This doesn’t make sense

I’m having a hard time with this question: according to Nicole Sach‘s book Mind Your Body, my brain is giving me symptoms in order to put me into a repair and rest mode. How does that make sense, when the symptoms it is giving me make it difficult to rest? The symptoms I got today (a sense wooziness and tingling across my chest and arms) have made me quite tired, so I came home and tried to take a nap just for some relief. Unfortunately, it would never really let me fall asleep.

I jokingly told my wife that I would rather have one of the other symptoms today, and she asked which one. I said the one where my foot tingles. And guess what, about two hours later, guess what started?

 

When the brain creates symptoms (pain, fatigue, dizziness) to force a protective “stop and repair” mode — it’s trying to reduce activity and free resources for recovery — but those same symptoms are produced by the nervous system’s alarm circuits, so they grab attention, increase vigilance and worry, and can feel activating rather than restful. Primary structures involved are the brainstem, hypothalamus, amygdala and prefrontal cortex; these areas detect threat, shift body energy and produce alarm signals (pain, fatigue, hyper-vigilance). Regularly calming the alarm with, for example, regulated breathing, grounding, or a short body‑scan (see below for some sample ideas of how to do this), reframing the symptom as protective rather than dangerous, pacing activity to avoid push–crash cycles, and prioritising sleep or low‑demand rest help the prefrontal cortex down‑regulate the alarm so the brain will allow true repair.

Breathe gently: inhale for 3–4 seconds and exhale for 6–8 seconds (or use equal 4–4 if that’s easier) for 2–5 minutes to calm the nervous system.

Ground yourself with 5‑4‑3‑2‑1 (name 5 things you see, 4 you can touch, 3 you hear, 2 you smell, 1 you taste) or hold a textured object and describe it to bring attention to the present.

Do a short body‑scan by slowly noticing sensations from head to toe, 5–15 seconds per area, without trying to change anything—finish with one slow full breath.

Hope this explains/helps.

 

@BloodMoon alluded to this - but I look at it like the symptom is trying to get you away from danger - having you go home and nap (even try to nap, doesn't need to be successful), it has accomplished its goal. That's a form of rest and repair in and of itself (it doesn't necessarily need to involve sleep).

 

[QUOTE="pacing activity to avoid push–crash cycles, and prioritising sleep or low‑demand rest help [/QUOTE]
Thank you for that explanation and for the exercises. Can you explain what you mean by a pacing activity to avoid push crash cycles?

I know this is too simplistic, but when I do rest or do something that should put me in repair mode, why doesn’t my body respond then by removing the symptoms, since I’m doing what it wants me to do which is rest and protect myself?

 

I have a similar frustration with journaling about stress and emotion. It seems like I’m supposed to have some sense of relief after I do it, but I don’t feel different at all. I know everybody’s recovery journey is different and some are slower, but I wish there was just something that made a difference besides just waiting it out. My symptoms keep switching around (each lasting several days) but I can’t tell if that switch is connected to anything I’m doing.

 

Good questions.

By “pacing” I mean breaking activity into small chunks so you avoid the typical “push → crash” pattern (doing "too much" when you feel okay which then triggers the brain into creating worse symptoms afterward). I think of pacing as “baby steps” — starting with amounts your nervous system can tolerate without it feeling overloaded.

For example, when I was bedridden, I started with just 2 minutes of standing a day. I could probably have managed around 5 minutes, but deliberately staying under that "limit" helped me avoid too many flares of symptoms. From there I worked my way up to being able stand for longer and longer; small wins build and add up over time.

The brain’s protective response also isn’t really an on/off switch. The nervous system can stay stuck in a protective state for a while because it still perceives danger. The system needs many repeated experiences of safety before it fully settles down.

We all want to lose symptoms, but what they are doing, or not doing, is often not an accurate "barometer" on our recovery "journey" with regard to the actual overall trajectory of the progress we are making...

Two common reasons symptoms don’t immediately disappear and the recovery journey can be bumpy and not linear are:

1. Re-triggering — thoughts, worry, unresolved or unacknowledged emotions like anger, symptom-checking, or certain movements can reactivate the stress/fear/alarm response.
2. Incomplete down-regulation — the nervous system often needs repeated safe rest/activity cycles before it starts consistently responding differently.

