anyone took ssris or medications while working on tms technique?

what was or is your experience?

edit: is taking ssris and meds against TMS technique and Sarno?

 

Yes. I have taken Prozac on and off since 1991 and it helps me a lot mood wise. I take it currently.

 

Horrible experience. Worst decision of my life. The biggest mistake for me.

However, not entirely my fault: I trusted the white coats. Who, by the way, they don't usually give those shits to their children.

So what? Be brave, face your problems and solve them. And don't add a new problem to the equation. As you can see, things are not black or white, it depends on how you look at it.

The best luck for you.

 

hey bunny how are you? thanks for replying!

 

what i do notice is that they or atleast some just prescribes med and doesn’t give you therapy for whatever your problem is. so a psychologist for therapy is also important. imo

 

I have taken Zoloft daily and Klonopin as needed for two years for panic disorder, agoraphobia, and depression. I believe they have played a significant positive role in my ongoing recovery. I would never recommend them as a replacement for psychotherapy and long-term sustainable lifestyle/mindset changes, but they can provide a helpful foundation for people with severe mental health issues. It's important to have a doctor to oversee your treatment who shares this view, rather than thinking pills are THE cure for your problems.

The real healing comes from the emotional work, retraining your brain, and re-engaging in life, but sometimes symptoms can be so severe that it's practically impossible to even take the first step. At my worst with chronic fatigue syndrome, I was reliant on full-time caregiving and could not get out of bed, read a book, or even watch a video. Starting my psychiatric medications helped reduce the intense anxiety and increase motivation so I could start implementing techniques to make longer lasting changes.

Relating this to the TMS/Mindbody approach, we want to expose our brain/nervous system to things we fear in a gradual way, so we decondition those danger responses. Engaging in all aspects of life such as work, play, relationships, etc, is so important for healing, but sometimes the symptoms are so severe that even getting out of bed becomes like climbing mount everest. If we have been very disabled for a long time, it may take quite a while for us to even begin to get back to the most basic activities. In the meantime, our finances, social life, etc, may be crumbling, adding trauma after trauma. I think medications can be really helpful in this type of situation, helping us to venture into exposing our nervous systems to "scary" experiences. If we just stubbornly force ourselves to do things that our brain isn't quite ready for, having massive panic and symptoms every time, it does not help our brain learn that it is safe. Medication can help our nervous system be more trusting, so we can have a better experience with those threatening activities. Our brains store up those experiences, so even when we wean off the medications, we've already made progress in those neural pathways.

With this said, there are big downsides to psychiatric meditations. Not only can they cause side effects, but they can cause dependency and be difficult to wean off of. For example, benzodiazepines like Klonopin are like a blunt hammer that really knocked out my anxiety. They directly suppress the central nervous system. However, they can have severe consequences when taken long term, and weaning off them was a difficult, stressful process. Zoloft has less immediate effects for me, and was also less difficult to reduce my dosage. Now I am on a low daily dose and don't notice any side effects. My goal is to eventually get off completely.

I see my medications as kind of like taking out a loan. You'll eventually have to pay it back with interest (side effects, dependency), so it's better to prevent you from needing it in the first place. But in a serious pickle, it can be a wise choice to get you back on the right track. When you're financially (physically) stable enough, you should pay it off (wean off) so you can live the rest of your life debt(med)-free.

In summary, they can be really helpful as a basis for making more lasting changes. Despite the downsides, I don't regret taking them. However, due to the side effects and chance of developing dependency, I would only recommend it in severe cases where clearly diagnosable mental illness is present.

 

i was just having doubts if taking meds (im also on zoloft and klonopin) goes against tms technique. since i keep reading it might make you feel less emotional + i don’t exactly remember if sarno’s agree with this.

 

I also take Zoloft and a low dose of klonopin. I have no problem feeling sadness, guilt and shame. I cannot feel anger but I think that is common at first. I journal and have a therapist. My psychiatrist told me that I would eventually lower my dose of Zoloft and taper off klonopin. I no longer take my 2.5 of klonopin during the day. I take 5mg at night.

 

It's best to discuss this with a TMS physician/therapist. They don't all agree 100%, and it's important to get advice specifically tailored to your situation. But for what it's worth, I don't think that a total rejection of medications is necessarily part of the TMS approach, but rather, it focuses on not using them as a crutch/an excuse to avoid the real deep emotional work.

Regarding being able to feel emotions - it's a myth that antidepressants or other psychiatric meditations necessarily make you "less emotional" or "blank." If it makes you feel emotionally deadened or "not yourself", that's a side effect that you should discuss with the doctor so you can adjust the dose or try something different. In my experience, I feel the whole range of emotions, just less extreme in the negatives! I feel joy, anxiety, fear, excitement, sadness, anger, love, etc.

Honestly maybe my emotional experience is actually broader/more diverse, because I spend less time stuck in a mire of anxiety or depression, leaving more room for the good stuff. Which goes back to my earlier comment about neural pathways. If you've spent most of your life not knowing what feeling joyful or safe feels like, then it can be really hard for your brain to start practicing those things. For some people, medications can help get your brain off on the right foot.

 

I'm doing well thanks! I definitely believe that anti depressants can be a tool to help you see things more accurately and to do the mental/emotional work. I personally have never felt they blunted my emotions...but rather I was able to deal with my emotions in a less distorted way. I have also never had any problem with tapering or weaning or dependence. I take Prozac so it has a long half life (that probably helps) and I've never abused Klonopin (like Stevie Nicks or some extreme example like that) so it has never been an issue. When I needed it, I took it. No judgment. If you go on review sites for meds, all you will see is horror stories because all the crazies go online to obsess and wallow. It's all toxic imo. The message boards are other repositories for mental illness and and negativity. You never hear of the positive stories. Why? Because those people are actually living their lives lol!!

 

thanks for replying!

 

yeah i’m using this to help me have a clearer mind to work on tms and to also apply weekes technique.

 

yeah i’m using the meds for mental clarity and to focus in working on tms and to also apply weekes technique

 

I think this is a very individual thing...before I knew this was TMS, I was freaking out, and my nervous system was on very high alert. I was suffering from anxiety and depression because I didn't know what was wrong with me. I fought my doctor putting me on an antidepressant for a long time and finally gave in because I was overwhelmed with the symptoms. I was on them for a few months and weaned myself off. I was having a side effect from them (I don't do well on medications), and I hate medication!! That's just my preference, and I'm not going to throw out judgement on anyone taking them because everyone is different. I wish I never went on them in the first place, but they did get me back in control.

 

I am on citalopam. I had severe anxiety over separation and child care. It took 6 months to get used to and stabilise on them. I notice I am very tired on them which I don’t think helps my fatigue which I believe is at the root cause of my TMS. But it definitely helped my anxiety. That’s the first step. Now I’ll work on my fatigue and reduce the meds gradually hopefully fully recovering.

IMO the whole TMS issue starts with Anxiety/depression (either consciously or unconsciously) then fatigue due to anxiety or ox dep whichever you believe in then muscle tendon aches and pains. So I believe to reverse you have to deal with anxiety/depression first, thereby relieving the rest of the Symptoms. TMS for me is a collective name for the whole process