Symptoms multiplied

K

kazed

New Member
Hello,
I have been suffering from TMS for 6 years.
18 months ago I applied Dr. Sarno’s theory, but after 4-5 months the symptoms multiplied and increased and so I had to give up. I calmed down for several months, then looked at other approaches like Gordon’s, but it was not going in the right direction. 2-3 months ago, I started Sarno again, all my problems are clearly identified and aware, but like the first time they reached an extreme intensity (burning all over the body, spasm, bed sickness 22/24, stomach that functions more, uncontrollable nervous tremors, startle at the slightest noise, etc).
What I feel is that as my emotions become conscious, my brain increases its repression. I just glance at my pent-up emotions (2 times a day or when there’s a push to counter) and my brain hates it. He stresses to the extreme while I just accept unpleasant feelings. Should I do less and make these emotions less aware? In all the testimonies of the forum people, I have never read someone with this trajectory when they do this work. Here I have to give up, because madness is lurking in my path, for me it was the only solution, convinced at 100% but my brain doesn’t want to give up, it hates emotions and doesn’t want to reprogram. Any advice, testimony? Thank you
 
kazed said:
Any advice, testimony?
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I suffered most of the symptoms you describe and have gone from being bed ridden to functioning pretty well by comparison (I have a few symptoms left but I am able to get on with my life and am continue to progress). My advice would be to take 'baby steps' towards your recovery. If you're interest in taking 'baby steps', see a suggested 6 month 'baby steps' programme that I put together and posted up on this thread https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threa...-for-mind-body-pain-and-other-symptoms.29920/.

Also, see this article about making changes with micro habits https://therapyinanutshell.com/nervous-system-regulation/

and, for encouragement, see this video short https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5LsOiQsuyZU

and this video too:


Also, you could consider very slowly working your way through the Structured Education Plan https://www.tmswiki.org/ppd/Structured_Educational_Program, i.e. not necessarily doing it every day but every other day or a couple of times a week or so.

Some people testify to losing their mind/body symptoms by powering through with doing things, others, like me, find that they need to take things very slowly to successfully lose their symptoms.
 
kazed said:
all my problems are clearly identified and aware
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Doing "Sarno" is NOT about perceived emotions. It's about repressed UNKNOW-able rage overflowing ,.
kazed said:
emotions become conscious
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They don't. Ever. You might get an inkling of them but you'll almost never feel them. The story of the woman in the beginning of Mindbody prescription is a great example. She was Raped by her father. It all came pouring out at once, but then Sarno says "I wish I could provoke this response in everybody but I can't so the rest of us have to ......."

TMS work, or at least from the posts on this forum have seemed to turn into a Buffet. It's Not.
I keep reading posts with "Allowing" and 'Meditation" and a bunch of other BS that isn't going to do anything but antagonize and pile up upon the shitpile of repressed things down there.

This is about repressed Rage, maybe some shame (which is rage inducing) and anything you do that is focused on releasing rage, thinking about it from a creative standpoint, breaking some stuff, screaming, blowing things up,etc....will move towards wellness.
 
Hi Baseball.
What I mean is that I know what made me develop a TMS.
A not great adolescence with quite a bit of shame, frustration from not succeeding which made my inner child angry.
And just by thinking about it daily (and all day long automatically over time) my brain intensified the pain. I can’t even imagine if I had concretely expressed my rage (by typing or breaking things). As Sarno says, thinking about rage is like pointing a finger at her, I think that’s enough.
I agree with you on the Baba stuff (I think it was you who wrote that) with meditation, calm or Gordon’s things, which on reflection are the opposite of Sarno’s theory.
I believe you also wrote 'read the book! (Sarno)' and 'the TMS work is not difficult'.
Finally, I see well that my brain hates emotions because all my life I have never expressed them.
How to make this brain understand that being angry is not dangerous. By going more gradually? Saying "1000000 'security' to my brain won’t work. What my brain has been seeing for 3 months is just a guy who cracks psychologically.
It would be nice Baseball if you help me on this.
The Baba (whom I will have to become again) are also welcome, but the problem for us all is that we have repressed our emotions and to heal we must confront them (if you can).
 
