What if I can't stop thinking about my symptoms?

T

thisworld

New Member
The first thing I think in the morning is if I am dizzy or not. I keep checking if I will have vertigo and dizziness or everything it's normal. When I don't have symptoms I can't stop worrying they may return. Of course I tell myself "don't think about symptoms, distract yourself " but it's like if I tell you "do not think about a pink elephant" of course you will immediately unconsciously think about it. You can't tell your brain to not think about something, it will do worse! How do i fix this? I have tried having fun, going out, cooking etc but distracting myself doesn't work
 
I've struggled with this to. It's like I'm TMS'ing about TMS plus throw in the worrying and fear, it's a vicious cycle!
 
The worrying is anxiety, it’s the essence of TMS. Not everyone can just conquer it cut and dry. It can take a very long time.
What happens when you get dizzy? Do you faint? Fall over? Get nauseas? Maybe. But you’re ok at this moment, right?
Anything serious, stop breathing? Die? Probably not.
It might seem harsh but Try going there. My mantra was: not dead yet! Hasn’t killed me.. it honestly helped me begin eye rolling at the symptoms and eventually laughing at them. Sure some days I still get frustrated.. then I just compassionately remind myself that just about anyone at all would be frustrated by 9 years of this.
I also found somatic tracking incredibly helpful in helping me learn to be with the symptoms more calmly, without worry. It takes a bit of time, but can help. There’s a method of somatic tracking that is called pendulation that helps you swing between the symptom and something that is neutral. It can help you begin to train your brain on whatever you are redirecting to. Here’s an example:
 
thisworld said:
The first thing I think in the morning is if I am dizzy or not. I keep checking if I will have vertigo and dizziness or everything it's normal. When I don't have symptoms I can't stop worrying they may return. Of course I tell myself "don't think about symptoms, distract yourself " but it's like if I tell you "do not think about a pink elephant" of course you will immediately unconsciously think about it. You can't tell your brain to not think about something, it will do worse! How do i fix this? I have tried having fun, going out, cooking etc but distracting myself doesn't work
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I feel the same, first thing I check and think about is if I am dizzy.
 
I have earlier recovered from being dizzy. While meditating, I discovered that I was able to get rid of it completely when paying attention yo my breath. Suddenly after two months its power broke and then it started coming/going instead of staying. Then I went on with my life. And one day I realized I was no longer dizzy.
 
thisworld said:
The first thing I think in the morning is if I am dizzy or not. I keep checking if I will have vertigo and dizziness or everything it's normal. When I don't have symptoms I can't stop worrying they may return. Of course I tell myself "don't think about symptoms, distract yourself " but it's like if I tell you "do not think about a pink elephant" of course you will immediately unconsciously think about it. You can't tell your brain to not think about something, it will do worse! How do i fix this? I have tried having fun, going out, cooking etc but distracting myself doesn't work
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I used to do that. For all my life every morning (and most of the day) it was like taking inventory.
I have completely stopped. I decided that it doesn't matter if I have a pain or my head feels clogged, or I'm ultra tired, or I have intestinal discomfort, or I have some hives, or my heart is pounding fast or my nose is all clogged or any of a myriad of things my body experiences every day. They are all temporary so I'm taking a "whatev" approach to them. If during the day I have the urgings to obsess or to symptom search, I grab my notebook and write about emotions instead. If at night when I'm stuck awake and I start to obsess I switch my thoughts to emotions and the stuff I'd write if I had my notebook.

I think in order to "distract yourself" you need to have a specific thing to replace it, not just a general notion to distract. Our brains are goal seeking mechanisms so tell your brain exactly what it should do in those scenarios and it will oblige.
 
Booble said:
I used to do that. For all my life every morning (and most of the day) it was like taking inventory.
I have completely stopped. I decided that it doesn't matter if I have a pain or my head feels clogged, or I'm ultra tired, or I have intestinal discomfort, or I have some hives, or my heart is pounding fast or my nose is all clogged or any of a myriad of things my body experiences every day. They are all temporary so I'm taking a "whatev" approach to them. If during the day I have the urgings to obsess or to symptom search, I grab my notebook and write about emotions instead. If at night when I'm stuck awake and I start to obsess I switch my thoughts to emotions and the stuff I'd write if I had my notebook.

I think in order to "distract yourself" you need to have a specific thing to replace it, not just a general notion to distract. Our brains are goal seeking mechanisms so tell your brain exactly what it should do in those scenarios and it will oblige.
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And did this approch helped in reducing symptoms ?
 
thisworld said:
And did this approch helped in reducing symptoms ?
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The "Whatever!" approach is more than simply helpful - for me, it's second nature - it's just what I do now. I'm 71, and I've been doing this work since 2011, when I got my life back thanks to Dr. Sarno and this forum.

Example: for the last three days I had number of weird (completely new!) physical pains along with a certain amount of heartburn, probably because of a small remodeling project which was kind of exhausting and a little stressful as remodeling projects always are (nothing ever goes as planned, right?) Last night (after the job was done, the area cleaned up, and everything moved back into place) my right arm was really hurting to where I was having to favor it when I tried to do just about anything. I also had a sharp pain in my right glute that was making me limp a bit, and weird pain in the back of my left knee. I essentially said "whatever!" and went to bed assuming I would be fine in the morning. Which I was. Didn't even think about it during my 60-minute exercise class (including aerobics, free weights, squats and lunges).

This kind of thing happens all the time. "Whatever!" is my automatic response, and it's a great one for those of us prone to stress and anxiety. My other "talk-back" response to my brain is "Hey, this (whatever symptom) isn't necessary!"

Talking back to your brain and its made-up symptoms is a new way of living free from fear.
 
>> The "Whatever!" approach is more than simply helpful - for me, it's second nature

I have realized that reaching this stage of having such a string mind that has a "Whatever" as second nature approach is a journey.

But I have faith that all of us will get there. As long as we try to freak out less with our symptoms, calm/sooth ourselves down when we freak out, identify and observe negative thoughts and try to live our lives as much as we can with our symptoms/sensations with as less of resistance as possible (its hard initially).

I think its the law of universe because of our biology of neural plasticity, if we keep on doing these above, we will 100% come out of it a strong person like JanAttheCPA and many veterans here.
 
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