Symptom Imperative - over-sensitive startle response

I have had TMS for the past 20 years. I have been working on this program off amd on for the last five years, but only this year, consistently. I have done quite a lot to rid my body of chronic pain, and for the most part, have succeeded. The symptom imperative has, however, I belive, taken root in my stomach, in the form of a hyper-startle response. Let me explain:

For the past number of months, I have been startled awake in the middle of the night after thinking I'm hearing my dog barking outside. It startles me and I freak out, because I dont want him waking up the neighbors. The problem is, most of the time, its not him, and in fact, is nothing. Once I am awake though and the adrenaline kicks in, I end up sick to my stomach. I try everything to calm it down, with Pepto, Zofran, ginger, tums, etc...its only after the anxiety calms down that my stomach does, as well. This is random and comes out of the blue, but is greatly affecting my sleep and getting up for work at 6:00 AM. I have heard that a hyperactive startle response could be due to PTSD, which I have had, but I also question whether it is TMS and what the triggers could be, as well.

Amyone dealing with this or has dealt with this in the past? I would hate to have to quit my job because I am sick often. As it is, I have had to call in sick to work or leave work early 5 times in the past 3 months. Not a good cycle and one I need to break quickly.

 

Could you have your dog inside? then it wouldn't give your system the excuse to startle you... Or if that's not possible, how about wearing earplugs - then you know you cannot physically be startled... If you can find a way to subvert the startle response - it may be that it will go away - and if it is tms - you will probably get another symptom instead! But then you will know - and can take steps to deal with it! Generally some meditation/mindfulness might be helpful too - just as a calming influence - maybe before you go to bed. good luck.

 

I am just typing what comes to mind without overthinking...

Maybe the anxiety and freaking out because of a barking dog is a metaphor; are you repressing something and you have great fear of outing it??... yes, I know, you can go all directions with this kind of analyses and more often than not it leads you nowhere. Dream analyses have limited use, but if this event is recurring over and over, there might be something behind it.

I find it helps me to use affirmations when I get hyped up. 'I am relaxed and confident', or something similar, accompanied by breathing techniques.

hope it helps you, take care