Managaing Inescapable Stress From One Second To The Next

[Acarpous]

Has anyone had any luck managing the moment to moment sensations that are associated with inescapable stress? More specifically, materials or behaviors to mitigate the onset and development of a counter-productive train of hopeless/helpless thinking?

To illustrate from my own experience, I have a phobia of hitting my head against hard objects uncontrollably. This doesn't happen often at all, but when it does it is disorientating enough that I usually have to take a nap or a long walk to keep from hyperventilating or relapsing into a mild psychotic break. The most recent example of this involved me pulling my laundry out of my washing machine in my basement. I knocked the back of my head against a furnace vent, not enough to make any noticeable impact on the object but enough to set off a psychological process similar to that previously mentioned.

I am taking methylene blue, aspirin, vitamin K, and progesterone on a regular basis and am trying to use bag breathing more regularly. Beyond those RP-friendly materials and behaviors, does anyone have mental exercises or general tips to mitigate the onset of a singular stress response?

 

[Diokine]

Yoga type practice can be extremely helpful. I would classify what you're describing as something similar to "character armor" as described by Reich and other bioenergetic practitioners, and I would describe it as it relates to the disruption of hypothalamic integration, along with swelling and compression of the pituitary and lower brain structures. Do you have neck pain, or pain behind the eyes? Working towards correcting the cervical posture would probably be very helpful as well. This sort of symptom, in my experience, comes about generally as an adaptation to chronically elevated levels of serotonin in the brain - correcting any gut inflammation and reducing brain irritation are important.

Stretching of the neck and the muscles keeping the head attached and in place will help to restore the integration of these parts of your brain. One exercise I like is to push my vision around, to the limit of vision. Allow your head to follow your gaze with no restriction. After some time, you may start to notice "sticky points" or hitches in the movement. Work through them with your breath. Start to notice how your brain feels different as you integrate your entire visual field - you may feel something like the top "opening up" or your eyelids may feel lighter. Slowly massage the bridge of your nose upwards, pull the connective tissue away from your upper nasal bone. Look at bright light through your closed eyes, and move the source of light subtly. This should give you some sense of the different ways your brain integrates your perception and thought.

These exercises are best done in the morning, upon waking, before food or coffee.

 

[sladerunner69]

Raising my pulse over 90 actually increased my anxiety. My anxiety actually feels much less substantial when I consume less caffiene, aspirin, and don't take thyroid or methylene blue or vitamins e or k. I think lowering estrogen/cortisol, in my case, is unnecessary because I feel more anxiety and actually can become quite irritable and have joint pain and feel almost emotionless and very serious. What raising my metabolism to around 80 nom and warm temps did do for me was BOOST MY MOOD, as I am friendlier and warm and optimistic especially around other peoples, and BOOST MY ENERGY, especially mental energy. I feel more intelligent and find school work to be not nearly as challenging as 3 years ago, and I am able to concentrate and read steadily and effectively.

To experience those benefits I drink juice and milk, and eat fruits and potatoes and occasionally cheese, lamb or beef. Taking the aromatase inhibiting supplements or eating lots of mushrooms just led to the problems I was talking about earlier. There seems to be a fine line for me, and avoiding pufa and staying carved up inhibits estrogen plenty enough for me apparently...

 

[raypeatclips]

How strict are you with your diet? Are you eating exciting and delicious foods? The more strict and orthorexic I was with my diet, the more neurotic I felt in other parts of my life, and more likely to worry about trivial things. Also getting enough calories, being well fed, makes me feel far more resilient to stress.

 

[Wagner83]

I think small amounts of meditation can help with learning how to cut the useless negative train of thoughts. Otherwise I think at least 1 easy BM a day is needed for decent health, 2 is better. From what I've seen methylene could be very positive but also very tricky to use.

 

[denise]

Here are several fairly quick and easy things that can be helpful, all from Irene Lyon. I find these kinds of practices MUCH more effective than mindfulness or CBT-type exercises.
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- 4 Surprisingly Simple Steps to Calm Overwhelm & Out of Control Emotions
- How to De-Stress in 7 Steps

 

[Acarpous]

How strict are you with your diet? Are you eating exciting and delicious foods? The more strict and orthorexic I was with my diet, the more neurotic I felt in other parts of my life, and more likely to worry about trivial things. Also getting enough calories, being well fed, makes me feel far more resilient to stress.

Very strict. (see my other posts). Not really, very minimal peat. I also feel as through I am frustrated with dieting and health maintenance in general, in that my moment to moment experience is not drastically better than it was a few years ago when I was a very strict/minimal fruitiarian diet (pretty much just smoothies and coconut oil). Not to say that I don't notice improvements, rather the improvements are subtle and I tend to focus on the negatives in my life (lack of socio-economic control, solitude, etc). That being said I am more generally satiated now.

 

[raypeatclips]

Very strict. (see my other posts). Not really, very minimal peat. I also feel as through I am frustrated with dieting and health maintenance in general, in that my moment to moment experience is not drastically better than it was a few years ago when I was a very strict/minimal fruitiarian diet (pretty much just smoothies and coconut oil). Not to say that I don't notice improvements, rather the improvements are subtle and I tend to focus on the negatives in my life (lack of socio-economic control, solitude, etc). That being said I am more generally satiated now.

Depends what your health problems are but eating more foods "not allowed" (but still low PUFA) has improved my feelings of inescapable stress and made me less passive.

