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wrldtrv
666 Posts |
 Posted - 04/04/2008 : 19:55:29
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Pan,
I haven't been on this site for quite awhile, but I'm glad I did today because you and your story could have been written by me. When the symptoms go on longer than you think they should, you begin to doubt the stress-somatization theory your docs told you and begin to think it MUST be physical. For me, it was (and sometimes still is) a daily struggle. On a good day I would agree with everyone else and say, it must be psychogenic. On a bad day, I would look for and find plenty of reasons why it had to be MS. Of course, like my psych said, "MS is the perfect disease for a hypochondriac (me) because the symptoms are so vague, so strange; anything can be blamed on the disease and meanwhile, there is no ABSOLUTE way to rule it out, though MRI's and all the rest can give pretty solid evidence against.
So, what's the answer? Well, I think for highly stressed, sensitive, pessimistic personalities, like mine and probably yours, it's not easy. I've been dealing with this issue for several years now and the thing that seems to work best for me is challenging the symptoms with exercise. Not routine everyday exercise, but instead, running marathons and hiking 14-ers--any sort of extreme physical challenge will do. During and after such events I usually feel strong and completely normal until the next time. For me, babying myself or refraining to do something because I'm afraid is exactly the wrong thing to do.
I've got to go now, but if you have any questions or want more input, let me know. |
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pan
United Kingdom
173 Posts |
Posted - 04/07/2008 : 06:31:19
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| Thank you for the advice. I have mailed you to discuss this further. |
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wrldtrv
666 Posts |
Posted - 04/08/2008 : 18:43:51
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| Pan--There seems to be a problem receiving email at the address listed. Try rrekkcir@hotmail instead. Thanks. |
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pan
United Kingdom
173 Posts |
Posted - 04/09/2008 : 03:33:09
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quote:
Originally posted by wrldtrv
Pan--There seems to be a problem receiving email at the address listed. Try rrekkcir@hotmail instead. Thanks.
Sorry, is that hotmail.co.uk (or) .com?? |
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wrldtrv
666 Posts |
Posted - 04/09/2008 : 19:46:03
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| Pan--Sorry, that was "com" |
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pan
United Kingdom
173 Posts |
Posted - 04/15/2008 : 06:46:13
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quote:
Originally posted by wrldtrv
Pan--Sorry, that was "com"
Have mailed you. |
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Back2-It
USA
438 Posts |
Posted - 06/30/2013 : 13:16:49
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quote:
Originally posted by pan
The longer my condition has continued the more I have come to think that it may be to do with me somatising emotional and stress related factors. I am no expert on TMS but what I do know seems to strike a chord. I would be grateful if you could take a couple of minutes to read my history and offer some comments.
This all started for me last July. Basically I had a health scare and a friend died of cancer as well....whilst all this was going on I also turned 40 and was going through a stressful period. The health scare turned out to be fine and I assumed that all would return to normal.
Think again!!.....about a week after the all clear I woke up one morning to a feeling of being spaced out and also not quite being with my body, I also had a few vague aches and pains mainly in my muscles and my hip. Went to the GP who advised me was anxiety and was a classic thing as a result of a health scare. Being a quite clued up person I bought books on anxiety and came to see that it was obvious I had been suffering from Generalized Anxiety Disorder for years and that I had been using many negative thought patterns to get through life....I also suffered from elements of OCD i.e constantly worrying about what ifs and thinking what may happen as if it had actually happened etc etc. My GP also though I could be suffering from some depression as I was/am unhappy with various aspects of my life and turning 40 brought these into focus.
After about a month to six weeks, the spaced out feeling subsided but this was replaced with various new weird sensations. I would have all over vague aches and pains, these mainly seemed around my joints and muscles and I would generally just feel fatigued...I would also get some patches of burning skin for short periods. I would also get some internal tremors and also a strange 'buzzing' sensation which mainly seemed to be in my legs but which could strike also anywhere...I also developed a twitch in my left eyelid which has persisted to this day. The main pain as such seemed to be in my hands...mainly thumbs and pinkies and also my lower arms.
It was at this point I did a silly thing and Googled my symptoms. Before too long I convinced myself I had MS. I went to see various GP's who did clinical tests etc and all advised me the tests where A1 and there was no need for an MRI etc as this was all classic anxiety stuff and MS was not a realistic concern. At this time I then found out about ALS and about a week later, you've guessed it, the twitching started.
Before too long I was in a right state and had full blown health anxiety...I was convinced that all these symptoms where proof I had MS or ALS. I went to see a neurologist who did all the tests and who advised me that no need for an MRI or EMG as he was certain that it was a combination of anxiety and somatisation and that I should address this.
I am now at the point where I am able to put most of these fears to bed. Whereas I was constantly checking and monitoring myself I am much better now but these sensations still annoy me and I wish that I could just eradicate them.
The main issues I seem to have now are the weird buzzing sensation and also the vague all over aches and pains which mainly seem to be worse in my hands...I also seem to get quite tender spots to crop up in muscles but these only seem to last a short while...I also tend to feel more fatigued than before all this started.
