New Program Day 11: Pain Reprocessing

yes, i feel lost and overwhelmed much of the time. and i cry every day. i push through the day, not able to participate in life much at all. can't even do household chores and can't wait for bedtime when it's the only time i am out of pain. thank goodness for that! my entire torso aches and it's so hard to walk and standing any length of time just sucks my energy. i make myself go into social situations but almost as soon as i get there, i can't wait to get home and into my comfortable pajamas to be alone and sit and read. i make sure i move often from my chair, but bottom line is that when i think about the pain being created by my mind and that i am safe, i wonder if i WANT this somehow....almost consciously. i guess i should be adding to the positively and solution on this thread, but i just keep saying, "I DON'T UNDERSTAND!!!"

 

The sound recording was great. I do find if I can *give it enough time* to feel my pain and look for characteristics, it feels more successful, whether the pain diminishes or not. A great skill. Somatic tracking.

 

i don't know if i understand this graded exposure right or not but as i have pain in every part of my body and i find it difficult to do anything even the simplest things on a daily basis i can say that i can be mindfully present with every move i do -as mush as i can remind my mind to focus ofc- like when i'm trying to hold a teapot to pour my tea i can do this technique by sending the message of safety to my brain even if i'm really in pain and after period of time i think this little baby steps of exposure could unpair the fear related to pain because i know for true that when we interact with fear we reinforce the pain more.
and also by thinking of this right now i start to feel anxious because of fear that keeps me in a fake safe zone telling me to not build any new habit like this by simply attending to my physical sensations with this idea circling in my mind: " are u going to focus on every movement like it's more stressing just AVOID AND ESCAPE is better for u '' and i still remember the fear matrix course that Alan explain how the fear play its game perfectly.

 

Hi, Majihope, I love how you're grappling with the problem. That's one of the biggies--not to run away from it. Have you been able to confirm that there is no "structural" cause to the pain? In other words, that your pain is truly neuroplastic (caused by danger signals your pain is sending?) A PT or other body-related practitioner should be able to help with that.

I've finally found a pain reprocessing therapist who is helping me a lot. One thing he did was to write down certain things I would say that were helpful to reinforce the role of *observer* of pain, not sufferer. Then he built a script out of it, that he recorded and I listen to. As far as the pain goes, I'm just along for the ride. I get curious about how it's different from yesterday. It's already there, so why fight it? And I know I'm healthy, etc., so the pain is just sending me signals to protect me that I don't really need any more. I'm safe, I'm going to be a sort of scientist about my pain. Is it sharp? Dull? The same on both sides? Does it stay the same, or move around? How is it different from yesterday? For me, it's in my feet. This last summer, my daughter was telling me that my granddaughter is working on her "summer feet"--going barefoot. I used to love going barefoot. So this summer, I started very gently going barefoot and thinking about working on my summer feet. Just a little bit of lightness can go a long way. It's super-hard when you're in pain, I know, and all kinds of negative judgments start blossoming. But you made it to this site!

If you can afford it, Psychology Today website has a great list of practitioners. It's a lot of research, but it's worth it. I think I searched on "pain reprocessing" or maybe "chronic pain" in my area. Then made a list. Then called each of them up to see if they really did pain reprocessing or if it was just medication management. Then called insurance company to see which of the people were covered on my insurance. It took me about three or four sessions, weeks apart, to get through all that. Now that I found one, it's $20 a visit.

It is easy to get caught up in the merry-go-round that you're on. That's very familiar to me. I have a lot of anxiety issues. When that happens--when you start doubting yourself--you might consider the 4-7-8 breathing pattern. In-breath for 4 counts, hold for 7, exhale slowly for 8. If you do that 4 or 5 times as feels comfortable in your breathing, the circle may stop. Do it as often as you need to. When I first discovered it, I was doing it, I don't know, 10, 20 or more times a day. After several months, I need it less but still use it.

A real proof for me that the pain was neuroplastic, was one Saturday when I took a great walk--it was beautiful outside, my feet were buzzing near the end, but by the time I got in the car and took off my shoes, they were calming down. I was feeling great. Then I got a phone call from my friend--good friends of ours had their house burn down. As my friend told me the details, I could feel my feet buzzing again. That's not from pain; it's from anxiety. At least having that proof, that when I was feeling good post-walk everything was fine and then it flared up when I heard about the fire--that motivates me to keep going.

I wish you the very best. Keep on keepin' on!

 

THANK U for sharing this information and i hope you doing well with your difficulties. About your question yes i know for sure my pains are TMS. since 2016 i thought that maybe i had a tissue damage but i did all the tests and there's no structural pain. and also i had times when my pain disappeared and times when i gradually began to expose myself to some activities and i did very well like i'm not having any problems. but unfortunately i didn't hear back then anything such TMS even i knew there are psychosomatic disorders but medical professions give me the idea that I'm damaged and i will be chronically ill all my life and i started to believe that there's something wrong with my brain even i did the tests and there is nothing wrong there. so i was confused of what and who to believe and that ofc made more anxious and depressed.
i can't actually afford psychotherapy now but i did some session with my therapist who tried to fix my frame believes about my pains but i was skeptical a little and she tried to push me further to discover by myself the idea of the failure of meds on this topic . i first discovered the book '' you are the placebo'' and i read some chapters but due to my withdrawal symptoms of psychological meds i found it hard to keep my mind on that.. and after months i saw curable app and i started to begin the work again and this is how i discovered the works of dr sarno and dr shcubiner and this platform finally by mr Alan .
i'm so glad that i find this and now i'm doing pretty well because i'm not skeptical anymore and the fact that i'm now sitting for a long period of time and writing this is a progress for me because it's really hard for me to even sit to eat comfortably i need to do it quickly to prevent pain.
thank u agian for your message and i wish u the best in your life!