Suggestions Please...

[DDD]

A young woman who used to pop pills every day to excess, found herself expecting and quit cold turkey. Now she has a healthy baby and is doing a great job of parenting BUT today she told me she is nervous and anxious ALL the time. She is smoking two packs of cigarettes (outside) a day.

I have invited her to join Curves with me this month and see if exercise doesn't help her feel better. She isn't heavy into caffein. Is there anything you all use to calm down that I might pass on to her? She is afraid of Rx's due to her major dependence on pills prior to the baby. by the way she lives with her family so she is not isolated, which is good. Any thoughts? DDD

 

[Fran]

Exercise. Even if it is serious vacuuming. Anything to burn up those energy bursts. Redirect it to something productive.
The other is getting lost in a good book.
If she is anxious, she may need to address the issue with a trained professional. Lots of addiction is self medicating.

 

[flutterbee]

The SSRI antidepressants won't give her a high and they help with anxiety. However, you can't just quit them cold turkey or the withdrawal will just knock her on her hiney.

She needs to work on self-awareness. Noticing when she feels the anxiety coming on. And work on self-soothing, relaxation, calming techniques. She can probably find some good guided relaxation CD's at the book store to help get her started. With practice, she'll hopefully be able to those techniques on her own when she's feeling anxious or overwhelmed. I also know of some people that wear a rubber band on their wrist and when they start to feel overcome by anxiety, they snap it and it helps to calm them...bring them back to earth, I guess. It never worked for me.

Excercise will be good. All that anxiety causes pent up energy and it will help her to get it out.

 

[susiestar]

There are some good homeopathic medications that really WORK. A health food store will have them. They can be amazing, in my humble opinion.

Also, tension tamer tea by celestial seasoning or calm tea by tazo (avail at starbucks adn at many grocery stores). They are quite good. I prefer tension tamer, but calm is preferred by many on my fibro board.

 

[Hound dog]

When my anxiety kicks up I redirect it and find a way to focus my attention elsewhere. Cleaning is good, exercise is also good. I also used to put earphones into my ears and sit and listen to music. I also used crafts. It's why I learned to knit, crochet, sew, do beadwork. ect.

 

[Marguerite]

I would suggest she see a therapist fairly soon, to rule out any aspect of PND. Also, for non-drug ways to calm herself, I would be looking into cognitive behaviour therapy or similar. Smoking isn't good for her or the baby.

Marg

 

[Star*]

One word - maybe two -

Stroller jogger -

I see them ALL the time at the Salvation Army -

Tell her to get an Ipod and put the kids in the stroller jogger.

As far as calming without medications?

Yoga

Personally I listen alternately between Ozzy and Chopin when I'm stressy.

Also - for 2 packs a day - EVEN if she's going outside? The nicotine and chemicals are on her clothes and in her hair -

Natural licorice root can be put in the mouth and scucked on. It gives the hand a mouth to hand replacment sensation, and the taste is similar to a cigarette.

Also - LOADS of tootsie pops - dollar store 10 in a bundle for a buck.

Pick up a book and read - ONE page at at a time with one cigarette- ONLY one page. When the book is done - tell her to look at how many pages she read, and that will tell her how many cigarettes she smoked while standing there. The average cigarette is smoked in 10 minutes. 10 minutes x's the number of pages (say 287) is 2870 minutes or 47.83 hours smoking - what could she have done with her kids instead?

Just a thought -

 

[Lothlorien]

There are a few things that she can try....

First of all, our diets (in general) are severely lacking in Magnesium and Vitamin B (complex) so that being said, she should probably do that. Inositol is in the vitamin B family and is supposed to be good for anxiety, as well as depression and can be used a supplement also.

Also good for anxiety are Kava, Passion Flower and St John's Wort. Valerian root for sleep at night. She should get as much rest at night if possible and of course, exercise is always a good thing for anxiety or depression.

However, she should probably do this under the direction of a physician and if she is breast feeding, she should check with her pediatrician before taking anything.

Smoking also stops the body from absorbing many of the nutrients that our body needs, so if she can cut down one cigarette a day or every couple of days, she should feel better in a few weeks.

 

[DDD]

She got thru the pregnancy with-o medications and very very limited smoking. She "knows" about the residual smoke problem etc.
but she is unmedicated BiPolar (BP) and also uninsured.

I'm going to compile the suggestions and then gently encourage her to try some changes. She is a friend of easy child/difficult children and has stayed loyal thru thick and thin. My husband and I are rooting for her. Thanks for your help. DDD

 

[witzend]

Knitting, needlepoint, crochet. Anything to keep her hands busy.