anyone experience these two things?

[alexandra]

Has anyone experience a bad flare up after a flu, infection, or even minor cold? I have and this flare up seems to be sticking around much longer than I expected as I have always been able to recover much faster and enjoy my almost pain free victories. I have Pain in back, legs and forarms, nerve and muscle pain. Another funny thing is if I take .05 MG of Ativan for insomnia I wake up almost pain free and slowly flare up in a couple of days. I take about 3 ativan per month for emergencies with insomnia due to anxiety. I'm assuming since it relaxes everything then there's less pain. Or is my pain caused by anxiety that the ativan relieves. Pain is too strong to just be anxiety, I'm confused. I am contacting a therapist via skype as I have not been able to recover from TMS on my own for 4 years.

 

[Ryan]

Your pain is hiding your anxiety. Generally speaking people would prefer pain over anxiety. Most of the time the anxiety started the whole pain thing. Ultimately there is repressed emotions behind the anxiety.

Your pain maybe flares up because you no longer have the preoccupation with your flu/cold symptoms. Hope that therapists can get you on the right track, goodluck.

Ryan

 

[Steve Ozanich]

Hi Alexandra,

Yes, on all counts. The pain will often increase after colds and flus, etc. I remember the last back pain stab I had was during the flu in 2000. I've also never had a cold or the flu since I healed 14 years ago, or so.

A cold is a TMS paragon, Western society's way of meditating (Chopra, et al). The id self or shadow, whatever you want to call it doesn't like to be sick. It's enraged by the thought of survival, but also of the increased energy demanded. This leads into the emotion of rage. I keep a printed copy near my desk of Dr. Sarno's words from HBP for consultations, "Rage Not Anger: The intensity of the anger--to the point of rage, determines the necessity of the physical symptoms as a diversion. The threat of rage to explode into consciousness must be of sufficient magnitude to warrant the production of TMS or one of its equivalents."

So, you need to realize that anxiety is unexpressed anger, and the TMS is caused by anger approaching, or at, the point of rage. Don't undervalue the role anxiety plays in your symptoms. The meds soothe the fires of rage but they don't solve anything.

The angerziety that you cannot feel is causing your symptoms. If you feel anxiety, or any anger, then it has nothing to do with your pain. That is conscious anger, and so it is expressed. There's no need for the diversion if it's conscious.

I hope you feel better soon! When you heal call me and we'll celebrate together.

SteveO