Day 1

hi everyone,
I have been reading about tms for coming up to a year and from around this january experienced a great improvemnet in my chronic headaches principally from trying to reduce stress and using visualisation to calm down pain and inflammation in my head. Yay, result, however, just as I was beginning to relax and enjoy my life, pain in my jaw resurfaced and has been getting worse ever since. I remembered I had read about this being a fairly common experience so I am trying to apply the same principles as I did with headaches but finding it a huge challenge principally because of the type of pain which is spasmodic, rather than the dull ache of a headache and intense enough to make me yelp in pain. In the past, the pain was only on eating and brushing teeth but now it is entirely random and the fear of it happening is making it hard, and of course is creating a vicious cycle. I have been reading unlearn your pain but finding the suggestion to take a hard line with the pain and tell it to back off impossible. I am clear there is no structural damage and I am perfectly healthy but pain hurts and I can feel my stress rising. Ugh so finding Alan Gordon,s ideas on calming and soothe the unconcious much more appealing.

 

Congratulations on your success with previous symptoms. Something in your life has triggered these new pains, which even though they are different, are coming from the same source. Reducing your stress and breathing through the pain will help you to keep calm. Reassure yourself in that moment this is TMS as you have already proven. Try not to anticipate the pain, know that when it comes you have tools to deal with it, and it will go.

 

Thank you for your support. I have been trying to breathe through the pain and it really helps and enables me to get some equilibrium back