Can it be too dangerous to self treat if you have bad TMS?

Hi folks,

Just wondering, can it be too dangerous to self treat TMS if you’ve got a very bad case?

my symptoms are moving around now I’ve started listening to the audio books and it’s scaring the heck out of me. It’s head stuff like dizziness, head pressure, brain feelings, tingling, little headaches and other scary things. I’m starting to really worry that I have a real neurological brain disease but my doctor is treating me like a hypochondriac time waster.

When I try to tell others about my TMS journey too I start to have strange panic attack feelings (is something unconscious doing this?). I can’t believe it but it feels like something is fighting back to stop me treating my TMS. Is my case too severe for self treatment? It’s affecting my life and work now and the physical symptoms are scary and unpleasant. Thanks

 

Welcome to the forum, Dothermo.

It is a scary journey indeed, you're not travelling alone though. Keep coming here, it helps a lot not only for the info, but speacilly for the connectedness. If you have access to a psychotherapist/psychologist versed in TMS or at least modern approaches to chronic pain, I think it might help a lot to give you more confidence in your journey.

Panic attacks are usually caused by anxiety, which also plays a main role in TMS. Some say panic attacks are indeed TMS. Dizziness also has been more and more related to TMS. Headaches are a great example of how emotions cause physical pain. So everything you said checks out as TMS and therefore, perfectly able to treat as such.

But the thing you said that for me rang the loudest bell was "it feels like something is fighting back to stop me treating my TMS". It does feel like that, and the more you treat, the more your unconscious mind try to throw you in the mud. Almost everybody who heals from TMS goes through that. It's where your healing hides, getting to know a strenght you didn't know you have.

 

Hi, Dothermo,
The only way to treat any TMS, great and small, is to self treat. And that self treatment involves a lot of work. Facing yourself, your life, your emotions, your past, your present, your rage. Your brain (yes, it’s unconscious) is trying to STOP you from this self discovery. It looks like you’ve been checked out by your doctor and there isn’t anything wrong. But you keep focusing on the medical anyway? Why? Because you are avoiding The Work. You’ll have to get off the fence to heal. Go all in and commit to your recovery. Do the Structured Educational Program here on the wiki. It will help you “self treat” your TMS. Good luck!

 

Here's one angle to consider:
>>What's the alternative? What are you going to do if the answer you come up with is, "Yes, this is too dangerous or too severe to self-treat"?

Please know that I am writing this with compassion and concern and support!

 

I would say I've had a "very bad" case, so have several other people that have been on this forum (even back to when there were not very many TMS specialists, coaches, therapists and/or none local to them to see). I used several TMS therapists and psychologists who did not help, partly because I was still stuck on thinking I was "needing" external help (TMS brain and high anxiety). I did learn valuable skills from people I could employ later on in my journey (and I did learn what did and did not work) - but I needed to learn to rely on myself, and my ability to get through this. You will learn your power and strength, and that sometimes if might feel like "too much" of a burden but the "too much" is only another TMS construct of the mind, and it's not real - it's the way we victimize ourselves. I too had panic attacks, "seizures" and a number of things my brain constructed to try to keep me "safe" from exploring the internal issues that contribute to TMS.

That doesn't mean that at some point you might want some external support, but you still need to do all the work yourself. I've used a therapist to guide me through some work - but it's work I do, and I now have a TMS coach that is a huge help a few times a year, she just helps me think things through so that I don't end up ruminating or worrying about them.

Even if your symptoms don't match @TG957 or @miffybunny's their website is well worth reading as is Tamara's book outlining how bad her symptoms and fears were: https://defeatcrps.com/ (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome : Your Path To Healing)

I was bed bound for almost two years, and now walk miles per day and have way less anxiety. I still have symptoms, but am overcoming them, and out of the 30-40 symptoms I've had over just the last few years, I now consistently only have a few. Others can come and go but I no longer fear or worry about them.

You can absolutely do this.

 

No, I don't think so at all. Ultimately this is the best personal journey of self-discovery. You can do this. I always thought to myself that if I got myself into this I can get myself out.

 

I really like this!

 

This is so inspiring. There's a bunch of activities I used to do and love, like skateboarding, canoeing, cycling... Day by day I'm getting back to them. Last weekend I went cycling for a while, and feeling the speed and wind on my face... I was almost crying.

 

That’s fantastic!

 

I can guarantee that each person who succeeded in beating their TMS ended up being their own doctor, not because they could not find a TMS coach or TMS doctor, but because it is your own work of self-exploration that brings about healing. Nobody knows and understands you better than you. Nobody can make the effort to change your perceptions better than you would. No case is too severe for self-healing, it is all in your powers. You can use doctors, coaches, books, podcasts - but ultimately it is you and you only who can make the difference, because it is your own resistance and misconceptions that brought you to the breaking point.

When I came to this realization, I was both liberated and scared to my bones, because I had to take full responsibility of my own healing. Nothing was as empowering, exhilarating and life-changing for me as my recovery from TMS, second only to raising a child and watching him grow from a newborn to an admirable human being.

Conquer your own fear and you will succeed!

 

@TG957
Thank you so much for these beautiful inspiring thoughts. I have bookmarked them.