Sometimes I feel confused about how people actually recover.

A veces me siento confundido sobre cómo se recupera la gente. Por un lado, está el enfoque emocional, y sé que, en última instancia, esa es la razón por la que todos estamos aquí. Nuestro dolor y nuestros síntomas comenzaron en algún momento durante períodos de estrés o sufrimiento emocional, y algo se atascó en el cerebro en torno al dolor: lo que ahora llamamos sensibilización central.
Al mismo tiempo, tiendo a inclinarme más hacia una perspectiva científica, así que puedo entender por qué algunas personas se recuperan incluso sin seguir un enfoque explícitamente emocional. Cuando Sarno dijo que no hay que preocuparse por el dolor que no causa daño, lo que realmente estaba fomentando era la ausencia de miedo. La neurociencia moderna se centra precisamente en esta idea: el miedo es lo que nos mantiene atrapados en el dolor. Las vías neuronales se refuerzan con el miedo, y para que se desactiven, necesitamos dejar de temer los síntomas y todo lo asociado a ellos. En ese sentido, creo que Sarno apuntaba indirectamente a la misma conclusión. Tenía razón en muchas cosas, aunque en aquel momento carecía de evidencia científica que respaldara sus afirmaciones. Ahora esa evidencia existe.
Aun así, creo que lo que más nos afecta a todos es el miedo, no necesariamente a los síntomas en sí, sino al futuro. Miedo a si mejoraremos, a si podremos seguir adelante, a si estamos haciendo las cosas bien o a si nuestros síntomas empeoran. Podemos soportar el dolor e incluso vivir con él, pero el miedo al futuro a menudo persiste. Eso es lo que más me afecta.
He mejorado mucho mi actitud y mi miedo ha disminuido significativamente. Sin embargo, a veces siento que la ansiedad quiere apoderarse de mí. He tenido días con un dolor más intenso y me he sentido más tranquilo, y otros con muy poco dolor pero mucha más ansiedad. Creo que esto ocurre cuando la sensación de que "esto nunca termina" o "no lo estoy haciendo bien" traspasa cierto umbral.
En mi caso, lo que más me inquieta es no tener un dolor fijo y predecible en los brazos, algo con lo que pueda despertar y decir: "Bueno, esto es lo que tengo hoy, puedo aguantar el día". Hubo una época en que me despertaba con un dolor más fuerte, pero manejable. Ahora, el hecho de que el dolor pueda o no aparecer al mover los brazos me pone muy nerviosa. Incluso en un día como hoy, cuando el dolor es leve y, al mantener los brazos quietos, casi no siento nada, la expectativa de que algo pueda aparecer al moverlos juega en mi contra.
No he visto a mucha gente aquí describir un dolor que cambia de esta manera, momento a momento. Sé que el dolor puede pasar de un lugar a otro, pero normalmente no en cuestión de minutos. Ha habido periodos en los que mi dolor se ha sentido más estable, pero últimamente he tenido días en los que el dolor es relativamente bajo y aun así no logro sentirme tranquilo. Intento mantenerme relajado, pero en días como hoy, incluso con poco dolor, la ansiedad me domina.
I go out for walks and almost escape my house. I avoid responsibilities at first, but eventually I gather the courage to do them — washing dishes, taking care of household tasks. The truth is, we can’t escape our bodies, and responsibilities are always there. Sometimes I wish I had the kind of “normal” pain people talk about — the kind they eventually recovered from — or even more typical neurological sensations like burning throughout the body, which I also experience.

 

Sorry, but I wasn't able to figure out how to translate the Spanish into English. But I will reply to your English section.

First, welcome to the Forum. You are in the right place.

It is normal in the beginning to think that the pain and other symptoms we have are unique and not like those who have recovered. This is a hurdle you must get over in order to make progress. I suggest reading Success Stories or listening to podcasts of people who have recovered. You will find a full range of symptoms and severe dysfunction that others have managed to recover from using TMS recovery techniques. But then put that aside and realize that your brain is unique and has developed a set of symptoms to effectively distract you from your emotional pain. It will never be exactly like anybody else's brain and the symptoms generated. You are unique, but you can recover just the same as others. It's a bit of a paradox. We share our humanity and vulnerabilities.

 

I identify with a lot of what you say. I am very sound sensitive. Pretty much just think of any sound you'd be able to make, and itd bother me if i didnt have ear plugs in. This uncertainty -- obviously i cant control sound -- gives me a ton of fear. My tms brain is telling me: these people only have physical pain that is the result of their movements, its not the same. 'They aren't going through the same whatever.

The question I asked myself is: 'Does it matter?' What do the symptoms of others matter to me? I really feel bad for myself but what others are going through does not affect me at all. I am afraid of sounds, and I need to stop being afraid. The first thing you have to do is accept your situation. If you keep fighting the sensations, it'll be hard to improve. I dont want to speak in absolutes but the best advice i could give anyone with TMS is to let go. I practice this as much as I can. My life sucks -- I have to let it suck, to let it be. Fighting how hard my life sucks isnt gonna make it go away. I could leave this forum and stop doing this but I know i wont improve any other way. I wish i could explain this more profoundly but this is also my second language and i wouldnt even have the words in my first.

As for the future: let it go and let it be. Worrying isnt gonna improve your situation. I worry too: will i ever have a family? Will I ever even love someone again? My life would improve so much if i woke up deaf tomorrow, but i wont. I try to let go; to live in the moment as much as i can, as hard as it may be.

 

The first part around emotions actually ties well into the fear because a massive proponent of TMS symptoms is fear of/resistance to emotions.

I'll use my example I had a flare recently (lasted a few days) - I have absolutely no fear around the symptom or what it means, nor how it impacts the future because I know it's short term. I didn't even have to try but not once during the flare did my mind even go to "well what if it's physical", I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it isn't. It's a symptom I had for years and have had all the tests for.

Now if we just look at it in terms of what you said in your latter paragraphs (beyond Sarno) without taking into account emotions, then this flare doesn't make any sense. I know what caused it though because I had a stressful situation, one that I wasn't willing to accept and I resisted heavily (stress doesn't necessarily cause TMS it's more our resistance to the situation), symptoms then ensued. Its onset (nor the fact that it continued for a few days) had nothing to do with the symptom itself (what it meant or fear surrounding it).

I agree with you that addressing the fear surrounding the symptoms can get you a long way - for some people it can get them all the way (but from what I've seen that's not the majority).

I said this in another post, but the fact that your symptoms have moved around (you've got over the symptoms in your foot but now it's moved and gotten scarier), indicates to me that there's emotional work to do (we need to work at the root). I understand that, in addition to the logic, and I'm not saying you are doing this but there might be some of this at least subconsciously, PRT is a way more attractive prospect for people. If you give someone an opportunity to heal without having to reflect/make changes emotionally + potentially face their past, 99% of people will take it and gravitate towards it. Not many people want to dig and reflect (I used to do this anyway just because I am really into self-development, but I am weird for that and I understand people's resistance to the emotional work! + my past doesn't contain much complex trauma so it was easier for me).

I just don't want you to overcome the fear of this symptom (like you did with your foot), only for another symptom to pop up. Assuming that this is a call to do the emotional work/reflection (for most people with TMS it is), then this might just keep happening if you don't address the root. I know this probably isn't what you want to hear, but I can only comment on what I see and what I have seen from experience.