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[Diana-M]

I NEED to learn how to not be so intimidated by the sensations my body delivers. They are limiting and painful, and on weak days, I just avoid movement. I don’t go in there and battle it out in the hard place. I must say that Claire Weekes is the most reassurance I can get. I often remind myself that my body is just on high alert and it will quiet down over time with proper care. Dr. Weekes says it doesn’t matter how long you’ve had this anxiety, you can heal from it. A week ago I had a big victory with my TMS subsiding. And I honestly pictured at that time that I am punching through a wall. My symptoms are the wall. With determination, I can prevail. When I hold this thought, I can do so much. The trick is holding it! Thank you so much @Cactusflower @JanAtheCPA and @Jettie1989 for your tips. I’ve been wanting to know this!

 

[Diana-M]

I do everything with an attitude of "I will get through this, because it is just my brain". I'm not broken, I'm like any other normal healthy person. and if I have to rest, I'll rest, but I know I will get back to it, and I will get better.

And this for me feels very different. it feels upright, it feels determined. And keeping my mind on having faith.

@Jettie1989
YOU are an inspiration!!! I love your post! It helps picturing us both trying to keep our minds in the right place. I read this is Hope and Help for Your Nerves, by Claire Weekes. It really motivates me! Thought you might like it.

“So do not be satisfied with the mere wish you may now feel to be brave and persevering. Give your desire so much concentration that you eventually make it a granitelike determination to succeed. If you take time to do this, your journey to recovery will be winged. It is curious how this feeling of courage and confidence seems to be seated, not in our brain, but in our “middle.” This is a good place to feel it—it adds strength to our “backbone.” Claire Weekes

 

[CalmIsTheCure]

This is the correct answer out of the three things you surmised in this post.

Wasting time by searching for exact corroboration of your symptoms is a distraction activity designed by your TMS brain mechanism - and right now, it is succeeding at distracting you with doubt! This is pure Sarno 101.

It's time to stop thinking physically, stop mentioning any details of your physical symptoms, which TBH we are not going to help you analyze. Come up with a short generic phrase like "my sitting pain" - that's the only context that's needed on this forum.


Congratulations! You've just experienced your first taste of what Dr. Sarno calls "The Symptom Imperative". This is your brain on TMS. Also, this is your TMS brain mechanism doing its job, keeping you in fear and doubt. The best way to deal with it is to be mindful when it happens, literally thank your brain for trying to keep you safe, and keep working on changing that inner voice.

Another sign of the Symptom Imperative at work is that if you make a commitment to TMS education (more below) your symptoms might get worse for no logical reason at all - this is a well-known and direct result of doing the emotional work, which is is making your survival-at-all-costs brain even more fearful.

You seem very much my kind of person and straight to the point. No nonsense. I like this.
May I ask your opinion. I believe I know what started my pain. A health condition in the family. Was quite a traumatic experience one could say.
I do not like the idea of years of therapy. I'm assuming just processing your emotions as and when they come up and accepting that the sensations are caused by emotions is enough?
The knowing its a TMS tactic as it were and allowing yourself to feel your emotions is the general key to recovery?

 

[Rinkey]

I believe I know what started my pain. A health condition in the family. Was quite a traumatic experience one could say.

Sounds like you may have had an ah-ha moment. That’s great… think about it more and what happened after that experience also.

I do not like the idea of years of therapy

I don’t think I know anyone who does. And I don’t think it’s necessary. Try the SEP even though it might not sound like your kind of gig.

I'm assuming just processing your emotions as and when they come up and accepting that the sensations are caused by emotions is enough?

Depends on you.. I deal with mine differently for each situation and make sure that I’m not having conversations in my head with those how’ve pisssed me off, but writing to them letters that they’ll never receive. Or having loud imaginary take them behind the wood shed type of thrashings if that’s what is needed.

