Widespread symptoms

Hi everyone,
I am new to tms wiki and glad to be here.

As my titles states I have widespread symptoms at the moment.
My main symptom that causes alot of anxiety and fear is the symptom I have on my scalp and face. It is a sensation of tightness and pulling that makes concentration very hard. For some reason it causes alot of anxiety because it pulls in all directions and it makes thinking very hard to keep telling my subconscious that I am safe.

I know it is TMS as I have witness times it left when I lost the fear but I am in a pain fear cycle now for the past few months since it came back and I do not know how to get my subconscious brain to believe that it is TMS again. I don't remeber how I even did it before but I did.

How to loose the fear because just telling myself that I am safe feels not safe at all if you get what I mean.

Thanks to everyone who can shed a light. ✨

 

Welcome Betty Boop!
May I please ask how familiar you are with Dr. Sarno's work, and if you've read a book he's written about TMS?
Often, healing from TMS symptoms requires a little more work than messages of safety to overcome the anxiety and fear you currently feel, which are often reflective of general anxiety and fear you have had in life in general but might not have been aware of it.
It sounds like you have landed in the right place, and we're happy to help you out.
You symptoms are not uncommon TMS symptoms and can be overcome!
Here is a story of facial pain (and other pain) success thanks to Dan Bugglio:

 

Thank you for you reply back cactusflower.
I have read 2 books of dr Sarno as well as the great pain Deception. I am not new to tms I found out about it just a little over a year. But, I haven't been consistent in doing the work as there are so many methods out and about that I have been very confused.

Thank you for the video I will watch it today.

How do we overcome the fear? I do not know how to get my emotions out. I have recently found out through a lot of reading that I have cptsd. Emotional and physical neglect from both parent, a narcissist dad and an ex partner who was also a narcissist. I don't know how many people have managed to recover from also having cptsd. I know the symptoms are all the same but the facial symptom causes me alot of anxiety at the moment.

Thank you ✨

 

I recovered from Fibromyalgia and Migraines over 10 years ago using TMS techniques. I also have Complex PTSD. It is possible to recover from TMS while still working on the symptoms of Complex PTSD. The two conditions are related, but you don't have to resolve your C-PTSD to recover from TMS based on my experience.

 

Hi, @Betty Boop
Welcome to the wiki! Your facial symptoms are just a manifestation of your emotional world, in my opinion. I had a very rough childhood and have c- ptsd. I’m a nervous wreck and have had TMS for years. Battling it off each time. It’s all the same thing. I think of TMS as my body expressing the pain, the trauma. This forum has AMAZING resources, and it grows on you over time. So many people recommend great healing tools and methods. It’s much bigger than it looks. Hang tight. Keep working. You will heal.

 

Thank you so very much, this is so comforting to hear. I have read your success story and it gave me great strength so I thank you for sharing it. I guess cptsd is not a life sentence after all.

 

Thank you for the reassurance it made me feel very safe. I will keep going and yes this forum is very comforting with alot of good advice and tools.

 

