Taking care of ourselves

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I am trying to do better self-care around the AS and SID stuff, and I'm wondering what others do to take care of themselves.

I've been trying to stay away from gluten and dairy; others have said this helps with feeling more grounded. I tend to be sensitive to those foods anyway, so it makes sense to avoid them.

I'm also trying to exercise every day. In the nice weather, it's easy. I go for long walks. Now that it's cold, I've brought my bike in and put it on a stand so I can work out.

I'm trying to get better sleep, but it's hard. I don't get to bed early enough and then I wake up before dawn. It's massively hard for me to let go of the day. I'll stay up until I'm nearly sleep-walking.

I've also started saying no to things that I know will overload me, and not fool myself into thinking that "this time I can tough it out." I'm getting too old for that.

What do others do for self-care?

Thats great as these kinds of changes are necessary. I am easing up on the sugar that is for sure, and trying to stay away from simple carbs and for the most part I do. I need to find time to do some good working out more. And yes, its hard to exercise when the weather is cold. Not just because of it being cold outside but I find it puts me into a mode where I just want to lounge around all the time. That is definitely something I need to fight. As far as sleep goes, I could get to bed earlier but I won't necessarily get more sleep that way.

A side from enough rest, exercise, and proper nutrition I try to keep the inside environment of my house clean, orderly, and without distractive visual, audio, and olfactory clutter.

My home is my sanctuary.

That's exactly what I do, too! I'm so glad to meet someone else who creates sanctuary this way.

Everyone I know either doesn't care at all, or comes to my house and says, "Wow, I wish I could create a calm space like yours." That's when I have to hold back the urge to jump up and down and say: "Just divest yourself of half of your possessions and hire me to do the rest. It's easy! I'll show you!"

Have you discerned that organizing the things of space is one of my "special interests"?

I need to improve my dental health. My dentist swears that I am not brushing, but I am. I brush 3 times a day. I think, though, that maybe I am not doing it quite right. I dunno. But it needs improvement. I could also do to rid my face of acne. I eat pretty well. I love friuts and some veggies.

eman--try an electric toothbrush. Also ask your dentist if by any chance you have unusually deep crevices in the chewing surfaces of your molars, and the cavities are there; if so, your brush may simply not be reaching them. I used to have cavities as a child for that very reason, and eventually my dentist just sealed the teeth (filling the tops of the teeth with this plastic cavity-filling stuff) and I haven't had a cavity since.

As for me...
Good, plain food. I splurge for milk now, but unfortunately fresh fruit and vegetables is too much for food stamps (potatoes are OK though--in late spring lots of fresh food will be cheap), so there's a lot of sandwiches, frozen vegetables, and canned tuna. I go for a walk every day if I don't have errands to run (I do my errands on foot). I drink water. And I keep a regular schedule. Also: Vitamins. Who knows if they do any good, or if I even need them; but they're not high-dose so they can't hurt.

All of that stuff is actually not perfect yet. It's being worked on. All of it is at least partly done though.

The turning point for me came when I got out of the hospital years ago after a very bad bout with inflammatory bowel disease. I'd lost 20 pounds off my 110 pound body in one bloody month and was very weak

but I, piece by piece, got rid of all my furniture (except my book cases full of books) and carpeting
and then painted all the walls white or off white.

Its only been in the last ten years or so that I've been choosing a few choice pieces of furniture and painting walls a color other than the white or off white.

One of my passions is music but I've found I can not practice making my own music if I don't have adequate amounts of silence in my life to help me maintain perspective.
For me, silence is like fresh clean air or a glass of pure water.

Callista, check around for a produce store that only sells vegetables and fruits. Often times at produce stores one can find fresh vegetables much cheaper than frozen or canned. The enzymes in raw vegetables can be very important for digestion.

To supplement my diet during the winter months I also sprout inexpensive seeds, grains, & raw nuts and use them raw in salads or on sandwiches.

