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Anxiety increase when starting program

M

Marnster

New Member
When u all started this program did u experience an increase in anxiety?? My physical pain has decreased since I started this program but my anxiety is terrible.... Way worse. Maybe it's from getting emotions out?? Is this normal?
 
It could be secondary imperative and your brain trying to get your attention.
A lot of people recommend the Claire Weekes books for anixiety.
 
Each time I make any improvements in my symptoms, I get a surge of anxiety - which I totally welcome. Anxiety is one of those emotions that result in pain symptoms if repressed. As per Dr. Weekes and Jon Kabat-Zinn, there is no way around anxiety other than getting through it. As hard as it is, if you give your body a chance and space to feel through it, it will subside.
 
Great news on your anxiety Marnster, it means your subconscious is realizing that creating pain is no longer working to distract you. When I went through my TMS healing, I had intense anxiety as the pain decreased. It really helped to get the TMS message to sink in further for me, as sometimes it was like a seesaw with the anxiety going down when the pain went up and vice versa. This made it crystal clear that my pain was not physical in nature.

The good news is that the anxiety will also decrease as you continue to stick to the program. Try to feel the actual physical sensation of the anxiety as much as you can, and don't allow it to rise up into your mind where it will create fearful/negative thoughts. It isn't fun, but as someone else pointed out, there is no way around it, just through. Again, it isn't fun, but it won't kill you and the more you do it the more you will realize that it is just an energy movement in your body, nothing more.

I also took an anxiety med (Klonipin) when the anxiety was intense at first, but I tapered off it as soon as I could. Work with your doctor on a safe tapering schedule for whatever medication you're on.

Keep going!
 
Mark W said:
Great news on your anxiety Marnster, it means your subconscious is realizing that creating pain is no longer working to distract you. When I went through my TMS healing, I had intense anxiety as the pain decreased. It really helped to get the TMS message to sink in further for me, as sometimes it was like a seesaw with the anxiety going down when the pain went up and vice versa. This made it crystal clear that my pain was not physical in nature.

The good news is that the anxiety will also decrease as you continue to stick to the program. Try to feel the actual physical sensation of the anxiety as much as you can, and don't allow it to rise up into your mind where it will create fearful/negative thoughts. It isn't fun, but as someone else pointed out, there is no way around it, just through. Again, it isn't fun, but it won't kill you and the more you do it the more you will realize that it is just an energy movement in your body, nothing more.

I also took an anxiety med (Klonipin) when the anxiety was intense at first, but I tapered off it as soon as I could. Work with your doctor on a safe tapering schedule for whatever medication you're on.

Keep going!
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Why would the anxiety increase when starting this program?
 
Mark like you describe my anxiety is now going up when my legs and back pain going down. I have headaches now instead of bad leg pain. Why might this be?
 
Marnster said:
Mark like you describe my anxiety is now going up when my legs and back pain going down. I have headaches now instead of bad leg pain. Why might this be?
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It is the symptom imperative that Dr. Sarno talks about. The subconscious was using your leg/back pain to distract you from the anger/fear/sadness in your unconscious, and once it sees that this strategy no longer works, it commonly will start to create pain in other areas of the body in an attempt to distract you again. The subconscious is very clever, do NOT underestimate its intelligence.

By doing your program, you are consciously feeling the negative emotions, which is a "bleeding off" process Dr. Sarno described. The anxiety sucks, but as long as you are feeling it in your body, it is then conscious and it can be processed and released, and not hidden by your subconscious and turned into pain/discomfort in various areas of the body.

It is not fun to go through, but when you're through it and look back on it, it is a pretty fascinating process, and you'll be equipped and ready to handle it should TMS ever occur again.

Have you ever read The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle? If not, I highly recommend it, as it clearly explains the way our thoughts/emotions operate, and it gives practical strategies for reducing anxiety and depression which myself and thousands if not millions of others have found profoundly useful.
 
Mark W said:
It is the symptom imperative that Dr. Sarno talks about. The subconscious was using your leg/back pain to distract you from the anger/fear/sadness in your unconscious, and once it sees that this strategy no longer works, it commonly will start to create pain in other areas of the body in an attempt to distract you again. The subconscious is very clever, do NOT underestimate its intelligence.

By doing your program, you are consciously feeling the negative emotions, which is a "bleeding off" process Dr. Sarno described. The anxiety sucks, but as long as you are feeling it in your body, it is then conscious and it can be processed and released, and not hidden by your subconscious and turned into pain/discomfort in various areas of the body.

It is not fun to go through, but when you're through it and look back on it, it is a pretty fascinating process, and you'll be equipped and ready to handle it should TMS ever occur again.

