Help. I'm an anxiety freak

Alfaman147 said:
Does anyone else have a constant spasm in their anus? It's like a pressure sensation. I have been diagnosed with health anxiety and am suffering alot this last few weeks. I thought it was levator ani syndrome but after checking in with myself more closely I can feel it's my anal sphincter that is in a state of constant tension. It's an awful feeling and I have had it on and off for 6 years or so. I had a gap of nearly 2 years without it but now after a stressful time it has come back. I know it's psychological because as I'm going to sleep in can feel it flutter and start to relax and I always wake up feeling OK with no problems. I'm my own worst enemy and cannot stop reading up on it searching for answers hence all my old posts on levator ani and rectal spasms. But I can tell it's my anal sphincter that is the cause. Not to be too graphic or anything but if I just touch my anus it makes the tension go away. Or gently inserting a finger is absolute relief.
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You're not alone. Even though its just a placebo effect, it helps me to take things to keep my bowels moving daily, Sesame Oil is a great lubricant to massage into the said area, and I take before bed a supplement to soften the stool called "Intestinal Movement Formula" by HealthForce Detox. Sure best to think it away with the true cure but until that can be achieved I avoid refined sugars, gluten, dairy... BUT MY HOPE IS TO BE OFF IT ALL SOON.
 
I'm not going to Google but I'm hung over, tired and haven't eaten anything today. Could this be the reason why my anal tension is much worse??? I really want to Google to find out but I'm not going to. I will just ask on here
 
Renee said:
Jan - I read the book last year but didn't understand "floating." How can a person get themselves to float when they are experiencing the oncoming feeling of terror of a panic attack? Can you explain the process?
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I imagine myself floating on a raft on the river floating away from my problems or you can be in a hot air balloon doing the same thing. Just float away from the stressor. I do self hypnosis sometimes for the same effect.
 
Alf,

What does that mean you are not going to Google? In every other sentence you say you are not going to Google. Just read the Dr. Sarno book, or go to Amazon.com and read the Healing Back Pain reviews. They are great stories of encouragement and will keep you busy for several evenings.

The posterior vent is soft tissue that can have reduced blood flow, just like facial pain, jaw pain, hand, foot, chest pain. It can happen anywhere. There is nothing special about posterior vent pain.

The sooner you calm yourself down and stop worrying in a forum on the internet, the sooner you will begin examining your personality and emotions in your unconscious mind that cause you to behave as you do. And that cause your posterior vent discomfort.

Alf, your posterior vent discomfort will stop as you begin to embrace and understand Dr. Sarno's correct diagnosis.

You have been given all the advice and feedback you need to move forward and feel just fine.

I read Dr. Sarno's books, at least a few pages, every single day. Reassure yourself by reading the medical knowledge of Dr. Sarno.

Or you can keep talking about Googling a lot more. I don't see what that will accomplish.
 
BeWell I suffer terribly with anxiety and I suffer from health anxiety so I am constantly researching my symptoms. I am having a really bad time with it at the moment. My ass is killing me. I'm very depressed with it. I'm still working though and I'm trying to get through it. The more I Google the worse it is and I try to stop myself from doing it
 
"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." - Albert Einstein.

Alf, go read Dr. Sarno books. What sense in Googling if you think you are healthy?

Lastly, if you think you not healthy physically, then please do go to either your primary care Physician, or to an Emergency Center.

Best.
 
That is good to hear Alf. So now what are you going to do? More of the same talk or try something different?

Symptoms compete for attention. Put your attention elsewhere and focus on your daily life, your daily emotions, and go out there and live.

Hope you have a good day Alf.
 
