Daniel L. Symptoms that are unaffected by stress

[Guest]

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Question

For the past 4 years I've had chronic upper GI nonspecific symptoms such as low appetite (I use to be hungry all the time), stomach fullness, heartburn sensations, burning sensations on tongue and soft palate along with some right shoulder blade, lower right back and flank muscular pain. I've had a full GI workup with endoscopys, ph probes, hida scan, gastric emptying study, ultra sound, ct scan, and colonoscopy. The MDs can find nothing. NOTHING. They tell me they have no idea what is causing all my symptoms but think it will eventually go away. I've tried various diet (paleo, gluten free). I've been on various heartburn medications with no relief. I've tired many different soft tissue docs, naturopathic doc, etc, etc. No one can find anything wrong and I can't seem to get any relief. Oh, on top of all of that I have some very distracting and irritating eye floaters that I can't "get rid of". I've had a full in depth eye exam and the doc is in no way concerned. But these floaters are in my field of vision ALL the time when i'm outside and literally drive me crazy. I"m a mother of 4 and "yes" life is stressful for sure. I eat healthy and workout 5 days a week. Is it possible that TMS is the cause of my symptoms? I"m very skeptical because my symptoms have been so steady...so chronic...so unchanging for nearly 4 years and I've never once felt like they got better or worse depending on the stress/mood/emotion of the day.

 

[Daniel G Lyman LCSW]

Answer

Great question.

Let’s start with some good news (which you may not have thought of as good news): Doctors can’t find anything structurally wrong! That’s wonderful – that means you have a near guarantee that you’re dealing with TMS. And you don’t need surgery or pills or any sort of structural intervention to treat TMS!

Stress, your mood, emotions, etc. all play into how you’re feeling (and your symptoms), but rarely is there a direct correlation between noticing our symptoms and the bodily response in the moment. If you think of it as a math equation (stress + my body = TMS symptoms), then you might get frustrated that the TMS symptoms show up when you’re not stressed out or in a bad mood.

My hunch is that one of the causes of your symptoms is the amount of pressure you put on yourself. How often do you find yourself pressuring yourself to do certain things? If it’s all the time, then we know which direction to head. I’d encourage you to look around the wiki for stories of other people who have fought and overcome the amount of stress they put on themselves and the difference that it makes.

Regardless, the answer to your question is yes – your symptoms are TMS, which means that you’re in the right place.

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[North Star]

Guest, First of all…I hope you don't mind a hug from a stranger….{{{Guest}}}

As a fellow mom, I can testify to the amount of stress parenting can bring. And craminy! I can remember the days of lugging in carseats with two babies and a toddler into the gym nursery so I could attend aerobics. Looking back now as a near empty-nester, I realize I was under a helluva amount of stress. It came from both within and from the outside. The thing is…I didn't think I was stressed. Tired, yes. Stressed? Nah. (After all, I was exercising faithfully to mitigate stress, right?)

To make it even more fun, my oldest has special needs and we ended up homeschooling. During that season, my TMS flared…panic attacks. Waking up at night shaking. Joint pain. GERD. I was like a chicken with my head chopped off running around putting out all the medical fires.

My biggest encouragement to you is this: Be gentle to yourself. Find something to nourish your soul that brings enjoyment. That's as important as a healthy diet and exercise. Maybe even more so. It's encouragement that I wish I had followed…it would have saved me years of suffering.

The other thing I didn't realize was how much anger was behind my determination to be the good parent I wished I had had. I was hopping mad inside at my life getting consumed by these little people that came crashing into my world. GAH! Talk about CONFLICT! Then I was mad about being mad.

Anyhoo. Know that you can heal. You really can.