Anxiety

So now that I am aware that I have TMS, I have become more anxious as the pain subsides. So I had an amazing 3 days since Saturday. Mild pain (my symptoms are back, neck and head pain/tension and migraines and odd blurring vision and facial pain) but mostly just feeling normal and without pain, which has been fantastic for me as I have been in daily pain of some sort for the longest time. Last night, I was the most chilled I have been in a long time (or so it seemed). Even my partner commented the minute he saw me when he came home last night saying that I looked really chilled out and relaxed.
Once I went to bed, after a couple of minutes, I started to feel pain. The usual spot in my back and within minutes my neck got tense and I could feel the beginnings of a tension headache. There are a few stressful things going on in work. Things that involve conflicts which have nothing to do with me but which I know about. I think the boundary issue of knowing about these conflicts when I shouldn't and the fear of the conflicts themselves, have triggered something in me. Even without my involvement in them. I am aware of this but I am wondering why the anxiety came up when it did. Having been so chilled out all day to have this stuff hit me like a ton of bricks once I went to bed. And I had to get up about 3 times to go to the loo (pissed off perhaps?), so I put in my mouth guard to lessen any grinding but I still woke up with a bad tension headache which hasn't gone away. Anyone know how to protect myself from the night time anxieties?
Feeling disappointed today as I had been so pain-free for the last few days.
Thanks

 

Night is still my worst time, too. My daily pain all went away almost immediately, but I'm still struggling at night. That has always been when I have my worst symptoms, and the thought keeps popping up in my head that I'm expecting too much from TMS therapy if I think it's going to fix that. Negative self talk - old habit and not helping. I found an herbal tea about a year ago that helps me chill and sleep through. Doesn't knock me out or anything, but once I'm asleep it keeps me there. I used to wake several times during the night with monkey mind - probably left over from years of being on 24/7 call and having to answer that phone at any and all hours. At least now once I fall asleep, I'm getting some rest. But the initial monkey mind at night is still bad. I tell myself I can't do anything about anything until morning and it just seems to get worse - makes me feel frustrated and helpless. I know for a fact that when I do daily meditation, and particularly mindfulness meditation (live in this moment) on a regular basis, it gets better. So I know, for me, that's what I need to do. And I still forget or worse, put it off. I'm learning some discipline from this process - hopefully, I'll get more regular about the meditation.

 

Everyone here has or had its particular situations or times of the day that make symptoms flare up. It is a normal pattern, you two seem to have it at night.
Meditation/mindfulness and affirmations are helpful. Do them both right before hitting the sack as a kind of ritual. Also when you feel symptoms come up, instead of getting irritated or anxious, do affirmations. Don't do them to get rid of the pain immediately, it is a process of slowly deconditioning yourself. When you have done them for let's say 10 minutes, leave it at that and go to sleep.
Some I use are:
"I feel calm, relaxed, patient and confident", "I accept myself, I appreciate myself and I love myself", "I am always easy on myself". Create one of your own that best fits you. Maybe even "I love sleeping" might work for you.
Give it time and slowly you will see progress. Don't beat yourself up if you fall back, this is also part of TMS. Sometimes these bumps in the road can even give you clues about the things that may have been responsible for it.

 

The herbal tea sounds great, debbi. Is it Chamomile? I like that one.

I also find that a cup of hot milk gets me sleepy.
My mom always gave my sister and brother and me a cup of hot Ovaltine before bedtime.
We slept like babies.

Keep the mind as peaceful as possible before bedtime. Try soothing music and visualizing
a tranquil place like lying on a sunny beach. Or being in the arms of someone you love.

 

Gigalos - I like the 'I love sleeping' myself!

Walt - the tea is a blend - Chamomile is one of the ingredients. It's called Organic Nighty Night.

 

That sounds good. I'll get some. Thanks.