Any tips for obsessive thoughts?

[[Bi...]]

I have always had challenges with anxiety and some obsessive thinking, but it ahs gone overboard during benzos. In many ways I am seeing a lot of real positive signs in the last few weeks, with a lot of symptoms easing and feeling a lot more like myself. But the obsessive thinking is still popping up and I really want to get it under control as it impacts my mood as well with some of the stuff that I can't get rid of.

 

[[li...]]

I used to dream I had valium under my pillow no joke 

[[Go...]]

9 minutes ago, [[B...] said:

I have always had challenges with anxiety and some obsessive thinking, but it ahs gone overboard during benzos. In many ways I am seeing a lot of real positive signs in the last few weeks, with a lot of symptoms easing and feeling a lot more like myself. But the obsessive thinking is still popping up and I really want to get it under control as it impacts my mood as well with some of the stuff that I can't get rid of.

I’ve always dealt with obsessive/recurring thoughts as well. What’s been helpful for me is not trying to stop my mind from going, but rather to counteract the negative obsessive thoughts with positive ones. Some things that have worked for me are Bible verses, positive affirmations, mantras, quotes. I think the key is not to stop our thoughts but to change the way we think and that takes some intentionality. It’s difficult work but worth it once it becomes a habit. 

[[kn...]]

I have lived with OCD and the fallout for nearly 7 decades of life.  Please realize that the only reality is in the here and now. All other thoughts and rumination are the work of the imaginary mind. To that end:  allow yourself one check to ascertain certainty. Write down or note on phone frequent obsessions and spend time sorting their significance. Discard or delete and go ON. Teach yourself to meditate using phone app.  Develop ‘go to’s’ When obsessive thinking arises.  Text or call friend or dial into BB and post or PM. Distract self in any way that helps. Read anything. Trash is ok. Binge movies. Exercise if possible. Journal in honesty. This sensation of obsession may not go away, but can be minimized and managed. Be well. 

[[WU...]]

25 minutes ago, [[B...] said:

I really want to get it under control

That's the trouble this cannot be controlled, we have to let them run riot until they run out of steam. Or just observe them like a naturalist out in the field studying a pack of wild hyenas running about all over the place. Just observe , make notes, that's all we can do I think. 

[[PE...]]

Hard exercise if you can. I get totally blanked when pushing myself hard.

[[Bi...]]

Ah, thank you all, lots of things to factor in and give a go as a starting point at least. 

[[Da...]]

11 hours ago, [[P...] said:

Hard exercise if you can. I get totally blanked when pushing myself hard.

Your advice is a double edged sword peppe. I and many others have learnt it the hard way. Just because pushing yourself works for you, doesn't mean it will work for everyone and for most people going through withdrawal its the worst advice. Our cns, brain, body, literally every cell is too sensitive during this withdrawal. Pushing ourselves or hard exercise as you say causes setbacks, makes the symptoms even worse, can make you go through the withdrawal all over or worst case ruin you permanently.

In my case, i had a setback, actually am still going through it rn. I was ten months into the withdrawal. Started feeling like 60% better, i thought why not start exercising as i have gotten so out of shape. After the first day of workout itself some of the syptoms came back, but they were so mild i thought its a wave and i kept pushing, but i was careful, taking two or three day breaks in between. But, around 15 days later, it felt like i had gone into withdrawal all over again. I couldnt sleep for days, tinnitus as loud as ever, headsplitting headaches, internal vibrations, hot flashes, body getting so hot that it'd feel like its about to implode, i could FEEL everything inflamed in my body all over again. The anxiety, intrusive thoughts, paranoia, panic attacks, phobias everything came back full force.

So, exercising might clear our minds or give us a boost of serotonin tht makes our minds feel better TEMPORARILY, however, the risks and cons are so not worth it. Heat is like poison for our body rn. By exercising, you get ur heart rate up, which pumps the blood which in turn heats our body up and heat is what our body is too sensitive to handle rn. Winter helped me a lot during my early withdrawal and summers feels like hell, heat aggravates my symptoms. Also, i read tht our brain can't handle high levels of dopamine or serotonin or glutamates etc during withdrawal. We need to let our brain, our cns calm down and heal and God knows this process take forever, but it does happen to most of us, some unlucky ones dont make it. but lets not lose hope and pray tht we will heal.

