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11 years and counting

Timbo637

2024-10-31 6:49 AM

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Feels like hell week all over!!

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Roller Coaster Withdrawal

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2024-10-14 12:28 PM

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Smile....and don't shoot the messenger

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2024-09-27 3:17 PM

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Frustrated


13 years ago 0 12049 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Wrestler,
 
I would check with the pharmacist and your doctor.  They also have a vast amount of knowledge and assist you with your cleansing information.
 
 
Josie, Health Educator
13 years ago 0 6252 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Back again.

Had to go check the pie I have in the oven.

The best way I have found to get rid of a song stuck in my head is to play something else and hope it doesn't do it. It works most of the time unless I look to see if it is gone. Sunny has a saying that drives me nuts because I latch on to it and around it goes. Over and over. The worst songs and saying for getting stuck repeating are short verses. Three or four words. 
Strange how a mantra can be three words too and not do it. See though a mantra is positive so there is no need to look for it to see if it is there. Even when you think something is out of the blue it really isn't. Something has triggered you to look for the negative. Some days I will do this a half dozen or more times. Oddly enough for me a gram of calcium will break the cycle most days. Well not odd really since calcium is necessary for the synapses to work properly. It is possible I don't absorb it well and am chronically low or what is normal is low in some one with a panic disorder. I don't know, I just know for me it works. In fact now when I get that edgy feeling the first thing I think is "when did I last take calcium. (which should be on an empty stomach away from iron) Iron binds to calcium and you lose both. (ham and cheese sandwich??) If I try I can dig to the bottom of the shopping bag and sure enough I will start to panic. In fact once a person does exposure and learns techniques to handle negative situations then a person purposely does induce panic this way to see if the relaxation and coping skills are working. The theory is that you will build positive on top of the negative you have induced and bury it farther and farther till it is almost inaccessible. 
I think I will always have the potential to have panic attacks, I have just learned to reduce the tendency down to normal panic, The type that is easy to shut down by reasoning with it. 
It is certainly do able but I can see how it would be harder with OCD. But CBT is recommended as a treatment for OCD.

Davit.
13 years ago 0 6252 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
If you read your post over slow you will see what I think is the answer. You are fine when your mind is occupied elsewhere. Concentrating on the yoga or being with your wife. Doing something. Also in a post a while ago you developed panic when someone was on your rounds with you. In this case you lose your concentration when trying to concentrate on some one else. Silly but it works that way. Remember the shopping bag. I think you have plenty of positive in it but are digging for the negative to see if it is there. It is remember, you can't get rid of it, only bury it. Try to accept it is there and always will be so you don't have to look for it. This takes a lot of practice even for some one without OCD. As far as I'm concerned the valium is no big deal right now. Consistent is far better than random because there is far less chance for rebound. Valium is relatively easy to taper off even after years of use. I really think your biggest problem is  like the tooth ache syndrome. Looking to see how bad it is when it isn't bothering you and finding it. No disputing it is there, Mine still is, But I have learned three things. Not to look for it. How to tell it to go away. And how to ignore it when it won't. Last resort when it won't is still valium, but very seldom. The other OCD problem you have talked about will go away when you learn how to do these three things.

Davit.
13 years ago 0 195 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Davit,
 
I have not used anti biotics in years, so that can't be a cause. I do use probiotics and digestive enzymes and a product called Cleanse More. But I only use that maybe once every 2 weeks, if that. It's a general colon cleanse.
 
I have been scared to do any full body cleanses because it might affect med levels.
 
On thw valium discussion. Since my anxiety has been all over the place with OCD, I have been averaging 7.5 mg a day (one 5 and then 2.5 in the afternoon.) I don't want to become dependant on it. Have you any advice? I took 500 mg of gaba tonight with one 500 mg of inositol, and it really helped me relax. I have not taken more than 500 mg of gaba in one day for a long time. Perhaps that could be my night time and possibly daytime answer. I don't like having to rely on valium every time I am in an anxious situation or severe OCD. Been taking 500 mg gaba at bedtime for months, but maybe I can ad a second dose to help with the anxiety.
I know the yoga I did earlier tonight also helped, as did spending time with my wife.
 
I tried 200 mg of 5htp the other night for the first time in a while and it seemed to help me sleep good, but last night I had a bit of panic when I did the same thing with the gaba and the triavil. I had OCD really bad. Had a song stuck in my head and other bad thoughts. I need an extra half of valium (2.5 mg) Once I took that I finally fell asleep.
 
For the longest time I was taking nearly 400 mg a day of 5htp. 200 in the morning to ward off anxiety at work and then another 200 at bed time or separate doses.
 
I also am wondering if pure L-Tryptophan would be better to switch to. My father and I used to discuss this a lot. He was always my sounding board for whenever anything was bothering me because he knew his supplements and meds. He even used valium when neccesary. He passed away in October of 2008. So many times I have ideas about what to take or other questions, and then I remember he's not here anymore. Kind of weird the way the mind works.
 
OK, that's enough for me. Please feel free to add any advice. I am checking into candida cleanses. Are they safe for someone who takes meds?
 
David
13 years ago 0 6252 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Wrestler.

