Stomach Issues & TMS

Oh huckleberry... my story is so similar! I have gone thru almost every symptom you have...dizziness that wasn't really dizzyness, just a surreal spacey feeling that would come and go. Headaches. Back pain from a sneeze I thought was an injury. As I read TGPD, all those things just went away. THEN! Digestive issues popped up. Severe gurgling, bloating, varying toilet visits, gas and off and on pain from gas. Have been thru awful health anxiety googling everything...reading tms info has brought me back to sanity. I went thru a year of very restricted dieting that did no good and way too much $ spent on experimental suppliments. So much money is now being made on all the labels and fixes out there. Webinars, books, protocols, programs...aargh! So many have digestive issues these days. I don't wonder since the world is a VERY sressful place right now especially. Plus most people do eat horrible diets. All the practitioners are jumping on the wagon.

The digestive issues are all that is left of my tms symptoms thanks to Steve Ozanich, Dr. Sarno and the kind folks on this forum.

Here is my suggestion as it is what is working for me. Stop trying to find the perfect label for it. IBS as we know is just a name they use for something with no apparent physical cause. It isn't a real thing anyway. I am improving day by day. I have let go of my fear... and it was extreme at one time... of food and eat what i want now and for the pleasure of it. That is important! Before, I ate with apprehention and stress. Why wouldn't one have problems eating like this?!!
So hang in there. Look at your anxiety first and keep telling your brain that it doesn't need to find a name for something that isn't wrong in the first place. Keep me posted!

 

What I recently learned is that anxiety creates adrenalin and adrenalin decreases oxygen in the stomach and decreased oxygen, as we know, causes pain. Voila! TMS! This is helping me worry less about the ibs symptoms (mostly) and look more at the anxiety which I also am dealing with. I call that loop a culdesac from hell. I am getting a handle on it but all this mess in the world right now is not helping ANY of us! I'm done with doctors helping me at this point. I've seen them all, and they offered me the same things they offered you, along with xanax which I will not take.

 

Frustration!!! I have read all the books and come often to this forum but am seeing fewer and fewer posts. I hope it is still alive and well supported because it is desperately needed I think. My issue is digestion and anxiety. It's a loop. I am bored with food and still have some fear around it like it may be something I'm eating that's causing the pain and discomfort. I have nothing going on in my life that is obviously stressful, it just seems there for no reason.
So yesterday I had an extraordinary day! I felt the best I've felt in years. Motivated, lots of energy, happy and completely symptom free. It was wonderful. What happened?? I thought I had finally gotten the relief so many talk about here...a final acceptance. I had overcome my tms...I can't describe the ecstatic feeling I got to enjoy for many hours. Then this morning I'm right back in the old bullshit! Excuse the term but I'm so upset, It feels cruel that my mind would tease me like that. I do know this happens with tms but if anyone can offer an encouraging word even if it's been said a million times, I could use it right now. I've read every post about stomach issues and anxiety here I believe.

 

Hi all.....a devestating life event caused my gut/bowels to become "animals in my body" and ive never been the same. Gastritis...crohns like symptoms...and last year...NOISES SO LOUD in my gut like "boiling water" or water dripping sounds" i cant eat or drink in public. I know its from acute anxiety as it happened the moment the event happened. But now....its triggered constantly by ANY stress no matter how small. If i do deep breathing...read Dr Sarno or get my .ind off it...it diminishes but never truly goes. I believe my subconscious triggered my entire digestive tract to be hyperactive soy mind would "not go to that place" where my agony is. Many times i feel the full curvature of my intestines as food travels through... that's how sensitive it is. Im going back for scopes but they never find anything much...sometimes a bit inflammation but docs say im clear. I believe as Dr Sarno say.....there no restrictions to what a mind will do to stop you from addressing debilitating emotional pain...rage..anger etc. Any of you had same intense gastro issues?

