Is rumination considered as compulsion? I stopped dioing my rituals and praying when I feel like I do sins. But still thoughts are awful. Then I started to manifest now like my hands are shaking sometimes, back is painful, knee is hurting. I haven’t had 8 hrs of sleep for almost 2 months 😔 What should I do?
Yes, rumination is a compulsion. It's likely you need to do ERP (or more ERP) focusing on the topics that are coming up as intrusive thoughts. I'm sorry you're having a hard time. Lack of sleep makes things so hard.
@ReadyForImprovement I don’t even know how to handle this insomnia smh ☹️
@RiriCalista I wish I could help with that, I'm not sure either 😔
@ReadyForImprovement Have you experience physical manifestation of ocd or like anxiety like shaking? Or pain in your neck and arms?
@RiriCalista Yes. Physical symptoms like that are common. In the past, I've had panic attacks that have made me shake really hard, I have had tingling and numbness in my hands (that was from not breathing properly/hyperventilating, I learned afterwards). Tension from long periods of anxiety can cause pain in the body, I experience that too. The good news is that the severe panic attacks that caused the shaking and hand issues haven't happened in a very long time and I have less tension and pain now, too. ERP has helped reduce my anxiety levels overall. I still have a long way to go, but ERP is improving my life significantly!
@RiriCalista Yes, I’ve had that. Positive movement is the only thing that’s helped. This could mean weight lifting, running, dancing, swimming, yoga postures, walking etc. Find a way to get comfortable using the body. It takes work and it will be uncomfortable at first, but the shakes will go away and the anxiety will let up a bit.
@RiriCalista I have two protocols for insomnia: If it’s because my mind is very active but my body is too tired to get up, I practice yoga nidra (Google this, very easy to practice and lots of guided practices). If my body isn’t tired, I get up, drink herbal tea, and read something boring. Both give my mind something to do until it’s totally exhausted and let’s me rest. The worst thing you can do is to worry about not sleeping, that starts the rumination cycle. Distract your mind with simple but active tasks like yoga nidra or reading.
@ReadyForImprovement Is it normal that I experience this all the time but just a span of mins? How can I handle this? Like all day, everyday I have this like panic then I just ignore it. Not mind it at all.
@Carmen Loup I tried to actually walk after I work. Just like a simple walk yk. And breath a fresh air. It helps tbh but when I am alone, I felt so scared and in danger. My nerves feels like shaking. Before I sleep, my arms feels like shaking 😢
@Carmen Loup So helpful. I’ll try to read something that will makes me boring haha
@RiriCalista I’m sorry to hear that. Walking might be a bit much at those points, but your breath is always available to you. Exhale fully and completely through your nose and inhale deeply through your nose, counting as you do. Always make the exhale longer than the inhale to calm the nervous system (count to 4 inhaling and 6 or 7 exhaling). That’s what I started with before going to movement :) This is called “pranayama” in Sanskrit and if you look it up, you’ll find lots of amazing practices!
@Carmen Loup Thank you so much. I am having some numbness in my body rn. My legs are sore and arms. Hands feels like shaking even if I am not doing anything. Don’t know what’s going on 🥲 My back is so painful felt like I am carrying something woah
@RiriCalista That sounds like a stressed nervous system response. Breathing can help alleviate symptoms. For me, it was just a symptom of anxiety and once the anxiety was handled that sensation went away :)
@Carmen Loup Isn’t this thing dangerous? Esp when you experience this daily? Or should I wait to subside the pain?
@RiriCalista No, feeling numb limbs or aches are not dangerous to the body, they are a symptom of over work or stress, they are information. It’s your body saying “hey I’m stressed! Find out why and fix it!” Sometimes we can’t fix the stressful situation, so instead we turn to pacifying the body with deep breathing and/or gentle movement until that warning light turns off. Think about how sometimes a light comes on in your car and you take it to the shop and they tell you it was just a loose wire making the light malfunction. Sometimes our bodies just don’t know we’re safe, so they send out a warning light accidentally.
@Madam Stardust Oh okay thank you! 🫶🏻 It’s been months since I have only 2-5 hrs of sleep and this worries me a lot, I am anemic and I am worried about my blood condition/ flows. Now I rarely get some shaking in my body but my legs aches and hands are so painful 🥲 I lost 3 pounds as well plus my veins are like popping out and so painful all the time 💔 I wanted to check and go to the doctor asap but it’s hard to get a quick appointment nowadays 🥲🥲
Pain usually lasts until I sleep it off. I get migraines and have some chronic pain issues so I'm not a great measure. But I do know soreness from tension and anxiety can last until you rest or take something (like Advil, for example). As you get OCD, anxiety, and tension under control that should all settle.
@ReadyForImprovement I had pains when I go to sleep last night and when I wake up even now that I am working. My back is so painful ☹️ And arms as well. I’ll try to take some pain killers 🥲 I only got some 2 hrs of sleep. Melatonin is no longer a help for me.
Bro I'm scared rn, so there was a compulsion I did like 2hrs ago and I didn't do it properly cuz I kept getting a thought saying "something is gonna come in Ur room and kill you or you will have this illness It triggers me to say it but I froze because I kept seeing like a shadow and cuz I was home alone and it's dark so I didn't answer it 😃 and cuz I answered it late saying obviously I don't want to illness I would rather have the other (half of me knows it's not real), and I prayed 4 times as well cuz I didn't do the compulsion properly I tried doing it again logs if times and 1 hour later I tried again but It still didn't feel right, and now the thought is hurting my body a little and I feel shivery, and I have tried doing the compulsion but it's not working. Why can't these thighs just leave me alone and stop saying about illnesses all the time. And idk how I'm gonna get thru the night cuz I can't get the thought out of my head and I won't be able to do anything properly.
I have really started to take control of my compulsions and im starting to string together better days! Still not great days or even good, but they are better!!! I have controlled my outward compulsions (googling, research, reassurance, checking) the past couple of days and felt the positive impact of that. But unfortunately, I am realizing that the rumination is still constant. My sexuality and relationship are the only two things constantly on my brain, and if they aren’t I freak out and wonder why im not thinking about them! Anyone have any advice on how to deal with the rumination. Sometimes I don’t even notice im doing it, but it’s taking up 90% of my day. Once I start to tackle this I think I may make some real big progress! Hope everyone is fighting today! ❤️
I've been doing well the past month in cutting down on compulsions and have been feeling better however, last night I had a set back that carried on into today. I had gotten very poor sleep (4ish hours) and then something triggered my memory. I think with the sudden anxiety spike and lack of sleep I didn't have the strength to ignore my compulsions. Last night and today I've realised I've gone back into rumination and mentally reviewing the event excessively again and comparing my situation to other people's, but most of the times that I start going down these rabbit holes I don't even realise I'm doing it? Also been fixating a bit on the fear that I've ruined my progress and that I will fall back into the deep end of it all again, that I have done so much work getting myself out of, although trying my best to not be too discouraged. Does anyone have any advice on how to deal with rumination more specifically?
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