Symptom imperative: from pain to anxiety

[Rainbowdash]

I have been doing this program religiously and I noticed a 95% reduction in pain and a 100% increase in anxiety. My heart is beating fast and I'm getting very overwhelmed for everything. I'm even getting stressed out during sleep. I'm feeling so much stress.

Is anxiety another form of TMS? First my pains seemed to move around and they stopped. Now I have this constant paranoid state. Anyone else felt this way? Any tips on how to cope?

 

[birdsetfree]

Firstly congratulations on your pain reduction! Thats fantastic! The methods you employed to do this can be used for your anxiety. It is common for the underlying anxiety to surface intensely as you progress through your healing. Accept this, don't fight it and wait for time to pass. And celebrate your success along the way!

 

[Rainbowdash]

Thanks @birdsetfree . As soon as I posted this about anxiety, my anxiety has gone down considerably, but my hip pain, which was gone flared up. How long will this merry go round last? It is getting silly now. I'm not afraid, I'm just fed up. It needs to make up its mind and decide to stay in one place. My mind seems to be worse than a toddler. No direction, just running around.

 

[georgethee]

I have to agree with birdsetfree. You might just be trying to hard to get better to fast. Sometimes you need to let it run its course.
Since you're stressed at night and in your sleep you might still have some emotional anger that needs to get out. I went through the same rollercoaster ride. Part of my solution was to keep my mind busy with anything but TMS or the pain or anxiety. I would interact with people, go out for dinner, brunch, lunch, catch a movie, go jogging , listen to music, play videosgames and etc. Anything to relief stress and have as much fun as possible.

Your not alone and congrats on reduction of pain! I think thats the most important part.
Im an anxious person, I know that now and I accept it.

 

[JanAtheCPA]

Anxiety is your brain fighting back against your freedom from pain distraction. Dr. Sarno came to believe (and many of us do believe) that it's another TMS equivalent.

One of the resources that totally saved my life, second only to Dr. Sarno and this forum, was Hope & Help For Your Nerves, by Dr. Claire Weekes. This little book, and her work in general (four more books, plus audio programs) has helped countless thousands of people overcome anxiety. It was originally published in 1962!

 

[Rainbowdash]

Part of my solution was to keep my mind busy with anything but TMS or the pain or anxiety. I would interact with people, go out for dinner, brunch, lunch, catch a movie, go jogging , listen to music, play videosgames and etc. Anything to relief stress and have as much fun as possible.

See, I'm struggling with exactly this. On sunday, I took my daughter for a dance rehearsal. I planned to sit and watch, but since no other mums were able to get the girls to practise, I jumped in, made changes to the dance sequence, practised with them. I was on my feet, bending, doing things I normally wouldn't do. It was a busy day and I came out of it with no pain. But in the evening I thought about how much I had done, and bam!!! next morning I woke up with foot pain, hip pain and little back pain, but anxiety was gone. All of yesterday, I was angry, in pain and kind of losing hope. Then at bed time, I said to myself, this is all TMS and this morning the pains are all almost gone but I'm a little anxious.

It's like my mind identifies with being in pain/anxiety. It has become my identity. I can't envision myself without them anymore. I keep getting this feeling that if I'm pain/anxiety free, then I have no excuses (excuses for what, I don't know). I don't know how to come out of this trap.

 

[Click#7]

See, I'm struggling with exactly this. On sunday, I took my daughter for a dance rehearsal. I planned to sit and watch, but since no other mums were able to get the girls to practise, I jumped in, made changes to the dance sequence, practised with them. I was on my feet, bending, doing things I normally wouldn't do. It was a busy day and I came out of it with no pain. But in the evening I thought about how much I had done, and bam!!! next morning I woke up with foot pain, hip pain and little back pain, but anxiety was gone. All of yesterday, I was angry, in pain and kind of losing hope. Then at bed time, I said to myself, this is all TMS and this morning the pains are all almost gone but I'm a little anxious.

It's like my mind identifies with being in pain/anxiety. It has become my identity. I can't envision myself without them anymore. I keep getting this feeling that if I'm pain/anxiety free, then I have no excuses (excuses for what, I don't know). I don't know how to come out of this trap.

They say our emotions and pain center are in the same part of the brain ? Don't lose hope you did a wonderful thing for the kids. Love yourself instead of getting angry. Don't fear. Easy to say right ? But look what you accomplished ? Your daughter loves you.