Hi @kazad - I'm with @BloodMoon in recommending her slow approach, and doing the Structured Educational Program much more slowly than every day. Also, do your work with a lot of self compassion and self care.

I actually think that your experience is much more common than it appears. Some of our members who have written very intense and lengthy success stories have told of similar setbacks that caused them to give up until they became desperate once again, knowing, as you do, that this work is the only answer. But those stories are not easy to find within their bigger success stories! And I would say that the majority of people who find Dr Sarno and do the work, never share their experiences online or in writing - especially if they experience setbacks and don't try again. And that's sad.

So let's be sure to acknowledge that it's a measure of success that you are here and wanting to try again. Give yourself lots of credit for that, and for being open about the setbacks.

kazed said:
What I feel is that as my emotions become conscious, my brain increases its repression. I just glance at my pent-up emotions (2 times a day or when there’s a push to counter) and my brain hates it.
Click to expand...
This is EXACTLY what is going on. The TMS brain mechanism is very creative and knows how to distract you and try to get you to give up. Dr Sarno called this process The Symptom Imperative.

I have found that the best way to fight back is by speaking the rational truth, in writing or even out loud (yes, talking out loud to your fearful brain). It's surprisingly effective. Messages of safety are good ones. My favorite (which I still use for flares) is "Hey, this isn't necessary, I'm perfectly fine and don't need you to distract me with this BS!". Or something like that :D

Hang in there and keep us posted.
 
Thank you Jan for your response.
The work I am currently doing by thought (I don’t write), it’s just, like, I’m 16-17 years old, my friends go to nightclubs, I’m ashamed of myself, I have a social phobia and I have the rage to be incapable, frustrate and the inner child with rage.
And my brain gets excited and stressed, just by pointing at this event, which in fact was a generally frustrated guy.
There I will try to calm the thing anyway, but with inertia the thoughts still flow.
My brain won’t stop my vital functions, but how far will it go in nervous symptoms, is it not far from the max?
Impossible arm wrestle...
Last night, during my thoughts I understood that it was just stress that I was adding. And fucking brain hates that
 
@kazed, the only way through this is with education. You need to learn a new skill, and acquire "tools" you can use in the future, because the TMS brain mechanism is with you (it's with every human) for life. Those of us following Dr Sarno need more tools to manage our TMS brain mechanism, that's all. You just need to "Do The Work" as we say around here. And you are going to need to be willing to write!

Can you tell us what things you currently do, or have tried, before now? What do you mean by "I started Sarno again"?
 
What I am currently doing is that as soon as my symptoms arrive intensely, I psychologically think about all my repressed emotions, I tell my story chronologically and I unfold the entire day in 2-3-4 sessions. I point out the negative significant events that bring me back to the same point: I have a social phobia, a fear that I was able to overcome, but which made me miss many things. Shame / frustration / anger.
When a big crisis arrives, I lie down and tell my story.
I tried to write but it’s less powerful than thinking while lying down.
And after 2 months of this work, I have his thoughts that naturally flow during my day. Surely it’s too much for my fucking brain, I need to think of something else now.
My brain hates that I think about these events again, it makes me feel it to the extreme, it’s so incredible to make myself sick at this point just by pointing a finger.
 
@kazad, I'm having a hard time figuring out what you are describing, which I think is a language problem.

I revisited your thread from March 2024. Back then you believed you had rage because you had pain. I can't tell if this is still your belief, so forgive me, but I need to make sure you understand that this is incorrect.

Your pain comes from rage that began in childhood. In other words, the rage comes first. The pain is created by your brain so that you get angry at the physical pain, instead of getting angry at whoever caused you emotional (and possibly physical) pain when you were a child.

Have you examined your childhood and your family relationships?
 
Yes 18 months ago, when I started, I was wrong and angry at conscious problems.
Since then I have assimilated Sarno’s theory well and when I do the work and confront myself with my repressed emotions, my brain only accentuates repression. There it’s too much for me, I’m forced to give up and hope that the nervous system will calm down a bit.
 
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