Day 7 Actually the pain is worse-

I'm on day 7 which is a rest day. I'm focusing on enjoying my day and reading a book at some point. I did both journaling days on day 5 and 6 and while I didn't want to-I see the benefit of it and even came across of theme of one of my fears. At this point I just need some encouragement. I have not had any relief of pain unless I take a higher dose of my medication which I don't want to do. I usually save that for the nighttime so I can get some sleep. I see people get better as they start to do this work while my pain has ramped up within the last couple of days. Even after journaling last night, my pain was at an all time high. I had to take so much medicine to get my pain level down so I could sleep. Has anyone experienced this before where they are doing the work and the pain is getting worse?

 

Actually, this is not uncommon at all. Now that you've caught on that this is TMS, you have the upper hand and your brain is fighting back by increasing the intensity of the pain. As uncomfortable as it is, take this as encouragement, be brave, and ride it out. Let it throw its tantrums.

 

Oh yes! My symptoms do worsen at times before improving. It means that you have them cornered and your subconscious mind thinks it must turn up the dial to keep you from understanding yourself at a deeper level. It’s like a Mama bear protecting her young! It’s pretty common. Stay the course Joulegirl. Time and dedication will give you confidence in the process.

 

I just want to say that I'm on Day 10 and not much relief yet... for a time, I thought it was worse, but now I think it's just same old.

I have nerdily read all the books and articles, and it seems like the extinction burst of the pain getting worse when you start doing the work is something that happens with some frequency. They describe it like a toddler escalating a tantrum when you ignore them. But eventually, the toddler gives up, and supposedly, the pain will too! I'm right with you, hoping that will happen!

 

Thank you @HealingMe @Mtnjac @JanAtheCPA @Nightowl for your kind words and encouragement. I knew that the pain may fight back but whew....it's getting me good to where I want to quit! I will not-I've actually seen where @Baseball65 talks about the Stop method and I have used that today when my pain gets my attention. I've basically told myself many times that this pain is temporary and keep going about my day! I'll keep plugging along and am so grateful for this community. I could not do this alone!

 

I love that our personalities make us "nerd out" and read all the things! I've already read 3 books on TMS and have many more on hold at the library. And this forum has such great info on it!

 

Yes, I'm diving into this headfirst! My next read which I just started is Feeling Good by David Burns, which was also recommended by someone here. I feel like I may have reached the oversaturation point with TMS reading for the moment, so I'm now just doing the reading recommended in the SEP.