Pain and anxiety...

triceps said:

Hi Hurt and Rosy. It's kinda scary how fast three weeks went by since the surgery. We're all getting older....fast. Sounds like you're progressing well Hurt, let's see if you can continue without losing that good bacteria.
As usual, I made it through the day with a lot of wasted anxiety but my wife had to drive me to the accountant's. You would think having gone through so many scenarios where 1) the situation isn't worth worrying about in the first place and 2) the situation works out just fine, that I would be able to not get so wildly anxious about the whole thing, Rationally, objectively and through repetition you'd think my mind could just tell me whatever is coming up will be just fine. But that's anxiety for you, effects each of us differently creating paranoid, negative thinking.

I hope everyone has a better day than yesterday.

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Hey, you made it, though! You got through it. And got a date with your wife to boot - don't beat yourself up. The more I learn about anxiety and trauma (which panic attacks cause, by the way), the more I learn that that's not how we physiologically work. It's not even about just mind over matter... What your conscious brain knows and how your unconscious brain react aren't the same.

Curious - have you ever tried something like EMDR? I don't know if they use that with GAD...would be interesting to find out.

Cheers to Tuesday (with non-alcoholic beverage). I have a lot of edema down my leg so I'm going to try working while soaking in Epsom salts.

Rosy said:

Sounds like you did great at PT today. Glad to hear it. I used to get nauseous too at PT. Probably anxiety and pain. lol Get a good rest tonight. You deserve it. Let me know if you hear how Triceps' day went. Was thinking of both of you today. Well it's my bedtime. lol I hope we both have a good night.

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Thanks, @Rosy ! So it's not just me! Lol I don't know where the nausea comes from, but it's bizarre...not a big deal, though, I guess. Maybe just body processing all the fluid buildup? I'm gonna look it up now...

Rosy said:

Okay, I'll take your advice. You always make me laugh and that helps. Sometimes those sad movies get our emotions out and we actually feel better. My husband used to laugh at me when I cried at a sad movie, now that he is older he cries too. Even sometimes more than me. I told him that karma was getting him back. lol lol Have to do the shopping tomorrow. Hope I can make it through the store. Next time I'm going to try calling it in and picking it up the next day. See what happens tomorrow. lol Have a good day. Tell your wife I said hello.

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Grocery pickup is the best thing in the whole world!!! Our local Walmart does it now, and it lets me do all my ordering online at night and pickup the next day.

triceps said:

Cheers to Tuesday. (Got AA tonight) I haven't tried EMDR, actually not familiar with it. Our anxiety group worked together and individually on CBT but it seemed to be such a temporary relief no matter how hard I worked with it. Best of luck getting a whole bunch of your work accomplished. I know that's a stressor for you.

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So glad you got through it all. If you'll humor me, I'll tell you about EMDR and brainspotting, because it's been life-changing for me. Think of CBT/talk therapy as a top-down approach. You are working on your logical brain - trying to learn to think differently. It can be really effective for anxiety that comes on from overthinking, negative thinking, worrying, etc. All of that is in your cerebral cortex - the outer layer of your brain.For example, I had a panic attack the other day because I was thinking, "I will never walk again and I'm so tired...." I can talk myself down from that using techniques I learn in CBT. The problem is that panic attacks don't always come from our logical brains- sometimes, I sometimes just "wake up" panicky. Or it comes out of the blue, and I have no idea what the trigger is. It's something much deeper in my brain, in the more primitive parts - that's where the "fight or flight" response in your body comes from, and NOT the cerebral cortex. Your memories are stored there, and the parts that control your adrenal system. So EMDR was developed as a way of targeting those parts of the brain and trying to re-program your physical response to stimuli, even if you're not totally aware of what it is. Brainspotting is similar. Both basically help re-process things so that your whole body reacts differently. It's really interesting stuff - It's been used to treat PTSD, addiction (your addiction center is also in your deep brain), anxiety disorders, and lots of other things. I've been reading a couple of books on this, and I've done brainspotting. The best thing about it is that it's FAST, and the results have been proven to be long-lasting.

I'm not an expert, of course, and I can't say that all anxiety will just go away, but I DO believe that with some of the advances over the past 10-20 years, there is more hope than in the past for curing the "disorder" part of struggling with anxiety.

Rosy said:

H&H That is exactly what my husband and I did. We went on the internet and put in our order at Walmart and we will pick it up tomorrow morning. This is so great. I was reading about the EMDR. I'll have to ask about it later. We just got company so I better go. Hope you and Triceps have a good night.

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Yay for grocery pickup! Hope you have a lot of fun with your company. I'm going to bed early tonight (10:00 is early for me these days...trying to get back on a normal sleep schedule).

I have had a hard couple of days, but mostly physically - having a lot of leg pain, and I picked up some kind of bug. I am really hoping it's not flu - it's bad here this year. Schools are closing...
I am supposed to be doubling down on PT to get this leg bending and bearing weight/walking. Time to break out the meds.

triceps said:

That pill thing with two different colors happens to me about every three months. It doesn't bother me and I've never had a problem because of it. Why they don't keep re-ordering the same brand is beyond me. I always have good AA meetings. It gets me out of the house, is actually my main social life and the other members just couldn't be nicer. Plus they think I'm great as I go early in order to make the two pots of coffee we go through.
You fell for the ol' kiss on the forehead scam? The guy just wants to keep that cold circulating, taking advantage of you in a weakened state. Stick to your guns Rosy, draw the line that after Valentine's Day those "innocent" forehead kisses are a thing of the past until BOTH of you are healthy again.

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Triceps, I love that you have that AA group. AA is an amazing organization/group/whatever you want to call it - been life-changing for so many people I know and love, including my best friend. She's been active for nearly 20 years now...Keep it up. And keep up the coffee.