| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Jena |
Posted - 04/25/2011 : 22:23:15
So ive been writing on here on and off for years. I met Sarno himself years ago for back pain. He cured it! Unfortunately, I became anxiety ridden and I have severe hypochondriasis after. I have been suffering with severe heart palpitations. I wore a heart monitor and it recorded 22,000 premature beats in one day. My cardiologist explained to me that they're benign ;however, i felt good n they went away 2 days after he told that to me. Unfortunately, after the reassurance left convinced myself I have Atrial Fibrillation or some other heart arreythmeia because now my heart feels like it's fluttering and all over the place.
I'm being tortured. I haven't slept in weeks. My hearts rhythm is out of control and I'm tired of living in a state of emergency all the time with health anxiety. It's hard not to worry though with these symptoms. I can't take these pvcs. They are ruining my quality of life. I'm depressed and afraid to workout because I feel I will be one of those statistics of a young adult with sudden cardiac arrest.
So I've had it and I calls dr Sarno and spoke with him. He said I must seek psychotherapy and I made an expensive appointment with one of his therapists. I see her tomorrow and I'm looking forwardto it. I'm tired of living in fear. I hope she can cured. Has anyone here gone to his therapists? If so how'd it go?
Anyone else suffer from irregular heart rhythms? Sarno doesn't go
Into too much detail about it. It's always worse at night. I'm convinced I have a fibrillation going on and that I'll have a stroke bc of it very soon. :-(
I wish I was normal.... |
| 8 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| filipe |
Posted - 10/20/2012 : 13:17:27
Hi Jena,
Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation IS TMS. FOR SURE.
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| Darko |
Posted - 04/27/2011 : 17:15:50
Hey Jena,
Wow....lots of questions. I went to a doctor and he checked me out, they were also going to put me on a heart monitor. He is the best cardiologist in Queensland so he's seen a thing or too....and told me not to worry about it.....so I didn't.
Look Jena many of us have been where you are. This time last year I woke up everyday trying to find a reason NOT to kill myself, some days I couldn't......apart from knowing I would break my mums heart. I remember laying on the floor in a ball just crying uncontrollably in front of my girlfriend. Not a good thing for a 33 yr old Aussie male to have a complete emotional breakdown in front of his partner....my ego was bruised to say the least.
I was lost in my head. My thoughts were all over the place and so too were my emotions......questions only lead to more perplexing questions and never a helpful answer......I remember many times thinking I was going to end up insane.
I refer to this as a "thought storm" it's when crazy thoughts lead to wild emotions which lead to more crazy thoughts.....and the cycle goes.
This is part of our personality, you must learn to handle this otherwise you'll be a victim for life. Therapy and drugs are a short term solution I believe. This part of our personality will never go away....but it will ease.
The good news is you are the creator of all your problems.....which means you can uncreate them.
read up on some of my recent posts as I have written in great length to HealingBack about observing your thoughts.
I "strongly" recommend you read the happiness trap asap as there are some fantastic tools you can use right away to help you.
Jena, no matter what you read here or anyone says to you, it's going to be hard for you. The reason is the mind doesn't want you to change.....it's in freakout mode....and it's comfortable in this habit and not much is going to get past it easily unless you really start to DISCONNECT from the toxic thoughts in your head.
THEY ARE ONLY THOUGHTS....they're not true in any way shape or form......we just make the mistake of believing the BS....and it really is BS.
Beliefs and stories are just your minds interpretation of a situation from your perspective.......and you can never have anymore than 50% of the perspective in any situation.....right? There is always another side to the situation...right? So you walk around everyday believing a mind that is ruining your life that hardly ever understands all the perspectives in any given situation........YOU'RE ALLOWING THIS CRAP!!!! Does that not seem silly to you?
The solution is simple......STOP BELIEVING EVERYTHING YOU THINK...if you want to get better even faster stop believing a word you say. Detach for these toxic thoughts.....observe what you're saying to yourself. When I think something crap I just try to thank it for sharing and tell myself something positive.....is it easy? Nope......but it is the only way to live life IMO.
No-one can help you but you. Take some time out, and start to observe what is happening in your head. Stop listening to the toxic thoughts. GET SOME FAITH....this is sooooooo important. Start to trust that the universe/god/karma whatever will make sure everything will work out ok for you. Kick back and trust that something has your back and you will start to see it.
Nothing else is important for you right now except to get a feeling of safety in the "thought storm"
Maybe you really do have health problems...I don't know, but how does stressing about them serve you? Truth is IT DOESN'T...you just keep this behavior up because it's either a habit or there is some sort of payoff for you. You will always have problems in life, you just have to become bigger than your problems......you can handle this Jena.....you're just being fooled into thinking you can't....it's a trick.
i can handle this
i can handle this
in front of a mirror 20 times 5 times a day......
