New intermittent neck pain

[Bodhigirl]

I’m writing to see if it helps this symptom. About two months ago my neck began to ache when I stretched downward.
Then it felt hot. Then headaches appeared alongside the pain.
I am remembering old XRays that showed huge bone spurs from multiple whiplashes in the 1980’s.
Then I feel anxious. Then I manage to generate some real terror. Then I take I improfen. The pain remits. Always.
Sometimes it goes away when I tell it to be gone. Not always.
I’m feeling some despair as I know what feelings my pain is expressing. There is NO FIX for the feelings. They are just real grief. Real fear of aging. Real resentment of Los Angeles traffic and driving nearly an hour each way to be with my horses. I try to sugarcoat the resentment with gratitude for my horses. It doesn’t change the anger and despair I feel when I am sitting in gridlock.
I feel tired writing this.
I have a wonderful life!
My darker feelings seem so neurotic and ungrateful. Yet they are there.
I did get relief from my Chiro who does myofascial release for me. Touch is healing. We should all get good touching as a basic human need. Hugs help. Dogs are good for hugging as well as hubby and good friends.
The pain is still hot and pounding.
A hot bath may release more tension.
I have been pain free for so long! Really disheartened. I feel like the TMS is winning. I can’t let it. I just can’t.
Thankful you all are here. We all help each other!

 

[birdsetfree]

I relate to the struggle Bodhigirl. Life gets challenging at times and our TMS shows up. I have had a three month relapse myself, as in pain in both ankles, a result of a psychological traumatic occurrence. I'm on top of it now and am pain free but with leftover exhaustion and tension. What helped me through it was having the support of those who understand the way my mind works, and who kept me from engaging in the old neural circuit of preoccupation of the symptoms. You know this so well. You can choose which pathway to use and how your neck feels.

 

[Pietro Carloni]

Hi dear,
I'm sorry to hear from you, I too was a stuck up neck and the first four days were catastrophic, I felt like an invalid, again after a long time!
What do you want to do with it? you know better than I that anger in these cases is a bad counselor; on the contrary we say that the mind in these circumstances always produces only catastrophic thoughts.
We would like to be better, we would like our most combative thoughts to always be with us, but in reality we realize that we are fragile and insecure, despite all the knowledge we have learned about ourselves in all this time.
I want to reassure you, because all we have learned makes us stronger, and the courage you can't see now will come back as soon as you give it the chance to do.
I'm close to you, even today I feel worried and a little scared by life and in moments like these I let time pass and heal all the wounds.

 

[Bodhigirl]

I relate to the struggle Bodhigirl. Life gets challenging at times and our TMS shows up. I have had a three month relapse myself, as in pain in both ankles, a result of a psychological traumatic occurrence. I'm on top of it now and am pain free but with leftover exhaustion and tension. What helped me through it was having the support of those who understand the way my mind works, and who kept me from engaging in the old neural circuit of preoccupation of the symptoms. You know this so well. You can choose which pathway to use and how your neck feels.

Did you take ibuprofen in times of pain? One 200mg dose seems so helpful. But am I colliding with the TMS storyline?

 

[birdsetfree]

Did you take ibuprofen in times of pain? One 200mg dose seems so helpful. But am I colliding with the TMS storyline?

I didn’t take anything for the pain, I had to stop walking protectively on my feet. Then I overcame the fear that there was something physically wrong with them, and the pain went over time.

I don’t thinks there’s any harm in taking ibuprofen as long as you know the pain is just tms. You would not have injured your neck in any significant way by what you did and even if it was slightly strained or irritated by that movement, it would have healed in a few days. Relax and know that you are fine.

 

[Ellen]

I’m feeling some despair as I know what feelings my pain is expressing. There is NO FIX for the feelings. They are just real grief. Real fear of aging. Real resentment of Los Angeles traffic and driving nearly an hour each way to be with my horses. I try to sugarcoat the resentment with gratitude for my horses. It doesn’t change the anger and despair I feel when I am sitting in gridlock.

Dearest Bodhigirl,

Relapses are very difficult. I know them well, as even after all these years, I still get them occasionally. Usually it takes me a few days to get wise to the fact that the new/old symptoms are TMS. As soon as I realize and accept that it is TMS, then recovery can start. I can actually feel the shift take place. It's very easy for our brains to fall back into old familiar patterns. I see these neural pathways like grooves in my brain that my thoughts can easily fall into, and then some effort is needed for me to get out of its rut.

Emotions are not in need of "fixing", but feeling and accepting them. Research says they only last about 90 seconds unless our thoughts re-trigger them. So our thinking is in need of change after we feel and allow our emotions.