I'm going to get in touch with my tms therapist. I had this trouble for nearly 6 years and I thought I had got rid of it. I had nearly 18 months symptom free but it's back with a vengeance. I'm at work struggling to focus on anything else. I need a break. Im even thinking of seeing a pelvic floor therapist to see if they can help. My anal sphincter or some muscles down there are just in spasm all the time. I can feel them twitch now and again
 
Alfaman147 said:
I'm just keen to see who else has this problem
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Heh, Alfaman, that's one of the amazingly infuriating things about the condition we conveniently call TMS - I can't tell you how many times over the last five(?) years I've seen this on the forum - the symptom that no one else has! That's almost a guarantee that it's TMS - your unconscious primitive brain is such a tricky, slippery devil - rather than give you a symptom that you can share with others, it has decided to do the opposite - give you a symptom that you can't compare with others, so that you will obsess about it.

The worst thing you can do for yourself is to continue this obsession of trying to find someone with your EXACT symptoms. It will never happen! Every human being is unique, and perceives pain, pleasure, touch, hearing, color, taste, and every other sensation DIFFERENTLY. Remember the gold dress? Or was it blue? Heck, we can't even perceive colors the same way.

When I broke my hip and had three pins surgically inserted into the femur, the nurses kept coming around and asking me to measure my pain on a scale of 1 to 10. I found this intensely irritating, and finally told them I'd had menstrual cramps that were far worse, and all I wanted was a couple of ibuprofen to take the edge off. They were pretty surprised, so obviously my pain level was very high compared to similar patients. And this was a full 3 years before I discovered Dr. Sarno.

I've had plenty of what I call "neuro" symptoms over the years and can still have them when my TMS flares. Five years ago, at the worst, in addition to various pains and bad digestive problems, I also had shaky legs, tingling and numbness in various places, dizziness, twitches, you name it. And I do believe I've even had "squeaky bum" which totally cracks me up (@plum !).

Going to check out Kon Mari now, Plum.
 
That's very true. It's an obsession from the moment I wake up. I need to learn to relax and de stress. I have always suffered from anxiety on some level all my life. I am going to stop this obsession. My work are very understanding. They have allowed me time off to try and sort myself out mentally and physically. It's time I learnt to stop pleasing others all of the time and learn to concentrate on my own life. I am going to quit searching for answers. It's well and truly an anxiety disorder that I have. It's a constant worry and I guess my body is reacting by tensing up. It's hard to focus on anything else when you are in pain but I can see how it's a vicious cycle. I'm anxious because of the pain which causes more pain. My family life is good. My job is good. It just all came about from feeling a little twinge while I was on holiday and it was instant panic and I couldn't stop thinking about it. And then I was hugely upset and frustrated because I had beaten it and had been free from it for nearly 2 years. I knew how it ruined my life back then and I guess i was frightened. But it's back now anyway. I have no medical illness causing it. It's purely down to my own brain. So I'm going to take this opportunity to enjoy myself more and stop beating myself up. I'm going to excercise through it. I'm not going to give it the time of day. I'm not going to read anything about it or how to be cured because I really don't think that's going to achieve anything because I know what the cause is. So wish me luck. I'm going to try and cut down on this forum too. It's lovely to hear such kind words from others but I guess this is one battle I have to face on my own. I do have one feeling of guilt though and that's having time off work. Work isn't the cause of my anxiety but the stress doesn't help. And I know I have to go back at some point but maybe I will be more prepared in a week or so. Plus I was on anti anxiety meds for 2 years and I came off them about 2 months ago because I was fine but I'm starting to take them again at the advice of my gp. And my doctor also said she believes a bit of physical therapy down there wouldn't hurt as long as I know the cause is anxiety tension and not a physical problem. It's funny as I write this I can feel my ass tighten and flutter and do all sorts of weird things. Anyway I can see I'm rambling and I look at the amount of posts I have written on here and other forums and it really isn't healthy is it haha. So the way I beat this last time was to just stop searching for answers and accept that this is just me. Im unique I guess. Although I know deep down this is quite a common problem with others. It's actually one of the top areas of the body to be affected by anxiety. But I'm signing off for a while. Thanks guys. The massive obsessive weirdo is out of here
 
Alfaman, whatever is making you angry is a real pain in your butt! PT for down there can make it persist as you pay more attention to it. Work on psychologically dealing with it for a more permanent relief. By the way spasm are just a symptom of how angry a person is to the point of quivering out of anger. It can show up in your muscles as spasm.