 

[Cactusflower]

@CalmIsTheCure
I think you are looking for exact directions and simplified answers - and you won't necessarily find them here. The road to TMS wellness is more than just feeling your feelings or "processing them" and more than just being with the sensations.
It has much to do with personality, and mindset as well.
My suggestion is to just start doing the work somewhere....begin. Stop worrying about "how" or "why" or exact steps or the easiest simple fast method. Every person is different, and you can't control the process. Just beginning it is to begin winning it.

 

[CalmIsTheCure]

Thank you. I have been doing the Sep.
It seems though if there is no method to recovering from TMS how does one ever actually recover?
Maybe I don't understand

 

[JanAtheCPA]

there is no method

Rewrite your sentence: there is no SINGLE method.

You are desperately seeking a simple solution with clear guidelines and we're telling you there is no such thing. We are dealing with the human brain, which is unique to each individual, influenced by a completely unique set of genes, family upbringing, and outside influences.

Here's an excellent Success Story which was posted early this year by someone younger than you. Read it and tell us what you think of it. Even better, read it and tell us how it made you feel. It was bumped today by someone else who was inspired by the original story and is achieving success
https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/four-years-of-headaches-gone-my-life-is-back.27953/#post-153139 (Four years of headaches gone. My life is BACK!)

And stop procrastinating! Just do it! If you're open, honest, and committed to learning, it will come, but I sense a LOT of resistance that you are going to have to fight against.

 

[JanAtheCPA]

To add to what @Cactusflower is saying, this is from our peer Tamara, responding to another new member who is desperate to be given the "one simple solution" - the fact that this is from a different thread lets you know that where you are at right now is very common:

from my almost 9 years on this forum, I learned about the most important trait of those who succeeded. They all were able to develop enough inner strength and freedom to become their own doctors, and instead of shopping around for somebody who would rescue them from the abyss, they compiled their own method of climbing out of the abyss. Each one of us has a unique personality and life path, and therefore each recovery will be unique. Nobody knows you better than you. Listen to everybody, and try every idea that comes your way, but in the end, you will be the one to decide how to help yourself. It takes a while simmering in this soup to get to that point of confidence in your ability to chart your own path, it took me almost a year.

 

[JanAtheCPA]

And here's another newcomer, with a short report about on Day 8 of the SEP
https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/day-8.29034/ (Day 8)

 

[CalmIsTheCure]

Thank you.
I have been out and about living life again and not letting the pain stop me. Something I haven't done for a long time. Since doing this although no change to my pain I am now feeling nausea, fatigued and light headed.
Any insights as to why this might happen?

 

[Jettie1989]

@Jettie1989
YOU are an inspiration!!! I love your post! It helps picturing us both trying to keep our minds in the right place. I read this is Hope and Help for Your Nerves, by Claire Weekes. It really motivates me! Thought you might like it.

“So do not be satisfied with the mere wish you may now feel to be brave and persevering. Give your desire so much concentration that you eventually make it a granitelike determination to succeed. If you take time to do this, your journey to recovery will be winged. It is curious how this feeling of courage and confidence seems to be seated, not in our brain, but in our “middle.” This is a good place to feel it—it adds strength to our “backbone.” Claire Weekes

Thank you so much Diana! I love reading your posts and feeling like we're in this together.
Hope and help was one of the books that really helped me and the quote is amazing

 

[Jettie1989]

Thank you.
I have been out and about living life again and not letting the pain stop me. Something I haven't done for a long time. Since doing this although no change to my pain I am now feeling nausea, fatigued and light headed.
Any insights as to why this might happen?

I know this can be annoying, but that would actually be great news if I would have to interpret it.
It's officially called the symptom imperative, and is a very good clue that your pain is neuroplastic.

Because the trick your brain used to stop you from living your life (pain) doesn't work anymore, it is now trying to find other ways to stop you again. One for the list of evidence!

 

[CalmIsTheCure]

But shouldn't the pain at least go if other stuff is there?

 

[Jettie1989]

But shouldn't the pain at least go if other stuff is there?