What I realised at the time was my current thoughts and beliefs did not serve me at all.......so I went about changing them to one that did....IT WORKED!!!!
take action inside your head....don't think about it ( I know that's a strange statement but there is a difference ). Act and think supportive positive thoughts.......that is what you must do
Good luck
D
And yes....you can't push something away from yourself, It order to push something away you need to focus on it and you attract what you focus on. You can only attract something different by focusing on the new thing. If you focus on negativity in your life guess what you'll get more of??
Oh and by the way this is just my opinion based my experience......but don't believe me.....try it and see if it works for you too
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| Back2-It |
Posted - 04/27/2011 : 17:13:20
Jena,
I wish you well.
I think Darko said it when he mentioned that you can't repulse the negative but only reach for the positive, or something like that.
I try to keep that in mind.
Good luck with the therapy. Believe it can help.
"Bridges Freeze Before Roads" |
| Jena |
Posted - 04/27/2011 : 16:14:00
Dear Friends,
Thank you very much for replying. I feel very alone. I just had a nervous breakdown and took it out on my mom. Not that I was yelling at her I was venting. I have been in and out of doctors offices for the last 5 years for literally hundreds of times. Art said it best when you said it is soul destroying. I basically (now i regret telling my mother this) I said I wanted to kill myself because I can no longer take doctors thinking that I have something wrong with me. I cannot take it any longer. I have had enlarged lymph nodes for years and I just went to a new doctor to get a check up and he just basically told me he is concerned. Here we go again! I cannot escape my own body and my fears.
Perhaps I dont have health anxiety because i do have all these strange symptoms and when the doctors run you from test to test you begin to think I definitely have something wrong. Once they come to no conclusion then its open ended and I m left without answers. I am defeated at this point. I dont know who to turn to. I feel alone. I cant function in my classes or my job. My relationship with my boyfriend isn;t as good because of my health problems.
This new internest told me that he highly recommends I get a cardiac MRI because someone my age shouldnt be having 33,000 prematare beats. Meanwhile I think I am getting fluttering and couplets now. My cardiologist explained to me that pvcs in a row are dangerous. The bad thing is I am not wearing a recording device heart monitor when I get these "new" heart symptoms. Is Atrial Fibrillation related to TMS? Or couplets of PVCS? I dont think so because when I spoke with Dr. Sarno himself I got the impression that it isn't always TMS.
This new internest told me I am 26 years old and shouldnt be having 33,000 pvcs and its very abnormal. I am sitting here typing to all of you whith the strangest heart flutters and beats. I cant even tell if it has normal beats at all at this point. This doctor also explained to me he wasnt to get to the bottom of why my lymph nodes are enlarged.. well... I have been trying to find that out for 5 years and now this is going to start all over again with the tests. I dont want to have anymore tests done. I am so tired of being biopsied and lasered with ct scans and having blood work done. Now I have to wait weeks and a month to get cardiac MRI and all the results back. I feel extremely defeated and I am truly petrified in my own body with my heart arrehythmia. The internest explained to me that theres something called hypertrophic or hyper something that my heart might have that can be causing these PVCS. I thought PVCS were benign however hes very concerned. I should now wear an even monitior for my heart for a month so it can record all these flutters and couplets i believe I am feeling.
Anyway, Thank you so much for responding. Perhaps I dont have health anxiety because I truly have all these symptoms. Wouldn't this drive anyone mad? I am losing my mind, literally. I have no quality of life left. As crazy as this sounds but is life worth living to go through such fear about dieing and these exams all my life? If you met me you would have no idea I had these worries or anxieties. When will I be able to let go the facvt that I have enlarged lymph nodes for no reason what so ever? When does the testing stop. I now have chest pain with my heart arrehythmeia.
Darko- When you mention Fibrillation was that your diagnosis? How do you know thats what you have? Would you mind telling me a little more about that? It is extremely difficult to break my anxieties when it comes to these doctors because they all seemed so concerned. My lymph nodes are nevre gonna go away but what does that mean for me? I always have something underlying? The new internest said I like to find out answers to things we need to get to the bottom of this. Where was he 5 years ago? Now I have to search the case of the enlarged lymph nodes for all fo 2011 now too? I no longer enjoy life. I know this sounds extreme but if youve seen what Ive gone through you probably wouldnt blame me. I am my own worst enemy and I know this but why am I getting 33,000 pvcs a day? And now these new strange flutters? I know you can drop dead from arrehythmeias.
@Back2- I have Claire Weekes book and it kinda helps but she continues to mention, "assuming you got your heart checked out by a doctor" and thats where i think I have a heart arreythmira that hasnt been detected yet thats not stress related. I mean to have these palpitations 24/7 isnt normal. I get no breaks.
Thanks for listening. I hope you all are doing a lot better than me. |
| art |
Posted - 04/26/2011 : 09:36:41
I suffered from panic attacks and runaway anxiety for months after a weeks long water fast (long story there)...I've always been prone to anxiety, but I was now in my mid-50's and because of my weakened state from the fast, I had plenty of reason for concern...
Fear of fear is a terrible, vicious cycle that is just soul destroying. I felt absolutely powerless to find a way out. My heart was going bonkers just like yours, only again given my age and generally frail condition, no one could call this arrhythmia benign.