Have you ever read The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle? If not, I highly recommend it, as it clearly explains the way our thoughts/emotions operate, and it gives practical strategies for reducing anxiety and depression which myself and thousands if not millions of others have found profoundly useful.
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When does the anxiety go away?? I've had terrible anxiety and am now on anxiety meds since day 1 of the program
 
Marnster said:
What are some ways to reduce anxiety that are in this book?
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I think the first step is to stop worrying about when the anxiety will go away. I found that the more I accepted that the anxiety was going to be there, the faster it dissipated. It may sound weird, but your resistance to your anxiety can cause you almost as much discomfort as the anxiety itself. It's just another layer of negativity added to the anxiety. I'm not saying it's easy to do, but do your best to allow the anxiety to be there without constantly wishing it were gone.

The most helpful practice from the book is to FEEL THE PHYSICAL FEELING OF THE ANXIETY IN YOUR BODY. I put it in caps because I think it really needs to sink in. The energy in your anxiety rises up into your thinking, where it creates negative thoughts, which then creates more anxiety. It is a self-generating cycle that causes the anxiety episodes to last longer than necessary.

Do your best to just feel and observe the physical feeling of the anxiety in your body. Is it in your chest? Stomach? Throat? Don't think about it, just feel it and observe what it does. When you notice you have started to think about it, bring your attention again to the actual physical feeling of it in your body. You will get better at it the more you do it. By just watching and feeling the energy, it is unable to go up into your mind and create more negative thoughts.
 
Mark W said:
I think the first step is to stop worrying about when the anxiety will go away. I found that the more I accepted that the anxiety was going to be there, the faster it dissipated. It may sound weird, but your resistance to your anxiety can cause you almost as much discomfort as the anxiety itself. It's just another layer of negativity added to the anxiety. I'm not saying it's easy to do, but do your best to allow the anxiety to be there without constantly wishing it were gone.

The most helpful practice from the book is to FEEL THE PHYSICAL FEELING OF THE ANXIETY IN YOUR BODY. I put it in caps because I think it really needs to sink in. The energy in your anxiety rises up into your thinking, where it creates negative thoughts, which then creates more anxiety. It is a self-generating cycle that causes the anxiety episodes to last longer than necessary.

Do your best to just feel and observe the physical feeling of the anxiety in your body. Is it in your chest? Stomach? Throat? Don't think about it, just feel it and observe what it does. When you notice you have started to think about it, bring your attention again to the actual physical feeling of it in your body. You will get better at it the more you do it. By just watching and feeling the energy, it is unable to go up into your mind and create more negative thoughts.
Click to expand...
Mark W said:
I think the first step is to stop worrying about when the anxiety will go away. I found that the more I accepted that the anxiety was going to be there, the faster it dissipated. It may sound weird, but your resistance to your anxiety can cause you almost as much discomfort as the anxiety itself. It's just another layer of negativity added to the anxiety. I'm not saying it's easy to do, but do your best to allow the anxiety to be there without constantly wishing it were gone.

The most helpful practice from the book is to FEEL THE PHYSICAL FEELING OF THE ANXIETY IN YOUR BODY. I put it in caps because I think it really needs to sink in. The energy in your anxiety rises up into your thinking, where it creates negative thoughts, which then creates more anxiety. It is a self-generating cycle that causes the anxiety episodes to last longer than necessary.

Do your best to just feel and observe the physical feeling of the anxiety in your body. Is it in your chest? Stomach? Throat? Don't think about it, just feel it and observe what it does. When you notice you have started to think about it, bring your attention again to the actual physical feeling of it in your body. You will get better at it the more you do it. By just watching and feeling the energy, it is unable to go up into your mind and create more negative thoughts.
Click to expand...

My heart races, body shaky, head hurts. It's constant almost now. Gotta take medication
 
Hi, Marnster. I think it's perfectly normal and expected to have some increase in anxiety when starting the SEProgram because is requires thinking... journaling... to discover the emotions causing our symptoms. Try not to spend more than 15 minutes a day on journaling. Then do things you enjoy. Practice deep breathing and meditation to calm you.
 
Walt Oleksy said:
Hi, Marnster. I think it's perfectly normal and expected to have some increase in anxiety when starting the SEProgram because is requires thinking... journaling... to discover the emotions causing our symptoms. Try not to spend more than 15 minutes a day on journaling. Then do things you enjoy. Practice deep breathing and meditation to calm you.
Click to expand...

Just feel so shaky and heart races and head hurts. Have to take medication to calm a bit
 
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