Why would it.. from your brains perspective it can't hurt to keep it... It used to work and it jUst stopped working. So your brain thinks there's a good chance you're going to stop this annoying behaviour of "living your life" if it keeps the pain. or better! make it worse! maybe that works! (a.k.a. extinction bursts)

 

[CalmIsTheCure]

Trying so hard to be positive but I just feel sad

 

[Jettie1989]

Trying so hard to be positive but I just feel sad

There is no shame in being sad… and it is a lot to deal with. Pain is really awful, and it takes a lot from a person to keep being positive through it, and it’s not always an option. Maybe it is enough for now to have a commitment to try again tomorrow, or whenever you feel like you have a little more strength. I think we all know the feeling of having to give up temporarily, I know I do.

It is really not a straight line, and especially in the beginning it is hard when you haven’t seen your first improvements yet. It’s really easy to lose hope, but I hope you can hang in there and just be sad for a while, while knowing you’ll be back.

 

[Diana-M]

Trying so hard to be positive but I just feel sad

Oh my goodness, it is truly hard to keep hope alive. Sending a virtual hug! Whenever I feel sad, I just say to myself, as long as I don’t give up, I’ll get there. And I think of all my friends here on the forum who have healed. They made it! And we can too.

Sometimes it’s so overwhelming. You just want to say, “why me?” It feels so unfair. Nichole Sachs, one of the leaders in TMS healing, says all the time that this TMS journey will make you into an amazing person—and your life will be better than you could ever imagine from all the things you learn as you heal. You change on the inside and out.

Please don’t feel alone! We are here for you. Sometimes it’s ok to just be sad. It sucks. It honestly does. But you are going to be OK.

 

[Pattyauf]

Hello CalmIsTheCure:
I can't say for sure that your experience with you pain is TMS related, however, I can tell you of my experience, which is this;
My beloved partner of 30 years suffers from complex trauma and over the years she was getting progressively worse with panic attacks and dissociative episodes and the like, to the point where she abruptly left me without so much as a text or phonecall and subsequently ended our marriage. This was 11 years ago. The fallout from that was immense. I had my own version of panic attacks and developed excrutiating back pain to the point where I was contemplating quitting my job, which I still love. This was in 2015. I am a proactive kind of person, so I've always believed in doing everything I can to solve problems. I went in search of a solution by finding literature that would help me to solve my problem. I entered a (Chapters at the time) book store and proceeded to browse through all the books in the medical self-help section when what should fall off the bookshelf at my feet? It was a copy of Dr. Sarno's 'Healing Back Pain'. Having been in recovery for over 30 years, I had "developed" a deep spiritual practice. Something told me not to put the book back on the shelf. I immediately purchased the book and started reading it when I got home. I was amazed at what this guy (Sarno) was teaching. I instinctively knew this book was right for me. I had been under so much stress from my divorce, that I had developed TMS as a result. Over the next few months I took to heart the teaching that was in that little book. I became pain-free of my sciatica and buttocks pain in a very short time. As you can probably guess, I did not quit my great job. I'm still working to this day and I'm forever grateful to life for showing me just the right things I need to move forward, always with a sense of well-being.
Based on what you wrote, I'm very confidant in telling you your symptoms are most likely TMS-related.

 

[JanAtheCPA]

Nice post, @Pattyauf, and welcome to our forum!

 

[CalmIsTheCure]

Let me open up.
Before my pain started
. A family member fell ill
. 5 pets died
. Uncle died
. Friend died
. I was going through a withdrawal from antidepressants
You can see why my nervous system would be shot so it's highly likely one would have thought this to be TMS.
The reason I am not rejoicing about this fact is although I am pleased to find nothing is wrong with my body I do fear my mind is broken. I know intellectually that is not true. But once you have a had a therapist tell you that anxiety can not be cured and you are wired wrong and most people with mental health challenges kill themselves you find yourself not so thrilled to find out your problems are coming from your brain.
I know this is a terrible thing for a therpist to say and I know it is not a true but it stays with you. That maybe you are just a little bit broken and can't be helped.

Anyway that is a little more about me. I feel the only way to move forward is to be as honest as possible.
Maybe more insights are to be had by my becoming more vulnerable here