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Bonnie
Canada
33 Posts |
 Posted - 06/04/2005 : 10:08:12
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I'm new here, just started doing the TMS work two weeks ago and having good results with the Fibromyalgia pain but my palpitations have gotten worse by the day, I'm tempted to go back to the Chiroprator because that was the only thing that relieved them for any length of time, except that I was going a lot more often.
I don't want to go, it was starting to scare me, {once a week is too much} but the added and skipped beats terrify me even more, I had a heart attack three years ago and the trouble started right after that. The Doctors couldn't tell me what caused the heart attack as I'm basicly very healthy, blood pressure, cholesteral all good. They chalked it up to stress or the Fibro, but can do nothing about the skipped heartbeats that come on when I'm sitting down or working at the computer. Valium only calmed me down enough so I don't care as much. I'm not on any medication now and I walk for an hour every day but I'm having trouble getting past the heart stuff.
I've been in therapy for the last four years and done a lot of work {EMDR} for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. My Therapist and I both thought that we'd done everything needed and I was good to go.
If anyone has any thoughts or advice that would help I would be very grateful, I do a lot on my own but right now I need some support I think.
Bonnie |
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molomaf
119 Posts |
Posted - 06/04/2005 : 13:42:40
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Bonnie,
What medications were you on when you had your heart attack?
I get palpatations from time to time and they are scary but I haven't had a heart attack so it is easier for me to apply the ignore technique. I can understand your fear. Could any of the side effects of the medications that you were on have caused the heart attack? Were you on HRT? Being off any meds that could have caused this could ease your mind. |
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Bonnie
Canada
33 Posts |
Posted - 06/05/2005 : 08:51:04
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Hi, thanks for answering me. The only medications I was taking at the time was fiornal for migraines and I also used it for fibro pain when it got too much to handle. I was in the middle of a migraine when I ran out and the Doctor refused to refill the prescription, she switched me to Naproxen which did absolutely nothing for the pain, made me extremely sick to my stomach and gave me a rapid heart beat, not something you need in the middle of a migraine.
It was two days later that I had the heart attack, two of the small veins on the outside of my heart were blocked but everything else showed up clear and clean and they couldn't figure out what or why it had happened and of course my opinion that I had a reaction to the medication didn't fly with the cardiologist or the doctor. They said it had to be stress from the fibro or the hypermolity syndrome and PTSD. And that could well be true but doesn't help to relieve my mind about any of it.
Since then they've had me on every medication they can think of to stop the skipping beats which show up on the monitors at the hospital, they've tried muscle relaxers, antidepressants of all sorts, xanax, and valium , the only thing that worked was valium and she refuses to prescribe any of the benzodiazapines.
At the moment I'm not on any medication, I take omega oils supplements, liquid calcium, a multivitamin, salmon oil caps and the small aspirin for thinning my blood. I walk every day and I've been using positive affirmations. I've also been using relaxation techiniques, meditation, and now the Mindbody stuff. But since I've started on the mindbody work the skipping has gotten worse and I'm at my wits end as to what to do.
I'm a writer and it's gotten so bad that the thought of sitting down at the computer to write makes me want to burst into tears, I've gotten the pain under control but the skipped beats get so intrusive that I can't focus. Writing is my life it's my way of relaxing and feeling good, I've never found a better high than when I do something so good that it feels channeled or really out of myself. I love it and I want it back and I don't know what to do.
Last night even sleeping was out of the question, I'm tired and scared and I don't know where to turn, the doctors just tell me it's all in my head and it probably is but all they will recomend is more antidepressants that don't work, and I'm not depressed...yet.
I'm really a very positive person most of the time but I'm having a lot of trouble dealing with this. It started up a few weeks after I got out of the hosipital three years ago and it hasn't stopped for more than a week since.
Sorry to dump all this but I'm runnin myself around in my head like a gerbil on a treadmill and I need somebody to kick me off and point me in another direction.
B.
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Bonnie
Canada
33 Posts |
Posted - 06/05/2005 : 09:06:59
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I forgot to say, that I've never taken Naproxen again or fironal since then, I just toughed out the migraines with Tylenol and then when I found accupuncture they went away completely. I didn't have an operation or anything intrusive for the heart attack other than the angiogram, they said I was very lucky. I've been coping with all of the muscle and other pain with the chiropractor, massage therapy and acccupunture and the occasional tylenol.
I was so upset with the palpitations yesterday I went to the Chiropractor because that usually settles the heart stuff down for a while but it didn't work at all this time.
B. |
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Dave
USA
1864 Posts |
Posted - 06/05/2005 : 09:26:02
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I have heart palpatations. It is definitely TMS.
