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SSRI withdrawal induced neuropathy

Discussion in 'General Discussion Subforum' started by Janet65, Aug 27, 2025 at 6:42 PM.

  1. Janet65

    Janet65 Newcomer

    hi Sita. Here is my link. https://www.etsy.com/shop/AcadiaStitchery

    thank you so much for asking!
     
    Sita likes this.
  2. Diana-M

    Diana-M Beloved Grand Eagle

    Oh yes, it does! I’ve let my house get really rundown and so I’m embarrassed to have people over. It’s an excuse to keep people from coming over. But recently, I’ve started fixing up my house (not me personally—hiring people to do it). I realized the big blocker has been me not loving myself enough to give myself that gift. But, like you said, this journey is overhauling my life.
    Yes, journaling is really big for cracking you open. But you have to stick with it for a while because it’s kind of like you’re thawing ice. I didn’t realize how frozen my emotions were— I actually thought I was an emotional person, but there are so many things I suppressed. Anger is my most difficult emotion to feel. I also had no clue that you feel emotions in your body. I’ve only ever really felt them in my mind. These are all the things I’m learning these days! If you do the SEP, you will learn a lot about this.
     
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  3. Cactusflower

    Cactusflower Beloved Grand Eagle

    Note that watching videos etc is a distraction. Participate in the fun things. Observation puts you on the sidelines - it’s about others, not about you. Participating gives you opportunity to live, space to feel the feelings while watching is more observational and doesn’t always allow for “life” watching quick videos etc is more about escaping life. Doesn’t mean there isn’t a time or place but I find that they aren’t really fun. Just things to pass time. You want to feel some joy.
    We go on short road trips a lot. It’s something I do well with. We listen to music, but it tends to zone us out. So we also often play banana (yellow card) and end up laughing and talking more. It’s kinda like that.
     
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  4. TG957

    TG957 Beloved Grand Eagle

    It took me a few months of TMS healing to realize that my emotions were frozen, except for fear and anxiety. When you unconsciously suppress your emotions, they get suppressed! After months of meditation, I finally started feeling my emotions. 8 years later, I still have to make an effort in order to make my emotions surface. Keep focusing on calming down your nervous system through meditation, try different styles and methods of meditating until you see which one works, and then stick with it. Most importantly, make sure your meditation sessions are at least 45-60 minutes each, otherwise, you are not likely to see results.
     
  5. Janet65

    Janet65 Newcomer

    I hear you Cactusflower but interacting is hard right now. I hope to do more of it in the future. I used to love to go on car rides with my husband. We would go down to the shore and sit and talk. Go down roads we hadnt been down for awhile. It was fun and i miss it. Because im in a wheelchair i have to weigh if the stress of getting me into the car is worth the ride. Right now its not.

    Thanks for your wisdom though and i need to think more about trying to interact more. Being in a wheelchair to go anywhere makes it difficult.
     
  6. Janet65

    Janet65 Newcomer


    Thank you TG!

    im doing 15 minutes 4 times a day currently. Im finding yoga nidra are becoming my favorite. They allow me to connect with my whole body and not just the parts with sensations. I can work on slowly expanding my meditation time. Do you think its better to do 1 45 to 60 minutes meditation session per day instead of multiple shorter sessions?

    Thank you!
     
  7. Sita

    Sita Beloved Grand Eagle

    Janet, you can try a longer meditation and see how you feel. Or, you can just continue the 15 min/4 times a day practice. The intensity counts too, not just the length.
    I liked the big house/peace near the sea cross stitch design of yours :)
     
  8. TG957

    TG957 Beloved Grand Eagle

    One uninterrupted 1 hr, no doubt. Confirmed by several other people to deliver results.
     
    Janet65 likes this.
  9. Cactusflower

    Cactusflower Beloved Grand Eagle

    You can still interact with physical media? I mean also using physical things like pencils, paintbrushes, etc.

    If you live in a metropolitan area, you may qualify for transport in a mobility bus. My father used a wheelchair and we went to museums, art galleries, and even picnics on our city wheelchair transport. Where I live now there is no good option except for an all female volunteer crew who use old schoolies within our neighborhood to transport other women with needs. If you haven’t looked into it, you might try.
     
    Janet65 likes this.
  10. Janet65

    Janet65 Newcomer

    Yes but it has to be smooth like my apple pencil and my ipad screen are smooth. Because of neuropathy my hands and fingertips are very sensitive to anything with texture. Even smooth things can bother if i handle it enough.

    i dont live near a metro area but its more about internal strength. If my system gets over stimulated it ups my symptoms. Even talking too much revs me up.

    Thanks for the suggestions though. Im looking forward to being able to do those things again.
     
  11. Janet65

    Janet65 Newcomer

    Thats what im going to do. Ill add a 20 minute in today and if that goes well ill keep adding. Its crazy how much just the 15 min relaxes me. I tend to want to fall asleep though by the end. Which maybe thats more proof its working.

    Thank you!
     
    Sita likes this.
  12. Janet65

    Janet65 Newcomer

    exactly Diana! I bump my boundaries every day just being. Many times ive gone too far outside my "window of tolerance" and had to back off. Less is more when your ns is hypersensitive. Many times ive tried to exercise my stiffness away and paid for it so ive learned if they say to hold a stretch for 30 sec, 5 sec is good for me to see how i respond. Its hard pacing but like you said it is a good lesson to learn for a healthier life.
     
  13. Cactusflower

    Cactusflower Beloved Grand Eagle

    I still have symptoms, and they definitely increase when I am challenging the *whatevers* - at some point, you just have to go with it. You just do things even if it causes symptoms and count the fact you were willing to do it as a win. This is exactly how I was able to communicate to my mind and body that I'm safe. My nervous system caught on pretty fast ... as did my brain. An example is my needing new glasses prescriptions. This is something that definitely impacts me. At one point I'd have a major setback but now I'm dealing with some increased symptoms, going about my day being confident it will settle down again. The most important thing in my recovery was knowing when to stop "turtleing" as I like to call it. Crawling back into the shell. Of course there are times you back off, but you don't back off for long. You don't retreat and hide out again for weeks or months. You keep working at it even if there are symptoms. My mantra used to be "not dead yet!" to let my mind know that nothing was killing it! :)
     
  14. Janet65

    Janet65 Newcomer

    I hear you cactusflower. Every self healing program ive been in says this and i plan on doing more of this when my system calms down a bit. I have to be careful if i ramp up my system i can become fearful which i feel defeats the whole purpose. So its a balancing act.

    for instance. I tried to add vit D, just 30 iu a day i did fine for a few days but then my legs got so stiff i could barely lift my legs to take a step. I kept going with it for probably 5 more days and it did not get better and by the end i started being afraid everytime i had to get up and walk because my legs were so stiff i kept losing my balance even with my walker. I have outside help that helps me with meals but i HAVE to be able to walk to my commode. So i cant just say “bring it on" and lose my ability to walk at all. So i stopped the Vit D and a few days later my legs went back to baseline. I would love to be able to just push through but my system hits back so hard its impossible at times and i just have to stop and try again later.

    This doesnt happen everytime and i dont know why some things my system will accept after a few days but there are those "sticky" things that it just wont let go of. Ive had issues with Vit D since the beginning. I know once my system gets calmer it will accept it because ive been here before.
     

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