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Post viral fatigue / Dizziness

I totally hear you...but

I call this "Yes, But..." Syndrome, or YBS. It is a deflection of what you need to hear, or else an invalidation of what is being offered. Perhaps both. In either case YBS is a sure sign that the TMS mechanism is in charge, preventing you from making progress.

Question: do you identify as someone who is unwell, or as someone who can be well? The answer to this question will determine your future success or lack thereof.

What about Ellen's suggestion?
I encourage you to consider that you have TMS and seek help from a TMS therapist or coach. Sounds like you could benefit from some help with resolving this.
 

I call this "Yes, But..." Syndrome, or YBS. It is a deflection of what you need to hear, or else an invalidation of what is being offered. Perhaps both. In either case YBS is a sure sign that the TMS mechanism is in charge, preventing you from making progress.

Question: do you identify as someone who is unwell, or as someone who can be well? The answer to this question will determine your future success or lack thereof.

What about Ellen's suggestion?

wow this is a great way of framing it. I do constantly think this is it and i won't get better. The fear of the first episode two years ago has shaken me and the fatigue/dizziness/visual disturbances that hit me with glandular fever has made me lose hope. I am restarting my TMS sessions this week. Neurologists, ENTs all have told me to 'to live and manage these symptoms'
 
Sorry to hear about your difficulties. Dizziness is a particularly hard symptom to live with. You didn't say whether or not you believe your current symptoms are TMS. It is estimated that 95% of adults have the Epstein Barr virus. I learned about this when I had chronic fatigue syndrome and was told by a doctor that I had Epstein Barr. I treated it along with my fibromyalgia as TMS and recovered. I encourage you to consider that you have TMS and seek help from a TMS therapist or coach. Sounds like you could benefit from some help with resolving this.
Hi Ellen,

i am in month 3 and i have persistent imbalance in an upright position, dizziness, body aches as the day progresses, visua disturbances. This all started when i got EBV( (first time in my life). I have ruled out every specialist and the vestibular neurologist thinks i now have a vestibular migraine, therapist thinks i have PPPD. It doesn't make sense i would develop post viral fatigue, migraine, pppd in one go. I feel helpless. Even with pacing, i feel out of it and just lack of motivation.
 
It doesn't make sense i would develop post viral fatigue, migraine, pppd in one go.

For TMS it does make sense. You've exhausted all resources going the physical/medical route. Your feeling of helplessness is the problem. You are a victim and you cannot get better until you take responsibility for creating your symptoms. I know this is hard because you are doing it unconsciously. We all feel like a victim for awhile until we take charge of our own recovery. You say you've tried to treat it as TMS but it isn't possible to do that and pursue medical explanations at the same time. You need to commit totally to TMS. As I recommended earlier, having a TMS therapist or coach may be the help you need.
 
For TMS it does make sense. You've exhausted all resources going the physical/medical route. Your feeling of helplessness is the problem. You are a victim and you cannot get better until you take responsibility for creating your symptoms. I know this is hard because you are doing it unconsciously. We all feel like a victim for awhile until we take charge of our own recovery. You say you've tried to treat it as TMS but it isn't possible to do that and pursue medical explanations at the same time. You need to commit totally to TMS. As I recommended earlier, having a TMS therapist or coach may be the help you need.
100% agree. I have started working again with a TMS coach. I am able to practice it most of the time, but how do i cope 'persistent fatigue' and 'orthostatic imbalance' . I can barely do anything activities apart from getting through work (desk job). Cooking, cleaning, gentle exercises everything seems like moving a mountain.
 
That's a "Yes, But..." response to Ellen, @chintand17!

See if you can rewrite your post without the BUT (or anything that remotely behaves like a BUT). This will, of course, change the entire nature of your response. Perhaps you won't be able to do it - YBS and victimhood are addictive behaviors, after all. It will take some work to eliminate them from your mindset.

We don't go for mindless positive affirmations here, but what I do recommend highly is constructive self-talk. By that I mean coming up with something constructive and truthful to say to your primitive fearful brain which takes the place of the negativity of victimhood. Use logic. This does require being mindful about your negative thoughts.

So when you see yourself succumbing to the addiction of victimhood thoughts, a logical and constructive statement, spoken out loud if possible (I'm quite serious about that) might be "hey, brain - I know that you just want me to stay safely in bed all day long numbing out with Netflix or whatever, but that's actually not at all helpful to me, it is in fact harmful to me, and I happen to know that logically, it is totally unnecessary because the world out there, even though it's stressful, is not actually a threat to my survival, okay? So could you just kindly back the f*** off???!! If you can do that, however briefly, I will promise to be careful and not get eaten by a sabre-tooth tiger"

Or, you know, something like that... Remember to stop and breathe, drink plenty of water (breathing and drinking water are my go-to quick fixes for momentary lapses of dizziness or shakiness). And, always, practice kindness and patience for yourself, even as you're giving your TMS brain a bit of a hard time.
 
100% agree. I have started working again with a TMS coach. I am able to practice it most of the time, but how do i cope 'persistent fatigue' and 'orthostatic imbalance' . I can barely do anything activities apart from getting through work (desk job). Cooking, cleaning, gentle exercises everything seems like moving a mountain.
Hopefully your TMS coach can help you get free of the "but". Your path to recovery lies there. Wishing you all the best.
 
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