Symptoms increasing as I sleep better and do emotional work

[iasmin]

Hi everyone,


I’m new to the whole TMS journey, and I’m still trying to understand how to deal with changes in my symptoms while focusing on my emotional work.


For some context: I’ve been tapering off clonazepam for about a month now. I only took it for two months, after anxiety completely took over when my TMS symptoms first appeared. I’m currently on a very low dose, and I’ve been tapering very slowly using the liquid form of the medication, which makes the reductions much more gradual.


During this time, I’ve also been journaling and trying to live my life as normally as possible. Three days ago, I started sleeping really well for the first time in a long while (before that, I was only getting around four hours of sleep a night). At the same time, I’ve noticed that my muscle pain and fatigue have been spreading and becoming more intense. It’s driving me crazy!


On top of that, I’ve developed a slight tremor in my hands, which keeps making me worry that I might have some serious neurological condition. Sometimes I feel like my brain is incredibly good at finding ways to make me doubt that this is actually TMS.


What I’m struggling with is figuring out what’s causing what. Are these symptoms simply related to tapering off the benzodiazepine, or could they be connected to the strong emotions I’ve been uncovering through my journaling work? And could the fact that my insomnia has improved so much over the last few days somehow be related to the increase in my other symptoms?


I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who’s had a similar experience.

 

[Sita]

Are these symptoms simply related to tapering off the benzodiazepine...

Hi,

Yes. You can read the insert of the medication (it says there about the side effects) or read about tapering off gradually and side effectsm online, on medical pages, journals, studies etc. Nothing to worry about. Just keep calm and concentrate on the positives in your life. And have patience.

You'll receive different opinions on this subject here. Everyone has a different view. But just read the insert and about the side effects of tapering off medications like this from medical sources and you'll realize that this is the cause. And it will go away, in time. You'll be OK.

Take care.

 

[Ellen]

What I’m struggling with is figuring out what’s causing what. Are these symptoms simply related to tapering off the benzodiazepine, or could they be connected to the strong emotions I’ve been uncovering through my journaling work? And could the fact that my insomnia has improved so much over the last few days somehow be related to the increase in my other symptoms?

Congratulations on all your progress! You're doing great work.

It is common to have a shift in symptoms or an increase in their intensity when you start doing emotional work. Your TMS brain is trying to get you to stop in order to protect you emotionally.

I urge you not to try to figure what is causing what in your body. This is your brain doing its TMS thing. It's making you focus on your body and not your emotions and thoughts. Continue to follow the Sarno mandate of thinking psychologically. That is the path to recovery. Continue to do your TMS recovery plan and find some pleasurable activities to focus on when you're not doing the emotional work. You're in bumpy seas right now, but smooth sailing is in your future. Keep the faith.

 

[Diana-M]

Some mind-body experts claim that as you do the work, your subconscious brain begins to feel safe enough to release some of your stored tension through symptoms. For me, this makes sense. For others it doesn’t. But lately I’ve been making some headway with this approach. It’s called Allowing. You just allow the expression of symptoms without getting alarmed by them. Mentors who teach this each were healed with this method. (I’m sure there are more.) You can learn more on their YouTube channels. They include:

Vanessa Azelis @yourgratefulguide
Helmet Koeckritz @HelmutKoeckritz
Sam Miller @thegreatallowing

But the bottom line is—don’t worry!

 

[Adam Coloretti (coach)]

Sometimes I feel like my brain is incredibly good at finding ways to make me doubt that this is actually TMS.

That it is!

or could they be connected to the strong emotions I’ve been uncovering through my journaling work?

I would say this is more likely - once you've ruled out anything structural - the shift to thinking psychologically is the way to go. I wouldn't let what is happening put you off of tapering off the medication (if that's your desire and it's safe medically to do so)

 

[JanAtheCPA]

I am 100% in agreement with all of these responses from our supportive and experienced community, @iasmin. As @Sita said, each is slightly different... but the overall advice is essentially: take deep breaths, and relax. It's very early days.

