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How to deal with anxiety?

12 years ago 0 +0 / -0 2508

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12 years ago 0 +0 / -0 823

So glad you found a way to exercise Lemontwist - I hadn't thought of the stationary bike, but I can see how that can work wonders - it really does help to rein in that anxiety with the natural high we get from those endorphins. Exercise rules! rules! rules! Thanks for the congrats on my 1000 days quit so far too :) WooHoo! What nice round numbers I had there for a day :) Keep up the great work everyone :)

12 years ago 0 +0 / -0 2778

Hey Lemontwist!!!

You're doing great so far! I'm glad to hear that you can get on the bike again to get the cardio going. I was going to suggest before reading that to try some upper body workouts to get your heart rate going. Exercise is a great way to get those endorphins flowing and provide you with another way to distract yourself from thinking about smoking!

Jim

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12 years ago 0 +0 / -0 96

Thanks everybody for the advice, and Eyja... congrats on 1000 days! That's amazing!!!

My orthopedist OK'ed working out on a stationary bike so I did that last night. It felt great to exercise again. It's good to know I have a healthy way to deal with my anxiety and frustration now. :-D

12 years ago 0 +0 / -0 823

Hi Lemontwist; I love your avatar and the name you've chosen for this site :) There's something healing, cathartic and potentially even a bit ironic all rolled into the concept of the 'lemontwist'

. Dare I say that you're pulling off this quit perfectly so far??? How ever you make it work for you truly is perfect! Your insight into your personal quit have already brought you a long way. You've also received some wonderful feedback and great advice here.

The only thing that I can think of to maybe help with anxiety while you're getting your injury under control is to suggest the use of a 'rebounder'. You can google it if unsure of what it is - but essentially it's just a mini trampoline - you can get one that folds in half and stores easily if you have limited space. Maybe you already have one?

I found I can get my heart rate up just by gently bouncing on it - it seems that the effects of gravity give your metabolism a boost and it helps me to have something to 'do' instead of fretting when feeling anxious. It calms my nerves too. It shouldn't interfere with your injury if you use it gently and you can even get one that has a handle to hold while bouncing. Also there is no pressure added to your healing joints when using it and you can ramp up your workout on it as your body allows.

You will likely need to clear this potential healing tool with your health care provider to see if it can work for you in your current situation. So is just a suggestion.

I like mine - I traded it for smoking when I need 'thinking' time or to burn off stress.

PS: Hi Kristine 82! You sure are doing great!! I agree with the H20 therapy too : ) Works wonders

12 years ago 0 +0 / -0 11226

Hi Lemontwist,

Anxiety is a common withdrawal symptom unfortunately. Chemicals in tobacco smoke affect your entire central nervous system. Because these chemicals have been messing with your nervous system, quitting can cause a feeling of nervousness, which sometimes lasts for a few days. And, when your central nervous system gets back in line, you may find that you have a keener sense of smell, taste, hearing, colour and depth perception.

Like many of the members stated exercise, deep breathing and yoga all can help. Remember this is temporary. You have lots to look forward to.

Here to help :)

12 years ago 0 +0 / -0 1140

I'll second that on the exercise. It helped me a lot, especially at the beginning of my quit.

Here's another thing that I still have to remind myself of from time to time: I'm not always going to be full of positive of even neutral emotions. Sometimes, I will feel things I don't want to feel--all those scary emotions like anxiety, sadness, anger, grief, fear, etc. It's just part of life. It's totally OK and normal to feel anxiety sometimes. It's just a sign that you are alive and human.

So, sometimes, instead of fighting to make that feeling go away, I simply acknowledge my "negative" feeling and accept the fact that it might be hanging around for a little. That eliminates my need to "do something" about it, like argue with another, smoke, etc. For me, giving up that internal battle to make the feeling go away also reduces the intensity of that feeling.In fact, I very often find that the feeling will be gone a short time after I have simply acknowledged and accepted it.

Another technique is to simply observe the emotion (anxiety, in your case). Notice what your body feels like when you are feeling anxiety. Where do you feel it? In your head? In your gut? Somewhere else? What does it feel like? Hot? Cold? Like butterflies? Like a rock? Does it change as you describe it to yourself? What changes are happening? ...and so on. It seems kind of weird to do this, but this technique allows me to be somehow more detached. And the detachment is what keeps me from raising anxiety levels further and panicking.

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12 years ago 0 +0 / -0 96

It's really helpful, please don't feel like you need to apologize for helping me. :) Time has helped a little bit and I'm also trying to go easy on myself emotionally. I am definitely interested in being able to resume exercise which I know will help a ton but I have to wait for an OK from my orthopedist. I'm at least starting physical therapy so that is a good place to begin again. This injury has been awful but at least the worst parts are over.

12 years ago 0 +0 / -0 54

Sorry I keep replying to everything you post like some kind of annoying know-it-all! I'm really not, I think I'm just getting to a phase in quitting where it's super-helpful to me to share with others. :) Exercise has been my saving grace since quitting. It is the only surefire way for me to relax now, and I have been doing something or other every single day to chill myself out after work, to the extent that I have actually lost a bunch of weight instead of putting on the usual snacking pounds. (Which, side note, is really nice, because although people cannot see that I have quit smoking, they can see how fit I am getting and when they comment on that, I know what they are really complimenting me on is not smoking!)

Years ago I busted an ankle and took up lap swimming, which I cannot say enough good things about. Have you tried it? It is really healing when you have an injury and extremely relaxing, and they even make waterproof MP3 players now. Most gyms also have a sauna that you can sit in with a magazine afterward for the ultimate calming experience.

But of course there are all kinds of anxiety-inducing situations in which exercising right then and there is not an option. Folks on here will tell you that in those situations you have to remind yourself that smoking will not do anything to calm you down and will actually make you more tense, both by physically upping your heart rate and by making you mad at yourself.

Also, you are still SO early in quitting. It is likely that what you are feeling will pass in a few days, although I know how endless that time can seem. Just remind yourself that you are getting better and stronger every single day. :)

12 years ago 0 +0 / -0 96

How do you all deal with the anxiety of smoking? I am doing a lot of deep breathing, reminding myself that I only have to take things day-by-day, etc. But sometimes my anxiety doesn't go away. I know that anxiety is a result of having some kind of fear, but sometimes no matter what, I still have just awful anxiety (about smoking? about work? about life? about everything? who knows!) that does not go away even after a careful analysis of what is going on in my life and what positive steps I can take to solve any problems I have. When I have anxiety I find myself getting caught up in my own thoughts, and it can be hard to concentrate on things like reading or doing chores or watching a TV show.

Usually I cope with anxiety by running, but I had a severe injury recently that leaves me unable to run, and walking is very painful. So, I have basically had two of my anxiety coping mechanisms taken from me. Hopefully the running will come back eventually. The smoking, I'd like to keep away.

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How to deal with anxiety?