took some time off

So I took a week off because the pain was coming back and I felt like I was pushing myself too hard to recover. I think it's been a week since I posted anything on this forum and I got to be honest it worked out well for me. Overall pain in my hands and arms is extremely minimal. I still have some minimal pain when I perform activities but it doesn't stop me from performing them when I want and for however long I want. Unfortunately now that the pain is gone my TMS has manifested into stronger anxiety and pretty bad panic attacks. No worries though I'll deal with this all in time

 

This sounds like good news, jw, in spite of the nasty anxiety - and by the way, I think that Anxiety must be my middle name. I remember suffering from it when I was a young child, but I had to stuff it most of the time, as my parents didn't know how to deal with it. I think they were kind, but didn't have the time or fortitude to help me. And there were three younger kids demanding attention, so... it got stuffed.

Has anyone recommended Claire Weekes to you? After I found Dr. Sarno and this community I kept coming across references to her book Hope & Help For Your Nerves which has helped many many people with anxiety over many years (she died in the 90s, at over age 90). It certainly helped me - it was really what I needed in combination with Dr. Sarno's theories to tackle the combined joys of TMS with anxiety.

Google around, and you'll find anxiety help sites that talk about her and reference her books and audio programs, and you might find something that appeals to you.

We've had a lot of discussions about anxiety here on the forum, a lot of them centered around the chicken-or-egg question: as in, which comes first, anxiety or TMS? We know that Dr. Sarno thinks that anxiety is a TMS equivalent, but there's obviously this vicious cycle, which is that TMS symptoms and anxiety totally feed on each other and make each other worse.

So yes, you will deal with all in time - taking your own time is important. But in taking a break from the work of the SEP, Dr. Weekes might be a pleasant and hopefully rewarding alternative. H&HFYN is not very long, and it's a compelling read.

Jan

 

That's great news man! I would trade anxiety for pain any day! I had to slow down on the SEP myself. I started to find it a little stressful, so I took a few days off here and there. I've found that I missed communicating on the forum though.. what little I did.. but talking about it really seemed to help it sink into the subconscious more.