TMS in bed at night

I have been battling various TMS symptoms for years that come and go and change shape and form all the time. However one thing i have noticed is a constant… it’s always worse for me in bed at night. no matter what the “symptom” is, it seems to rear its head when i’m trying to go to sleep and often will wake me up in the middle of the night. Any thoughts on why TMS can be worse at night in bed?

 

Sounds like Pavlovian conditioning. In The Divided Mind at page 127, Sarno wrote: “One of the prime characteristics of TMS is that the pattern of symptoms will develop as a result of Pavlovian conditioning. People will experience the kind of symptoms they have learned to expect to experience, just as Pavlov’s dogs learned to associate the presentation of food with the ringing of a bell. Elisabeth R had pain associated with standing and walking, though there was nothing neurologically wrong with her. Another patient with similar pain will say that it is sitting that brings on the pain, while walking relieves it. Experience with large numbers of patients at our clinic makes it clear that these are programmed responses that bear no relationship to anything beyond what the patient is conditioned to expect."

 

Agree. It seems you have a conditioned response. Can you shape some new habits around bedtime to shake things up?
I was a classic No-Sitter. It took some graded exposure, but now I can sit all day! Too much.

What are your normal habits at bed time? No judgment if you’re scrolling or watching tv. Just curious to see if there might be some obvious things to add or subtract.

 

yeah~ i agree that it’s sort of a conditioned response. i have always found bedtime to be somewhat stressful because that’s when my monkey mind goes to work. and that also probably contributes to TMS symptoms. but recently i’ve gone to bed, no issues. then wake up an hour later with crazy pelvic pain and bladder urgency. yet all day i’m mostly fine. it’s a pickle!

 

You might enjoy this episode of Nicole’s:

https://spotify.link/O3LAlOou1Db

she addresses insomnia as a symptom imperative. I’m listening now and it’s very helpful!