Symptom Imperative? Throat Tightness

[ARCUser831]

The primary set of symptoms that caused me to turn to and learn about TMS have been pelvic pain, frequent urination, sciatica, etc. Lately, those symptoms have been getting better, and I have instead been pre-occupied with a feeling of tightness in my throat and difficult swallowing. It started when I began a new face wash product for my rosacea. I noticed one small hive on my forehead that quickly went away but made me hyperaware of a possible allergic reaction. So the subsequent days, whenever I tried to use to face products, I felt throat tightness that would wear off by afternoon.

Now I am no longer using the face products but am feeling it again today. I now am worried it is a new shampoo/conditioner I am using causing a reaction. However, my rational side is almost certain this is anxiety/TMS and the symptom imperative at work...preying a new fear that's popped up. The sensation is not consistent, is worse when I'm not busy, when I do feel it, it always subsides by the afternoon, and I have no other allergy symptoms (rash, itchiness, etc.).

This is a completely new thing for me but I'm fixating heavily on it, and am hoping for reassurance that it sounds like TMS...part of me is almost OK I have it because I know for as long as I'm scared about my throat, the symptoms I truly dread will stay away - very convoluted. But the fear keeps popping up that this is anaphylaxis and I can feel my heart rate rise when those thoughts come in.

I'm trying to stay calm, breathe, speak rationally to myself. Any insight or advice on this particular symptom would be appreciated!

 

[Cactusflower]

The primary set of symptoms that caused me to turn to and learn about TMS have been pelvic pain, frequent urination, sciatica, etc. Lately, those symptoms have been getting better, and I have instead been pre-occupied with a feeling of tightness in my throat and difficult swallowing. It started when I began a new face wash product for my rosacea. I noticed one small hive on my forehead that quickly went away but made me hyperaware of a possible allergic reaction. So the subsequent days, whenever I tried to use to face products, I felt throat tightness that would wear off by afternoon.

Now I am no longer using the face products but am feeling it again today. I now am worried it is a new shampoo/conditioner I am using causing a reaction. However, my rational side is almost certain this is anxiety/TMS and the symptom imperative at work...preying a new fear that's popped up. The sensation is not consistent, is worse when I'm not busy, when I do feel it, it always subsides by the afternoon, and I have no other allergy symptoms (rash, itchiness, etc.).

This is a completely new thing for me but I'm fixating heavily on it, and am hoping for reassurance that it sounds like TMS...part of me is almost OK I have it because I know for as long as I'm scared about my throat, the symptoms I truly dread will stay away - very convoluted. But the fear keeps popping up that this is anaphylaxis and I can feel my heart rate rise when those thoughts come in.

I'm trying to stay calm, breathe, speak rationally to myself. Any insight or advice on this particular symptom would be appreciated!

@ARCUser831

This seems to be a fairly common symptom, here’s just one thread I found. You might like the 2nd entry the most.
https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/throat-tightness-closure-and-tms.22370/ (Throat tightness/closure and TMS?)

I get a ton of “symptoms” - lately it has been neck/throat. It’s all tension for myself. I have been thinking about a stressful thing, outside of the symptoms. The symptom is often the destractor to repression - you are most likely being distracted by the symptom due to thought/emotions unrelated to your current fixation -physically.
It may very well be the symptom imperative but ignoring it might not be the answer.
As for the difficulty you mention with these repetitive thoughts or fixations, both Dr. Hanscom on his blog and Claire Weekes in her books discuss simple ways to deal with them.

 

[JanAtheCPA]

And let's not forget that rosacea itself is a stress-based condition, so by using a special product to begin with, your TMS brain has the ideal fuel to fan the flames of this particular vicious cycle.

You've done a good job with your other symptoms, so naturally your TMS brain has to find something else to try to keep you in fear. This is its job, and it does it well! You just need to have faith that you can be smarter.

Dr Hanscom: https://backincontrol.com/ruts/ (RUTs - Back in Control)

 

[ARCUser831]

@ARCUser831

This seems to be a fairly common symptom, here’s just one thread I found. You might like the 2nd entry the most.
https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/throat-tightness-closure-and-tms.22370/ (Throat tightness/closure and TMS?)

I get a ton of “symptoms” - lately it has been neck/throat. It’s all tension for myself. I have been thinking about a stressful thing, outside of the symptoms. The symptom is often the destractor to repression - you are most likely being distracted by the symptom due to thought/emotions unrelated to your current fixation -physically.
It may very well be the symptom imperative but ignoring it might not be the answer.
As for the difficulty you mention with these repetitive thoughts or fixations, both Dr. Hanscom on his blog and Claire Weekes in her books discuss simple ways to deal with them.

