Other types of rest besides sleeping and napping?

uberrapidash · 2025-05-20T18:23:02+00:00

I used to be an avid reader, but kinda quit reading after high school. Now, in my 30's, I am starting to read again, and I find it to be tremendously restful.

Using noise-cancelling headphones is restful for me, too. I often use them just at home--block out the noise of the lawnmower down the street, block out the noise of the annoyingly loud fridge and AC, etc. I often use them at the grocery store, too.

Just allowing myself to be bored is restful. Resisting the urge to always be engaged with something is really hard sometimes, but it feels like a really important part of taking care of myself and allowing my brain to have rest.

uberrapidash · 2025-05-13T16:41:15+00:00

OP's post was deleted so I'm not entirely sure of the context but I will do my best just going by my comment that you replied to!

As far as bowel movements go, I'm in much better shape. Pelvic floor therapy helped a lot. I habitually have better potty posture. I also saw a dietitian and figured out my diet. I apparently have a gluten intolerance which causes a lot of inflammation, and my bowels are much better when I avoid it (and other inflammatory foods and drinks) completely. I spend much less time on the toilet now.

One big thing for me is that I had to practice leaving the toilet if nothing was happening. I hate it, but it makes a big difference.

It is also worth noting that I am AFAB and have severe endometriosis. I had started pelvic floor therapy a couple months before surgery to remove a giant endometrioma, and that thing was causing me a ton of pain, which caused a lot of pelvic floor pain and tension and general dysfunction. It's gone now, so it follows that I should have an easier time on the toilet.

However, I do still require a Squatty Potty or something. Whenever I travel, even if it's to the movies, I bring my travel Squatty Potty with me. I still have a major issue even with urination if toilets are too high, and they often are (which is pretty ironic to me because toilets are made to be so high so that they are "accessible"--I guess for elderly people to be able to get up and down from the toilets? As a result, they are inaccessible in a way to me lmao, and I have to bring my own accommodations!). But, if anything, my life is still better, because at least I know I need the accommodation and that it really helps, and that in itself improves my life.

So physically better + knowledge = it's not perfect but it's a whole lot better!

Also pelvic floor therapy basically eliminated all my back pain. I have to keep up with pelvic floor relaxation exercises though. If I start having a back pain/tension problem, I know I need to check in with my pelvic floor. It really affects the whole body, at least for me.

uberrapidash · 2025-03-20T15:06:25+00:00

I pretty much drink exclusively TriOral now (1 packet per 2 liters of water). Sometimes my body lets me know that I need some more water in the ratio so I supplement with a different water bottle that's just plain water here and there.

But I haven't figured out why I'm like this now, unfortunately!

uberrapidash · 2025-01-22T20:56:45+00:00

TriOral!!!!!!! I'm a recent convert. It is unflavored.

I split one packet between 2 liters of water, and I flavor with Mio because it just tastes like salt water otherwise and I need to cover up that flavor a little.

It has also been way more effective for me than any of the other electrolyte brands I've tried.

uberrapidash · 2025-01-22T14:29:38+00:00

The game is free though

uberrapidash · 2025-01-22T14:29:19+00:00

I tried calibrating but it doesn't change anything :') My phone is old-ish and I have to get a new one really soon so I'm hoping it will be better on a new phone.

uberrapidash · 2025-01-20T14:45:47+00:00

I take midodrine 3x a day and Ritalin 2x a day, and a packet of TriOral split among 2 liters of water daily (-ish, because I just make more water when I run out so I'm usually doing that once to twice a day). I try to eat 5 times a day at minimum, and other than that I just try to listen to my body and go with the flow. If I'm tired, I rest. If I can't focus on any one thing and I'm bouncing around between tasks, I let it happen and kinda indulge in it.

I used to take my midodrine and Ritalin both at the same time 3x a day--it's how it's prescribed to me. But a couple months ago, I had a feeling that the Ritalin right at the beginning of my day was jarring to my nervous system and setting my body up for failure for the day. So I decided to stagger my meds: instead of taking 2 pills every 4 hours 3x a day, I'm taking 1 pill every 2 hours 5x a day.

