After 5 years.

I increased my meditations to 35 min per session. Sometimes the morning session is the longer one, other times, the evening session is longer. I meditate twice a day now, each day. The second session takes about 25 min.

Love the new diet so much. I do eat some tofu sometimes so the diet has soy in it. A little. I had this diet before in the past for 11 years (but with cheese too) between 2001 and 2011. This time is different because I don't have any dairy products and do not eat gluten at all.

Feeling better regarding the pain issue. Still walking very early because of it but it's not as bad as in the past. Manageable. Not bothered by it as much. I must say some days are indeed more difficult but if I get busy and stay positive and content with the mind...all is perceived differently.

I feel that I'm coping better now. Very grateful for this change.

Take care.

 

This is a 2 hour podcast about the neuroscience of addiction. I found it fascinating to listen, it is really good, probably the best about the subject. I think it's important for TMS-ers to listen to this. And not only TMS-ers, but everyone. The entire dialogue was very insightful.

I hope you'll listen to it, I really do think it will help you in some ways.

 

I'm working on cutting my time on the internet. I started a few days ago, first two hours in the morning and last two hours before I go to bed are now - no screens for me. Nothing, no tv, no smartphone, no computer, no tablet etc. Doing good on it, love it!

 

I found this on youtube and I started to incorporate doing squats 3 times/week. For health, back pain, bones, hormones etc. So many benefits. This talk is really good and full on information, I recommend it for everyone who sits for hours/day in front of a computer.

I also eat now a Mediterranean diet with fish, chicken and turkey, also light in fat. No processed food, limited sugar.

I'm reading a book about mental health and diet, it's very new. Very good. Lots of studies. I also recommend it for people who suffer or suffered in the past from depression, anxiety, PTSD etc. Or if you have someone in the family who suffers from it.

https://www.amazon.com/Better-Brain...358447100/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Take care.

 

Technique. So helpful against fear:

 

The dangers of being too nice. Dr. Gabor Mate. 8 min.

 

I'm doing better. I improved my sleeping patterns and this was huge for me.
I also cut the carbs drastically from my diet. This is the reason why I improved my sleep and mood.
I also stopped reading anything about TMS, no books, nothing. No watching youtube, nothing related to pain.
I have a very simple life now, it was simple before comparing to other people's life. But now it's even more simple. I grow a garden on the balcony, work out, read a lot, exercise, knit and also meditate every day. I keep it simple and I'm very content.

I don't participate on social media as much as before and I have 3 days/week F, S ans S when I do my best not to use the computer/other screens. At all.

 

These are very insightful. Dr Gabor Mate. About anger (the first one) and highly sensitivity (the second one). I truly recommend them.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/7xu1d2tQ2hc

 

I'm doing really well these days. I'm participating here less and less often. Also, I'm not reading about it anymore, books or articles. Not even success stories. No podcasts. The healing for me is silence. Mental peace, stillness. I sleep very well all night now and the pain is manageable. I never mentioned here about my pain, where is it in the body, never. I prefer the keep it private.

Meditation, living in the present and keeping the mind clean and at peace are my treatments. No journaling for me, no writing about it, no reading about it, no talking about it.

Since I moved to the countryside I feel much much better. I love it here, it's much quieter and I find this life to be more natural, normal than in the city. The stress of living in a big city, the noise, commotion, stimuli etc. ....is not natural living. There is something wrong with it, that's why so many people are affected and suffer from mental illnesses, depression, anxiety etc. It's not a natural way of living, in my opinion.

I have a very clean and healthy diet, no carbs, no sugar, nothing processed, all fresh, organic and cooked at home. I'm working on doing my best to incorporate at least 30 min a day - working out. Outside if possible. I'm also spending time daily outside in the sun. I knit or read, it's very soothing.

I got sick of politics, youtube, tv etc. too much noise. I'm into listening to soft music, elevator music, Pilates, cooking and experimenting, making necklaces and knits and spending time with pets. I'll start drawing again.

I'm happy and content, I've always been like that actually.