Years ago I was under an insane amount of stress, spreading myself way too thin at work. I had intense lower back spasms which a chiropractor only made worse by showing me an X-Ray and telling me how messed up my spine was and how I needed to see him two times a week until he can "fix" it.
When the spasms subsided a bit, I was hit with palpatations. I always got them from time to time, but this time they was a steady stream of "missed beats." I had a full cardio workup including a Halter monitor and the doctors said my heart was perfectly healthy.
If you still believe that the chiropractor had anything to do with relief from the palpatations, then you really have not accepted the TMS theory. You must fully accept that the chiropractor was nothing more than a placebo. You also must stop all physical treatments for your muscle pain.
As far as therapy is concerned, it's a new day once you connect your physical symptoms with repressed emotions. The only type of therapy that is useful in TMS is Freudian-based therapy with an emphasis on uncovering repressed negative emotions, while at the same time accepting that those emotions are the root of the physical symptoms. It's the last part that is key.
Have you tried a beta-blocker such as propanolol? This is a very safe drug and may help. But of course you need to clear it with your cardiologist. |
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Bonnie
Canada
33 Posts |
Posted - 06/05/2005 : 13:23:54
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Dave, I've tried all the beta blockers and they didn't work either, the doctors said they didn't know what else to do. I'd accepted the premise of not going to the chiropractor and I was controling the muscle pain and it was really working and I was elated and thought that the palpitations were just taking a little longer to come around but they got so much worse and when they get set off at night it's very hard to take, I don't get a lot of sleep at the best of times.
I accept that they are caused by the autonomic nervous system, it's the same source that set off the PTSD big-time when I had the heart attack and became allergic to all the medications they tried on me. I'm wondering if it's just harder to control the palpitations now because they are tied in with that as well as the fibro and hypermobility pain?
I keep telling myself it's all psychological and I read and re-read the book. I don't know if there is a psychoanalyst in the area but I will definitely look for one. In the meantime I need to find a way to cope with these things.
It really helps to know that someone else has had them too and got past it.
Thanks.
B.
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art
1903 Posts |
Posted - 06/05/2005 : 14:14:40
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I'm another heart palpitation guy. I had a run of them several years ago. I was just starting out as a professional poker player and the stress was intense at the time. In a big hand my heart rate would accelerate way beyond my normal resting rate and after a few months of this I began to get the skipped beats. After a few months they went away and I was terribly relieved.
About a year ago I went on an extended water fast to address a multitude of food allergies (probably TMS though I can make no headway with them). About ten days in, I began to suffer panic attacks. I'd had panic attacks in the past, but had always been able to handle them pretty well. But this was different. Much more intense and because I hadn't eaten in so long I was terribly weak and just did not have the physical and emotional reserves I normally would. I suddenly went into a frenzy of skipped beats, along with some sort of chest spasm thing that the doctors have no clue about. It's very uncomfortable, borderline painful in fact.
They're somewhat better than they were, but they've really taken a chunk out of the quality of my life. I have them literally all the time for days at a time, even when I'm sleeping I can feel them invading my dreams. Then I might get a few days where they're almost gone, which is a wonderful break even though they always come back, at least to this point.
I would love for this to be TMS as at least there'd be some hope that there might be something I can do. I have a drawer full of beta blockers, supposedly low dose, but I really haven't wanted to start in on them. There's no guarantee they'd work and as my bllod pressure and resting pulse tend to be low, I'm thinking I might react poorly to them.
Incidentally, I'm a writer too Bonnie, as well as a post traumatic stress symdrome sufferer. You're not alone. And it's good to hear from you as well Dave on this. How much progress have you made on the skipped beats with your TMS work? |
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EileenTM
92 Posts |
Posted - 06/05/2005 : 22:41:39
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| Your symptoms sound very similar to what I had. And here is what it was. I did not know that I had a large benign ovarian cyst. And it was generating abnormal estrogen levels that were causing my heart to race and skip beats. It was worse when I was sitting or lying down because then I was putting more pressure on the cyst. I was usually ok when I was standing. I too had reactions to all the medications I tried. (I also have a inherited condition in my liver where I do not metabolize medications). Are you possibly near menopause? That is what caused mine, but I really have never had hot flashes. You can still have the palpitations even if you don't have a cyst. Just from the hormonal fluctuations associated with menopause. While I believe in TMS, this was not TMS. Once I had the cyst out, all that went away. |
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Kajsa
Denmark
144 Posts |
Posted - 06/06/2005 : 02:07:05
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[quote]Originally posted by Bonnie
I'm new here, just started doing the TMS work two weeks ago
Dear Bonnie
You have only been doing the TMS work for two weeks! Fibromyalgia is severe TMS and often take a lot of time (and work) to solve. I guess that can go for the heart problem to.
