CFS/Fibro Anger Response

Hello all,

Going to keep this as succinct as possible.

I am a 22 yr old male who was “diagnosed” with CFS, Fibromyalgia, and pelvic pain at 18.

Bedbound for the first 2 years, however thanks to Sarno, Schubiner, Hanscom, and Steve O I am fully mobile now going to the gym 4x a week and hiking occasionally.

My “pain” and “fatigue” have subsided 80-90%; but whenever I am in public, or talk to certain people, my solar plexus and stomach tighten severely, as if my subconscious deploys anger at certain instances where it perceived to be under attack — leaving me subconsciously angry (This could also be fear, hard to tell at times) During this, I feel the typical symptoms of unconscious rage (adrenaline, brain fog, wired feeling — like I just downed a sugary drink). My tight solar plexus triggers a symptom domino effect — restricting my breathing, therefore amplifying existing symptoms.

Am I over complicating things? (Is this just a typical conditioned response, that this anger is trying to distract/send me a message? Alan G’s thread(s) on conditioned responses have helped me.) Anger as a mechanism to avoid feeling vulnerable and give me a false sense of power is another possibility, maybe a combination of the two.

Growing up with high functioning autism, social situations frightened me. should I begin to focus more on these childhood events?

Thank you all for this extraordinary information hub and support. As stated before, it hardly feels like I have fibro or prostititus anymore; the feeling I have now is low to medium levels of adrenaline(Hardly any more aching or dull pain). I am continuing live as a healthy person would: optimistically, eating healthy and exercising.

I am looking forward to making a full recovery, just thought I would consult with those who have had similar symptoms.

Thank you guys!

 

Hi Khan and welcome!

Really interesting story and congrats on your tremendous success, thus far! I'm not going to pretend I'm fully qualified to address your concerns. Although, I've certainly experienced the powerful social anxiety and separately, anger issues.

My only suggestions would be to allow yourself to openly experience those feelings without judgement. Let them be there, don't fight them, and process through the fear. They will probably subside after a while.

As always, I like to recommend Alan Gordon's Pain Recovery Program | TMS Forum (The Mindbody Syndrome) (tmswiki.org) It's been extremely helpful to me in processing through my fear and symptoms.

Best of luck to you!!

 

Thank you! I will check out those resources, thank you for the encouragement.

 

I concur here. And great to get your story khan

You might also listen to some Claire Weekes, or get a book of hers. Many have loved the way she supports simply being with weird feelings/sensations without having to fix them.

Another thing I will suggest is to relax about your symptoms ---your view that you're looking forward to a full recovery sounds good. Trust that they will subside on their own in time. I think they will. In another words, there may be little to do other than feel, reassure yourself, and be patient. Little to fix here, so much as understand there are natural mind-body responses to your life, and history.

Try, in a way, to resist the urge to "root out the last 10% and get fully cured," if you follow my drift. This can add pressure which does not help.

Andy

 

Hi Khan,

Congratulations on your success in treating your TMS!

I think that you are still frightened by social situations at an unconscious level and that is why you are experiencing a fear response when around people. Humans have a very primal fear of being rejected by their social group because in our early primitive history this rejection could seriously threaten our survival. Humans could not survive on their own very long in hunter-gatherer society. In modern life this is no longer the case. One way to address these outdated primal fears is to unlearn them by overriding the primitive unconscious with our higher brain, using logic and reasoning. I suggest that when aware of your body's fear response in social situations, you then tell yourself something to the effect of "I am safe and secure. There is no reason to be afraid in this situation." But you must believe what you're telling yourself. This is not positive thinking or using words to create some kind of magic spell. This is replacing old, outdated learning with new learning, creating new neural pathways.

I recovered from fibromyalgia and I remember that it took awhile to get rid of the last 15-20% of pain. What I discovered was that I had developed the habit of tensing my muscles, especially in the neck and shoulders, and that this muscle tension contributed to my pain. It had become my normal way of being and I was unaware of it until I started my TMS recovery journey. Through becoming more mindful throughout the day, I could catch myself tensing and then make a conscious decision to take a deep breath and relax my muscles. With this practice, I eventually stopped the habit of tensing my muscles and all my pain disappeared. Still, years later during stressful times, I will catch myself tensing up again.

You are doing really well and just have a bit more unlearning to do. Hang in there and you will get to full recovery soon.