Experiencing a rough patch

Hi everyone,

I have just completed Day 4 of the Structured Program, and new symptoms have started appearing in other areas of my body. This has me feeling fearful and apprehensive, even though I know that this is very typical of TMS. I ended up going to the doctor today just to rule anything out (I've been getting back spasms, similar to pains that I've had in the past) and was pretty much told my symptoms are benign. Funny thing is, my usual symptoms (headache and insomnia) have quieted down (insert eye roll).
Logically it makes sense that new symptoms are appearing, as I have recently gone through a few stressful changes in my life, however my amygdala is going off the deep end and is majorly over catastrophizing the new symptoms.
Does anyone have advice towards getting through this tricky stage of recovery? Keeping the faith that I can get there one step at a time!

Julia x

 

Sorry to hear you are going through a difficult time, Julia. In my experience, recovery is full of tricky stages and the only way through them is to keep plugging along. Spend about an hour a day on TMS related activities (reading, journaling, etc) and then go about your life as best you can. Try to strengthen and keep your belief that your symptoms are TMS and nothing to fear or hold you back. You are aware when you are catastrophizing, which is great. This new insight will serve you well as you continue to navigate the path of recovery.

You are on the right path and making progress. Congratulations!

 

In the moment, breathing deeply and taking breaks help. Unplugging from the news etc. is also useful. Long term TMS work is about establishing the right mindset for you. These symptoms are your body's way of telling you to stop worrying/being too hard on yourself and get back to living your life.

 

I haven't been here in awhile and just decided to look in and see what's going on here at the wiki. You're on the right track-- I want to advise Nicole Sachs podcast The Cure for Chronic Pain-- she is a Sarno disciple and therapist and her mantra is "believe (that your emotions are driving your body's reaction), "do the work" (the structured program is great-- or she has a technique she calls Journalspeak), and "practice self-compassion". She would say when you're doing the work sometimes other, new symptoms exert themselves, but just keep doing the work. She has a closed Facebook group that I expect you might find supportive if you're on Facebook-- I love the podcast for supporting that you are not alone in this quest and you will be stronger and more whole for doing this work. Don't give up! Some people like the Curable app (can get an amount of it for free which includes some basic mindbody science to reinforce).