@LunaLove96 sorry to read. It may have been the test was too intrusive and made things more difficult for you.

I agree. Non drug options are the way to go.

Don’t give yourself a hard time about the drugs. We all wish we didn’t go there I think. That’s the past now.

Time will settle all this down and there will be lots of sunny days for you to enjoy going forwards im sure.

Sending you positive thoughts, @LunaLove96 . It sucks enough to be dealing with WD, but dealing with physical issues just makes it worse. It'd be great if life just stopped while we recover, but unfortunately that's not the way it works. But you can get through it!

Thank y’all.

The emotional volatility, as I call it, subsided. I know there’s no sense in ruminating and looking back, but I do grieve my ignorance and regret what’s led to this. Reading this site does give me a lot of comfort too. I also like to frequent the old website, especially as there seems to be more bladder related content there. I hope some of those folks find it here so we can talk.

I think I’m gonna binge some feel good tv series. I’m currently watching Good Times. What do y’all do for distraction/getting through rough times?

22 minutes ago, LunaLove96 said:

think I’m gonna binge some feel good tv series. I’m currently watching Good Times. What do y’all do for distraction/getting through rough times?

Believe it or not, I pull weeds and trim plants in our yard. For some reason I find it very therapeutic although I've never had a green thumb! 😅

12 hours ago, LunaLove96 said:

especially as there seems to be more bladder related content there.

Maybe start a Bladder/Urine urgency thread and ask for peoples thoughts? I know lots of people have bathroom related issues in WD.

12 hours ago, LunaLove96 said:

What do y’all do for distraction/getting through rough times?

Garden, Walk if I can, Run a Forum! 😁

On 5/13/2026 at 8:10 PM, LunaLove96 said:

I also like to frequent the old website, especially as there seems to be more bladder related content there. I hope some of those folks find it here so we can talk.

I have issues with mine, but they're different to yours.

On 5/13/2026 at 5:59 PM, LunaLove96 said:

God, I wish I could go back to October 10th, 2025 and slap that bottle of lexapro out of my hands.

If we're on the topic of finding things that people relate to, I think you'll find plenty that relate to this.

On 5/13/2026 at 8:10 PM, LunaLove96 said:

The emotional volatility, as I call it, subsided.

That's good. I think it's also good that you can recognise waves, this shows that they're distinct, and that you're not always in one as deeply.

I think you're making positive progress, it's still relatively early days, there is a lot of precedent for recovering in time and I think it's likely that you will, in time.

On 5/13/2026 at 3:33 PM, mstimc60 said:

Believe it or not, I pull weeds and trim plants in our yard. For some reason I find it very therapeutic although I've never had a green thumb! 😅

Gardening is very therapeutic! Started up a flower garden and plant one and it’s so peaceful (minus the hungry deer lol)

@Chippy I will definitely consider it! Though thankfully lately it’s been a bit better. I had some mildly spicy food and didn’t suffer three days of burning wrath for it~! The whole thing is strange 🤔 But I’m not trying to figure the science of WDs, whew

@Luke Yeah I think I can recognize a wave at least more than half the time. But even when I do it doesn’t lessen how it feels. Early days? Lord, I think I’m at least 60-70% better than when it started? Definitely a fluctuating final stretch of healing. Hard at times yes, nonetheless gratitude keeps me straight and hopeful 🙂

9 minutes ago, LunaLove96 said:

Gardening is very therapeutic! Started up a flower garden and plant one and it’s so peaceful (minus the hungry deer lol)

We live in the West side of Los Angeles near LAX so deer aren't an issue! 🤣 But we live near a natural wetlands and have a resident coyote that likes to serenade us at 1:00 on the morning!

I hate today already. My emotional tolerance is nothing and it feels like everything in my life just keeps subtracting from me. Like any good just keeps leaving me. I've already lost two dear pets this year, one last year, and last night something wiped out my chickens. I've never felt this emotionally weak and tired before. I'm so tired and it feels like depression is trying to chase me down. Why do these hardest things in my life have to happen NOW? My thoughts catastrophize when this happens, my tolerance is so low. I'm just trying to heal on eggshells and a knife goes through my heart and my emotions send me spiraling again.

Like I don't know how to F^%* grieve without going into this mess.

On 5/16/2026 at 10:31 PM, LunaLove96 said:

@Luke Yeah I think I can recognize a wave at least more than half the time. But even when I do it doesn’t lessen how it feels. Early days? Lord, I think I’m at least 60-70% better than when it started? Definitely a fluctuating final stretch of healing. Hard at times yes, nonetheless gratitude keeps me straight and hopeful 🙂

Yes, you're making large strides towards recovery at quite an early time relative to many others in protracted withdrawal.

44 minutes ago, LunaLove96 said:

and last night something wiped out my chickens.

Hi @LunaLove96

Do you have foxes near your place?

Yes, but this was a raccoon.

It took about 30 minutes after my last post to calm down... whereas a flare like that four months ago would've had me a hot mess for hours. Trying to look on the positive... My head is still pounding (understandably) and pretty tired.. but I keep reminding myself to give myself grace. To feel whatever it is. It's human, sometimes we feel things strongly.. I just don't like how the intrusive thoughts flare up when I'm upset. Like, was it waiting for the right moment to jump on board when I'm at my lowest? I guess the thoughts scare me because I know its not me. But they always pass. I know I'm doing better, but it really was a dark place months ago. I couldn't go one day for weeks on end without having severe intrusive thoughts 100+ times/day.