I really do need to get Claire Weekes's book... I KNOW I would benefit greatly from that, as I have struggled with anxiety all my life. I have managed to function fairly well with that anxiety, but it is the physical symptoms that have started to rear their ugly heads that have kicked it into a higher gear. I guess that fits the bill for a lot of us on here dealing with TMS.

I have been dealing with some very stressful things...between moving to a new higher position in my company soon, managing a team for the first time (fears of inadequacy), trying to start a family (fears of infertility), family issues, and a move on the horizon (lack of stability), it's no wonder my symptoms are not worse...sometimes sitting back and appreciating those things in itself helps my symptoms to lessen, if only for a short period.

Thank you for the recommendation.

 

[ARCUser831]

And let's not forget that rosacea itself is a stress-based condition, so by using a special product to begin with, your TMS brain has the ideal fuel to fan the flames of this particular vicious cycle.

You've done a good job with your other symptoms, so naturally your TMS brain has to find something else to try to keep you in fear. This is its job, and it does it well! You just need to have faith that you can be smarter.

Dr Hanscom: https://backincontrol.com/ruts/ (RUTs - Back in Control)

I did not shy away from using the shampoo and conditioner I became worried was causing the issue, and it has now started to subside...took a rule out of the TMS playbook to not give power to the fears. My fixation on that symptom kept my other symptoms at bay, but of course now that I have worked through those fears, my mainstay symptoms are flaring again today. I will continue to work through it as I know how...

I have read about rosacea being a TMS equivalent, I struggle with how to deal with it though because it is not a symptom I fear necessarily, and while it can be distracting at times when I'm getting ready or looking in the mirror, for the most part it is out of my mind. It DID onset during one of the most stressful periods of my life and I do believe it's correlated with my stress though, I just struggle with how to recover from it. It feels 'different' from my other symptoms.

Thank you for the link! I'm going to give it a read now.

 

[JanAtheCPA]

I do believe it's correlated with my stress though, I just struggle with how to recover from it. It feels 'different' from my other symptoms.

Well, I would say, first of all, don't overthink it. You don't have to actively do anything about it, just keep it in your awareness as part of the big picture. I do think that's important to the overall goal which is to think psychologically first. Heck, even if you suffer an injury, thinking psychologically and working with your brain to breath and try to be calm and proactive instead of panicking and catastrophizing will help your body to start recovery sooner rather than later, maybe even with fewer painkillers (I've had that experience).

Rosacea is one of those issues that many people include on their lists of "other symptoms" that did not primarily bring them to this work - but which also resolved upon successfully doing the work. Similarly to my sudden-and-late-onset (in 2020, at age 69) Rheumatoid Arthritis, it indicates that your body is experiencing an inflammatory response - undoubtedly due to stress. I am positive that my RA was brought on by a period of undue stress, and similarly to your rosacea, my RA is very well-controlled with a low weekly dose of one of the most basic and time-tested DMARDs there is. Ironically, this is somewhat unfortunate, because it turns out that I am not motivated enough to engage in a substantial commitment to serious stress reduction and possible remission. I did take steps to eliminate or reduce outside stressors, significantly reduce my sugar intake, and significantly increase my exercise, all of which I am very sure have helped my inflammatory markers to stay low - but two big stressors remain. One is age-rage, which I fully acknowledge - however mindful acceptance of aging seems farther out of reach with each year that passes. I'm also existentially hyper-sensitive to the dismaying state of world affairs. A serious and consistent mindfulness practice (specifically meditation) might help (@TG957 is the inspiration for that knowledge), but my brain is so f'ing resistant. I just keep putting it off, thinking that I'll get to it later. LOL.

In the meantime, I use my TMS tools and techniques to manage the good old regular TMS symptoms that come and go - and thank goodness for those. The first step is always making the shift from thinking physically to thinking psychologically. And this is your immediate goal. Your long-term goal is to get the underlying inflammatory stress response under control. Says the woman who struggles with that, but that doesn't mean I can't keep recommending it to others!

PS: to one of your other points, a symptom doesn't have to create fear to be a useful distraction for the TMS brain - it just has to be a distraction. There are a lot of ways that humans distract themselves from unpleasant or repressed negative thoughts, after all - we've had quite a few discussions in the past about how addictive behaviors are pretty obviously (to us here, anyway) substitutions for physical TMS symptoms. And we've all got our share of addictive behaviors (I've certainly got a list!) It's all part of the big picture.