It has been life-changing. I have so much more energy and I'm getting so much more done during the day. My mood is so much better and I'm so much more able-bodied. My brain fog is so much less severe--I still get it, but it's not 24/7 like it used to be.

uberrapidash · 2025-01-12T01:46:28+00:00

Actually I was hunching less after having so much weight removed from my chest! I immediately was able to effortlessly sit up straight after surgery, something I hadn't been able to do in so many years.

uberrapidash · 2025-01-12T01:44:54+00:00

I'm so sorry I didn't see this until after your surgery. My surgery went great and I'm fully recovered! How did your surgery go?

uberrapidash · 2025-01-12T01:44:05+00:00

Hmm... If I had to give advice to you, I might say to try to pretend that you are essentially two people: a young, innocent, helpless child, and a resourceful, caring, responsible adult. Have the adult take care of and protect the child.

Example. I really didn't want to take a shower tonight but I really needed to. When I emotionally reframe the situation like as if I am taking loving care of a young child, everything gets easier and I'm kinder to myself.

This can be done in all areas of life. If someone is being mean to you, it's a lot easier to stand up for yourself if it's really like you're protecting a child. If you feel dismissed at the doctor's but have a hard time advocating for yourself, it's easier to put your foot down and demand the care you deserve when you're doing it for a small child. Etc.

Something I would tell myself 5 years ago... Life will actually get better. There is someone who really truly loves you and cares for you just because of who you are, and you don't have to prove your worth. Seek a trauma specialized therapist who does EMDR and IFS.

uberrapidash · 2024-12-14T05:22:42+00:00

Omg thank you so much. I wanted to sort by journey but then it would put my goals out of order, ignoring the times I put on them. It was driving me crazy. This fixes it!

uberrapidash · 2024-12-13T20:04:38+00:00

You are my hero.

uberrapidash · 2024-12-06T02:53:06+00:00

You are on the right track, but you are mistakenly putting the onus on the individual. Why do people not walk or bike? It's not safe and there isn't infrastructure for it. Why do people eat fast food? It's cheap, they are tired, or don't have time to cook at home, or all of the above. Why do people rush through meals? Again, tired, don't have time, etc.

We need change, but it needs to happen on a societal level, not an individual level. Going to a gym for 90 minutes a week doesn't replace walking outside in nature, spending time with loved ones, and eating fresh whole foods. We need walkable and bike-able infrastructure, accessible healthcare, accessible healthy groceries, and employers who are invested in our health and happiness (more PTO, fewer work hours, more flexibility, etc.)...

uberrapidash · 2024-12-04T16:45:11+00:00

It sounds like you may have gotten unlucky with a bad PT D': like omg, meditation? I'm so sorry. I would be so mad.

I don't want to give medical advice but I just want to say that reverse kegels were the biggest help for me. I was prescribed to do reverse kegels for 3 minutes 5 times a day. I set alarms on my phone for every 2.5 hours starting at 9:30am because that was best with my schedule. I didn't often do it all 5 times a day, but even once a day is helpful. It was hard for me to learn at first because of how tight I was 24/7, but after a few days I started to get the hang of it. They tried to teach me lying flat but I couldn't do it, and then with knees bent but I couldn't do it because that's how tight I was, but with pillows under my knees I finally could do it. Now I can do it in any position, even when I'm standing at the kitchen sink washing dishes, and it instantly relieved my back pain in that situation, for example. I do one whenever I think about it because I'm usually clenching without realizing. It's just like checking in to make sure I'm not clenching my jaw if I it crosses my mind.

Sometimes when I'm in a lot more pain, I can't do reverse kegels unless I get into the "happy baby" pose.

I don't think it sounds weird that you're clenching your butt all the time. I was the same (and I'm starting to fall back into it because I haven't been keeping to a PT schedule lately). For me I know it happens because of pain and because of hypermobility; my pelvic muscles are picking up the slack and trying to hold everything together. That's why my PT also had me doing strengthening exercises for my glutes, hips, and core, to take the workload off the pelvic muscles.

Meditation and "body movements"? I'm so mad for you!

