| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Bea |
Posted - 09/10/2011 : 05:35:17
Hello,
I am hoping that people on the forum can help me with a stubborn TMS issue. Warning: this message contains constipation ;-)
I have successfully beat TMS before – I had painful musculo-skeletal injuries between 2002-2008 (starting with ankle pain, knee pain, and finally severe back spasms & sciatica). When I finally discovered Dr Sarno’s work in 2008, I did the program and recovered within weeks! Doing the program for me consisted of reading the books daily and journalling.
However, there are other health problems I have had all my life, which haven't gone away -- e.g. digestive problems and constipation. In fact, nowadays these symptoms are much, much worse than before. I believe that this is what Dr Sarno calls "symptom substitution" – because I got rid of the pain, my brain needed a new problem, and so I had a severe worsening of my other ailments.
Currently, my stubborn issue is: digestive problems, especially bloating & constipation. Feeling convinced that this it TMS, I’ve tried ignoring the constipation and laughing it off, but that hasn’t improved it – it only means that I walk around feeling very bloated and uncomfortable these days :-( I tell my brain "Come on, I am not falling for this", but again, it doesn't seem to work – currently I am stuck with bloating & constipation.
I'm very much hoping to hear if anyone has suggestions. Has anyone had a similar experience with bloating & constipation? Can you please share your experience, whether you managed to get rid of these problems, and what worked for you? I will be VERY grateful for any tips on recovering from these issues.
Thank you very much!
Bea
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| 6 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| tennis tom |
Posted - 09/11/2011 : 09:18:09
You are very welcome Bea, glad to be able to help.
Regards,
tt |
| Bea |
Posted - 09/11/2011 : 06:13:50
Thank you all for your very helpful replies! It's so wonderful to have the supportive attitude of the people on this forum :-)
balto – Thank you for those great tips! You have such a good point when you say "Accept them, live with them, don't be scared of them". I think that an accepting attitude will help me so much – my body will relax when I don't allow these symptoms to stress me out. And you are so right that I need to give it time and be patient. When I think back to it, even the back pain TMS took a few weeks to resolve, and so this may take time again. The key thing is for me to stop being angry & frustrated with these symptoms, and have a more loving attitude to my body, acknowledge that these symptoms are trying to help me.
tennis tom – Thank you for the link! I looked through the posts and they were very helpful. There is at least one person who said she overcame her digestive problems... Actually, before I posted to the forum, I had done a quick search for "constipation", and found that most of the related posts were by Suz. Last week I sent her a personal email, but it bounced as her email address is no longer valid :-( But I found some very useful info in the posts that you pointed me to!
art – Yes, I know what you mean about anxiety / stress causing this. I went through the same thought process recently – I thought it might be stress causing this directly (not necessarily via TMS), but then realized that in practical terms, the cure is the same! Lessen your stress load. There is a very useful paragraph in The Mindbody Prescription, on p 29:
"Suppose, however, there is another element in the equation; that it is not simply the quantity of rage that brings on symptoms, but the presence or absence of counterbalancing soothing factors. Theoretically, these pleasant elements in a person's life would modify the threat posed by the rage and make symptoms unnecessary. One can carry this to the point of absurdity, but I believe something like it goes on and that the occurrence of symptoms reflects too much rage and not enough counteracting soothing elements in one's life."
I think this paragraph says it all – adding some more fun / soothing factors into your life will reduce your stress and possibly make the symptoms unnecessary, by counteracting the negative repressed emotions. I will add more fun activities into my life, which I am sure will help!
bryan3000 – Thanks a lot for sharing your experience. I fully agree that digestive issues are often multi-factorial, i.e. you can't eat a bad diet and expect to have great digestion. In my case, I tackled this from a physical angle earlier this year. I started eating a very healthy diet, mostly based on vegetables, whole grains, fish, etc. But I was still constipated on this diet. Recently I went to the doctor who tested me for food tolerances and told me to avoid wheat, dairy and sugar. Whilst I believe that I shouldn't eat those foods in excess, something in me said that these food restrictions have got to be TMS-related. Because it all seemed to be based around "fear of foods". Fearing certain foods can be hugely attention-consuming. Yes, my body physically tested weak for these foods, but we know that TMS causes actual physical changes in the body. So my current thinking is that if I can resolve this from a psychological / TMS perspective, then my body will stop testing weak for these foods.