In my experience what keeps me in that old thinking pattern is primarily the story I tell myself about what is going on. A running narrative appears in mind in which I am a trapped victim of my body, my past, and the external forces outside myself. This feeds the cycle of pain and depression, and allows no joy into our mind.

I use the following strategies to stop the sad story in my head.

• First, realize it is a story and its power comes from believing it. It is not Truth. I don't advocate replacing it with some positive story, because we seldom can believe those.
• Depending on circumstances, I may switch my thinking to something neutral and benign. Right now I do this by thinking about the landscaping project I have underway in my yard, and what I need to do to accomplish it.
• Or I try to cultivate a place of "no thought" through diving into my senses--in nature, music, movement,art, touch etc.
• Or ( and I think this is the most powerful), I take my attention entirely off myself and think about how I can help someone else. That may be something I do in real life, or as simple as posting a supportive message on this Forum.

Wishing you peace........

 

[Bodhigirl]

Dearest Bodhigirl,

Relapses are very difficult. I know them well, as even after all these years, I still get them occasionally. Usually it takes me a few days to get wise to the fact that the new/old symptoms are TMS. As soon as I realize and accept that it is TMS, then recovery can start. I can actually feel the shift take place. It's very easy for our brains to fall back into old familiar patterns. I see these neural pathways like grooves in my brain that my thoughts can easily fall into, and then some effort is needed for me to get out of its rut.

Emotions are not in need of "fixing", but feeling and accepting them. Research says they only last about 90 seconds unless our thoughts re-trigger them. So our thinking is in need of change after we feel and allow our emotions.

In my experience what keeps me in that old thinking pattern is primarily the story I tell myself about what is going on. A running narrative appears in mind in which I am a trapped victim of my body, my past, and the external forces outside myself. This feeds the cycle of pain and depression, and allows no joy into our mind.

I use the following strategies to stop the sad story in my head.

• First, realize it is a story and its power comes from believing it. It is not Truth. I don't advocate replacing it with some positive story, because we seldom can believe those.
• Depending on circumstances, I may switch my thinking to something neutral and benign. Right now I do this by thinking about the landscaping project I have underway in my yard, and what I need to do to accomplish it.
• Or I try to cultivate a place of "no thought" through diving into my senses--in nature, music, movement,art, touch etc.
• Or ( and I think this is the most powerful), I take my attention entirely off myself and think about how I can help someone else. That may be something I do in real life, or as simple as posting a supportive message on this Forum.

Wishing you peace........

Thank you, Ellen! I can already feel less struggling going on. A bit more gentleness.

 

[JulieMTherapy]

I’m writing to see if it helps this symptom. About two months ago my neck began to ache when I stretched downward.
Then it felt hot. Then headaches appeared alongside the pain.
I am remembering old XRays that showed huge bone spurs from multiple whiplashes in the 1980’s.
Then I feel anxious. Then I manage to generate some real terror. Then I take I improfen. The pain remits. Always.
Sometimes it goes away when I tell it to be gone. Not always.
I’m feeling some despair as I know what feelings my pain is expressing. There is NO FIX for the feelings. They are just real grief. Real fear of aging. Real resentment of Los Angeles traffic and driving nearly an hour each way to be with my horses. I try to sugarcoat the resentment with gratitude for my horses. It doesn’t change the anger and despair I feel when I am sitting in gridlock.
I feel tired writing this.
I have a wonderful life!
My darker feelings seem so neurotic and ungrateful. Yet they are there.
I did get relief from my Chiro who does myofascial release for me. Touch is healing. We should all get good touching as a basic human need. Hugs help. Dogs are good for hugging as well as hubby and good friends.
The pain is still hot and pounding.
A hot bath may release more tension.
I have been pain free for so long! Really disheartened. I feel like the TMS is winning. I can’t let it. I just can’t.
Thankful you all are here. We all help each other!

The "fix" is not judging your feelings. Grief, helplessness, anger--it's ok and normal. TMS doesn't have to win. You're ok! You deserve to feel good, remember that

 

[AlexJk]

Hey Bodhigirl sad to hear that(( well, firstly I think that during stretching you just over stretched a muscle and it hurts now, so I think you should drink something like ibuprofen and put something warm there. There are some gels which will warm that zone and the muscle will relax. But be careful, if the pain stays longer, maybe go to a specialist? I had some terrible head pains, and I thought that it is again anxiety consequences. Until a doctor saw me and told me that I have scoliosis! 15 days of chiropractic and my head pain disappeared so try to work locally with the muscle and if not, go to your doctor.