Med changes are the worst. It affects all parts of our lives and we all have our horror stories. Here’s some coping tools I use to get through the precarious times. There is an accompanying video on Ramblings of a Bipolar Chick on Facebook.
Huge for me. It helps reduce my anxiety and makes sure I eat, sleep, and relax. I work from home so I have a really flexible schedule. As long as you make sure you eat regularly, sleep at the same time if possible, relax, and do something enjoyable that should help.
7:30-8:30 – Up, yoga, shower, eat
8:30-9 – Journal
9-10am – Coping tools blog; post video
10am-12pm – Character building poem “She Was Silent When”
12pm-1 – Meditate, eat, play escape room game on phone
1pm-2pm – Character building as above
2pm-3pm – Work on “Fancy Lady” poem
3pm-5 – Relax, read, free time
5pm – Dinner
7pm – Nighttime yoga and meditation
10pm- Bed
Eating
Biggest challenge for me. As soon as more meds are added my body decides there’s no need to eat anymore. Also, for some reason I can’t use a knife and fork because my brain is swimming in new chemicals. But, I can use a spoon. Here are some ideas for mealtimes. Honestly, when really unwell I may eat McDonald’s or Crazy Bread or chocolate once a day. I try and get back to normal(ish) eating when I start to feel better. Even eating a little bit at each meal is huge.
Breakfast: Boost (my go-to), blueberries (or any small fruit), protein bar, milk, cereal
Lunch: Cheese and crackers (my go-to), Kraft Dinner, soup, baby carrots, nuts
Dinner: Small piece of meat cut up for me, mashed potatoes, broccoli, spaghetti, Boost
Snacks: really anything small I can eat with my hands. Too much food in front of me stresses me out.
Relaxation
Anything that helps clear your mind and relax your body. You may not feel like you have time but even 5 minutes will help. Read, take a bath, a short walk, create something, text or call a friend, watch your favorite show, yoga, meditate. I spend a lot of time practicing relaxation because I honestly can’t function without it. I created this practice from ideas from the book “The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook”. DBT is teaching you how to self-regulate your emotions and relaxation is part of it. Highly recommend this book.
Morning
Yoga: “Morning Yoga Routine 15 min Daily Slow Yoga Stretches with Sara Beth”
3 min breathing: Deep breath in through your nose, hold, and breath out through your mouth. Count each of the breaths up to 4 (1, 2, 3, 4) and start again at 1. It helps with the mind wandering.
Affirmations: I repeat to myself 3 times; I am safe, I am loved, I am whole, I am home. (I used to hate affirmations, but they actually help.)
3 minutes healing: This may not be part of most people’s routine. I studied energy healing (hands on healing) many years ago, so I just imagine myself doing this to my body.
Visualization: I visualize what my life would be like without anxiety - work, health, relationships.
Afternoon
I have this amazing self-massager that has attachments to massage the whole body. I do each body part for a minute, then 3 minutes of just breathing.
Evening
Yoga: “Wind Down Yoga – 12 Minute Bedtime Yoga with Adriene” (both yoga videos I found on You Tube). 3 minutes breathing and 3 minutes healing. There are so many yoga videos out there, even ones for 5 minutes.
Expectations:
Decrease those mother f*ckers. Your body and brain don’t even know what’s going on so be gentle. It’s incredibly hard but if you don’t you may stress yourself out so much you can’t tell if the pills are helping. Delegate as much as possible. Kevin (my husband) does the cooking and picks up the groceries, we both do laundry, and honestly the housework just doesn’t get done. I’m being gentle with myself today. I wanted to write a more extensive and comprehensive guide to coping with pill adjustments. But, my mind is foggy and my anxiety is high so this is as good as it gets.
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