Salut to Dorado

I found an old post by a person known as 'Dorado'. I'm not sure if this person is about on this forum these days. Reading through her post I was astounded how he managed to summarise all the key points to healing I've learned over the past few months. I would like to share these with you as they are super helpful:

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https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/how-i-healed-from-a-myriad-of-symptoms.18723/ (How I healed from a myriad of symptoms)

Diagnosed with IBS, obsessive compulsive behaviors, anxiety, major depression, allergies, and much more, bizarre symptoms have been part of my life since I can remember. If I were to post my story in its entirety, we'd all be here for days. To sum it up, I've experienced the following over the course of many, many years:

- Burning skin
- Nerve pain (allodynia) - so severe that I could barely hold my phone, type on a keyboard, grip a doorknob, pet my cat, etc.
- Altered sense of touch in my fingers and toes - not true numbness, but similar in the sense that the senstation touching an object feels different than before
- Tingling (hands, arms, feet, legs, head, lips, etc.)
- Extremely heavy and stiff limbs due to blood pooling and tension
- Excessive sweating, especially - but definitely not limited to - my hands, feet, and armpits
- Increased skin impressions/dents whenever any object (even light wrapping paper) gently touched my skin - skin impressions/dents are absolutely normal to a certain extent, but it was occurring much deeper and faster than ever before. Additionally, the skin impressions were sometimes very painful, such as when I'd sit on hard benches, rest my chin on my hand, grip pencils, cross my legs, etc.
- Fingertips that wrinkled almost immediately in the shower, as well as upon gripping objects (even when they were not even slightly wet or cold)
- Headaches
- Dizziness
- Nausea and vomiting
- Dry eyes and mouth
- Blurry vision
- Red feet with bulging veins when walking
- Occasional blood pooling and overly dilated blood vessels in hands when walking
- Chronic fatigue/exhaustion
- Increased need to use the bathroom
- Significantly increased heart rate, especially upon standing (which was documented on a tilt table test as orthostatic intolerance)
- Increased Raynaud's-like symptoms and vasospasms where standing for even a few seconds would result in deeply yellow and purple feet from vasoconstriction, and my digits would become numb and red in the cold
- Cold hands and feet
- Chemical sensitivity - I had to completely stop drinking alcohol, vaping, drinking sugary coffee with high amounts of caffeine, etc. for quite some time
- Muscle spasms/twitching
- Facial flushing
- Dermatographia
- Colorful genital discharge and terrible itching (this started when I was a teenager and years before I became sexually active. Still, I was tested for everything under the sun - nada!)
- Sore throats
- Tender muscles
- Brain zaps and twitches, as well as electrical surges in my head
- Severe anxiety, depression, and mood swings
- Intense depersonalization and derealization
- Emotional numbness
- Bloating and stomach pain
- Chronic fatigue
- "Growing pains"
- Inability to more quickly and appropriately recover from colds and flus, mononucleosis, medication withdrawal, etc.
- Sensitivity to noise and light
- Obsessive behaviors and rituals that began as a very young child, only to get worse (non-stop hand washing, blinking, circling the block a dozen times while driving to make sure I didn't hit anything, skin picking, etc.)
- Major phobias (fear of leaving the house or going on field trips as a child due to fear of suffocating somewhere in public, swallowing solid food due to fear of choking, etc.)
- Binge eating and drinking
- And so many more I can't even remember at this point. Ultimately, I've experienced a great deal of the following symptoms: http://www.anxietycentre.com/anxiety-symptoms.shtml (Anxiety Symptoms and Signs - Over 100 listed.) (Anxiety Symptoms and Signs - Over 100 listed.)