 

[tara]

You will are the only one who knows yourself and your situation and what might help, and can figure out which things will be helpful to you. Some thoughts on other ideas, to add to the others above:
- Seeing which distresses in your life you can organise to improve
- Make sure to get regular human contact

- Do stuff that makes you laugh
- Avoid serious hunger stress
- Get some regular movement/exercise - something that you enjoy, that gets you moving, put not over the top exhausting.
- Consider whether you are chronically hyperventilating a lot of the time, and if so, address that.
- If banging your head is a key issue, see if there is anything practical you can do to lessen the risk - move or pad sharp corners in your near environment, wear a helmet when appropriate. If you tend to clumsiness, consider doing some physical training that might improve it maybe yoga or similar.

Headaches and migraines are a key issues for me. I've have a few nasty blows to the head over the years (no diagnosable concussions) and I am sensitive to even quite minor knocks now - I too hate bumping my head on things. I suspect that the previous bigger knocks may have conditioned me to overreact to the smaller ones. As I understand it, in the case of severe blows to the head, hyperventilation can be protective in the short term - I think it tends to constrict the blood vessels in the head and reduce the risk /severity of bleeding/swelling in the brain. Not so good if it becomes a permanent mode.

 

[Constatine]

Increasing GABA or rather inhibiting such thought trails is what we need to do here. Inhibitory neurotransmitters is what keeps us from thinking about death and what not 24 7. I've found that one of the easier ways to calm to mind in such a way is to expose the eyes to plenty of sunlight. Practice responsible sun gazing or just spend time outdoors without sunglasses. Stop caffeine intake. It is a potent GABA antagonist.

 

[Acarpous]

- Make sure to get regular human contact

This has been one of the bigger challenges, in that the overwhelming majority of my social interactions, beyond my that with my family, has been with therapists, so there has been an underlying pressure or intention to identify and address specific issues.

- If banging your head is a key issue, see if there is anything practical you can do to lessen the risk - move or pad sharp corners in your near environment, wear a helmet when appropriate. If you tend to clumsiness, consider doing some physical training that might improve it maybe yoga or similar.

The worrying has been at the forefront of my attention for the past year at least and I am deciding that it is due to previous experiences rather than a genuine fear that I will sustain any major head injury. I played sports throughout high school and regret it more and more, especially since I am not able to learn as much as I would like, and don't really know how to go about improving my abilities since most of the major obstacles (spending 40+ hours a week with a job, monetary instability in general, living in the past) are not likely to be alleviated by any foreseeable behavior that is secondary to the responsibilities of adulthood.

 

[Acarpous]

Increasing GABA or rather inhibiting such thought trails is what we need to do here. Inhibitory neurotransmitters is what keeps us from thinking about death and what not 24 7. I've found that one of the easier ways to calm to mind in such a way is to expose the eyes to plenty of sunlight. Practice responsible sun gazing or just spend time outdoors without sunglasses. Stop caffeine intake. It is a potent GABA antagonist.

I will make this my next task. Beyond destabilizing my sleep schedule, it is causing unnecessary hunger stress.

 

[Constatine]

I will make this my next task. Beyond destabilizing my sleep schedule, it is causing unnecessary hunger stress.

Note that strong gaba agonists can cause withdrawal symptoms and receptor down regulation. Things like benzos should not be a long term solution. Though they do upregulate 5-ar which can further support gaba function but its still not a good idea.

 

[Acarpous]

Note that strong gaba agonists can cause withdrawal symptoms and receptor down regulation. Things like benzos should not be a long term solution. Though they do upregulate 5-ar which can further support gaba function but its still not a good idea.

I will make every reasonable attempt avoid any additional drugs (though that is vague). At one point I thought benzos would be an option but I have heard of enough people getting addicted. My psych is recommending nueroleptics (haldol, seroquel) but I have no interest in any of that.

 

[Constatine]

I will make every reasonable attempt avoid any additional drugs (though that is vague). At one point I thought benzos would be an option but I have heard of enough people getting addicted. My psych is recommending nueroleptics (haldol, seroquel) but I have no interest in any of that.

Yeah staying away from more supplements or drugs is definitely a good idea. Methylene blue can cause nervousness due to serotonin increase. Its a great supplement but if you have anxiety problems it might contribute.

 

[Giraffe]

Here are several fairly quick and easy things that can be helpful, all from Irene Lyon. I find these kinds of practices MUCH more effective than mindfulness or CBT-type exercises.
-

Thank you for posting. I tried this sort of hugging she demonstrates in the video twice. It worked like a charm.

 

[denise]

Thank you for posting. I tried this sort of hugging she demonstrates in the video twice. It worked like a charm.

That's awesome! I love her work. I'm doing one of her courses right now, and it feels like the missing piece to the puzzle (possibly the biggest missing piece!).

 

[Constatine]

I think lots and lots of good quality bone broth or collagen can help. Its probably the easiest and best way to increase inhibitory neurotransmitters in a healthy way as well as better neurosteroid profile.

 

[Acarpous]

Yeah staying away from more supplements or drugs is definitely a good idea. Methylene blue can cause nervousness due to serotonin increase. Its a great supplement but if you have anxiety problems it might contribute.

The largest doses I have tried (100 or 200 mg) made me feel wound up (?) or passive but not particularly nervous. I didn't maintain that schedule for too long. Lately I have kept 25mg doses on had in case I start feeling gloomy. I am trying to reduce my daily dose to <15 mg, though I think the MAOI effect has helped with my attention span, so I may continue with a 25mg/day schedule. Or I am be slightly addicted to it as this point.

I think lots and lots of good quality bone broth or collagen can help. Its probably the easiest and best way to increase inhibitory neurotransmitters in a healthy way as well as better neurosteroid profile.

I have been meaning to replace a significant amount of milk protein (50 - 60 g) with gelatin as I would like to restrict the undesirable amino acids.