Tips on Acceptance ?

When and how did you start accepting your symptoms aND not fearing them?

I have read that acceptance is everything in benzowithdrawal.

I tend to get obsessed when. I read people profile and see if they are 100% healed and posted a success story, or have a wave after they posted a success story.

When does all the fear of symptoms and confidence in healing happen for you?

Thank you

Hi Jasmine,

 

I have never accepted feeling ill. I have fought against it by doing everything I can to live healthily. After 8 months I knew I was winning. That’s my timeline but yours will be different.

 

 

Best wishes

 

G

G, What symptoms started to go away for you at 8 months out? 

 

At 2 months out,  I still deal with anxiety,  heart palpitations,  morning surge,  buzzing,  cog fog and double vision on bad days. But my sleep has gotten better. My nightly jerks are less intense. The constant need to urinate has dissipated, as well as burning.

Right now, I look up at my progress one week at a time.

When in have a bad day, I keep busy and wait until 5pm, to take my melatonin and go to bed. I am grateful that I now can sleep more.

 

Acceptance was hard for me, but when I finally managed to achieve it, it was a relief.

 

Since I was on the tennis court 2 weeks after having my gallbladder removed I assumed I would recover quickly from benzo use and withdrawal. I was certain I would be fine in 1 month, then 3 months.  At this point I had to reexamine and learn more and more about how benzos affect the nervous system.

 

As I learned more, I found I could trust my body to work towards healing. As I learned more, I quit using Dr. Google to check on symptoms. As I learned more I accepted I had to go through this process and stopped looking at the calendar.

 

Distraction was key for me. This is something I practiced all day and sometimes all night.

 

pianogirl 

I think I had many times where I accepted symptoms along the way, but it's honestly hard to accept everything 100% of the time, though I have gotten much better.  Once I was at about a year out or so, I really accepted that I was going to continue to get waves, but each time they did seem a little less severe.  My waves are debilitating at times, but accepting of that made them slightly less awful.  Also having a plan as to how to deal with feeling awful helps.  I have a rotation of distraction activities that I did that helped me a lot.

G, What symptoms started to go away for you at 8 months out? 

 

At 2 months out,  I still deal with anxiety,  heart palpitations,  morning surge,  buzzing,  cog fog and double vision on bad days. But my sleep has gotten better. My nightly jerks are less intense. The constant need to urinate has dissipated, as well as burning.

Right now, I look up at my progress one week at a time.

When in have a bad day, I keep busy and wait until 5pm, to take my melatonin and go to bed. I am grateful that I now can sleep more.

 

Check my signature for how it went for me

I don't even think it's about acceptance anymore for me. I just have to live,push through it. I don't have any other choice. I want to live. I have too much to live for. I'm needed and wanted. Through this darkness my children show me the light everyday. Fear is a part of this process. At almost 11 months off I've learned that this isn't going to kill me. Don't get me wrong i still have fear but i no longer react to it. Hang in there. From what i hear , it gets better with time. I'm still struggling but not as bad as the beginning. I can function. I can be there for my kids and that is what gives me some sort of hope.

I don't even think it's about acceptance anymore for me. I just have to live,push through it. I don't have any other choice. I want to live. I have too much to live for. I'm needed and wanted. Through this darkness my children show me the light everyday. Fear is a part of this process. At almost 11 months off I've learned that this isn't going to kill me. Don't get me wrong i still have fear but i no longer react to it. Hang in there. From what i hear , it gets better with time. I'm still struggling but not as bad as the beginning. I can function. I can be there for my kids and that is what gives me some sort of hope.

 

76,

 

Well said. You were hit hard for your limited usage but with your smart and positive attitude you will come through this

When and how did you start accepting your symptoms aND not fearing them?

I have read that acceptance is everything in benzowithdrawal.

I tend to get obsessed when. I read people profile and see if they are 100% healed and posted a success story, or have a wave after they posted a success story.

When does all the fear of symptoms and confidence in healing happen for you?

Thank you

Jasmine, I admit the last few days have been very difficult for me - especially after thinking I was finally free. I'm the guy that took Klonopin twice, 2 months ago after achieving complete recovery and had an entire setback and reset of all symptoms. Abridged version of my story is in my sig.

 

That said, this is a great question. I don't think it's possible to ever be completely free from fear since it's an instinct, but I think maintaining a positive mindset and knowing deep down within you that what you're experiencing is temporary is key. Not only intellectually knowing it, but actually believing it within your heart - this is the goal. This is so much easier to say than it is to do. So you're not getting rid of fear as much as your are preventing it from overreaching its intended function (self preservation).

 

For me, I get to and stay at in this positive place by action and giving myself micro-victories. Micro-victories are things you don't think you can do, but you persevere and do them anyway. Accomplishing these small goals builds belief and momentum in your ability to overcome obstacles. Examples will vary drastically depending on your symptoms. For some this may be moving from the bed to the couch. For others this may be starting work part time. Still for others - like me - this may be working out twice a day since exercise really helps my symptoms. Anything, and I mean anything, can be a victory.

 

This practice works for me. It carried me through last year when I did this WD nonsense the first time.

 

I want to iterate and reiterate this again and again, to anyone suffering and living in fear and doubt: if you abstain from taking benzos and/or other drugs that impair healing, recovery is a literal certainty. It's as real and certain as the tides. Have faith, take action, and you will recover.

Try read or find online stuff by Dr. Claire Weekes

 

Acceptance is her thing. It is difficult but can be done, and will have lasting effects.

 

Fighting our illness will get us nowhere, even though it seems what we should do. Surrendering yourself completely to your symptoms and doing nothing is acceptance

Managing the fear was a big game changer for me.  When I stopped reacting to every sx with fear and trying to find a reason and solution, sxs settled down.  For me, acceptance doesn't mean laying down my arms and suffering in silence.  The more I understood this benzo injury, the less I panicked.  It is important for me to keep doing the things that work through nutrition, exercise and calming the mind.  The latter being the most important.

 

Keeping my cns as calm as possible is my priority everyday.  Huge challenge but I have learned a lot of coping and calming techniques.  It's a lot of work but I try to keep them in my practice ever day. 

Doveluv, I completely agree with you.  Finding acceptance of my condition was key to me starting to feel better, and even if I am still having symptoms I can finally find some joy as well.