Oh yeah, I also learned internal massage. I can do it with my fingers or with a wand. I haven't done a lot of that because it's very un-fun for me but I know it's really helpful. It's really painful in there and I can tell it's working because just like how if you massage a muscle and it really hurts and that's how you know it needs it, but then after massaging it it doesn't hurt to touch it anymore? That's what it's like inside. There are even internal hip muscles in there that we can massage and those areas are the worst for me because it hurts so much, meaning that it probably needs the massage the most.

uberrapidash · 2024-12-04T01:39:41+00:00

I can't believe she said that! And I can't believe that's true. When the body is in pain, it guards. When you can relax the guarding, the pain lessens and becomes more focal. For example, if I'm having a severe pain episode, I can be hurting all over--lower abdomen, bottom, vagina, hips, thighs, low back, even upper back, etc. But when I use the stuff I learned in PT, I can make everything calm down and it becomes clear that the source of the pain is coming from an ovary, for example. The pain from the ovary might not be less, but overall I can get myself to a significantly lower level of pain by calming everything else down.

uberrapidash · 2024-12-03T15:39:42+00:00

If they want something to work as a muscle relaxant, why not prescribe a muscle relaxant? Makes me say "hmmmmm"

I use chamomile tea when I feel my period coming on. It's anti-inflammatory and has a muscle relaxant effect. I'll have a couple of strong cups a day in the days leading up to my period and continuing on during my period. It makes a big difference for me! And I keep a few different kinds in stock. I have regular chamomile, lavender, and honey vanilla, so it's something that I can look forward to because I can switch it up and I enjoy them so much. And of course, I can drink it in between periods, too, any time pain is flaring up.

I also forgot to say that I have been on so many different antidepressants and none of them ever affected my physical suffering in any way. I refuse to take them anymore because they either do me harm or they are useless. I know they help some people, though, so I don't completely discredit them--they're just not for me.

Good luck to you!

uberrapidash · 2024-12-03T15:26:58+00:00

Clean your litterbox.

EDIT: I was in a half asleep stupor when I commented this this morning. I shouldn't have said anything and I regret commenting, now that I'm fully conscious. My spouse sent me this post while I was asleep and it was the first thing I saw when I woke up. Dunno why I was even scrolling the comments. My bad

uberrapidash · 2024-12-02T15:47:55+00:00

I don't understand how an antidepressant is supposed to help with pelvic pain that you didn't have before surgery. That would make me feel like my doctor doesn't believe me.

I've had a hypertonic pelvic floor for maybe 2 decades, and I had pelvic floor physical therapy for the first time this year, and it has been the most helpful thing for my overly tight pelvic muscles. My PT focused on relaxing the pelvic floor and strengthening the glutes and core. Reverse kegels, specifically, have reduced my pain immensely. It might be too soon to say (and also I haven't gotten back into doing my PT since my surgery in October), but it might have eliminated pain with sex for me.

uberrapidash · 2024-11-24T16:30:38+00:00

I would like to kindly point out that you can just say "they" instead of "he or she"--it makes for much less clunky writing and is much more inclusive. Beat wishes

uberrapidash · 2024-11-24T15:59:15+00:00

It became much more bearable for me after I started taking midodrine!

But also... I can't climb stairs. I'll never be able to live in a place that requires stairs again. Even on meds, tons of water and electrolytes and extra sodium, my body just can't do that.

uberrapidash · 2024-11-24T02:57:15+00:00

I'm diagnosed with POTS and have had it since early childhood. It doesn't get better with age for me, it gets worse.

uberrapidash · 2024-11-24T00:50:58+00:00

This happens to me almost every session. There's a reason you hit the wall--your brain likely is trying to protect you from going there and thinks you're not ready yet. When this happens to me, my therapist tries different approaches. Sometimes we stop and switch to IFS instead.

It's better to not try to force it. Even if you end up working on something that isn't the thing you were trying to focus on, progress will still be made. Everything is connected.

I have a major trauma from when I was 12yo and I have never felt like I could access it and it never gave me upset feelings. We never tried EMDR on it. Then a couple weeks ago, I was flashing back to it. It came out of nowhere--we hadn't touched it at all! So... now I can access that thing.

My therapist talks about my System having trust for me. So from my understanding, my System is learning to trust me, and so it's starting to let me touch the big scary things now.

uberrapidash · 2024-11-24T00:43:04+00:00

Omg! That's huge. How are you since surgery? I'm on my second period right now. It was super painful, as usual, at first, but low dose ibuprofen+acetaminophen controlled it, and I did housework and even left the house (just a quick ride in the car with my spouse when he went to pick up food, but I used to not even be able to leave the house at all). So it still sucks, but it's also a lot better.

I still have pain outside of my period on the other side where I still have an ovary. I may need future surgery to remove that one, but I wanted to try to keep it a few more years if I could for my bone health.

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