Setbacks - Many symptoms at once - Constant Fear

[ac2448]

Hey everyone,

I am in need of help. Does anyone have experience with many symptoms coming and going at once and how to deal with the fear associated with this? I am constantly worrying about if something is wrong with me, what warrants a doctors visit, etc.

As shown in my previous posts, my chronic pain journey started about a year ago with chronic urinary symptoms and pelvic pain. Over time as I worked on the TMS program, i made progress and had days with no pain. Currently I do not think about this pain often and only experience it every now and then. I became lazy with my progress and work and am now in a tough situation.

For about 2 months now, i have had many other symptoms appear with the pelvic pain and often times completely replace the original pelvic pain. I started with bad upper back and neck pain which disappeared after about 2 weeks, which was replaced with bad heartburn and rib pain.

I had wisdom teeth extraction surgery almost a week ago, and while i focused on the pain from that, my symptoms of heartburn and rib pain almost disappeared. Now that i have begun to heal from the tooth extraction pain, I am noticing these symptoms coming back.

I feel hopeless right now, with several symptoms now appearing on and off. I constantly seek reassurance from my family and girlfriend about whether this is probably caused by anxiety or if something is wrong with me. It is putting a strain on my family relationships, who love me deeply but are frustrated by not being to help me and having to deal with a new crisis symptom almost every week or so. I know I need to make a change and work at this, as I previously have had success with the program. Does anyone have advice on overcoming the almost constant thoughts of "is something physically wrong with me?" and the body scanning for symptoms?

I plan on trying to reach out to a TMS specialist. I previously worked with a local psychotherapist and had some relief, but I think I would have better success with someone experienced with TMS specifically. Any encouragement and advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[JanAtheCPA]

Hi @ac2448 and welcome to the forum.

The #2 book (after The Divided Mind) that helped me (and thousands of others, over many decades) is Hope & Help For Your Nerves, by Claire Weekes. I just can't recommend this book enough. She wrote it in 1969, and although the language might seem a bit dated, her advice is not. It's a small book, easy to read, very informative, and very comforting.

 

[Baseball65]

Usually when the symptom imperative is that bad (Immediate replacement symptoms) I have found there is something external that needs looking at pronto. Just start school? Bad relationship? Hate your Job? Parents ill?

Working thru TMS the 'first time' was just dealing with the whole ball of anger/anxiety/stress and acknowledging it. When there has been a series of stuff there is usually an ongoing 'deal' that I am not acknowledging...not acknowledging how very angry, scared, frustrated I am about __________ .

I went through a little switcheroo like that about a year and a half ago. I had just taken over full time care of my Mom, Was in the death throes of a terrible relationship and started a new Job.... all at the same time. I kept cycling from Teeth to mild sciatica to stomach to teeth. I knew they were all TMS so I spent a lot of time writing and praying and 'purging' (gestalt violence therapy). Got over the hump and none of them ever became a 'problem' e.g. occupied my attention for more than a few minutes. So..what isn't bugging you that ought to be?