New Program Day 12: Cognitive Soothing

This gave me chills and tears.
I have similar stories that I'm going through now as well.

 

How to feel safe with the urge to urinate? Any help please I’m struggling with this. Thanks

 

I”m 73 years young and I’m just starting! And I might add, age is NOT a disease! I think you’ve just hit another layer and had some triggering episode. It’s never over and it’s never done! Hang in there. There are many more of us than you can imagine.

 

Hi. Yes, there are many, many out there who suffer from all sorts of chronic conditions. And you're right--it's never done--but I hope we can improve things. I've seen some improvement over the years, but I've also seen how quickly things can return when we are stressed, anxious, or afraid

 

I've taken a break from these sessions. It turns out that I have additional nerve damage (neuropathy) in my back, this time with pain in both my back and my feet. My PT verified this and has told me to stop doing iyengar yoga. So, I pushed my rehab too hard--hard enough to cause further injury. The pain feels different this time, and my situation is more complex. Yes, I have neuroplastic pain, but I also have structurally-caused pain. I have both. It's been about 2 weeks since I learned this, and I am roughly familiar with how long it will take my nerves to heal. Four months? Six months? The thought of backing up and not walking very far, increasing very slowly, which I just went through, is painful to me in itself. I was someone who kept up my mood by getting a lot of exercise. Once again, I wonder who I really am. What do I like to do, that I can actually do?

It's difficult to make some of my friends understand what I'm going through. I still look like myself. So, my friend-group has shrunk back down.

So, plenty of opportunity for depression, anxiety, stress, to creep in again. Even though only "part" of my issue is neuroplastic, I'm glad this series is here.

 

Hi, Jan, neuropathy is a condition or symptom, NOT a diagnosis. Neuropathy is weird, and it's caused by a huge spectrum of diseases--people who've had chemo, are diabetic, have plantar fascitis, or are alcoholics can get it, and often they can't recover. Most typical causes are chemo and diabetes. Most neuropathy sufferers are not in the boat I'm in. My neuropathy is caused by an injury.

Two years ago my PCP assumed at first that it was plantar fascitis and sent me down a rabbit hole. By the time we ruled that out (and $400 for a pair of shoes I didn't need), several months had gone by. It was 5 more months before I could see a neurologist (they're backed up). MRIs, nerve conduction studies, etc.

My PT, who has a specialty of neurological conditions from injuries, has given me the most concrete things I can do, and I was making headway. Brain reprocessing therapy was helping. From where I sit, my PT knew more than anyone, maybe even the neurologist. It's just that on this recent increase in pain in a new place on my body--that fails all the relevant tests Alan lists for neuroplastic pain--I happened to have an appt w my PT (all other practitioners are jammed).

I realize now that my neuropathy has BOTH structural and neuropathic causes. I am not giving up on brain reprocessing. I merely halted for a while because a new, concerning variable entered the picture. Brain reprocessing, and similar therapies, have helped me find calm, which was a problem--a lifelong problem, I realized. That's been a blessing. I was on my way to ramping up my rehab; brain reprocessing is a big part of my success; I just took it too fast. And then I suddenly had a sharp increase in the pain that sent me to the MD in the first place . . . and I recognized that I had had twinges when I did half-moon-pose . . . the PT gave me some important guidance, that the source is the next vertebra up (L3-L4) from my original injury (L4-L5). Apparently that happens sometimes.

I remember seeing, early in what I've read from Alan Gordon, that those with neuropathy should get a confirmation that their damage isn't structurally-caused. I tried to find a practitioner who could make that call, who is covered by my insurance, and there are none. So, as far as the western medical community is concerned, I don't have a cause. The neurologist spent a lot of time and effort (and a LOT of blood tests from me) to rule out other causes of the neuropathy symptom. Given the nature of my injury and the progress I've made since, I think the PT is right on.

The PT I'm seeing isn't even covered; I had to get a network exception from my insurance to see her. She helped me enormously in the past when she was working for someone else (and covered), when I had a concussion and many other things. Her specialty is neurological disorders resulting from injury.

I'm getting defensive now and I don't want to. My anxiety is spiking.

I'm going to stop trying to convince you and start a thread on neuropathy from spine injury. It's a relative rarity. I'll see if anyone shows up. Thanks for that tip. In the meantime, I'll keep posting in here, since it's the only relevant forum I know of.

 

Hi, Jon, what a challenge! I've had lots of urinary tract infections and related issues.

I should ask, have you ruled out a UTI? They are sneaky--they can be low-grade and persist for a long time. As far as I know, the definitive test is a urine culture--and they need to test for all likely types of bacteria.

I don't know if this will help, but the only exercise I can do is walking. In the cold, exercise is especially a challenge for the urge. I was getting frustrated . . . and then I remembered about Kegels. I started doing them every night before I went to sleep, including a version I learned from a pelvic PT that involves contracting the uretheral muscles gradually (to a count of 10, if you can imagine that), and lo and behold, my whole pelvic floor did better.

Bon Courage,

Susan

 

Lunarlass,
I think it's very likely that people with sensitive temperaments--HSPs, or Highly Sensitive Persons--would fall into TMS. The stress response is a learned reflex. I'm 70 now and have just started with brain reprocessing--and it works for me, even though my ailment is partly structurally caused. I can get myself stressed at doing the dishes, lingering in bed, looking for anything that's even just temporarily lost . . . I found a great book, The 5 Resets, that has in it a lovely on-the-spot calming technique that's been very effective in turning off my stress. Thanks to Alan Gordon, now that I recognize that it's a step in the cycle. fear->anxiety-> pressure->pain->fear->anxiety etc.

In addition, I had childhood trauma (one of the signs that one's pain may be neuroplastic, per Alan Gordon) and had just finished a year-long treatment in trauma therapy when I had a spinal injury that brought on my neuropathy. People who have had childhood trauma are by definition Highly Sensitive People. It does help me to acknowledge that I am highly sensitive and then to take my trusty stress breaths. And Lunarlass66, I wish I had learned at 51 about the fear-pain cycle. You're in the right place!