PS, I've had tremors all my life - and lifelong anxiety. I never thought much about them, because they were so obviously exacerbated by stress. I had a complete neurological workup in 2018 at age 67, after a fainting episode (low potassium) and a minor bump to the back of my head, and the neurologist said my brain looked great. There was nothing more to discuss about that, and I guess he had some time because he asked if I had any other questions since I was there - so I asked about my tremors. He had me stand up and do a few things to test my balance and various responses, and said that it's what they call "Essential Tremor" which is a benign, common, and often lifelong condition, with no known cause. I suggested that it's brought on by anxiety and made worse by stress, and he said Yes indeed.

 

[iasmin]

Congratulations on all your progress! You're doing great work.

It is common to have a shift in symptoms or an increase in their intensity when you start doing emotional work. Your TMS brain is trying to get you to stop in order to protect you emotionally.

I urge you not to try to figure what is causing what in your body. This is your brain doing its TMS thing. It's making you focus on your body and not your emotions and thoughts. Continue to follow the Sarno mandate of thinking psychologically. That is the path to recovery. Continue to do your TMS recovery plan and find some pleasurable activities to focus on when you're not doing the emotional work. You're in bumpy seas right now, but smooth sailing is in your future. Keep the faith.

Thank you, Ellen!

I’m so happy that my sleep is finally starting to regulate itself. Writing down everything that’s been worrying me before bed and simply not caring whether I fall asleep or not seems to be making all the difference.

Last night, my brain brought back my very first symptom (migraine), almost as if it was trying to make me panic and focus on it. I just did the breathing exercise you mentioned in your post, and it eased enough for me to drift off to sleep.

The symptoms are still moving around and showing up as mild burning sensations throughout my body, but I’m staying focused on the emotional work and following your suggestion to limit my TMS work to one hour a day. That has been incredibly helpful because I felt like I went through the entire day without being bothered by the unpleasant sensations.

Thank you again for your encouragement and support. It means a lot to me

 

[Adam Coloretti (coach)]

Thank you, Ellen!

I’m so happy that my sleep is finally starting to regulate itself. Writing down everything that’s been worrying me before bed and simply not caring whether I fall asleep or not seems to be making all the difference.

Last night, my brain brought back my very first symptom (migraine), almost as if it was trying to make me panic and focus on it. I just did the breathing exercise you mentioned in your post, and it eased enough for me to drift off to sleep.

The symptoms are still moving around and showing up as mild burning sensations throughout my body, but I’m staying focused on the emotional work and following your suggestion to limit my TMS work to one hour a day. That has been incredibly helpful because I felt like I went through the entire day without being bothered by the unpleasant sensations.

Thank you again for your encouragement and support. It means a lot to me

Amazing! So great to hear

 

[rob89]

You could be doubting, somewhere deep, the fact this is TMS then it hits you harder than before.

I always used to liken it to a little kid. A badly behaved one.

That first time they scream and shout parents might give in for an easy life. That continues as they grow but parents start being a bit stricter. But not quite strict enough. Only each time the kid wants something or a reaction their screaming and playing up has to be bigger and worse than last time. Because the parents tolerance has decreased, they have become stricter. Louder is the only way for the kid to now get the same result, that used to take less screaming in the past.

This is TMS ramping it up; because what it did before doesn’t work anymore. It’s the kid. You’re the adult who did the work, TMS need to be BIGGER than before to get the same reaction from you. what better way than to bring MORE symptoms/problems to the table with even more physical feeling? It’s the kid.


Keep up the work

 

[iasmin]

You could be doubting, somewhere deep, the fact this is TMS then it hits you harder than before.

I always used to liken it to a little kid. A badly behaved one.

That first time they scream and shout parents might give in for an easy life. That continues as they grow but parents start being a bit stricter. But not quite strict enough. Only each time the kid wants something or a reaction their screaming and playing up has to be bigger and worse than last time. Because the parents tolerance has decreased, they have become stricter. Louder is the only way for the kid to now get the same result, that used to take less screaming in the past.

This is TMS ramping it up; because what it did before doesn’t work anymore. It’s the kid. You’re the adult who did the work, TMS need to be BIGGER than before to get the same reaction from you. what better way than to bring MORE symptoms/problems to the table with even more physical feeling? It’s the kid.


Keep up the work

I think you’re spot on! As a physical therapist, my entire academic training was built around treating structural conditions, even though I’ve always believed in the mind-body connection. Taking a break from the forums has been really helpful for me, but I see that I need to go back and reinforce my understanding of TMS.