My original low back pain is 100% gone :') .. chest pressure popping up now

I'm truly mind blown that I have been pain free for a week, from my original low back pain. I've been bendin down, pickin things up .. I started going to a martial arts gym (because I deemed this the most mentally AND physically challenging thing I could do).. That "fuck it, let's go for it" attitude was a major leap of faith and it's paid me back tenfold.

Yep, I've been calling out symptom imperative everytime it pops up. I guess I'm just trying to decide whether I should go see a doctor to just check out whatever is going on in my chest. It's been goin on off and on for a year now.

I can't believe I haven't felt a whisper of my orginal pain. Maybe a teeeeeny tiny whisper during vigorous excersies but it's reducing absolutely exponentially and at this point it is near gone. I'm excited to write my formal success story about this because I have lots of notes and reflections on it to share.

New stuff has popped up, like aches in different areas in the back, hip aches, inner thigh - each lasted for one day. I was like nah, I know what this is.

However - I have had chest pains on and off for a year. I hadn't given a single thought to this in many months as it got better for a whie. Now that my back pain is gone, I think I might just be noticing this more..

It could be GERD, but doesn't feel like burning.. It feels like there is a balloon in my chest.. Like I can't get a full breath. And then sometimes it is sharp pain, dull pressure on my sternum. I'm not sure of those are classic heartburn symptoms becasuse I never got the taste in my mouth or a "burning" feeling.

 

Congratulations on your success with the low back pain!! I hope to be where you are in the future...ready to write my own success story, for now I'm still definitely on my way.

I have been dealing with the symptom imperative myself and similar to you had certain symptoms I was able to call out easily, they therefore went away as fast as they came. The thing about the symptom imperative is that it will keep popping up until it finds something you don't 100% believe to be the symptom imperative, and I think it's found that in your chest.

Think about the markers of TMS... you're saying your pain comes and goes, the pain is kind of hard to describe, it has been around for a year and a half (most issues will either resolve or get noticeably worse if they're true physical issues within this timeframe) ... these are all TMS indications in my opinion.

I recently had some new symptoms pop up that I just could NOT believe were the symptom imperative. I tried, but my anxiety got the better of me. Lo and behold, I go to the doctor and I"m healthy as can be. Not an issue in sight. I learned my lesson again. But here's the thing, after going to the doctor, I was able to move on from it, confident it was TMS. If you're struggling to believe, maybe that is the push/confirmation you need.

I will say that the sensation you're describing sounds like a classic anxiety symptom. Do you have anxiety issues (maybe a dumb question on a TMS forum)? I have always had anxiety, but only recently (as part of the symptom imperative) experienced throat tightness that got REALLY bad for a few days. As soon as I was convinced it was my anxiety because it closed up like clockwork after big news, it stopped entirely. But it was a new symptom for me even though the anxiety wasn't new.

 

Totally. I think with chest pain it can be part physical but CAUSED by mental. Sometimes the physical symptom sticks around even as we correct the habit. I think this cropped up for me as a result of anxiety and binging food during a traumatic time. I still struggle with over eating. So when I start eating, my esophogus gets all nervous and my chest hurts.

It does happen more so in the night time, a lot of it follows the pattern of GERD.

I feel a lot better about this now, after my little spiral last night. I feel clear again. I think the chest pain is a part of me that is asking me to take it easy on myself and eat healthy portion sizes.

Anyways, i need to stop focusing on the physical side of it! Back to journaling! haha

 

This is good advice from @ARCUser831! We don't like to be casual about certain symptoms, and while your descriptions actually sound very TMS-ey, and in fact similar to things I've experienced off and on for years, if you've never had this checked out, doing so will give you the peace of mind you need.

I got checked for skipped heart beats in my early thirties, and I even took a beta blocker for a while, but decided that was pointless, because even 30 years before I discovered Dr Sarno I knew that anxiety was the cause of most of my complaints. The beta blocker really didn't do that much, and I had a sense that I was prescribed it because the doc didn't know what else to do with me, LOL. Classic TMS symptom, right?

I see myself in your journey, which means that I sense that once you've been checked out and been assured that you're fine, you will never need to go do that again. I don't see you as a reassurance-seeker at all. So I agree, get this out of the way, and move forward!

 

I'm glad you're feeling better. I also find that after I harder day or night, I tend to bounce back the next day feeling mentally and/or physically better or at least more determined.

Now that you mention the feeling in your chest in relation to eating, I can relate even more. I am an emotional eater...I've gotten it under control in recent years, but still have the rare occasion where I eat way beyond my capacity, and I know that feeling you're talking about. I think you're looking at it the right way - listen to what you're body may be trying to tell you.

Journaling is the right move! Good luck!

 

Thanks Jan!
Last year when it emerged, I thought it was my lungs. So I had my lungs and heart checked. I'm 10000% sure it isn't lungs or heart at this point. I think if I were to do anything, the natural next step would be an endoscopy. That seems really invasive. The only thing it would rule out is hiatial hernia I guess (which I truly probalby don't have). The only point of that test would be to confirm GERD or damage to my esophogas.

This is pretty classic GERD. Which I understand is part physical part mind body. So I'm making a few diet changes and just not focusing on it as much anymore.

I am going to wait and watch for a few weeks and keep doing my inner work. I'm sure the next move will become clear to me

 

Yup!
I got sober this year after all this awful stuff happend in my family. After I got sober, the back pain emerged, and the over eating became a bigger issue. Food was a major comfort to me through out this year but the issue got out of control, I just can't stop when I start and I

Now - whenever I start eating something rapidly, the chest pain starts immediately. It's like my body somatically KNOWS that I am abusing food and there is a part of me speaking up telling me to slow down. I'm working on honoring that voice in me and eating intuitively and for nourishment and enjoyment versus pleasure and escape

Clearly compensating/my psyche trying to grab any tool available to continue to surpress the emotions that need to emerge .

 

I was listening to Nicole Sachs podcasts today and she said that one of her listeners commented recently saying that TMS could also stand for "Telling Me Something" ... just a funny/clever statement, but she brought it up because it is also actually a good reminder at how we should look at our symptoms. I think it is easy to mix up acknowledgement and acceptance of our symptoms and compulsions with ignoring them.

Your statement above about honoring that voice trying to tell you something made me think of that and I think you've got it right!

Eating is different for me, but I'm definitely an emotional eater. When I feel anxiety or stress, I crave unhealthy food. That direct dopamine hit to help counteract the negative emotional state is a very ingrained conditioning in me.