Oh yes, candida. Men get candida. I have had it from massive doses of antibiotics. I believe the symptoms in men are sugar craving, alcohol craving, weakness, fluid on the lungs and itching where you don't want itching. There are probably other things. 
Candida is a yeast and the by product of yeast is C02 and alcohol. In men candida can cause disorientation and anxiety because it is a foreign substance and in the hyper-vigilant anything foreign can set off anxiety. Well this can happen in women too but we are concerned here with men. Because the symptoms of infection do not show up the same, an infection in men can be well established before it shows.
During infection my anxiety and panic level was higher and neither Ativan or Valium worked the way Valium does now. Certain Antibiotics cause anxiety and panic real bad and I do not know if it is because they are more prone to cause Candida. I avoid them like the plague. If you have Candida, sugar becomes a real downer and increases the anxiety. Again I don't know if this is just the Hyper-vigilance to a foreign feeling. Candida and sugar leaves a person feeling weak and sort of sick but the craving is still there. It could just be sugar. In a person with leaky gut syndrome raw sugar passes through the intestine in a form it shouldn't. Some people are very sensitive to sugar.
There is a pill you can get from some health food stores called Capricin that you can take instead of the Caprilic acid, bentonite, ??something, cleanse but I don't know if it works as well. If you have done the cleanse before you will remember it tastes horrible but has no side effects. Is psyllium the third item, I can't remember it has been so long.
The cleanse can't hurt and might well help.

5HTP in too high of a dose I believe can effect seratonan levels. Limited information on this though. Maybe some one else would know more on this.

I would certainly be interested in whether the cleanse helps.

Davit.
13 years ago 0 195 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Davit,
 
I take 5HTP. I have since I got off prozac in 2003. It has worked well, but my therapist thinks I may have been taking too much. I now have gone from 400 mg a day to 200 mg a day. I started just 200 mg at bedtime last night. I broke the bad sleep cycle. I also take Gaba and inositol. I know I rely on Valium a lot to get me through social anxiety, but I would really love to be free of it. Most of the last 3 years, I have been able to take only small doses, but when my OCD and anxiety levels are really high, more is needed.
 
I had a day today where OCD increased in the late morning to early afternoon. I find when I keep busy and am around other people, it is less severe, but if I am working alone, I have more time to think, and it can become worse.
 
On the good side, I took less valium today.
 
I have been doing a lot of reading on more natural methods for releaving OCD and anxiety. One thing keeps coming up: Candida cleansing.
 
OK, I have to get ready for bed.
 
Thanks,
David
13 years ago 0 1665 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Hi:  The quote is from St. Ignatius of Loyola (born before the 17th centery) who founded the Jesuits. 
The Jesuits were educated compared to the masses in those days and so taught.  The quote was "Give me a child and I will make the man".  or, "Give me the child for seven years and I will give you the man".  There have been other interpretations too.  As Davit has written they include just about all he wrote.  Unfortunately that quote was used against them much later in time to perhaps mean that they could corrupt instead of enlighten a young mind.
 
Sunny
13 years ago 0 4027 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Wrestler,
"repetition is the motor of learning" I was told once
13 years ago 0 6252 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Healthyself.

Wait till you get into core beliefs, now there is an eye opener into why some emotions and feelings are so strong. You will also see indirectly why some of us are so sensitive. 
Also, not part of the program but interesting reading and another eye opener is "attachment theory". It is a hold over from the days many years ago when we were controlled more by instinct than education. Not something we need but it is still there. Amazing that the first 11 months of ones life can have such a profound influence on the rest of our life. The next period in ones life is from 11 months till 7 years. Some one said "give me a child for the first seven years and I can mold him to what I want no matter what his background"  This is the beginning of teaching core beliefs, something we build on and add to for the rest of our life but this early period is the strongest and has the most influence. When you break one of these beliefs your whole world tumbles down like a house of cards and you have a huge empty spot you have to quickly fill with positive before the negative can get back in.
More broken eggs.

Back to instinct. According to Attachment theory this instinct we hold over from our parents or attachment person (nanny, nurse)is so strong that it takes three generations to totally change it. So a person can hate how there attachment person is and yet follow in there foot prints. There are four types or categories and hopefully none of us are in the fourth. But many I think are in the second which would explain why so much Agoraphobia. The first category composed of a stable upbringing won't be showing up here. But a person can move from the second to the first simply by understanding why they are in the second or third category.
The reasons why we are having this condition are simple but changing, now that is the hard part.

Davit.
13 years ago 0 13 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
David,   I feel no intrusion only inclusion.   If there is one thing I do know is that we are all one.  Every one of us.  There is no separation.   I was told the following by a very good friend when I said I may be too sensitive.  
They said this to me and now I say it to you.   When you feel you are too sensitive, you may be right you may be wrong, maybe it's more like this.... we are sensitive souls living in an insensitive world.   Not that you have to think the world is ick... but maybe, just maybe... we see so much that so many others are able to filter and ignore we are affected and learning to deal with that constant stream of input along with the normal monkey mind..... make us not only anxious but very very beautiful and compassionate.    Maybe even Davit would agree with me??? ( I am thinking Davit is more beautiful and compassionate than most folks I have met so far on this journey.... my opinion) Sometimes thinking this way, well,  it helps me get through the day...... 

Healthyself....

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