 

[chips and salsa]

@Rainbowdash , I have been dealing with this exact thing over the last few days. I had chronic back pain for the last three months and fortunately came upon the knowledge of TMS last week. My MRI and X-Ray shows no indication for back pain, but had been dealing with chronic and tired muscle and back pains. After I began reading Dr. Sarno's Healing the Back... I realized that I have TMS and started to understand that I need to work on my repressed emotions and started journaling. I was fortunate to tie the trigger that led to my initial start of this pain three months ago, but I can recall many times in my past life that I have experienced TMS. I have managed to calm the pain down, but mad anxiety or shall I even describe it as depression set in over the weekend. I prayed a lot and Alan's step of Somatic Tracking(I think that's what it's called) really struck a chord in me yesterday and somehow, my depression ceased and I was able to make it through the day happily. That strategy really helped me yesterday. It was a truthfully powerful moment for me. Today, I am feeling pretty happy and calm, but I am feeling back pain or soreness creep in. Is it my pain, fear, or anxiety bringing this on? Also, my doctor had recently wanted me to start the medication called Deplin, or perhaps another antidepressant. It is not considered a true antidepressant, but it serves to calm the brain down. I am struggling with deciding that since TMS is new to me, whether or not I need this medication to help me as I work through TMS, being a newcomer to this. So my post is a response to yours, but also a question to anyone out there that might give me insight on this tough decision I need to make. I watched a video of a TMS-er who said that before she knew she had TMS, she was in the dumps and was prescribed an antidepressant which helped her to figure out the mind-body connection and her discovery of TMS and that it helped her to start understanding how to deal with TMS. Can anyone offer any suggestions to me about this?

 

[Rainbowdash]

I was on antidepressants but they gave me severe cough, so I had to give them up. I used a medication called vibrionics, which helped my anxiety and depression quite a bit. That medicine is supposed to normalise the vibrations of our body. It helped me quite a bit. But now I've stopped all medications and I'm doing SEP the hard way. If I get my anxiety back, I'll take the vibrionics medicine.

 

[JanAtheCPA]

Can anyone offer any suggestions to me about this?

Hi chips&salsa:

It seems to me that you are already having success treating your symptoms as TMS. I don't have any experience with antidepressants, but let's look at your question from another point of view. Like most of us with TMS, I wonder if you are worried about doing this work perfectly - is that a possibility? So you saw that video, you know that you have a tendency for depression, and your perfectionism wants to be absolutely sure you cover all the bases and work on your depression perfectly - because if you don't, you might not recover. Maybe? It's just a thought.

I was starting to experience depression in the summer of 2011, and it was really scary. I had never had it before, but I had no doubt about what it was. Along with increasing panic attacks, and multiple other symptoms that were leading me on a path to becoming housebound in short order. Then I discovered Dr. Sarno, quite by accident, and thank goodness for that!

I wrote about the last time I experienced depression, which was after I started this work, and by then I had some techniques and knowledge to fight back. See what you think: http://www.tmswiki.org/forum/bookmarks/608/view-item (Bookmark | TMS Forum (The Mindbody Syndrome))

 

[chips and salsa]

@JanAtheCPA, your response is exactly what my journaling was about this morning. I am, indeed, a perfectionist and I always approach things with the idea of doing it as near to perfect as possible, to ge the best results. Thank you for sharing your link. I will look at what you shared. Thank you. I am excited but nervous and of course that is bringing back some of the back pain I had been experiencing. The journaling helped some, but today is a harder day for me than the last few have been. Thank you for your response.

 

[Click#7]

Firstly congratulations on your pain reduction! Thats fantastic! The methods you employed to do this can be used for your anxiety. It is common for the underlying anxiety to surface intensely as you progress through your healing. Accept this, don't fight it and wait for time to pass. And celebrate your success along the way!

Birdsetfree...I read your success story and was so impressed. Did you have any other pains or was it just strictly back pain ?

 

[birdsetfree]

Birdsetfree...I read your success story and was so impressed. Did you have any other pains or was it just strictly back pain ?

Thank you! I had mostly back pain for 15 years. That was my every day symptom. Other symptoms that were more sporadic were neck pain (supposed twisted vertebra to blame), ankle pain (I had broken it as a child), IBS, gastric symptoms, health anxiety, depression, urinary symptoms and strange hot sensations in my hands and feet! These have all gone now for the most part. I can see the validity in the necessity to name this condition a syndrome. This also helped me to have confidence in the psychological cause for my severe back pain. I see clearly I had had my head in the sand regarding important issues and happenings in my life for decades culminating in a mind body syndrome I was not recognising.

