Stress, how do you handle it?

Going through some stress right now and am having problems dealing with it. Still in remission, but my gut doesn't feel right.I've upped my L-Glutamine powder from 5 grams back to 15 grams, and it's helped some.

But I just don't have any idea how to handle the stress...

Anyone have any suggestions for me?

Ever since having undergone 2 back-to-back major life changing stressors that both created PTSD and each lasting several years, I've been unable to handle even the slightest possible stress.

Any ideas would be much appreciated.

Just found this website:
http://www.guidedimageryinc.com/

Sounds good......

Hello InSo!

I live a sadly higher than I would like stressful life these days myself..
I have tried the medicinal route and took .05mg xanax a day for awhile and that did help... but only take that now when I really need it. I started a "wind down" every evening before I go to bed... and it does help. I lay on the floor with my legs up on the wall and my arms flat out to the sides for about 10-20 minutes of absolute quiet. I used to try to control where my thoughts would go and then realized that was not de-stressing me much, so now I just let my mind wander thru the thoughts and thinking of words like "peace" or "quiet" and then when I am done, it seems to lighten my load of the days stresses...

I also try to accept the things I cannot change and that includes people and their behaviors... I used to get irritated by everyone not doing things the way I would do or when they acted crappy and now I just let it go.. that helps alot.
Good Luck :)

Yoga and my kitten both help me relieve stress. And the occasional xanax.

I am going to echo Sheri. Whenever I am stressed, anxious, mad, sad, whatever, a good cardio session brings on those lovely chemicals and I feel good. Doesn't last forever, of course, but at least it gives my body and mind a good block of time free of the effects of stress.

Hypnosis really helped with my stress (and my stress came from UC not the other way around). Hypnosis didn't fix my UC but is a very valuable resource to de-stress. I asked my hypnotist if she would record the session and give it to me and she agreed. I think I was the first person to ever ask but she started offering it to her other sessions too.

She gave it to me on a CD and I loaded it to ITunes and then to my Ipod. Later I wanted to make some new ones for myself so ordered a book on Amazon called "Self Hypnosis: The Complete manual for Health and Self Change" by Alman and Lambrou. It was extremely helpful to have been through professional sessions so I knew how to talk to myself and understood how important words and phrases were. You cannot use negatives like "Don't ...." you must only use positive words because your unconscious ignores "not" and "no", kinda like a 2 year old lol.

BTW "guided imagery" is exactly what my hypnosis sessions were like. She interviewed me beforehand, asked what my problems were and what my goals were and then created the images to achieve them.

 

Thank you for all your wonderful suggestions!

Now, I have lots to try out thanks to all of you.

(Everything above is great, so I'll mention what has helped)


Inso, have you ever accepted what occurred regarding your PTSD? I understand what you are going through, and I find that if I accept what occurred then I'm able to move on.

With stress, books have always helped me. Running and walking also helped.

I hope you find some peace and do some circular deep breathing.

I seem immune to stress as far as UC goes. I have put my attorney to work to get me full custody because I am sick of rescuing my daughter from drunk mom on sleep overs. Work has been 82 hours a week for 10 months now. It is coming to an end I think, Friday 9:00 PM I begin an 18-hour marathon to upgrade all of our customers coveted data, database, and hardware. Meanwhile today the 10th system I have built to test this completely went berzerk and nobody could get any work done, software developers, test engineers - nobody till I finally corrected it. That was really really stressful and right in the middle while talking to the VP on phone insane doorbell ringing happens and it my parents wanting to see the new house up the street only they missed the pre-drywall walk thru last week and are here unannounced soooo we go there anyway while the crew is applying the spray foam insulation and its another near disaster. Freaking chaos everywhere and I just try to take my daughters new camera back to best buy and they refuse. At THAT point I was growing concerned I might completely flip out on these people. I was about to buy a new 65 inch t.v. for the new house from Worst Buy. I dont think I can ever go back there and buy anything from those crooks again. Feel like the stress and sitting around eating junk working on the computer is making me more emotional.

But its not having any effect on my UC which is like no-UC right now.

Good luck I hope you find a groove. I can tell you I went downstairs and did some pullups on the I-beam with some weights around my waist and it was the best I have felt in days. 1:00 am - going to bed early!

:)

aguywithuc,

I do value my walks outside, and find it's the only time I can get a little peace of mind...

Wow, sounds like you certainly have a full plate. You're going through alot, and yet you've found a way to separate out the stress so you can handle it, that's great.

Good luck with the full custody, I'm sure you have a good attorney.

Hypno-therapy. Become a pro at managing stress with:

http://www.thework.com/index.php

I just started this so I can't tell you my results.

When stress is overwhelming my safeguards I tense up, shallow breathing. I think this lack of 'belly breathing' is not good for UC. I also believe this is why working out feels good to me, it indirectly returns me to normal breathing.


ezinearticles.com/?Circular-Breathing---An-Ancient-Taoist-Technique-For-Health-And-Longevity&id=524707

Some stress is un-avoidable.  Other stress is not.   Find whatever it is that you are passionate about, and vent out the stress that way.