Even in this hot mess this morning has turned out to be... I will be grateful. There's only misery in anything else.

38 minutes ago, LunaLove96 said:

It took about 30 minutes after my last post to calm down... whereas a flare like that four months ago would've had me a hot mess for hours. Trying to look on the positive...

This is a good outlook. Recovery takes place over months, not days or weeks. If you compare one day to the other, you'll be caught in a hyper focused loop and be overly sensitive to even small ups and downs. Your ability to see how you've improved over months shows you are healing, and your brain is focusing on the right, long-term, process. You're doing great!

You’re right @LunaLove96 this is not you, but can feel very real all the same. You’re doing great handling what is a very difficult time for you. We try to avoid stress, but the world keeps turning whilst we recover doesn’t it!

Being a human, and dealing with emotions in WD

Update: Past few days I’ve actually been alright, mostly normal feeling. I have discovered my threshold for stressful situations needs.. a little work. I end up feeling afraid when I later reflect back at how strong those emotions of anger and frustration get. Like that wasn’t me. Why did I react so poorly..?

I think this whole destabilizing thing has me slowly relearning everything. Anyway.. aside from a few cortisol mornings, I was relatively okay until last night. I’ve been able to eat more sugar (yay), but I overdid it with a snack. Only half of it, probably too ultra processed, and I felt it within 30 minutes. Uneasy, paranoid, intrusive thoughts, low level anxiety, etc. Last night trying to sleep the feelings just kept worsening, so I’m going to swear off certain things again. There’s no sense in triggering all this for a freaking nutty cone. That, and I’ve set a daily alarm in the evening for no more screen time. The only reason I struggle with this is because feeling restless, I jump from one distraction to the next. So, naturally, when trying to sleep without that constant stimulation, the brain can’t shut off and tries to make sense of everything in the form of nonsense. And it genuinely makes it hard to think. This too creates anxiety.

So, here’s to structure!

@LunaLove96

Great update!

So happy things have been easier.

I think it’s a lesson in all this to remember how we feel and we react atm isn’t something that needs self judgment for. As you said. It isn’t you!

I think routine and structure is so important. There isn’t much to we can control but things like diet and evening routine we can and should if we find it helpful. I find the structure helps get through the days. Especially the bad ones.

I relate to the busy brain. I find no matter what I do at night my head is so full of anything and everything that it take some time to settle down. I’ve learned to accept this too and that helps a bunch so I don’t make it worse. I miss my old self but I believe we will get it all back eventually.

Here’s to a positive update and more to come 👍

This might sound paranoid but I figured it would be good to ask. I haven’t really been sick since this all started, well, till today with a cold. I’m wary of supplements as is while getting back to normal, and while there are no meds for a cold, I wonder about certain products like Zicam, Benadryl, etc being safe. I just don’t want to be affected by anything mentally, but on the other hand I really need some symptom relief.

5 hours ago, LunaLove96 said:

This might sound paranoid but I figured it would be good to ask. I haven’t really been sick since this all started, well, till today with a cold. I’m wary of supplements as is while getting back to normal, and while there are no meds for a cold, I wonder about certain products like Zicam, Benadryl, etc being safe. I just don’t want to be affected by anything mentally, but on the other hand I really need some symptom relief.

Hey @LunaLove96 yeah I managed to avoid colds for many months in wd. When they did finally come I used some things which I think set me back. Since then if I get a cold I just let nature do its thing.

My thought would be if you want to try something make sure it’s natural/herbal and definitely avoid antihistamines or anything psychoactive in any way. With all supplements and new medications start very very low and work up.

Hot lemon and honey I found to be very soothing.

@LunaLove96 the US has a culture of heavy use of pharmaceuticals.

In many other countries, routine viral illnesses are recovered from just fine without taking a cocktail of drugs aimed at mild symptom relief. Remember that none of these things actually aid recovery, they only provide short term symptom relief.

As @Chippy suggested, I'd lean more towards natural foods to help, things like honey to soothe a sore throat and so on.

Obviously we all make our own choices, but if you can avoid risking it, I would personally.

Thank you both. Yeah, I do lean towards holistic measures. as an American it’s pretty standard to go to the Dr for anything. I’ve been in healthcare a few years and, yeah… most people either go for any little bump, or they wait on the hospital till they severed something. No middle ground lol. But it wasn’t always this way. The older generations had a remedy for just about anything. Nowadays everything is so commercialized.. Anyway, I think I’m going to settle with a hot tea for now.

Hope things ease soon @LunaLove96 x

Small update: It's not much, but recently I was able to enjoy a small decaf! I can't remember how many months its been.. Only drank about half, but man, what a victory! A few hours later I did have some anxiety flare up, but it eased up quickly enough. In summary, baby steps yall. I think I'm about 70% better, not to say completely out of the water, its hard to measure.

Think sometime soon I'll do an updated summary. I still deal with annoying stuff occasionally, but y'all, ... completely different from December and January.

There IS hope, I promise. I can't remember how many times I felt stuck for days on end, thinking it would never end... then it did. Many times. Don't believe the fears and lies your mind conceives. You are not your anxiety, your panic, whatever you're experiencing.

@LunaLove96 you're making clear progress over time- I'm glad to hear this.

Try to visualise where you might be a few more months down the line.

Thank you for the update, @LunaLove96 . Even small steps mean progress, and you're bringing hope to those early on their recovery journey. Prayers to you!