Quote:
Originally Posted by StopTouchingMe
Yes! I am struggling to cope. I feel hands scratching, clawing, pulling, pinching, and almost anything else you can imagine in reguard to touch. This began for me 11yrs ago after being struck by lightning. My life has been destroyed and empathy is hard come. Meds have not worked. Btw, I feel excruciating pain as well. I ask God all of the time to take me home. I do not understand why I survived for this. People tell me things could be worse. What could be worse than ALWAYS feeling that you are being tormented with touch at all times by something you cannot see, and NOTHING stops it?
My Doctor is now telling me that the stress of it is going to kill me as my cortisol levels are high, my blood pressure has gone through the roof with meds, I've developed diabetes, and gained weight.
I use to cope by telling myself that this was temporary. I can't believe that now. It's been 11yrs. I don't want to live like this. I cry often because it's sooo horrible. On top of this, my husband was diagnosed with cancer on 2012. He is also a survivor. But, I see him suffering everyday from the surgeries. His colon and rectum were removed. No colostomy bag though. I just don't know how to cope.
|
StopTouchingMe
I'm sorry that you are struggling with these experiences. And it sounds like you have a lot going on with your husband too
Do you have a therapist to talk to about these things and to find ways to cope with them all?
I find the physical torment that I experience to be harder to cope with than the voices ever were. Meds don't help me either, so I live by "what cannot be changed must be endured". In other words, coping skills, coping skills, coping skills.
What helps me, and may or may not work for you as everyone is different, is distraction. A LOT of distraction! So, for me that would be crafting, music, going for a walk, petting my dog, watching TV/DVDs etc.
However, when it gets REALLY bad, literally the only thing I can do is isolate (so no one sees me distressed or moving weirdly, as I don't want people to see that) and blast music though my headphones to try to stay calm, and breathe through the sensations. I tell myself that 'I am ok' and that I've gotten through times when it's been this bad before and so I will again. It's not much, and each second feels like an eternity when it's that bad, but it's all I've got.
I hope that you can find a way to cope with these experiences
And welcome to PC!
*Willow*