To Be Or Not To Be

[Ed Norton]

Benzodiazepine withdrawal is very serious it can even be deadly... http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19465812

 

[Deleted member 1860]

I think you are giving up on coping skills too quickly. It took me NINE months before I could use meditation effectively. That's nine whole months of it doing pretty much nothing for me before it all just *clicked* and VOILA, a skill I can use any time, any place, and most of the time I can get it to work pretty darn quickly. A former friend of mine was much the same in that he had to work on meditation for a long time before he found it to be effective. And many skills are like this in that you need to practice them over and over and over again until they are effective for you. Yes, some skills work right away, but for many of us, we need to keep on practicing until the skill works for us. Now don't get me wrong, not all skills work for everybody, but meditation is one of the ones that is effective for many.

Do you have a lot of physical anxiety symptoms? I think that beta blockers work well on the physical side of anxiety. Its been awhile since I've been on Atenolol, but at one point it was really helpful in getting my heart to calm down. It can cause insomnia, so that's something to be wary of.

 

[Deleted member 28403]

@Solara

I hear alpha blockers help with insomnia and nightmares. And even if the thing causes insomnia, I already have insomnia due to anxiety, so it wouldn't make much difference in that part, while it would help me get through what I am right now. My mom just raged at me for having to poop and spending time (in the evening) pooping. I am starting to unconciously hold in poop and delay it for long (current record for not pooping being a week, I know it's unhealthy but my mind is fkd). And she is really aganist any kind of medicine for mental state (though she takes some - hypocryte). Well, hoping theraphist will support my side, and my dad shouldn't have a problem with me taking pills.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

Beta blockers, not alpha blockers, can cause insomnia. There are a number of people here who take Prasosin, and alpha blocker, to help with nightmares and it helps them sleep. Others take Propranolol, a beta blocker. From what I've seen, propranolol seems to be prescribed more than Atenolol, which is what I took. Maybe because propranolol is shorter acting and can be taken more often? I'm not sure.

I'm sorry your mom isn't supportive. It may be that she doesn't support you taking medication because you are still young. When I was younger, there weren't any age restrictions on medications. Now there are a ton of them because some are known to cause suicidal thinking in those under 18 more than in adults.

 

[Deleted member 28403]

@Solara

I badly formatted the thing, leading to misunderstanding. I'm sorry. By the thing I meant beta blockers. I am confused and anxious atm. Don't know what to do. Probably won't sleep at all, maybe 2 hours, but seems like none atm.

 

[joeylittle]

No, my diet normally is barely any sweets or sugar and I drank coffee less times in life than I have fingers on me, and never before bed. So no caffeine or sugar really, what keeps me awake is the anxiety and fear of sleeping. Meditation simply doesn't work as sometimes I can't control the thought flow.

That's good about the diet component.

But about the meditation: @Solara said it perfectly: you have to practice. If you haven't, I really would recommend specifically giving the Kabat-Zinn guided ones a try. Straight-up silent meditation is a very challenging skill for many people, and it's hard to learn without a teacher (I think). Guided meditation is an excellent way to get better and better at it. Yeah, sometimes you will not find it easy. But you just keep practicing, and really truly - eventually it kicks in. I would call it the number one skill for managing situational anxiety.

How much water do you drink per day, and how much fibre are you eating? Drinking lots of water is really important for the pooping. And if you are getting too much fibre and not enough fats, it's even harder.

 

[Deleted member 28403]

@joeylittle

I drink lots of water, I maintain my doet quite well, read on this post to see why I can't poop more precisely. I just hold it in for to long, and then it's either to hard to poop or diarrhea.

Link:

[DLMURL]https://www.myptsd.com/c/threads/fk-this-fk-that-fk-everything.48799[/DLMURL]

 

[joeylittle]

Gotcha. I looked up this article for you:
http://www.aboutibs.org/site/signs-symptoms/constipation
It's pretty informative. The stories from people are really interesting, and also the fact sheet about treatment ideas is good.

A sleep thing that helps me sometimes is accepting that I'm not going to sleep, but that there is a value in laying down and taking a rest. It's not the same as tossing and turning - it's really just trying to make the choice to lay there and quiet your body and mind. Resting. Sometimes it turns into sleep; usually not, but I do feel better when I get up.

 

[Deleted member 28403]

I can't lay down, I can't even close my eyes, for any darkness and emtyness in my sight is filled with something else, and it's ussually not good.

 

[The Albatross]

Meds are not a substitute for living. You need to apply your energies to acquiring some coping skill sets.

 

[Deleted member 28403]

@The Albatross

Well, I try and try, but stuff just fails.

 

[The Albatross]

There is value in attempts, failure or success, and in resilience/patient endurance. Trust me... I was a hell of a mess at 14.

Aspire to grow, develop, mature... or swallow pills and considering you aren't concerned about addiction I think I'd consider a trip to visit the area detox to take a first hand look at addicts/substance abusers. It's no party friend.