I do think my lifestyle is not really helping. I am a stressed and very very pesimistic person and have both relationship and financial issues going on through all this, I have a poor diet, I excercise little and also think I probably do not as much sleep as I should. As mentioned, I'm not in a really good place in my life as I feel I should have achieved more than I have and I do feel a failure
somewhat, I also only have a very small number of friends as many moved away after university.
So, I'm just wondering if this seems to fit a TMS profile. I suppose I am diagnosis chasing a bit...I no longer worry about ALS and MS does haunt me occasionaly but I have figured that when I look how all this started and where I am in life there are probably far more 'emotional' reasons as to why I should be experiencing these issues. Yep, I would go so far as to say that my mind is in pain and that it is screaming at me to do something about it and I suppose it is natural for these issues to be expressed as physical pain at some point.
Anyway, thanks if you got this far. At suggestions much appreciated.
Okay, I peeked.
Still mostly the status quo?
I hear the same symphony being played, with a slightly different variation.
I hear echos of Hillbilly's advice played out in today's suggestions on your condition. His advice is right, you know. Not easy, but right.
And...maybe life needs to shaken and stirred a bit to spin a person off from the Land of Comfort.
"Bridges Freeze Before Roads" |
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pan
United Kingdom
173 Posts |
Posted - 07/01/2013 : 07:31:18
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Crikey, that OP was over 5 years ago....do I get a T Shirt?  |
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chickenbone
Panama
398 Posts |
Posted - 07/02/2013 : 11:25:53
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| Pan, you sound an awful lot like me. I go through the same thing with the TMS and hypochondria that you do. I have always known that imagining all sorts of diseases and being hyper-suggestive was silly, but I just could never change. I first read Sarno's books about 5 years ago. I got almost total relief from my sciatic pain for almost 2 years because of the "knowledge cure". However, this turned out to be pretty much placebo. My symptoms eventually came back along with the hypochondria which never left. However, now I am doing much better since I have been practicing "somatic experiencing". This has gotten me in touch with my unconscious bodily processes and sensations in a whole new way and made me intimately familiar with them, so they don't so much freak me out and get me to start fearing them and imagining all sorts of physical problems. Let me know if you want to hear more about this. |
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RageSootheRatio
Canada
430 Posts |
Posted - 07/02/2013 : 12:15:19
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| chickenbone, I'm not pan, but I'd be VERY interested in hearing more about your somatic experiencing experiences! ~RSR |
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pan
United Kingdom
173 Posts |
Posted - 07/02/2013 : 12:48:17
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| Yep, I'm intrigued to know more about the somatic experiencing concept as well. |
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chickenbone
Panama
398 Posts |
Posted - 07/02/2013 : 18:57:25
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Hi Pan and RSR,
I am including a link to a really good discussion of this topic on the TMSwiki. There are some excellent videos. Be sure to see the one on how to deal with a panic attack using this method.
http://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/the-right-way-of-focusing-on-bodily-sensations.2183/
Also here is a feeble attempt on my part to describe what little I know about it:
http://www.tmshelp.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=8634
I began using this after reading Claire Weekes' Hope and Help for Your Nerves and Peter Levine's In an Unspoken Voice.
I am finally experiencing some relief from my health anxiety using these methods. My TMS has responded well to this. I found that before I have a symptom, almost always, there is a warning sign in the form of a physical sensation. For example, I can literally feel the oxygen leaving the muscles and nerves in my lower back before a sciatic attack happens. I always have a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach before a hot flash or panic attack. I always feel a strange hyped-up feeling before having trouble sleeping. By going toward these when they are happening, meditating on them, I have gotten to know a lot about them. By challenging them (only in a friendly way) I have learned that they are not so scary. Often I am able to renegotiate with them successfully to head off or shorten a panic attack or an episode of sciatica or insomnia. First comes getting to know them, fully accepting them. Then comes inviting them full expression in my body with my conscious mind participating in the experience. Third comes the renegotiation stage where you find out what they want and take steps to alleviate them before they progress to pain or other symptoms. I have slowly but surely made progress.
I think this also relates to what Dr. James Alexander talks about when he describes EMDR. I think that, to get over our TMS symptoms, that can often involve traumatic experience, we need to find a way to discover the language of our unconscious and get to know it. Discovering the wisdom of the body is one way to do this. In EMDR therapy, this process is called "re-consolidation", in somatic experiencing, it is called "renegotiation". I believe it is the same thing. It is some kind of physic shift that fundamentally changes the way your mind processes information and experience. EMDR and Somatic Experiencing are possibly 2 ways of accomplishing this, there certainly are more. Sometimes it can occur spontaneously as Eric Watson experienced. I really think this is the key, but there are several ways to accomplish the same thing.
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RageSootheRatio
Canada
430 Posts |
Posted - 07/02/2013 : 20:48:42
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| Thanks very much chickenbone! I am already very familiar with Gendlin's "Focusing" but will check out all the other resources you've mentioned. ~RSR |
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Opinions on my situation please.
