I was out.of.my.mind. But looking back I would do the same things again, because without them I would have become a wrack. Thats what I mean with you are doing the right things already. You cannot fight intrusive thoughts. They will not stop to exist when you do something, the best achievement is to have them running on a parallel universe and then they slowly become less and less intense.

But there is ONE thing you can do to let their universe grow and impact yours even more and that is reminding yourself every day that there is this second universe of intrusive thoughts (or whatever mental problem you suffer from, in my opinion it does not matter what kind of): Reminding yourself that it exists. The more you talk, read, focus about it, the less the effect of what you do to get rid of the problem.

And thats why my advice is to do something paradoxical. Something your brain would never propose as solution. On days I was tortured with thoughts I did something I would NEVer ever have considered to do. I even went to a concert while suffering from a huge panic attack. I was acting like a psycho (I thought) but it helped.

If you look on this strategy from a neuroscientivif view its the shift from one part in your brain into another one, which stops a process. I had learned this in a therapy for PTSD years before my experience with benzos, but I never practiced that so hard as I did in withdrawal.

 

And today I use it against heartbreak. Again I feel mostly stupid and like a psycho but it really really helps. And the more you do it, the more flexible the brain becomes. You still get these fears, but you can hop out of them much quicker than before. I hope it can help you, too. Hang in there!!

[[I ...]]

Yes, Covid leave a lot of mental /psychological consequences.

My mom after surviving Covid for a first time in her life she had crazy intrusive thoughts for a many months.

But how she is not retired yet she felt better when she started with work.

You had withdrawal plus covid plus you're retired, I can imagine how is hard, and all beautiful wishes to you to come back to the best version of your self soon.

Just try to not be afraid of them and to not feel guilty about having them, because really they don't define you like a person.

They are just thoughts!

And many people have them but the difference is that some of us make obsessions of them.

I belive that more buddies have them here, they are just embarrassed to speak about them.

Even the psychiatrist told me that is one of the main symptoms in withdrawal or post trauma or covid, the people are afraid to speak about them and like that they make bigger taboo of them.

Don't give on the thoughts values please, try.

 

[[le...]]

Thanks for that. Yes the Covid definitely intensified them, so did your Mum’s eventually just ease of their own accord? The trouble is the longer it goes on the less effective distraction are. Been a bit of perfect storm, forced to CT a drug I was happy on, then we had months of lockdown, so couldn’t mix or do things just stuck at home, then my family totally screwing me over now covid. Just seem unable to break the cycle. Just wish I could connect with someone else going through similar, most people’s  symptoms seem to be physical. Having flicked through success stories at my stage of 39 months off, most seem have recovered or had some windows.

Thank you Marigold as well for the advice.

[[he...]]

Thanks for that. Yes the Covid definitely intensified them, so did your Mum’s eventually just ease of their own accord? The trouble is the longer it goes on the less effective distraction are. Been a bit of perfect storm, forced to CT a drug I was happy on, then we had months of lockdown, so couldn’t mix or do things just stuck at home, then my family totally screwing me over now covid. Just seem unable to break the cycle. Just wish I could connect with someone else going through similar, most people’s  symptoms seem to be physical. Having flicked through success stories at my stage of 39 months off, most seem have recovered or had some windows.

Thank you Marigold as well for the advice.

 

so sorry you are going through this. I took feel like between covid and extended family problems all the people have been sucked out of my life. Makes all of this so much harder.

[[I ...]]

Leann, my mom stopped to give them attention and she forgot them.

There is no human being who doesn't expirience intrusive thoughts even on daily basis.

The problems start when you give them too much attention and you are afraid of them.

You will experience relieve when you'll stop to be afraid of them and that's will not mean that you'll like them.

You are trying to fight with them to show to yourself that you don't like them probably.

Of course that you don't like them. People who want to do some things they don't have intrusive thoughts for the objects. They just like them.

Try to be more cool and to not freak from them.

Leave it to fly in your mind and with the time when you'll not be afraid anymore they slowly will disappear..

Don't do rumination, compulsions and etc..

Here is writen exactly the same :

 

-Ultimately, intrusive and invasive thoughts are absolutely normal. In fact, some studies have shown that a whopping 94% of the population experience unwanted thoughts that are intrusive and unpleasant on a daily basis. It's when these intrusive thoughts become obsessive that the real damage is done.

 

Sooo try to fight with your fight to not be obsessed with them. You'll not do anything of the intrusive thoughts, just you'll lose your time.

I know is very hard to be calm but for the beginning say I don't care if I have them.

My mom said that and she was making even jokes of them.

 

[[So...]]

Leann,

Hey there! This was all good advice! I agree that maybe doing things out of the ordinary would force your brain to think of something else. And I know you are retired, and you have tried distractions and hobbies......but how many brand new hobbies have you tried? So not hobbies that you already love, but like never done before?!! Like maybe a dance class!!?? I have found that taking dance classes during my second year off was fantastic because it forces your brain to concentrate to learn the choreography. It's VERY freeing in that way. Because you cannot think of anything else during that. It's the same for skateboarding for me, learning new tricks does the same and I just do it for stress release. I know you are not gonna skateboard, haha, but I'm just saying something radical new that you could do might just really help!!!!! Of not dance classes, what about water aerobics!!?? Tai Chi? Both those will require concentration on movements and are very low impact.

 

Also, I told you that I had the intrusive thoughts after the birth of my second son long before benzos. And I'm gonna answer your question about medication that made it stop.....Antipsychotics. I had  24/7 brutal intrusive thoughts. The only thing that literally made them stop was Risperdahl. Literally made them stop in a matter of days. I only took it for about 3 months then weaned off. They never came back. Now that being said......mine wasn't from WD and I was able to just take it for a short time to break the cycle. It wasn't something I had to continue taking. So, you are in a different situation and I am NOT suggesting anti-psychotics to you! I am simply answering your question about a med that made them stop for me (even though different scenario).

The reason it tends to make them stop is that it shuts off parts of your brain and thinking. Slows everything down and pretty much makes you feel like you are a computer that is just operating on safe mode. Like you can only access basic things in your mind, the rest is like not available. So usually no crying, no great emotions, just blunted. Plus anti-psychotics carry a very heavy side effect profile! So I don't talk about them lightly.

 

Anyway, I do hope maybe you can do some radical therapy or continue with exposure therapy and add some new activities and things to just try and break the cycle.

[[le...]]

Things I have tried, knitting, jigsaws, crosswords, board games, painting, pottery, mosaics, tapestry. I go to Pilates once week. Also retirement group go to flower arranging, kurling, monthly talk, have friends round every couple weeks. Have tried meditation,breathing exercises, mindfulness, cbt, seeing various therapists, brain retraining course. One buddy did suggest not doing anything ,maybe trying to distract makes me focus to much on the thoughts. Distraction worked really well for. a while, but 6 months stress last year with family undid any progress. Just have pray people are right and eventually the thoughts will ease, just takes so damn long. In hindsight think I probably was starting getting interdose withdrawal, as had the very occasional intrusive thought, few month before made to ct. i don’t think traditional therapy as such helps with chemical anxiety, can’t affird waste any more money on therapy as I’m retired, but will force myself to keep going out even though it’s torture some days,