Thank you all for your help!! If anyone has other thoughts or similar experiences to share, I will be grateful to hear them.
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| bryan3000 |
Posted - 09/10/2011 : 12:36:51
Hi Bea,
I've had IBS issues throughout my life. It's come and gone. Never quite sure what triggers it.
I will say that doing an elimination diet and trying probiotics is worth a shot. I believe I eliminated Oats as a food that caused a lot of bloating for me. I assume with this being recent, it's unlikely to be something like gluten intolerance... but that's worth considering.
Of course, this could also easily be a TMS-symptom, I'd think. Seems like a lot of folks here have suffered with it. You can also search any anxiety forum and find scores of people complaining about these same stomach ailments. So, it's well worth looking into TMS as the cause, again.
Hopefully someone will have suggestions of a way to approach it. It seems that our brains are stubborn and we need to be creative. :)
_____________________________
-1/2010 - Developed chronic sinus problems. ENTs/Docs can't find anything
-5/29/2010 - Doc gives cocktail of allergy meds which induces first ever panic attack/anxiety.
-7/16/2010 - Anxiety stays/worsens - put on Xanax
2/1/2011 - Began Xanax taper - Withdrawal starts - full body chaos
-6/11/2011 - Last dose of Xanax. Physical/emotional chaos continues for several months.
-Now: Taking it day by day, looking for real answers and ways to heal myself without medical poison. |
| art |
Posted - 09/10/2011 : 08:58:53
Right or wrong, I don't usually consider digestive problems TMS per se but more straightforward and direct manifestations of anxiety. But in practical terms I don't think it matters. Lessen your load of anxiety and or stress and they'll very likely go away.
If you've a long history of these kinds of symptoms, it might be helpful to look back in order to identify patterns. Chances are you'll pretty readily be able to tie major bouts of digestive stress with stressful times and events in your life... |
| tennis tom |
Posted - 09/10/2011 : 07:16:52
Welcome and congrats on your previous TMS sucesses, a quick "search" came up with "bloating" and "constipation" in these threads:
http://www.tmshelp.com/forum/search.asp?mode=DoIt
G'd luck!
tt
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DR. SARNO'S 12 DAILY REMINDERS:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0dKBFwGR0g
TAKE THE HOLMES-RAHE STRESS TEST
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holmes_and_Rahe_stress_scale
Some of my favorite excerpts from _THE DIVIDED MIND_ :
http://www.tmshelp.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2605
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"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." Jiddu Krishnamurti
"Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional." Author Unknown
"Happy People Are Happy Putters." Frank Nobilo, Golf Analyst
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| balto |
Posted - 09/10/2011 : 06:12:08
Bloating & constipation was 2 of my tms symptoms too. Some people trying to quit smoking also suffered from these 2 symptoms. They are nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Their body trying to readjust to normal after years of living under nicotine's effect. These symptoms will get better with relaxation, exercise, and a diet with more greens. They help with digestion
If you're not a former smoker then they are tms symptoms and you're already haft way there with your "treatment". It is good that you recognized them for what they are: tms symptoms. you're probably having a very stressful life style right now. You're more nervous than usual and your breathing is not even, you often swallow air on your in breath and that created the bloating problem. Right now you know they are emotional causes, but you're still let them scare you and bother you, and that is exactly why they're still there. Their purposes is to capture your attention so you can forget your stress, forget whatever negative issue you're having. They're trying to help you.
If you can somehow elliminate as much stressful and negative events from your life at the same time try to be more acceptance of the two symptoms it will help you get over them. Observe them, accept them, live with them, don't be scare of them, don't be frustrated, just calmly tell your brain they are there for a purpose, they are friends trying to help, they have good intention, I am not scare of them, they are not dangerous, it it uncomfortable but it will get better once I accepted them and not scare of them anymore. Give it time, don't forget they need time to leave so you have to be patient. If you're frustrated and impatient they will stay to "help" you longer.
So accept them, don't be scare of them, live with them for awhile and they will leave. Focus more of your thought on elliminating every day stress instead of those 2 symptoms.
You should also practice breathing exercise whenever you can. While driving, while sitting in the subway, while hiking, walking... On you in breath say quietly to yourself: "breath in, I'm living", on you out breath say: "breath out, I'm smiling". Do it slowly and evenly. This will help calm you down and minimize your bloating problem.
goodluck. |
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