Dealing with healing from symptom substitution

Kylin Foster

Kylin Foster

Peer Supporter
Hi, I know I have been on here for this same issue and been given great advice but I'm struggling and I feel lost. It's very hard for me to be neutral towards the bloating. I know that mindbody factors are contributing to my symptoms 100%! But I'm still not sure if there is a food intolerance also contributing and I don't know if trying to find out is contributing to the whole thing. Is struggle accepting when my stomach doesn't look flat and staying confident and neutral towards it.
 
Ines said:
Have you ever tried to figure out if it's a food intolerance?
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No I haven't and I haven't tried because since I had pelvic pain for so long I thought it was unlikely at that same time I had a food intolerance that I didn't notice and then I noticed it right when the pain went away! But still I was distracted by pain so not impossible I could have missed it . Food intolerance or not my hyper focusing on it definitely makes it worse.
 
I hear ya. I think all of us TMS'ers are like that. If your bloating goes away then you'll focus on something else. Have you tried any of the programs on this site like the Structured Educational Program or Alan Gordan's program?
Are you in shape but are just really noticeably bloated? Why does it bother you so much?
 
Kylin Foster said:
Hi, I know I have been on here for this same issue and been given great advice but I'm struggling and I feel lost. It's very hard for me to be neutral towards the bloating. I know that mindbody factors are contributing to my symptoms 100%! But I'm still not sure if there is a food intolerance also contributing and I don't know if trying to find out is contributing to the whole thing. Is struggle accepting when my stomach doesn't look flat and staying confident and neutral towards it.
Click to expand...
I get this struggle, both personally and professionally, Kylin.
I attribute some of it to Body Dysmorphic Disorder, which is seeing parts of our bodies in a distorted fashion. Belly is often the hatred place. Neurologically, what happens, which may be tied to TMS is that "neurons that fire together, wire together"... when we think "I hate my belly, belly this and belly that, this awful awful swelly-belly" then we are digging a ditch in our brain's pathways that say "You look fat."
Then there is real stomach bloat. I find that eating wheat can do this to me yet I don't have celiac disease. My GI doc suggested years ago I try letting go of wheat and seeing what happened and my belly felt better.
I have to say that doing an intense form of vinyasa yoga, aimed at the fat storage center of the lower abdomen, has gotten me some real relief, too. Here's the link: it's labeled as being for weight loss but for me it was about getting into the scary basement of my lower abdomen, where the TMS and self-doubt live, where the Body Dysmorphia resides and generates self-hatred when it is so terribly undeserved. I hope this helps. This kind of yoga isn't for everyone. I've been doing yoga since I was 16, so I know to go slowly in any new yoga and build rather than hurt myself trying to look like the teacher!
And, lastly, there is always the Set Aside Prayer: 'higher power, please let me set aside everything I think I know about my stomach and how it looks, let me focus on what is right with me and with the world rather than what is wrong.' (-:
All best wishes,
bg
 
Ines said:
I hear ya. I think all of us TMS'ers are like that. If your bloating goes away then you'll focus on something else. Have you tried any of the programs on this site like the Structured Educational Program or Alan Gordan's program?
Are you in shape but are just really noticeably bloated? Why does it bother you so much?
Click to expand...
It bothers me because I am naturally always been skinny and now I eat very healthy and work out a lot so when I'm
Not bloated I look toned and good but when I am bloated I don't look as good. So it's like I eat so healthy and work out and I only get the body I deserve for that very little of the time!
 
Kylin Foster said:
It bothers me because I am naturally always been skinny and now I eat very healthy and work out a lot so when I'm
Not bloated I look toned and good but when I am bloated I don't look as good. So it's like I eat so healthy and work out and I only get the body I deserve for that very little of the time!
Click to expand...
That is very frustrating. I can see how that can bother you. I go through those types of things too. I think Bodhgirl gave some good advice.
I have gastritis and sometimes even if I eat healthy my tummy is really bloated. Even raw veggies can cause acid and bloating. I really just try to ignore it because as a woman we're always going to have bloating sometimes. Have you tried to use the TMS approach with it? I know you said you overcame pelvic pain. This must be a secondary problem.
 
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