| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| atg |
Posted - 12/18/2007 : 22:52:49
I am on my second bout of ridding myself of the pain. My headaches went away for 3-4 months, but they recently came back. The first time didn't really count because in place of the headaches, I developed anxiety. So it was more of a symptom replacement than it was overcoming TMS. But what it did do was prove to me 100% that the headaches were TMS and not high CSF pressure which was the physiological explanation I received.
My current challenge is that whenever I am not noticing head pain, I find myself acknowledging, "hey, my head's not hurting." Invariably the head pain comes within 10 minutes. Though I try to focus on something else instead of noticing the non-pain, it's hard to not focus on something that you're trying not to focus on (it's like telling someone not to think about pink elephants.) So my current challenge is to not think of the head pain at all. Which is hard. Because there's this weird subconscious anticipation of "when will it come" whenever I'm not feeling it. |
| 7 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| scottjmurray |
Posted - 12/31/2007 : 02:45:20
One more piece of advice, start to appreciate and accept how much you still think about it. Be like "ah, here I go again, worrying about something that can't hurt me." Not in a self-punishing sort of way, but in a mindful kind of way. Start to really pay attention to how much time you spend doing it. I think as you do this you'll start to realize you want to spend your time doing other things. Thus begins the process of finally letting go...
http://www.tms-recovery.com/
A collection of articles on emotions, lifestyle changes, and TMS theory. |
| scottjmurray |
Posted - 12/31/2007 : 02:42:39
quote:
My current challenge is that whenever I am not noticing head pain, I find myself acknowledging, "hey, my head's not hurting." Invariably the head pain comes within 10 minutes.
I'm sort of in the same boat as you. I've more or less figured out that fear and conditioning go hand in hand, thus when you are afraid of an attack of pain your brain figures it's a good plan to initiate it. But how to escape it?
TMS usually backs down if you don't care what it's trying to do to you. Having the ability to genuinely laugh at your symptoms is a blessing for this. I've found that once you start to realize how absolutely ridiculous this whole thing is, you start getting less and less attacks. You sort of raise your level of consciousness above it.
Instead of "oh, crap, my head's about to hurt huh" it's more like "ah, I see what this little son of a !@#$% is up too, it wants me to be afraid, it wants me to worry and obsess, it wants me to play into it. Well, I don't have to do that anymore because I'm smarter than that." Making this transition, however, is harder than it looks. Adopting the recovery mindset seems to happen on it's own time, and can't be rushed.
http://www.tms-recovery.com/
A collection of articles on emotions, lifestyle changes, and TMS theory. |
| atg |
Posted - 12/22/2007 : 14:53:38
Thanks for the response. "This is where the commitment part comes in rather than the belief" is a very interesting statement. Totally true. It does take a lot of commitment. When the pain gets really bad, it's hard not to resort to resenting the pain and remembering how wonderful it was when the pain was gone. Developing the commitment part seems like a whole skill to development, involving strengthening your mind's resolve. I will work really hard on that. |
| armchairlinguist |
Posted - 12/20/2007 : 11:44:57
Unfortunately you just have to keep trying to not care and keep telling yourself you don't. The pain is awful, but it is also harmless. This is where the commitment part comes in rather than the belief.
What do you do when you get a headache? Is there anything you can do while you have it, that would prove you don't care about it coming on?
--
It's not 100% belief that's required, but 100% commitment. |
| atg |
Posted - 12/19/2007 : 20:36:09
That's exactly what happens. I try so hard to ignore the thought that I give it power. I've tried before to say, "Let whatever happens happen I don't care anymore." But the thing is, when the pain comes it's so painful that I do care about it coming. Even if I say "I don't care," deep down I know I do. I'm not sure how to break this cycle. |
| painintheneck |
Posted - 12/19/2007 : 13:18:57
The acknowledging the symptom missing will pass in time. Maybe by trying so hard to ignore the thought you are giving it power, try to just let the thought come and dismiss it as no big deal. You can also add a thought directly after those missing pain thoughts to try to redirect the conditioned response elsewhere.
Example; I used to wake up in the night heart pounding scared to death with a panic attack and I would lay awake for hours.
I got to the point I was tired and sick of the miserable symptoms. So I told my mind, fine I'm going to sleep let whatever happens happen I am too tired of it to care any more. They stopped and now if one tries I can just say fine come on I don't care and it heads it off.
I broke the cycle of it being such a big deal to me that it is no longer an attention getter so it stopped. |
| mamaboulet |
Posted - 12/19/2007 : 05:23:03
I don't mean to laugh, because the headaches are not funny, but are we the obsessingest people on the planet or what? Anyway, I'm glad the headaches have been going away. Maybe the next time you think of them not being there, get somebody to stomp on your toe (just kidding). |
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