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What do you do to get anxiety to a manageable level?

What do you do to get anxiety to a manageable level?

One of the hardest things about living with CPTSD for me is the management of my anxiety. I am doing IFS (Internal Family Systems) therapy and I believe in the long term I will master this practice and have a better control on my anxiety but I'm not there yet.

My fear when I get anxious is that I am more prone to becoming dysregulated and that can lead to all sorts of issues depending where and whom I am with.

Things I currently do to assist with my anxiety:

1. I follow The Crappy Childhood Fairy's daily practice which involves writing my fears and resentments in the morning and evening, acknowledging them, disposing of them and then completing a 20 minute meditation.

2. I eat a healthy dinner every night and eat fruit in the morning if I am not too anxious to eat, I often skip lunch as my anxiety gets in the way (I realise that regular healthy eating is important and I'm working on it).

3. I cycle 8.5 km to and from work most days.

4. I walk my dog most days.

5. I try to stay engaged and interested in what my sons are doing, one is in his final year of school, the other is backpacking overseas

6. I try to connect well with my wife (this can be hard as we run a largish business together and can both be stressed at the same time)

7. I have cannabis therapy, cbd oil & cannabis flower to vape.

8. I use PRN anxiety medication when needed but get stressed if I feel I am using too much despite my doctor reassuring me he is carefully monitoring my use.

What are some other techniques or practices you use to help manage your anxiety? I don't care how left field they are as long as they are effective.

Thanks in advance.

9 replies

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In response to: What do you do to get anxiety to a manageable level?

Re: What do you do to get anxiety to a manageable level?

Hi @Boppa

There's some really helpful tips in there. I like the routine of writing fears and resentments and then disposing of them. Love that.

Just had to make a small edit to your post where you named the medication as per our guidelines

Take care

Hanami

In response to: What do you do to get anxiety to a manageable level?

Re: What do you do to get anxiety to a manageable level?

Hello @Boppa,

Anxiety is tough, in most cases can be managed. Looks like you are doing good things already. Here is a fact sheet about CPTSD... Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (sane.org). I often use breath work, positive self talk, grounding activities like 5,4,3 and trauma informed yoga. Hope this is useful 🙂

In response to: Re: What do you do to get anxiety to a manageable level?

Re: What do you do to get anxiety to a manageable level?

Hi @Blackbird11 and thank you for your link and suggestions. I will definitely look into trauma informed yoga, that sounds very interesting

In response to: Re: What do you do to get anxiety to a manageable level?

Re: What do you do to get anxiety to a manageable level?

@hanamithanks for your edit and sorry for my small slip ups with regards to guidelines, I'm trying to stick within them and appreciate your reminders.

In response to: Re: What do you do to get anxiety to a manageable level?

Re: What do you do to get anxiety to a manageable level?

Hey @Boppa

No problems at all! They can be hard to get your head around.

Thanks so much 😃

In response to: What do you do to get anxiety to a manageable level?

Re: What do you do to get anxiety to a manageable level?

Hello @Boppa just wanted to add many people have got relief from anxiety with vagus nerve stimulation. There are a whole stack of recordings and practices you can do on you tube that stimulate the vagus nerve. It came into vogue in the last few years. Many stressed out executives use it. I occasionally listen to a recording as my anxiety is under control. You can listen to it here and put it in a loop to listen to.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjMBQovULH4

Adaptogenic herbs are good. Dr Mercola has popularised Tulsi which is a herb used in Indian folk medicine. You drink the tea and it will create homeostasis in the body and stop dysregulation. Its more powerful than benzodiazepines,I have studied the pharmacology of the plant. You can buy from healthfood stores. Read WebMD to check for contraindications with other meds you might be using for general safety.

Another thing you may wish to look into is GABA, its a supp for anxiety which was recommended by a nutritionist I follow who wrote the book: "The Anti Anxiety Cookbook" by Trudy Scott. Most of her materials are made online for free. She is an incredible resource and has an online presence with her blog: "Every Woman Over 29" She used to suffer extreme anxiety and she said you can realistically reduce your anxiety to zero.

You may also wish to look into heavy metals as this can contribute to anxiety but chelation can only be done under supervision as if your elimination pathways are not clear it can create a cascading effect and you can get very ill. But when done properly you will get the results you desire. I would go with a healer that has proper certification with detoxification as most naturopaths etc are not sufficiently skilled in this area.

Good luck. I have seen peoples anxiety go into remission using these methods 🙂

In response to: Re: What do you do to get anxiety to a manageable level?

Re: What do you do to get anxiety to a manageable level?

@Former-MemberWOW - what a great response, I really appreciate the time you put into answering me because the ideas you have suggested are all new to me (I had heard about vagus nerve but not the music to stimulate it) and I will definitely look into them all to see if any are effective for me.

I am having a better day today and really believe the Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy I am working with has been the only talk therapy that has given me hope.

I look forward to learning more about your suggestions as I look into them.

Thank you once again for your kindness.

In response to: Re: What do you do to get anxiety to a manageable level?

Re: What do you do to get anxiety to a manageable level?

Thats ok @Boppa I know the idea of trying everything and only doing our very best to get by each day. My long-lost brother lives with chronic anxiety and I wish he would take these suggestions as an adjunct to his psychiatric doctors advice. Sadly he and I are not in communication. I believe you are the one doing the healing. Your body will respond in ways you could not imagine. I'm glad I was able to be there for you, that is what SANE forums are for. Just be patient and allow things to unfold as they should and for you to properly heal. I am wishing you a good recovery. You don't need to be held captive by a debilitating anxiety diagnosis! All things are possible by those choosing to believe a better life is in store for them. I believe that will happen for you! ❤️

In response to: Re: What do you do to get anxiety to a manageable level?

Re: What do you do to get anxiety to a manageable level?

These forums are great @Former-Member I am so glad I found them. I am on a new part of my healing journey where I am not despondent and I'm a lot more open to suggestions to investigate to see if they will help make this journey a little smoother. It has taken me until now (55) to feel like my CPTSD will become manageable and I have hope, it's amazing what meeting the right therapist can do. I hope that your brother finds the catapult that propels him to trying to find his good place again with an open mind. Thank you for helping to make this forum safe, informative & supportive.

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