Over time, repeated stress/fear/alarm states can reinforce the neural pathways associated with symptoms like pain, fatigue, dizziness, or hyper-vigilance... So, the idea behind “baby steps” is to gradually build new experiences of safety and tolerance instead of repeatedly swinging between "overdoing it" (as far as your brain and nervous system are concerned) and "crashing".

And regarding journaling: a lot of people expect an immediate emotional and in turn physical release from it, but for many people it works more subtly and gradually over weeks rather than producing instant relief.

I found “unsent letters” helpful — writing honestly to someone about anger, frustration, or unresolved feelings without ever sending it. Afterwards you can just tear it up and throw it away. That gave me some emotional release (but far from always immediate physical release/relief).

Also, symptom switching around can be really confusing, and many people don’t notice clear cause-and-effect patterns for quite a while. The nervous system can react with a delay, and symptoms themselves can move around or change form over time. Because of that, it isn’t always necessary (or even possible) to pinpoint an exact trigger for every symptom fluctuation — the bigger picture of gradually reducing overall stress/fear/alarm, building tolerance/helping the brain feel safe again is what matters more.

The older "alarm"/neural pathways have to be used less and gradually weaken while newer, calmer pathways are strengthened (with regular/consistent use) instead — and that process usually takes time and repetition rather than happening all at once.

 

Oh it doesn't. Sometimes you'll see people claim the brain knows exactly what's doing, and it's an elegant solution etc. but remember this is all subjective. Your brain is doing what served well for spreading genes, which unfortunately doesn't work that well for modern times where we live more and among millions of different people.

 

Agreed and that's why I think it doesn't really pay to go too deep into any one explanation - your questions make sense but there are competing theories when you get that deep into it (pain as a distraction or pain as a messenger as an example - you can get really deep into that rabbit hole) - I think the important stuff is more broad and widely agreed upon - such as pain is a protective mechanism - what it is specifically protecting you from will differ from other people (how it shows up will differ too - for some people it may very well be the case that the symptoms do diminish somewhat when they get back to safety or go to rest - some people have pain getting into bed at night and for some it doesn't happen - the wonders and complexities of the brain).

 

I understand your frustration. I think you are focusing too much on your body and watching your symptoms. This is normal, but interferes with your recovery. Focus on the psychological work involved. This is an opportunity to learn about yourself. Embrace it.

 

“I know this is too simplistic, but when I do rest or do something that should put me in repair mode, why doesn’t my body respond then by removing the symptoms, since I’m doing what it wants me to do which is rest and protect myself?”

Because internal stress, tension, personality traits etc also come into play - as does our mindset, emotions etc.
Think of it as your body with a zillion chemicals flowing through it.
An example: negativity and stress create cortisol which creates more stress response chemicals keeping us in high alert mode.
Avoiding feeling all emotions (those judged either good or bad) build up and aren’t released. More chemicals like cortisol etc. stick around.
This is a great reason why TMS work teaches us to deal with emotions (journaling) and let go. Meditation, over time (days, weeks, years) teaches us ways to deal with the thoughts that we cling to that can create stress. We learn a lifetime of holding on, for some of us it takes time to learn a better way.
@Ellen hits it home, you are focusing on minutia in hopes for an immediate “fix” a simple cure and not meeting with perfect healing “now” creates much more stress. It’s not being kind to yourself. Meditation can also teach self kindness.
I look at these situations as normal chemical responses that I have learned to misinterpreted and fear. I view my body and brain as already knowing what to do, it’s my mind that gets in the way. I educate my mind with TMS work.

Some of us call the exposure as “baby steps” it doesn’t mean going without symptoms. You live life with symptoms but rest or take a break when tolerance is really challenging. You build from there.

 

I truly appreciate your thorough response. That really helped. Maybe I am coming across too many of the deeper theories and they don’t always lineup together. Focusing on the bigger picture makes a lot of sense.

Your explanation of pacing also makes sense. I do see that pattern in myself. When I feel good I sometimes race into activity thinking I can handle it. But I wonder if I’m setting a pattern for some bad neural pathways that were already there before and I am just reinforcing them.

Anyway, lots to chew on from your post.