All of the above symptoms were indeed caused by emotions, and were able to be overcome by:

- Understanding that "TMS" = powerful emotions (fear, anxiety, anger, etc.) - it is NOT an actual health condition, and should NOT be treated as though the body has a true problem (example = focusing way too much on "bad neural pathways that need fixing")
- Recognizing that every single individual on the planet experiences "TMS"/emotionally-driven health symptoms at some point, whether it's a simple eye twitch or a headache when they're angry, or severe sympathetic nervous system dysfunction, fibromyalgia, CRPS, carpal tunnel, adrenal fatigue, etc.
- Accepting that this is all a normal bodily process, and it does not mean anything is wrong with me; in fact, it's a natural response to powerful emotions and a sign the body is working perfectly and with my emotions
- Understanding the concept of neuroplasticity and the fact that the brain is capable of rewiring and changing anytime - this was especially helpful for obsessive behaviors/rituals, anxiety, depression, mood swings, etc. That said, I really want to emphasize that one CANNOT get hung up on the concept of "bad neural pathways" - this type of thinking can lead one to believe there's something much worse and more permanent going on when there isn't
- Accepting that eliminating symptoms may take time, and not setting a date on healing. That said, I also had to understand that the unexpected can happen, and one shouldn't set themselves up for a self-fulfilling prophecy. If healing isn't instantaneous, accept that and don't be afraid; if healing happens more quickly, be open to it. Either way, you WILL GET BETTER
- Letting go of the past (as opposed to dwelling on it and trying to analyze every single thing that's ever happened to me in my life) and living in the moment with happiness by smiling, visualization and meditation, calm breathing, and focusing on events I was looking forward to
- Refraining from spending copious amounts of time reading about "TMS" and not actually living my life
- Not allowing myself to browse health forums or websites focused on structural health issues, or where the general membership did not have a positive outlook on the ability to fully recover from emotionally driven symptoms (including TMS threads that were not hopeful)
- Reinforcing to my mind that I am healthy, unafraid of symptoms, and cannot be influenced anymore
- Similar to the above, living each day of my life without fearing the symptoms and obsessing over them
- Reminding myself that powerful emotions can prevent our bodies from healing after structural injuries, medication withdrawals, sickness, etc. We create healing neurotransmitters when we are balanced
- Believing in my body's natural ability to heal and reminding myself that good health is definitely possible, even with Ehlers-Danlos
- Creating a reality and a life where I felt good about myself and my future
- Not focusing on healing 24/7 and instead loving life, regardless of whether I was experiencing symptoms that particular day or not
- Starting a new routine that made me feel like I had a new life and a chance to separate myself from past ruts
- Addressing all thoughts of doubt by reminding myself that my body will heal once its relaxed and balanced again
- Interacting with positive members who have healed and believed in my ability to heal, too
- Understanding that not everyone is going to have the same exact symptoms as me, and some of the symptoms nobody else appears to have experienced or at least discussed openly are still caused by emotions - despite a lack of available information
- Reading stories about individuals with "structural" conditions who healed or went into remission and realizing that the vast majority of them cited a fighting attitude and positive way of living
- Loving and appreciating myself, and expressing daily gratitude for everything that makes me happy

Healing is possible for everyone. Stay away from anyone who says otherwise, and don't take advice from naysayers. It's imperative that you do not take advice from members who are yet to heal themselves, and remember that someone else's struggle does not have to become your reality as well. Many of us have healed, and so can you.

 

Dorado is a woman and yes its a very good success story, i think she still frequents from time to time but not as active as she used to be

 

Thanks, her post really inspired me!
@Dorado: If you read this I would love to connect with you to understand how you implemented your healing journey. More specifically, I'd like to understand how we can allow and let go of powerful emotions.

I find it interesting that you say: "TMS" = powerful emotions (fear, anxiety, anger, etc.). I just saw it as fear but I think you are right .... it's emotions in the general sense. This links in with a comment I read on Dan's YT channel about how an emotion of sadness manifested itself as physical pain in the body. It's fascinating. I want to allow, feel and release my stored up emotions ... it's time to let them go and need guidance on how to do this.