And yes, I have an electric toothbrush too. My husband bought me one that came with a clock that times me to 30 seconds per each quarter of my mouth and then presents me with a "happy face".

I need to let go of my past and move on.

I eat pretty healthy, drink nothing but water and get a few days of exercise.

I need to work on my social skills and get a job.

I'm working on that myself.. because even though most of us had some hard stuff to deal with in the past, it really does not affect us today unless we allow it to by hanging onto it. It's easy to say "let go" but actually doing it, thats another story. I try reminding myself often of how hanging onto it causes more anxiety and depression... not something I want to do to myself.

A tidy house is important to both of us. Sometimes it seems to get away from us, but we try.
Sleep! OMG sleep is the single most important thing I indulge myself in. I will sleep in 'til 10 or later on weekends. I t feels so good snuggling into warm sheets and blankets drifting from dream to dream... I deny myself many things- but sleep is not one of them.
Unfortunately all else falls to the way-side: I drink way too much, eat crappy food (though all I had tonight was a salad... and beer), and stay up way too late sometimes trying to get quilting projects done.

That so true. I find I'm thinking about it at randoms times of the day, especially at night. I can't sleep because I keep thinking about it. I need to move on because the hurt I felt back then I'm still hurting from now.
Sometimes watching TV or burying my face in a book makes the thoughts go, but they're still there and will come back.

I also keep a very orderly and clean space. I spent $300 on a Roomba so my wood floors would be clean with minimal stress and effort (I have a German Shedder).

I take Omega3 vitamins, in the winter I take melatonin (3mg at bed) to help me sleep, I have xanax for when the anxiety reaches the point where I want to scream and literally curl up in a ball in the corner kicking at the floor, I try to have a good bed time and morning time routine that is the same or nearly the same every single night, I try to space my activities around needing what I call 'peace and quiet' time, when possible I email people instead of phoning (I'm just not often up for phone calls, I don't know why but they really disturb me), I take a bath at bed and one when I wake up which helps me feel 'grounded' and relaxed and ready for action, I prepare meals ahead so it's easier - I had eight skewers of pork souvlaki tonight so I made three extra meals and put them in meal-shaped containers in the fridge which makes it easier for me to eat three meals a day that are healthy but easy, I try to have a safe person who can understand when I'm having big emotions or just not feeling right or really stressed out.

(Depression is also part of my problem so the above can apply to that too)

I know, I completely understand and sometimes I even deal with it. I do try to remind myself that all of that happened was in the past and I am now living a new life. I am hoping in time, after practicing this more and more, the past will be quite unimportant to me. I hope so anyway... I also hate the idea of giving those who had hurt me power.. I have allowed it to happen for too long, I am working on changing that. It takes so much time, discipline and patience...

Hey, I hadn't thought of sprouts! Great idea. I know you can do it with lentils and soybeans... We used to sprout seeds when I was little; they were indeed very good on sandwiches.

as long as i stay on a strict schedule, exercise regularly, eat at least fruit, some veggies a day and at the same time everyday and sleep at least 4 hours which oddly is all my body needs haha... i'm much healthy and better person overall.

I don't know if sprouting beans denatures the protease inhibitors in them. Unless the protease inhibitors are denatured beans are difficult to digest and, surprisingly, thought of as poisonous in some instances if consumed raw.
If you sprout beans, still cook them. Don't eat them raw.

Seeds (like radish, alfalfa, sunflower, or chives) and nuts (which even if they're raw don't actually sprout but do chemically change) are fine raw.

I like to make "green" drinks by adding lots of green leafy vegetables and seed sprouts to fresh fruit juices I blend up. The drinks are mostly sweet from the fruit but a bit greenish looking from the leafy greens.

Grains I sprout, grind, and make into crackers in my dehydrator set at a low temperature so as not to destroy the enzymes.
I also juice the green "grass" part of grains like wheat or barley. Its pretty strong stuff and only drunk by the ounce.