posted
I have a relatively new problem of obsessive thinking. Say the phone bill might be late. I will lie awake all night worrying about it until I can pay it in the morning. I mean, big deal, we'll all live. But I can't get over such small things!
This has only happened in the past 7 years or so, and it is a real drag. Could this type of problem be Lyme related?
p.s., I am caring for my beautiful daughter with the flu! So my replies may be delayed a bit, but I greatly appreciate any input. Thanks!
Posts: 636 | From Saratoga County, NY | Registered: Apr 2008
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lyme in Putnam
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 11561
posted
I LIVE THIS. I have lyme, bart and also a genetic disposition to this. so yes.
-------------------- He took u to it, He'll you through Posts: 2837 | From NE. | Registered: Apr 2007
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'Kete-tracker
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posted
My only obsessive thought was/ IS "What is this other 'thing' I have that I picked up along with the Lyme?" (It had stumped my LLMD.)
Not to down-play that obsessive concern I had back in the tough days, which was "Will I ever be well again?"
I think being sick w/ Lyme can affect thought in many detrimental ways. I wouldn't worry too much about it. (No muse intended)
Posts: 1233 | From Dover, NH | Registered: Sep 2008
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BoxerMom
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 25251
posted
OCD is ridiculously common in Lyme. Many others will chime in here.
if I try I will just be lost in thoughts for hours so I just stay online or watch TV until I am completely ready to sleep
thankfully I get 9-11 hours once I do sleep
because I wake up at 12 or 1 pm
Paul
Posts: 925 | From Connecticut | Registered: Aug 2010
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Carol in PA
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
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posted
quote:Originally posted by mazou: I have a relatively new problem of obsessive thinking. Say the phone bill might be late. I will lie awake all night worrying about it...
Carol
Posts: 6956 | From Lancaster, PA | Registered: Feb 2004
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sixgoofykids
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
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posted
I had obsessive thoughts that drove me crazy. One specific thought the whole time I was sick. It was awful. Once I got better, it went away. I have it no more.
That is not the kind of thing you are talking about. This was a thought that went on for a matter of years. I thought it would drive me crazier than being sick would.
But, for the kind of thing you're talking about, I'd leave a pen and paper by the bed to write them down. It was like I thought I'd totally lose my mind by morning, so I needed to spend the whole night thinking about it, so I didn't forget. If I wrote it down, that fear of forgetting left and I could sleep.
-------------------- sixgoofykids.blogspot.com Posts: 13449 | From Ohio | Registered: Feb 2007
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sixgoofykids
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posted
Oh, there's also a homeopathic called coffee cruda that is for quieting the mind for sleep. It works. It won't work if other things are keeping you awake, but it does work if the thoughts are keeping you up.
-------------------- sixgoofykids.blogspot.com Posts: 13449 | From Ohio | Registered: Feb 2007
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posted
Thanks for the great suggestions, sixgoofykids. I think writing down the problems is a great idea. I'll try it.
Nice website idea Paul!
Posts: 636 | From Saratoga County, NY | Registered: Apr 2008
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Bugg
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posted
Yes, I've definitely struggled with this...I've noticed the obsessive thoughts are much worse especially on certain medications.....I often wake-up in the morning battling certain 'bad memories'......
Something that seems to help me is to obsess on something really GREAT right before I fall asleep...maybe it's just a wonderful memory from the past or thinking about my dog playing.....
Another thing that works is (and I do this with self-pitying thoughts as well)I will tell myself, "Alright you are allowed to indulge in this for only 2 minutes. Once you've had your 2 minutes of a pity-party, you have to pick yourself up and move the hell on"......
Posts: 1155 | From Southeast | Registered: Oct 2005
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nefferdun
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posted
My mind is so forgetful I try to make thoughts "stick" by reminding myself over and over and hashing out problems so I can figure out what to say/do and don't forget. I forget anyway.
In the early morning when I wake up, this obsessiveness is the worst. I can go over and over something for hours. It is a shame as there are more creative ways I could spend my time but it feels completely overwhelming important.
For me lyme probably plays a role but I was raised in an alcoholic home and I tend to worry obsessively. I feel I have to fix everything to prevent disaster. Coming on lymenet actually helps me feel I am helping SOMEONE and calms me. It also helps me remember things.
The Serenity Prayer used to work but not now.
"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change Courage to change the things I can And the wisdom to know the difference."
-------------------- old joke: idiopathic means the patient is pathological and the the doctor is an idiot Posts: 4676 | From western Montana | Registered: Apr 2009
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BoxerMom
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posted
Wow. I didn't think I suffered from this, but after reading these posts I am changing my tune.
My early morning thoughts nearly require suicide intervention!
Crap.
Thanks for the helpful suggestions, though. I will try them.
posted
I suffer from a lot of unaccustomed anxiety, due to lyme and/or treatment.
I agree with sixgoofykids about writing things down to ease this problem. I keep a journal every day, mostly to keep track of my symptoms but if I find myself worrying about something obsessively or irrationally, I write down the whole dilemma on paper. It really, really helps! It's sort of like putting that problem in a box and leaving it there for a while.
I also try to re-schedule my worrying. For example: should I cancel my hair appointment for Thursday? (maybe the weather's going to be bad or I don't think I'll be feeling well enough.) I can get so caught up in this type of dilemma that I literally can't function for days. So the trick I have learned is to schedule when I will make that decision (Wed. at noon, for example) and that gives me permission to not think about it for a couple of days. It's using your reason to overcome irrational worrying.