 

@Baseball, meditation helps. In my case it does help very much. I'm much better now, thanks to Dr Sarno, thanks to your crazy no BS comments, thanks to others here who write from experience and offer a different perspective/angle. There is always something useful in my opinion, in all these interactions and dialogue.

I forgot to say that I mastered the STOP technique. Thanks for sharing it.
....
Namaste means: "My soul bows to your soul." It shows respect and it is made by bringing the palms together before the face or chest and bowing to the other person. And the other person responds with the same, "Namaste!" plus the same gesture.

 

I want to recommend a book, it's for complex PTSD. I find it very good. I have never heard of complex PTSD before. This book explains this concept and suggests the treatment for it. It's not triggering in my opinion so no nightmare after reading from it.

https://www.amazon.com/Complex-PTSD-Surviving-RECOVERING-CHILDHOOD/dp/1492871842

 

@Baseball65, can you please explain how to scratch the record? I get woken up a lot at night with pain, too. Thank you!

 

"The wise man accepts his pain, endures it but does not add to it by complaining." - Marcus Aurelius

 

I enjoyed reading through this thread, thanks for bubbling it up.

I'm also one that finds my chronic pain(s) flare up overnight. Often I wake up with my "trouble spots" yelling at me for attention. It makes no sense that anything should be hurt from a calm activity like sleep, so I try to remind myself of that and move on from the day - but I do wonder at the reasoning behind my TMS-brain in trying this tactic. Is it the fact I'm practically bathing in my subconscious while I sleep? Related, is it because my conscious mind completely loses control during sleep/dream stages? Like I said, I wonder.

 

I wonder too.
I get woken up as well, pretty much nightly. Once in a while it disappears for days or weeks; when life stress(or more accurately how I react to stress) has calmed for a moment. As though I needed anymore proof of TMS
Sometimes I am able to just be with it, know that it just a flare, conditioning, that nothing is wrong. I am able to remain in bed and talk to my brain..."nothing is wrong, bed/night is not causing pain; this is just an old program running. Night is for sleeping." I can meditate and fall back to sleep.
Some nights suck and I am out of bed for hours. Sometimes big emotions(+pain) well up and need processing. I seem to have gotten in the groove(literally...well trodden neuro pathways) of big stuff bubbling up at night. It has been like that for me for years and years, so I am finding it tricky. When I do let the emotions up and out the pain subsides. Every time. I am going to experiment with carving out some time in the day to dredge stuff up and see if that chills my brain out at night.

 

Can you nap in the daytime without a flare up? Do you you notice it's just when you sleep at night? This is true for me and I see it as evidence of conditioning...my brain has learned to equate night and sleep with pain. It's part of the puzzle anyway.

 

Good question as I hadn't considered this. I do NOT get any symptoms from a nap, in fact I usually feel GREAT after a nap - whereas it's rare that I feel refreshed after a night of sleep (usually I feel like I should've slept more - even though I've woken up at a normal time and couldn't sleep longer if I tried)

Now I don't nap often, and when I do it is either a "30min power nap" or a variation on the "Navy Seal Nap" (a 9min long highly specific napping exercise that usually ends up just meditation). Probably related to the above now that I think about it - I have found if I nap longer than 30min I ended feeling worse than if I limit to 30 (too groggy and the rest of the day is kinda ruined as a result).

 

I feel for you.

I went through a case of insomnia 6-7 years ago and NEVER want to go through that again. Fortunately I've figured out some methods that work for me and I have no issue falling alseep (or falling back asleep after waking) anymore.

 

Yep, interesting hey?! I don't nap often either but when I do I revel in experiencing no pain and resting deeply as a result. I too started waking up exhausted a while back and decided that was not cool at all! Though, after beginning to accept it rather than lamenting it(and enjoying the wonderful effects of caffeine!), I have noticed it has been changing recently.

 

Insomnia must be rough. I have never thought of what I experience as insomnia though; I never developed an adversarial relationship to being awake specifically. My relationship and resistance to the pain was the challenge; it just happened to come at night...great way to get my attention. Weird how our brains work
These days I find my resilience way down and have a definite preference for not waking up in pain!

So, when you wake to a flare up are you able to just calm it down and fall back to sleep quite easily?