No $%&#$%&#@&%$# call. Seriously. WTF???????
For all of you psychology people out there, 2 questions:
1)Can copious amounts of wine act in similar ways to anti-anxiety drugs, or is it just the placebo affect?
2)Is it normal that as my anxiety level has gone up (dramatically) this week, so has my pain level?
8 comments:
Susie,
There is a definite link between the mind/body connection, and in the book I was reading again last night, the doctor who wrote it himself experienced increased pain and symptoms due to increased anxiety...and decreased symptoms once his diagnosis was recanted and his anxiety diminished.
The pain/tension/anxiety cycle is a tricky road to travel down...normal, but tricky in the sense of how to treat each (the pain and the anxiety) effectively individually and as a whole cycle.
Outside of pharmaceutical intervention, you might try things such as deep breathing exercises, meditation, and visualization a try to help (as well as other progressive relaxation techniques). Keep in mind it isn't an overnight fix...but it may help minimize the symptoms of the anxiety a little more at a time, which in turn may help alleviate a little of the pain, or may not, but it certainly can help you hone in better on what is pain due to the hip issues and what is pain perhaps manifested from the anxiety/tension related issues.
Some additional things to try would include Music, Aromatherapy, Relaxation Exercises (if able), Guided Imagery, Hydrotherapy, and Massage.
The "feel-good" hormones (endorphins) are decreased with an increased amount of cortisole, a "feel-bad" hormone that is released in excess when we are under duress...in turn increasing anxiety and pain and other symptoms due to how the cortisol is processed in different parts of the body. Some people experience memory issues, some have stomach or headaches, others may have more pain in areas of current pain...it all depends on how much stress (cortisole) overload is going on and the individual body's response to it.
You may also want to look up the "GABA Rainbow Diet" for a more natural approach prior to considering any medications...or, at least take out the alcoholic beverages (which is a depressant, so it becomes part of the vicious cycle and can take anxiety on a crash course with a depressive state).
Hope this helps,
SHC
Here's a good link to a good book...interesting and informative:
http://books.google.com/books?id=12zG7dUgeIYC&pg=PA129&lpg=PA129&dq=gaba+diet&source=bl&ots=wwOQ9IqS22&sig=NzI9tJLhH8UkfFeDWOhJ-7UJW3s&hl=en&ei=G-nxSrP8G82M8AaQ-uSBCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CCMQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=gaba%20diet&f=false
Susie,
I'm no expert in the field, but I can tell you I was admitted into the hospital with a panic/ anxiety attack two days before my hipscope:) I'd say it definately does something, haha.
Try cymbalta, it's like turning the crazy switch off. I took it for the few months leading up to surgery...went off it the week before out of some dilusional thinking. But post-op I haven't needed it, so far anyway.
Sorry you're stressed. Hope you feel better soon,
Vanessa
oh, and try bloody mary's with V8, then at least you'll get your veggie serving requirement for the day, HA!
Thanks guys for your suggestions. In the meantime, I think that once there is a "plan" in place I will feel better, and I will continue to use wine PRN! We do have Xanax in the house if things get really bad but I don't think I will need to go there!
Whatever it takes! For me wines an amazing pain killer..and I've done the pure diet stuff and it made not a jot of difference. Wine all the way!
Sugar, booze, smoking, drugs, any of them can cause anxiety, but so can pain! And ESPECIALLY prolonged pain.
If a glass or two of wine gives you a temp fix, it was used as anesthetic in the old days, so use it to buy you some chill time! Just watch you don't get hooked or drink too much thats all and i doubt its as damaging as the drugs anyhow, esp if you drink with dinner.
Hi Susie,
I have thought and read and talked about the links between pain/anxiety/depresssion, etc ad nauseum in the last year. I also have had a glass or 2 of wine with dinner nearly every night and I do know that it helps me cope with pain immensly. Its funny because other alcohol not as much. Wine seems to just take the edge off which is sometimes all I need. I didn't know about your Chrones though. That makes me wonder about systemic inflammation issues -- have you looked into that much or read about "leaky gut" at all?
Yellow Tail merlot has been my anti-depressant drugs for the last five years. But I will admit it got out of control and had to curb that. But for sure a lot less side effect than the meds that did nothing for me.
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