You have asked some excellent questions!
Reflect on your TMS education and reading (often our TMS brains find it hard to accept some of the things we've read). Part of the situation is accepting our current state of sensations. The Great Pain Deception is very much about this. Steve O had to accept his current physical and emotional sensations and work through them (he chose a pretty gnarly way!). The symptoms of fear and anxiety are very similar to the physical sensations you feel in your body - they are ALL physical. Learn to begin recognizing the sensations of fear and anxiety; how your body reacts. Now notice what your mind things. Remind yourself that thoughts are not real, they are just thoughts! Similarly, sensations are just that - sensations. They don't always mean something other than that your nervous system is disregulated. Dr. Sarno teaches us that we have nothing to fear, that the sensations are benign and only a reflection of the chemical state (he interpreted this as oxygen, but we now know it's a chemical reaction) of our physical being in relation to our nervous system.
Fighting fear and anxiety seems daunting when you state it that way. Why not reframe this idea to one of feeling safe. We now know that the chemicals in our body elevate with a heightened nervous system and we actually feel these as the sensations of anxiety and fear....understanding the simple physical reaction takes some of the heavy weight of responsibility from our shoulders to "solve" the state we are in.
Accept.
Accept that the physical sensations of fear and anxiety are normal. TMS folks have most often learned that it's "safer" not to feel any sensations or emotions and that keeps us small and even more fearful. I kept repeating "THIS IS NORMAL" every time I felt my heart race, or my hands get clammy or the feeling of dread washing over me. Don't push these sensations or "feelings" away. Let them wash over you in a wave and remind yourself these are normal sensations. Eventually you'll be able to sense them safely without even having a thought about them or need to remind yourself they are normal.
Sensing emotions safely is quite similar. I literally had to tell myself repeatedly that having ANY emotion: negative or positive is part of the human experience and is normal. I was raised that feeling anything would negatively impact others around me....ha! What a crock of bull s*it! Once this sinks in, it's pretty freeing. Nobody can read your mind (and you probably can't read anyone else either, even if your brain thinks it can). So once again, when you begin to sense (for me it was thinking) that you might be feeling an emotion, let it wash over you. Notice your body's reaction and marvel in how it naturally knows what to do. Then notice that it simply passes and you are fine.
If you have not yet read Claire Weekes Hope and Help For Your Nerves, I suggest you do. You'll recognize how in line with Sarno her ideas were and how you can utilize her methods for dealing fear and also with repetitive negative thoughts (these are the type of thoughts that most often fuel fear.
CPTSD is another layer of emotional "stuff" you'll need to break through. It can be tough to do this on your own. You may find that you need more support, and that's perfectly fine. My suggestion is to look for psychological help either with a TMS psychiatrist/psychologist (someone who is merely a TMS coach will not have the skills and training to help you with CPTSD) or find a method of psychology which is mind/body relegated and specifically developed to help with this set of symptoms eg. ISDTP, EMDR or Internal Family Systems.
How do you recover from CPTSD...once again, you learn to accept the things that trigger you, and with kindness and patience you will learn methods which help regulate your nervous system and know that when things come up for you, that what you are dealing with will be temporary and that you'll feel more like yourself again when you put into place the things that help center you and help you feel safe by recognizing that you have come a long way (eg. your partner is now an EX!) and have managed so far.

We're here to help you sort things out along your journey!

 

I appreciate this thorough messge and answering all my questions. This all makes so much sense the way you have written it and I Thank you for that and taking the time to help me.
I have not read Claire weeks book yet but I will do, thank you for suggesting this as I do have a hard time with my thinking getting the best of me many many times on this journey.
I was looking into IFS as it's within my budget at the moment and have heared many good things about this tjay has helped many people. If IFS can help with cptsd as you say, I will probably go through this method as I find it a comforting method.

I already feel safe with TMS wiki and I appreciate all you help. ✨

 

Here’s one spot where I mentioned it: https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/seeking-thoughts-on-my-interesting-therapy-discovery.28304/ (Seeking thoughts on my interesting therapy discovery)

it is a really great form of therapy, and it has helped me a lot! I recommend it.

 

Thank you so much for your message and suggesting Diana's story with IFS I really appreciate it.

 

Diana thank you so much for this, I will read it now as I read some things about this in the past and it really connected with me I believe. I'm so glad it helped you I hope it will help me also.

If you happen to know, is there somewhere in the tms wiki that I can find someone who specializes in IFS or is this not allowed? I very knew here so apologies for asking.

 

The PPD Association (another word for TMS) has an excellent list of practitioners by State, it takes some link clicking to look through their bios to see what methods they use.
Alternately, you can use Psychology Today website to search in your region, for tags insurance and search with ISF tags. They don’t have to be TMS informed specifically since they are already mind/body aware in theory. You can just keep on doing tms work on your own.
https://ppdassociation.org/directory (Directory — Psychophysiologic Disorders Association)

 

Hi, @Betty Boop,

I did a search on the site and found this. https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/does-anyone-know-of-a-tms-therapist-that-uses-the-ifs-internal-family-systems-approach.24377/ (Does anyone know of a TMS therapist that uses the IFS Internal Family Systems approach?)

 

@Cactusflower thank you so much I did not know this. I appreciate all your help. I will look to find one that fits well with me.
Also I didn't know IFS is a mindbody therapy. Thank you for stating that as it's comforting to know this.✨

 

@Diana-M Thank you so much for this I really appreciate it.