I remember before I knew about TMS, my parents were coming for a visit. We had a very tense relationship. They were full of unrealistic expectation and criticized my wife and I constantly. On the other hand, I was trying so hard to be the perfect son who was never good enough. The perfect combination for TMS. As I was cleaning around the house my lower back went into severe spasm. It was so bad that I dropped to the floor and had to stay in bed the entire time they were vising. How's that for some subconscious defense mechanism to keep me from facing my source of anger and rage!

After I learned about TMS and recovered rapidly, I knew I had to make some serious changes to my relationship with my parents in order to stay pain-free. So I spoke up more often and set limits. We did have some heated discussions and sometimes they became very upset with me. But eventually, they learned that I maybe their child but I am not a child.
 
Re tight sphincters all the time, my anxiety progressed to the same level.
I resolved mine by taking a mineral supplement 150 mg Zn (as citrate) daily. Other supplements were also useful for other body "sensations" after many years of physical and mental suffering. Wish I knew earlier
There is no taste of this nor of a Zinc sulphate ionic liquid in cases of zinc status insufficiency. Taste will make you grimace when there is enough in your system - cut back with any taste from Zn sulphate.
Avoiding copper in multivitamins, chocolate, and nuts/seeds helped. Hot showers increase norepinephrine too and made me feel worse so keep them brief and well ventilated
Doctors could have tested my serum copper and my plasma zinc levels. The ratio on a mass basis and the individual readings could then be compared to normals. Not needed though. And most ignore this simple step because nobody can patent it
Zinc deficiency is one of the biotypes found in anxiety when talk and meditation fail. Good news is this is one of the easiest or fastest types to help
 
Alfaman147 said:
Does anyone else have a constant spasm in their anus? It's like a pressure sensation. I have been diagnosed with health anxiety and am suffering alot this last few weeks. I thought it was levator ani syndrome but after checking in with myself more closely I can feel it's my anal sphincter that is in a state of constant tension. It's an awful feeling and I have had it on and off for 6 years or so. ...
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Yes, me too -
And there is no time period in a day that it is not there -
Re tight sphincters all the time, my anxiety progressed to the same level.
I resolved mine by taking a mineral supplement 150 mg Zn (as citrate) daily. Other supplements were also useful for other body "sensations" after many years of physical and mental suffering. Wish I knew earlier
There is no taste of this nor of a Zinc sulphate ionic liquid in cases of zinc status insufficiency. Taste will make you grimace when there is enough in your system - cut back with any taste from Zn sulphate.
Avoiding copper in multivitamins, chocolate, and nuts/seeds helped. Hot showers increase norepinephrine too and made me feel worse so keeping them brief and well ventilated was better
Doctors could have tested my serum copper and my plasma zinc levels. The ratio on a mass basis and the individual readings could then be compared to normals. Most ignore this step because nobody can patent it.
Zinc deficiency is one of the biotypes found in anxiety when talk and meditation fail. Good news is this is one of the easiest or fastest types to help.
 
I've had that horrible tight painful pressure feeling in my anus too and it is awful. I've had it on and off for a few years now.

What temporarily makes it better is if I pass wind then it feels better then it comes back a few seconds later. I too think it's to do with anxiety. When this happens I try to get to sleep and when a I wake the next morning it's usually gone.

I usually put a heating pad under my bum when sitting and it helps. Just now I don't have that tight painful pressure feeling in my anus but since reading this thread a I can feel it coming back. The mind can play awful tricks.
 