Some person i read about on this forum just a few days ago, permanently ruined themselves by pushing hard again and again despite the setbacks. its been over two decades for tht person now and its become a permanent disability, any exertion causes internal inflammation all over which is what this withdrawal is basically. so that person goes through the symptoms all over again.

 

So @[Bi...] and @[PE...], please don't push urself before u are healed or it might be one of the biggest mistakes of ur life. i have sworn off any physical exertion now until i heal completely, not getting my heart rate up no matter what. not worth it. its been 10 days since my setback started and am still going through symptoms tht had effing disappeared long ago. sucks going through this all over again. 

Edited July 17 by [Da...]

[[PE...]]

1 hour ago, [[D...] said:

Your advice is a double edged sword peppe. I and many others have learnt it the hard way. Just because pushing yourself works for you, doesn't mean it will work for everyone and for most people going through withdrawal its the worst advice. Our cns, brain, body, literally every cell is too sensitive during this withdrawal. Pushing ourselves or hard exercise as you say causes setbacks, makes the symptoms even worse, can make you go through the withdrawal all over or worst case ruin you permanently.

In my case, i had a setback, actually am still going through it rn. I was ten months into the withdrawal. Started feeling like 60% better, i thought why not start exercising as i have gotten so out of shape. After the first day of workout itself some of the syptoms came back, but they were so mild i thought its a wave and i kept pushing, but i was careful, taking two or three day breaks in between. But, around 15 days later, it felt like i had gone into withdrawal all over again. I couldnt sleep for days, tinnitus as loud as ever, headsplitting headaches, internal vibrations, hot flashes, body getting so hot that it'd feel like its about to implode, i could FEEL everything inflamed in my body all over again. The anxiety, intrusive thoughts, paranoia, panic attacks, phobias everything came back full force.

So, exercising might clear our minds or give us a boost of serotonin tht makes our minds feel better TEMPORARILY, however, the risks and cons are so not worth it. our brain cant handle high amounts of any chemicals rn, serotonin, glutamate or dopamine, its so sensitive and excited rn. We need to let it calm down and heal and God knows this process take forever, but it does happen to most of us, some unlucky ones dont make it. but lets not lose hope and pray tht we will heal.

Some person i read about on this forum just a few days ago, permanently ruined themselves by pushing hard again and again despite the setbacks. its been over two decades for tht person now and its become a permanent disability, any exertion causes internal inflammation all over which is what this withdrawal is basically. so that person goes through the symptoms all over again.

So @[Bi...] and @[PE...], please don't push urself before u are healed or it might be one of the biggest mistakes of ur life. i have sworn off any physical exertion now until i heal completely, not getting my heart rate up no matter what. not worth it. its been 10 days since my setback started and am still going through symptoms tht had effing disappeared long ago. sucks going through this all over again. 

Yes i know that. Thats why I said "if you can"

I'm blessed with no setbacks or waves and windows.

I started to work out directly after the acute and it speeds up the healing for me.

 

[[Bi...]]

I didn't start working out until after acute and have slowly built up how much I do, so hopefully that will not have caused any problems and helped like I hoped it would.

[[On...]]

Hi I used to be out running, to frightened, agoraphobia to do, though it set me back once as I was on empty.

 

I pushed myself got out three time (two local shops and the bins) I've not been out since. Retraumatised and had family visit in last two days.Which has set my paranoia back in bad. Social burnout is real, followed by obsessive ruminating.

 

Got to tale it steady.

Great podcasts on sporify/amazon music, books etc. 

[[Js...]]

 

On 16/07/2024 at 12:52, [[B...] said:

I have always had challenges with anxiety and some obsessive thinking, but it ahs gone overboard during benzos. In many ways I am seeing a lot of real positive signs in the last few weeks, with a lot of symptoms easing and feeling a lot more like myself. But the obsessive thinking is still popping up and I really want to get it under control as it impacts my mood as well with some of the stuff that I can't get rid of.

 

At a certain point in our healing, I found the phrase, "Mind over matter," to be prevalent in my coping.

If you repeat this phrase over and over, you can bring yourself back from an unpleasant mental state. Essentially I am telling myself whatever I am feeling will pass, regardless if it's real or not. I am not denying what I am feeling, but I am also not giving into it.

Our minds are very powerful, it's important to structure our brains positively.