Pelvic Pain Relapse--Advice for Symptom Imperative

Hi friends,
I'm going to condense this as much as possible.

I'm a 27 y/o female and have been dealing with a relapse of pelvic pain/vulvodynia after ridding myself of it COMPLETELY with this work. Also, get ready for some TMI.

My original symptoms presented years ago, as a teen, as pretty severe, localized nerve pain in my vulvar area years ago. No doc knew what the hell it was. And trust me, I saw EVERYONE, over a long period of time. All it got me was horrific medical PTSD and unnecessary testing.

Pain came and went for years w/o explanation--this is before I knew about TMS. About 3.5 years ago I had a relapse of this pain after it had been randomly gone for ages. During this flare, I developed a "new" symptom: skin sensations--rawness, dryness. Not as upsetting as the primary nerve pain, but still unpleasant and a great example of a symptom imperative.

After discovering this work, I was able to be 100% pain/skin sensation free in about 8 months. I then went on to have over a year of total comfort. I was elated and thrilled. Occasionally, I'd feel a little symptom flicker, but I'd be able to banish it in a manner of minutes. Fast forward to a little over a year later (Dec. 2019), and I experienced my first big relapse...and am still in it. The "newer" skin sensations have taken over this time, fear-wise. I'm constantly worried that this time it's NOT TMS and there's some scary thing going on down there. But then, I remind myself of why it's TMS:
-it will dramatically lessen and flair back up, almost always along with my emotions
-Stress makes it worse
-Sometimes it switches "sides"
-the fact that I completely got rid of it before

I'm honestly a little embarrassed posting this because the answers are right here in front of me. Emotionally, I have waaaaay more stressors going on in my life than when I banished it a couple years ago, which is why the imperative of these skin sensations are taking more of a hold. It's a way for me to hang onto this so I don't have to face this other life stuff.

However, especially since last fall, I have had so many instances of both the skin and nerve sensations dropping SO LOW that I literally feel 80-90% better. Again, this is usually always linked to positive emotions. And then, it comes right back. So this is the cycle I'm in right now.

I do feel positive about this, deep down, but would LOVE LOVE LOVE some insight into how to not fear a relapse/symptom imperative. I'm very thankful for the low-pain moments I have had w/in this relapse, but need that extra boost to get me through to the other side 100%.

I love this site and the amazing people on here. So many times it has helped my anxiety.

 

Hi Flora,
Well, you've figured out the reason for your relapse. You've done great work in the past to rid yourself of TMS and you can do it again. In my experience, relapses are no different than the original TMS. It just means there are still some things in your life to come to terms with. First step is always to be honest with yourself that what you have going on is TMS. Second is to not catastrophize the relapse. You've gotten rid of TMS in the past and you can do it again. It sounds like you did the original work on your own, but sometimes if feeling stuck it can be very helpful to work with a TMS therapist or coach. Either way, you will have to face "this other life stuff" eventually.

Wishing you the best......

 

Sorry to hear you’re experiencing a relapse, but managing to get completely rid of your symptoms once should be more than enough evidence for you to be certain that it’s TMS. If I may ask, what techniques did you use to get rid of the symptoms before?

 

Remind yourself it's a temporary spasm, not a structural problem.