I differ with those how want to take this on on a cognitive level, that is by trying to replace negative, fearful thoughts with positive. I've always found that impossible. It's a never ending, tail chasing, merry-go-round which if you're anything like me, can drive you out of your mind...
The good news is it's well nigh impossible to feel fear in the absence of fearful thoughts. It actually is impossible to feel fear without the physical concomitants of the emotion.
The cure, whenever you're hit with a fearful thought and you feel yourself physically reacting, relax your gut and breathe. Simply focus on keeping tension out of your muscles, especially in the gut while directing your attention to your breath. In and out. In and out.
I can absolutely guarantee this will work. It takes practice but you'll soon learn to trust it. Once you begin to trust that you can control panic and fear, you'll get your life back...
As to the health fears, same thing. Worried about XYZ disease? Breathe. Just breathe. You can't be fearful if you're not thinking.
Meanwhile, my heart goes out to you. I've been there and I don't want to go back. |
| susan828 |
Posted - 04/26/2011 : 08:04:51
Hi Jena, If you are seeing Dr. Sarno, you probably live near NYC which means you have access to the best cardiologists, best therapists, if recommended by Dr. Sarno. I hope you find someone you like!
I read Claire Weekes' books many years ago and still have them and although she is the pioneer of the "layman's" books on cognitive and health anxiety, there are more recent ones that are really excellent. I hope you write these down...they are available on Amazon and maybe your local store. One is "Stop Worrying About Your Health" by George Zgourides and the other is "It's Not All In Your Head" by Gordon J.G. Asmundson.
Admundson also wrote a book called "Treating Health Anxiety" that is meant for therapists. I have it but I like the other one because it talks to me, as the person going through this.
You know that the fluttering you feel is benign. Cognitive therapy is based on such a simple principle...reshaping your thought into a more realistic one. You have probably seen the books and are familiar with this. This is the approach that has proven most successful with health anxiety and if Sarno recommended the therapist you're going to see, I'd bet she uses that approach, hopefully along with TMS knowledge. Please post and let us know how your first session went. It is so good that you have taken that step and I hope you feel some peace and good excitement over that. I wish I were normal too...but we're trying, we're not giving up. Good luck tomorrow! |
| Back2-It |
Posted - 04/26/2011 : 06:51:05
Jena,
Hardly anything more can be added to Darko's advice, except that getting anxiety under control, whether it's health anxiety or general anxiety, is possible.
I have health anxiety as well. Have since I was about your age, a long time ago. I didn't know it though, so every so often I would panic and ruin good long stretches of my life.
It was only after getting to this board and hearing about Dr. Claire Weekes and her work that I have gained some measure of control over it and other anxiety.
I would suggest getting her book, "Hope and Help for your Nerves" but also -- and maybe even more important-- is to get her CDs. On audio she speaks to you like your grandmother, and seeming that she is sitting right next to you, calmly telling you you will be okay and giving you the tools to work through your anxiety.
She even talks about heart irregularities. One quote is something to the effect that "so your heart is racing; it's still a perfectly good heart, as there is nothing at all wrong with it." You'd have to hear it said; that's why I say buy the CD too. Or maybe find it in the library.
No other therapist or anxiety book or workbook does it so beautifully and sensibly.
It's good that you are getting educated about this at a younger age, so you will be able to live free of anxiety and worry in the future, and you will. |
| Darko |
Posted - 04/26/2011 : 05:46:59
Jena,
interesting that I came across this post just now........firstly you ARE normal! You need to ease up a bit mate. I have also been to the doctor because of a heart fibrillation. It went on for months, but after the doctor told me it was nothing to worry about I just put it down to TMS and ignored it. It went away after about 6 months. I also get heaps of back pain, and I seem have a problem with anxiety.
As far as I'm concerned you can cure yourself of all this suffering by observing the way you think and changing it. What are you anxious about? What are the thoughts you keep having.......just change them and you'll find the anxiety will ease.....of course you have to purge the anxiety from your body. If you see a therapist I'd say there is a very good chance you'll end up on drugs which doesn't really do anything for you in the long run. You need to break the anxiety thought habit and then you'll be free for life. Anxiety is typically a negative way of thinking.......just change it
I take 5HTP, it natural and helps keep me chilled but it's no cure.
chill out and take a look at our life, what are you resisting and stressing about?
I'm currently doing the same thing, and see that I have anxiety about everything..........currently having the worst pain in a long time. However I know what I have to do and I should be free of this in no more than a week.
I find having faith that everything will workout ok helps with anxiety.
good luck
D
I forgot to add that if you want to take a step in the right direction read "The Happiness Trap" Dr Russ Harris.......one of the best books everrrrrr
Page 159
"the more we connect with unpleasant thoughts the more we disconnect from the present moment. This particularly tends to happen with depression and anxiety disorders. With anxiety you tend to get hooked on stories about the future: about how things might go wrong and how bad you;re surly going to handle them."
Any wonder why we get anxious??!! |
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