I live in Denmark and work with Sarno only through books. My fibropain took about a year to really subside (today it is very ok)
My fatigie took longer (because that is what I really fear) I still work with it but have found some good strategies and the fear is beginning to subside.
You have to be VERY patient and work with your trust and your fear.
As long as the fear rules -so will your symptoms.
Kajsa |
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n/a
374 Posts |
Posted - 06/06/2005 : 02:44:27
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Hi Bonnie,
Sorry to hear that things are difficult for you right now. One thing that occurs to me - when I first began to work on the emotional/psychological causes of my severe lower back pain and various other ailments, I became hypervigilant. Every little sensation in my body, my brain pounced upon: allowing a pain/fear/more pain cycle to spiral.
Breaking that cycle was what started me on the road to recovery. When the fear lessened and eventually stopped, the pain, IBS, headaches etc. lessened also. Have you read any books that deal with anxiety? There are some very good ones around.
The ones often mentioned here that have been helpful for some of us are anything by Claire Weekes and Rick Carson's 'Taming Your Gremlin'.
Best wishes
Anne |
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Dave
USA
1864 Posts |
Posted - 06/06/2005 : 08:00:20
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Typically the symptoms that persist are those that bother you the most.
You've only discovered TMS recently and it will take a long time (months) to get lasting relief. The only thing you can do is read the book repeatedly and follow the instructions in the treatment chapter diligently. Think long-term: imagine that in 1-2 years you will have eliminated most of your symptoms. Don't get discouraged by short-term setbacks. Your brain has used the TMS strategy for years and it won't give up without a fight.
I know it's hard, but the more you ignore the palpatations, the more likely they will subside. Whenever you are aware of them, use it as a trigger to examine your emotional state. Think about negative things that you might be avoiding. This is the reconditioning process. Once your brain realizes that the palpatations are actually a trigger for you to think about those things, and not a distraction as they once were, they should subside. |
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Bonnie
Canada
33 Posts |
Posted - 06/06/2005 : 09:17:59
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Hi everyone, I'll take this one message at a time.
Art, I would definitely love for this to be TMS as that means there's a cure for it, it's the thought of having to deal with this for the rest of my life that gets me. I know it's connected to my muscles because I can feel the tension in my middle and upper back when they start or when they ease off a bit. The skipped beats are also set off when I reach for something or stretch my uppper back by bending to tie my shoes or pick something up. I think I really need to work on my upper back.
Eileen, I will get my estrogen levels checked, I have a baseline already so I'll see if its changed, I know the last week of the month my muscle pain is always over the top. No cysts that I know of but definite hormone fluctuations. Thanks.
Kajsa, I know it's early to be so impatient, I was just so astonished when it actually worked that I got way ahead of myself I think. I agree about the fear, I was never afraid of the muscle pain, the skipped beats however scare the daylights out of me and they {the ANS} know it. I'm trying as hard as I can to just ignore them but it takes all my concentration and that in itself makes me crazy.
And that brings me to Anne, you are absolutely right, I'm hypervigilant, have been since the heart attack, every little twinge or thump is reason for automatic tensing up and examination, I've been working through it and thought I had it under control finally but now it seems I've triggered it again, tracking the various muscle spasms and twinges and telling them to settle down, which they do, thank God, and I think my brain is afraid I'm breaking free from it so it's brought out the big guns. I've been writing down all the anger etc, and there is a lot of it, especially at the doctors and at my own body for "betraying" me and I haven't dealt with the real fear of death and the pain that were triggered at the time it happened, I've just skimmed the surface of that and need to take care it. I've ordered the books you mentioned from the library and I'm waiting for them now. I've also been reading Dr. Judith Orloff's "Guide to Intuitive Healing" along with everything else I can get my hands on. It's the strangest thing, sometimes when I get a book that is really important for me to have, my brain tries to shut me down while I'm reading it, I get very sleepy and have trouble focusing which means I need to push through it, that's what happened with both Dr. Sarno's books, it felt like my brain was trying to sabatoge my getting well.
Dave, you called it, this is what terrify's me the most, the skipping and thumping, it hit's me where I'm the most vulnerable, and yes it probably will take a while to work through it, I was just so damn happy to find something that would let me live 'normally' again that I've jumped the gun, I tend to do that.
Another problem I have is that I'm an empath when it comes to other people and find it hard to be around them as I pick up their feelings, it's been very hard to sort out what is mine and what is thiers and it's taken me a while to do that too, it keeps me out of malls and crowded places, I can tell you that.
I've written reams of stuff on my anger, panic and fear and I've pinpointed what I need to work on, and yes I'm an obsessive overachiever who tries to do everything perfectly the first time. Need to back off and lighten up big-time. A vaction would be nice but I'd just take my ANS system along too so better do the work now and vacation when I feel great.
Thank you everyone for your input.
Bonnie |
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