In need of ideas to calm a high strung racing mind

Hello,

I'm new to online forums. I'm just searching for new ideas, suggestions, and strategies.

A little intro about me. I'm 25 years old. Just recently divorced.
I have been diagnosed with Bipolar type 2, ADD, anxiety/panic disorder, PTSD, depression, and disassociation disorder. I know I'm missing one but I just shortened it by being the derailed hot mess express train wreck. Haha.

I had a very difficult abusive childhood, and being an adult has become an interesting mess for sure. I've done about 5 years of therapy now, multiple types of medications as well as doing an adult mental program in hospital.

With medications and therapy I have improved greatly, and still do therapy and any type of learning that I can to keep improving. I continuously rapid cycle, with multiple mixed states. My mind subconsciously races nonstop. I am just looking for some ideas of how to slowly start calming my mind as much as possible. I do yoga, listen to music, dance, workout, until recently had ankle surgery so I'm stuck on my butt, with boredom and for an active person like me, you can imagine that I'm crawling up the walls. I calm and relax the best with things that keep my hands busy. I work with my hands for a living and since I haven't been able to work.

Medications: Lamictal (in process of increasing dosage again) Aderrall, Vistaril, multiple vitamins and supplements

You can still do the relaxation breathing, some yoga perhaps--but your hands (I knit for this and other things))-----could you find a craft? collage? making boxes? draw? paint? fly paper airplanes? ---I get silly but,,,,clay? carve? Is music helpful?
It helps me to have my hands busy also, and if I want to drift Music from The Hearts of Space or, oddly maybe, blues.
garden? (out or in, ...)----write.
This must be a frustrating time for you. Sorry. & hugs.

Hi Pixie,
I wanted to say Hi and also that I empathize with you about having annoying racing thoughts. Are any of your thoughts bad/irritable? Or is it just about random things?

I also noticed you are on adderall. I know that this is a stimulant medication and it can definitely trigger mania. Have you considered trying a non-stimulant ADD med like Starttera? (It may be the only one on the market, im not sure.) Im taking it and it calms my thoughts rather than making them worse.

A way that I calm down (and I hope you have access to one) is laying in a sauna. I give myself a few hours to go to the gym, strip down (or go in a towel if you're modest), lay in the sauna for a few minutes at first, and then add 5 minutes each time. A healthy amount of time can vary, I am a big boned woman, I weigh about 200 lbs and I'm 6' tall. I am able to comfortably stay in there for 30-45 minutes. I reccomend to be sedative free and use a timer or bring a friend so you don't fall asleep/lose track of time. As your body sweats and releases the toxins, you feel refreshed. The shower afterwards is nearly as good as the sauna because you're washing all that sweat and oil/dirt that was in your pores.

If you don't have access to a sauna, I'm sure a hot bath would do the trick I like saunas particularly because they are quiet and comforting. Sometimes I roll up a towel and place it in the middle of the back of my head to take some pressure off of my neck. It feels wonderful.

Hang in there,
Lisa

I also suggest buying play-doh or silly putty. It helps with relaxation and stress relief. It's used a lot in DBT for touch (vs other senses).

You gave great ideas I might try some myself. . Thanks.

Hello, PolarPixie, and welcome to the forum.

Suggestions already given are excellent ideas, I think. I'd like to add to that if I may.

For some reason, we bipolar folks tend to build histamine levels and to have (for
many of us) high acidity of the tissues and fluids. (This has nothing to do with
the ph of the system; that is controlled by the brain and varies only a minuscule
degree from a set point.)

All medications leave an acid residue (or ash) which the kidneys must remove from our systems. When we take meds once every 24 hours, the kidneys have a bit more difficulty in the management of acidity, so the following things might help to keep the fluids and tissues at a slightly more alkaline level:

1. When you feel irritated or angy (signals of buildup of acdiity) try squeezing 2 lemons into 8 oz of water and drink it; if you aren't better in 4 hours, repeat the process. That should give you some relief. While the lemon tastes very acidic--it
is a citric acid--it is digested as one of the most alkaline foods we can eat. Its
benefits are strong for helping with alkaline states. It works for some of us and
we use it occasionally when feeling tone is a bit upset.

2. If you are sensitive to caffeine, you should remove it from your diet completely.
That would include, coffee, tea, chocolate (both of which contain theobromine, a close cousin to caffeine) and anything else containing it such as sodas. Sodas
not only contain caffeine, but also aspartame, an artificial sweetener (if you use diet drinks) which is highly acidic for the system and even thought to be poisonous by
some writers.

3. Alcohol is a depressant; you should avoid that because it lowers feeling tone after digestion. My psychiatrist has said that it makes bipolar illness worse.

4. Try to cut back on your sugar intake; it causes highs and lows reminiscent of
bipolar illness.

5. Avoid use of grains that contain gluten (if you are sensitive to it). Wheat, especially, is being recognized now as having detrimental effects on the health of
people who are sensitive to it. Please see Dr. David Williams' book Wheat Belly.

6. Avoid excessive use of milk and milk products, including cheese, cream, yogurt,
sour cream, etc.

7. Reduce your intake of beef, pork, organ meats, etc. to 4 times a week instead
of 6 or 7 times a week.

8. Have a fresh salad every day.

9. Add a fatty acid to your diet by way of capsule, such as Omega 3 fatty acids.
I prefer Nordic Omega 3's , but there are many other brands available. Research now has proven that the fatty acids are helpful in bipolar treatment.

10. Exercise within reasonable limits. (Exercise produces acid)

11. Try to control stress as much as possible. (Stress is a strong acid creator).

Be gentle with yourself. Try one or two things and then increase your work on it
as you begin to feel better. I've found that it has enabled me to reduce the meds
and dosages for better feeling tone. Of course, we should never change meds without approval from our psychiatrists.

Find another focus and concentration generating hands-on activity. Maybe think outside the box a little. For me it is catridge reloading, but not sure what you're into. Other things that come to mind are an instrument, jig-saw puzzles, yo-yo, model building

Any music or a movie that calms you. Puzzle is a good one. Or play games on your phone or wherever passes the time and uses your energy

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Yes, Manicminer, jigsaw puzzles are really good, primarily because we
can't direct attention to something else for long when we are working on
a jigsaw puzzle. They are very relaxing for me. They're a very good
exercise in concentration.

Thanks for that.

Let us know how it goes and what works for you, can always use new ideas and encouragement to continue!

The thing that helped me more than anything was Sudoku. It is absorbing, challenging and satisfying to solve. I found it the best thing for shutting down intrusive thoughts. Sorry to reply late to your question.

I paint and it uses up tons of energy for me. I also like to bead bracelets while watching funny or dramatic movies. That way my hands and my mind are busy at the same time.

try reading, i started looking up quotes and use the positive one and happy ones and affirmations to make me feel better when my brain wanted to repeat things over and over, it might well be something positive. Tv is horrible your mind wanders all over the place. They have chat on here at night, it can be fun if your interested, we talk about silly stuff. hope that helps a tiny bit