How are you going with everything? And happy new year!

 

[Click#7]

Thank you! I had mostly back pain for 15 years. That was my every day symptom. Other symptoms that were more sporadic were neck pain (supposed twisted vertebra to blame), ankle pain (I had broken it as a child), IBS, gastric symptoms, health anxiety, depression, urinary symptoms and strange hot sensations in my hands and feet! These have all gone now for the most part. I can see the validity in the necessity to name this condition a syndrome. This also helped me to have confidence in the psychological cause for my severe back pain. I see clearly I had had my head in the sand regarding important issues and happenings in my life for decades culminating in a mind body syndrome I was not recognising.

How are you going with everything? And happy new year!

It initially began after childbirth (almost died) with feet pain and strange muscle twitching. Was on steroids for 4 months, but nobody could figure out what it was. Then 10 years later with hip, sciatic and feet pain for which it all resolved with time. Didn't know what it was again because all the studies were normal. I saw a counselor who kept saying to me nothing was wrong and I'd get better and I did. I decided I would just go back to work and actually loved my "new jobs". The 1st 2 times it took about 15 to 18 months to resolve. It was a gradual recovery. Now again hip and feet pain 17 years later and it's worse. This time I actually had surgery which was a huge mistake. Doctors convinced me my spine to falling apart. Nothing Dr. Sarno would have worried about. So understanding what the issues are this time I am trying to dig myself back out. I believe TMS is a chronic syndrome.....it flares if you don't tend to it. I had a very stressful life again that started this for the 3rd time in my life. I believe I could be a case study for TMS. Happy New Year to you.

 

[birdsetfree]

Thats quite a story. I see that a lot with tms. There is trauma involved, this generates fear and a loss of confidence in our own health. With the tms knowledge that you have now and going forwards time will gradually fade those fear/pain pathways and the chronicity of it should be less intrusive on your life.

 

[Click#7]

Thats quite a story. I see that a lot with tms. There is trauma involved, this generates fear and a loss of confidence in our own health. With the tms knowledge that you have now and going forwards time will gradually fade those fear/pain pathways and the chronicity of it should be less intrusive on your life.

I hope you are right. I see a very gradual decrease in pain as time goes on, but not as much as would like. With that said I realize I need to "let go", it would just be nice to have a vacation from this. I am following the same pattern as before. After about a year it really eases up. I truly believe becoming more active is part of it as soon as you are able. Go out....get back to work, play a little, going out to dinner whatever. This flare is worse so it has made my recovery more difficult. NOW that I realize what it is I can understand and hopefully heal.

 

[TrustIt]

It's like my mind identifies with being in pain/anxiety. It has become my identity. I can't envision myself without them anymore. I keep getting this feeling that if I'm pain/anxiety free, then I have no excuses (excuses for what, I don't know). I don't know how to come out of this trap.

i definitely identify with this. i found that i became completely disinterested and unmotivated to do a lot of domestic things i use to feel obligated to do. my wonderful husband took over the cooking some time back, and i realized that my discomfort would always be worse at dinnertime. he would be busy in the kitchen, not wanting any help, and my guilt was raging even as i was enjoying the freedom from the responsibility of putting a meal on the table. i would have had a good day in general, and then hit that "wall" just as dinner prep began, or shortly before actually. it finally became obvious and i was able to stop beating myself up for not being "helpful". i also used this "excuse" for other things i simply didn't want to do. it's a good one! but not a helpful one, so i'm tossing it to the curb!

 

[Lonewolfbunny]

It is really amazing how many times I catch TMS at work trying to ecourage me to avoid uncomfortable events, tasks etc...even things I want, but perhaps I am mildly apprehensive about. For example...in my business partners truck discussing plans to expand this summer into running a part time kitchen. She kept saying how much work it was going to be and to be prepared...even though this is an exciting, rare and wonderful opportunity ( practically gifted to us-which might explain the feeling of "we have to do this" pressure) My lower back started to twinge and i thought...i can't do this, my back...my feet...my arms...blahblahblah...and then i just said to her...my lower back is basically in disagreement here, but ut is going to have to just get on board because the rest of "us" /me are actually very excited to try. She has a burning foot that acts up when she feels stressed about work. We joke about our temper tantruming body parts. @SkatingPheonix