I do this with medical issues, too. I can get so frantic about my supplements, meds, should I change something, etc. I now have a strict rule that I can only make adjustments once a week. So on Sunday I will decide if I will do anything different this week. If I didn't have this rule I would have gone insane by now!
Well, okay, I don't know how sane I actually am, but you know what I mean... :-)
Posts: 261 | From Nebraska | Registered: Jan 2010
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posted
I have this same thing. I know I am so forgetful that I will go over and over something for such a long time just trying to make sure I will remember. I always manage to forget it anyway. Its so frustrating!!
I found that when I went on Rifampin for Bartonella, that these kind of things went away.
I also do this thing like where I am in my room and I hear something in another part of the house. My mind automatically starts building a situation. Usually something fatal, etc.
It is very scary. My heart goes crazy. I just have to gain composer and realize that what I am envisioning isn't actually happening.
All of this kind of stuff cleared up when I went on Rifampin!
Posts: 265 | From Oregon | Registered: Aug 2009
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canefan17
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posted
This seems to be Bartonella symptoms for me (although some say Babs)
*shrugs shoulders*
Posts: 5394 | From Houston, Tx | Registered: Aug 2009
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lymeboy
Unregistered
posted
I had major anxiety, depression, obsessive thinking, suicidal thoughts, heart palpitations, the whole deal, and BAAAAD. Soon after I started taking Cipro for Bart, it cleared up big time. Anxiety is pretty much gone. I think Bart can get the brain going in a REALLY bad direction. I was really scared I would not live through it. I never tested pos for Bart, but I can say that every suspected Bart symptom I had is either gone completely or drastically reduced. Look into Bartonella. I was given this advice on a similar post that I started and I am so glad I took it.
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chiquita incognita
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posted
Hi friends It is so encouraging to read the posts by people who have recovered. Thank you for this!!!
My LLMD said that the anxiety won't go away until the lyme/bartonella is gone.
For the rest, I also experienced enormously rapid relief from non-stop thinking when I got off gluten. Of course I am severely gluten intolerant, and not everybody is. For those who are, it too can play a causal role. So can heavy metal toxicity (particularly from mercury-containing amalgam dental fillings), environmental toxicity (chemical exposure), and yes even food allergies (like gluten above). Food allergy testing is extremely inaccurate, said a naturopathic doc I used to work with. To eliminate the suspected foods for a while from the diet, then reintroduce them later to test for relapse, is the best diagnosis (and costs the least money!)
I hope this helps! Best of cheer and hope to you, Friend!
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sutherngrl
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posted
I had obsessive thoughts along with miserable mood swings. Risperdal has improved both of these. I still suffer with anxiety and mild depression.
Its da lyme in da coconut!!!
Posts: 4035 | From Mississippi | Registered: Jul 2008
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chiquita incognita
Unregistered
posted
Here's something that helped calm anxiety and runaway thoughts for me:
Rub the whole body down with coconut oil, especially directly alongside the spine on both sides of it. But all over the body. I would use anywhere from 1 tsp to 1 tbsp.
I had attended a lecture by an ND/researcher who said that the medium chain triglycerides (fats) from coconut oil are used for epileptic seizure control. I gathered that this means it soothes and is anti-inflammatory to the nervous system, so I tried it for the lyme-related thoughts/anxiety/body vibrations.
It worked! Fast too. But let me qualify that I respond to the tiniest doses of things and tend to me more sensitive than most people. So not everybody would have the same immediate response I did. Could be worth a try, however?
St Johnswort oil topically is also an excellent anti-inflammatory for the nerves, due to the flavonoids called hypericins in the oil. Lavender oil is high in linalool, which is calming. You could try any of these and see if your body responds to a particular one any better than the others.
I also love putting fragrant essential oils into my epsom salt baths. Lavender and geranium oils seem to have the most calming effects for me. Neroli oil could be helpful too.
canefan17
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Member # 22149
posted
^^^ Good info
But how do you rub oil along your spine on your own?
Posts: 5394 | From Houston, Tx | Registered: Aug 2009
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karenl
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posted
some people sleep well when taking LDN, ask at lowdosenaltrexone@yahoogroups
Posts: 1834 | From US | Registered: Oct 2008
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chiquita incognita
Unregistered
posted
Hi Canefan Of course you can't rub the coconut oil (or St Johnswort, lavender or whatever you use) along your entire spine on your own. I just did whatever I could. And spread it all around the rest of my body, even on the soles of my feet.
At first I had to do this 2 or 3x a day, but for me it really worked. The neuro-muscular vibrations from the infection calmed right down, and fast too! So did the runaway thoughts that previously I just couldn't stop. Having taken zoloft in the past for this, I would say that at least for me, the coconut oil worked a whole lot faster and considering hte progress right in the beginning, possibly better too. But the difference was that on the drug, there were *no* such thoughts, zero. On the naturopathic, there were such thoughts but the difference was that I had a choice. Prior to the coconut oil, I had no choice. The thoughts were going auto-pilot, unwanted and unbidden. Nerve infections/inflammations ain't any fun eh? The more the mainstream person can understand this (and quit judging) the better. Time for us to educate people, eh? After my own experience, one thing I have learned is that I will judge almost nobody.
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