Alfaman147 said:
Does anyone else have a constant spasm in their anus? It's like a pressure sensation. I have been diagnosed with health anxiety and am suffering alot this last few weeks. I thought it was levator ani syndrome but after checking in with myself more closely I can feel it's my anal sphincter that is in a state of constant tension. It's an awful feeling and I have had it on and off for 6 years or so. I had a gap of nearly 2 years without it but now after a stressful time it has come back. I know it's psychological because as I'm going to sleep in can feel it flutter and start to relax and I always wake up feeling OK with no problems. I'm my own worst enemy and cannot stop reading up on it searching for answers hence all my old posts on levator ani and rectal spasms. But I can tell it's my anal sphincter that is the cause. Not to be too graphic or anything but if I just touch my anus it makes the tension go away. Or gently inserting a finger is absolute relief.
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Alfaman... yes I have this issue. I think I may have had a degree of conatipation from too much protein and too few veg. I passed a very hard stool which I think caused a mild injury to the canal or sphincter and about 4 weeks after that that area became a very definite focus of muscular tension. The nerves around the area have become very sensitised so now it seems the whole of my left pelvic flood is in a state of sensitisation. This means my pudendal nerve is having a hard time travelling through muscles that are not very hospitable. Annoyingly the tension and nerve pain radiate to my left scrotum and left side of penis. One might say its a type of chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS) but in reality its just injury --> tension --> pain --> focus on pain --> neural hyperactivity. It SEEMS the pain and tension is still there but my nerves in the area are so jazzed up that they are sending signals from what would otherwise be a stimulus that they wouldnt usually give a hoot about.

Like you, after a while I managed to find this was the area of tenderness and sometimes I do digital manipulation. Sometimes that helps. Other times it just makes it worse.

In an ideal world Id take Valium for a year every day to relax the mind and body... but that would be a terrible idea in reality. As with most centrally-acting medication they may help one issue but they cause others.

I also have fluttering. I feel this where the rectum is and perhaps the sigmoid colon. This certainly suggests increases tone of these muscular structures. Queastion is what one does. I only read the first page of comments but agree, relaxation, acceptance, exercise, meditation, diet. These are the keys. Hard to do and hard to not focus on the discomfort, especially when it feels almost internal, and certainly when it feels like my penis skin is raw to touch (allodynia/hyperaesthetic).

You might think being a doctor and having a good grasp of the anatomy and likely processes occuring is helpful... but its not, really. 2 years if this. Very irritating.

Many men have been mislabelled as having prostatitis. Its likely nothing to do with the prostate but everything to do with the pelvic floor muscles. The levator ani and other muscles form the pelvic floor and chronic tension or even mild infection or injury can set off a circular chain of events. Most people dont quite make the intervention in time (stretching, removing the stress, treating the infection etc etc). Once youve been in enough discomfort for long enough you'll seek out a GP. Most of the time GPs and urologists just say 'prostatitis'. Sometimes it IS a genuine infection of the prostate. Majority of the time it will be pelvic floor tension exerting its effects on local structures. The anal sphincter is not spared from this, being an extension of the pelvic floor (in a sense). The anal canal must pass via a hiatus through the pelvic floor to allow stool out. If levator ani is tight its going to cause issues with smooth passage of faeces. Add ispaghula husk to your diet, or fibogel whatever u call it in the States (if thats where you are). Relaxation, gentle self-massage of the anal canal is fine. Advice to seek out a pelvic floor physio. Not just some everday generic physio, but an actual pelvic floor physio.
 
Recent posts here have devolved into a discussion that is dwelling on symptom details, rather than dealing with the root causes of what might be TMS - as attested to by many earlier comments above.

Please note that the purpose of this forum is to talk about and support each other in dealing with what we conveniently refer to here as TMS, according to the principles of Dr. John Sarno, MD who originally came up with the term "Tension Myositis Syndrome". Analogous terms include Mind-Body Syndrome, and Psycho-Physiological Disorder. Please refer to the main page of tmswiki.org for information, references and resources about this growing field of practice, as the strong physiological influence of our brains becomes more accepted by traditional medical practitioners.

Here's the thing: in order to treat TMS, the goal is to stop paying attention to symptom details, and to stop looking for medical or manipulative or medicinal fixes, because doing so only exacerbates TMS.

If you do not have TMS, that's a different story - but a condition that is not TMS is not a suitable discussion topic for this forum.

Thank you for your attention.
 
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