 

Well, it has been a long time since I have been to this forum. Sorry I have been missing in action. My back issues resolved enough and I am doing vigorous walking instead of the gym (pandemic related- no gym for me) but I am completely bamboozled by gastrointestinal issues. I have gastritis, and upper and lower gut problems. I know it's a Mind-Body issue. (TMS is something different- it means oxygen deprivation to the muscles) but I am trying to balance medical realities with what I know from my Sarno work. All my doctors give credit to MBS and the role of stress, but are concerned with real structural damage. I have cancelled a "gastric emptying study" (where you eat irradiated scrambled eggs and they spend 3 hours calculating motility) because I know it will give me no useful information. I get heartburn after most things and have been told to eat high fiber, low fiber, and whatever else. I bloat after meals. I love my GI doctor, but you know, the testing. The thing I meant to say is that I had a serious eating disorder over 40 years ago, and the gastric damage often shows up decades later in former bulimics. And yes, trauma and anxiety were at the root of all of these things, but at this point I throw my hands up. I am trying to work on the present, as the past to me is like, well- warmed over scrambled eggs. I try to remember to take all the heartburn and constipation medications, and also know that the dietary restrictions are keeping me focused on the wrong thing. I am trying to work through trauma by finding my voice now--there's not much more I can do with the past. I refuse to pathologies myself. So my thought now is that MindBody disorders and physical damage can go hand in hand. I can't mentalist the heartburn away. If I eat a minimal breakfast and then do my modern dance class (on Zoom, a lifesaver) I WILL get heartburn, badly. It just is what it is. I know it may become something else, but I would rather take antacids than have chronic back pain.

 

I'm still here, and hope the forum is doing well. I have too many things I am involved in these days, among them advocating for Safe Injection Facilities for people who use drugs. My city is getting really close to establishing one. I am on the Board of a Group Therapy Association, and it is also a serious mess. I still maintain my private practice on ZOOM. At the beginning of the pandemic I had bacterial pneumonia and "presumptive Covid, and had 3 days in the hospital. I checked myself out AMA, and recovered at home in bed for a month watching the whole Get Smart original tv show. I'm fine now, except a cough that strained my muscles. But I'm ok and I hope you are all safe and well.

 

Sure thing. I am not struggling terribly. I will update you some more after my husband and I watch a movie. Happy New Year.
Rivkah

 

So my post doesnt warrant a reply? Thanks

 

Rene, These posts are all responses to you, though not specifically, but we are resonating with your symptoms. . I am concerned that you feel rejected and take it personally, which may be part of what causes you pain. Maybe. I am not making pronouncements about you, just struck that you feel ignored.. DOn't give up. I am not on here much any more, but like to check in. I am struggling with gastritis and esophagitis, and no medical regimen works- surprise. I amtrying to hold the idea that it is psychological when I know there is some physical damage. Or I think there is. But Sarno did cure my debilitating back pain, and I learned that spasms would go away if I didn't freak out over them. I go on rigorous walks and dance twice a week. A person I know who uses a walker said I could not have had "real" pain if I can dance. She didn't see me lying on the floor in agony, or having to ride a golf cart at one of my daughter's graduation, while all these older people power walked ahead. Do things to calm yourself and write about what you are feeling. That's my reply. We can't help everyone specifically within a short time period, but perhaps one of the Saturday checkins might be helpful to you.

 

What Jan said- I can feel the range and anger at feeling ignored, and yes, starting a new thread would get you a more immediate response, especially as a newbie.

 

Dear all above....great advice....and i appreciate it!!!! Yes next time start new thread.....im 64 & not too good at technology so i appreciate your advice...its almost NYE so Happy New Year to all!!! Ps - Riv44.....i know re your pain....i had almost seizures few yrs ago i cdnt walk....that before Sarno.....i studied his work...seizures disappeared in about 2 weeks fyi

 

I too, suffered from chronic back pain that completely went away after reading dr sarno’s book. and then a few years later acid reflux came about! it took a while to fully realize that it was TMS, but eventually it went away and neutralized when I came to the deep conclusion that it was TMS. only now recently is my shoulder really acting up, mimicking what seems like a slight rotator cuff issue. for a few weeks I was really panicked about it thinking that I wouldn’t be able to continue my career as an artist. but then it dawned upon me that it is classic TMS! since I realized that, the pain has begun to diminish as I start to really focus on what kind of emotions might be causing it. TMS recovery really is a multi layered journey!

 

Funny enough... My shoulder also start act up recently....sounds nuts but i had to keep yelling to myself...to my subconscious...OH NO YOU DONT!!!!!! after 3 days...im fine........

 

how r u doing? i also had my gallbladder removed .