Return to Profile page Friends |  Journals |  Notes |  Photos |  Posts |  Trackers
All Journal Entries Journals
 |  Del.icio.usYahoo BookmarksFacebookGoogle Bookmarks

Is Psychosomatic Pain Real?

Oct 15, 2008 10:10AM - 7 comments
Tags:

psychosomatic

,

Anxiety

I have had this conversation so many times with so many medical professionals and the answer is, YES, YES, YES. The biggest mistake that you can make is to believe that the pain is not real. The pain may not be caused by an organic cause that can be fixed with medication but none the less the pain is real. The pain is caused by your thinking and that takes place in your brain, your brain is where you register that what you are feeling is organic pain so yes even if it is psychosomatic then you are still feeling real pain.

I have suffered from psychosomatic pain since I was 21 when all of a sudden I had this horrible headache after bashing my head that lasted months and months and month until it, or should I say I, turned it into a brain tumour. At the age of 23 I suffered severe heart problem which was going to kill me. The truth is there was no heart problem, it was chest pain and a host of other symptoms that I had experienced through stress. I knew from then on that stress came out of me in physical symptoms. Unfortunately my brain at the time is unable to compute this, instead it turns the symptoms into an automatic death sentence. Since all of this I have developed a health anxiety to boot. So whenever I have any type of pain or discomfort that doesn’t disappear quickly then all of a sudden I am dying. I haven’t got a muscle strain in my leg, I have a blood clot or I haven’t a persitent headache, instead I have a brain tumour. I catastrophise everything that it is health related with me. Crazy but I just cannot help it, this is just the way it is for now.

I am now in thearpy and my therapist thinks that I do not acknowledge my feelings when I am feeling them, I bury them away and then they morph into a physical symptom as my entire body is shouting ‘Hey, you know what I am bloody stressed, run down and you need to listen up and take note of what is going on’ but my brain doesn’t say it, instead my body reacts to the stress and comes out in a physical symptom. Apparently I have burried my feelings for so long that I don’t even know I am actually feeling stressed. I just accept everything for what it is and move on without actually dealing with anything.

I have also noticed that these ‘near death anxiety psychosomatic’ events seem to occur when there is nothing going on in my life and when I really do have no problems. I cope better under pressure and when there is no longer anything to cope with this is when the ******* gets me. Its like the obligatory Christmas Cold. You get the cold when you are relaxing and this is the way that anxiety get to me.

It ***** but it is just the way it is, or actually perhaps I shouldn’t just accept it, perhaps that is part of the problem and I just need to learn my feelings and deal with the emotions when the occur?

Can anyone relate or am I just crazy all by myself?


Comments
Post a Comment
by confused317, Oct 15, 2008 03:19PM
I know exactly how you feel.  I am suffering with the same problem and have since I was like 20 or so.  (am 30 now).. All those issues that I thought were def killing me, didn't.  And still to this day I am the same way, You are not alone.   Not at all.  Please feel free to keep in touch with me.  Maybe we can help each other...

by vdrtime, Oct 16, 2008 01:41AM
I'm only 18 and I think the same things as you. I got non-ulcer dyspepsia back in May. You have all the symptoms of stomach ulcers and GERD but there is nothing wrong with your stomach on the x-ray. You have to take expensive antacids for relief but the disease is caused in your head, not your stomach! Supposedly stress is a factor, but my mom almost died and was in the hospital for a week and I had no symptoms! But when I am unwinding watching TV or reading a book it can be terrible! Whenever you get a new symptom you think: it there really something wrong with my body or is it just in my head? I would rather wish for a disease with a physical cause instead just psychosomatic! At least that way you can treat it and see its causes and effects on an x-ray!

Can't they find some way to turn off the areas of the brain that register pain and discomfort?

by lonewolf07, Oct 16, 2008 04:44AM
You aren't alone - I'm crazy too.  I have to go to the dr tomorrow and can't sleep because of all the things I'm sure she is going to find wrong with me.  Every ache and pain becomes something horrible and fatal.  Every rash becomes something frightening.  After watching "Philadelphia", the movie about AIDS, I broke out in a rash (which I still have) although the chances that I have AIDS are zero.  It's a horrible way to exist - when our minds and bodies are at war with each other.

PS:  It doesn't help to have a dr who sends you for tests for everything.  I'm 46 yrs old - an old biddy  lol - and she has made me feel like I'm falling apart.  In Canada, where I am, it isn't easy finding a new dr.  The one I have just reinforces my fears and I have to go to my shrink to get some kind of balance.




by gyp_sea, Nov 06, 2008 07:59PM
I have had debilitating joint pain since I was 12, I am now 27. I have been tested for Lupus, fibromyalgia, arthritis, and even had a false positive for lymes disease. Like everyone else, no doctor could help. It seemed like I was crazy. Not until years later did I realize that the pain may be psychosomatic. I have always been passive aggressive, so when I suppress my feelings, my body redirects it as pain. Ever since that realization, the pain has subsided. It still comes and goes and moves through out my body, but at least it is manageable (thank you Advil!) There is a book called, "The Divided Mind" by Dr. John Sarno. It deals with the mind-body connection. It has done wonders for many people I know. I hope it helps!

by mikee22, Nov 09, 2008 05:24PM
well, i deffinuitely can realate woth you all and the experiences you have identified it made me reflect on all my past make believe illnesses. I have frightened myself so much that i have refutedly convinced myself that i in fact will test postive for hiv. I dont know if thinking about it and inquring about it bring on real symtoms but i do have them. I am petrified of finding out the results, but this hasnt been the only time when i thought i had them. I am very scared to say the least. So all i could do was seek help and people who have the same thing in common. Maybe someone could answer a question for me. I have been dwelling over this for a good while and i get sicker and sicke. Is there a possibility that its not real and that it it in my mind?

by VaBreeze, Nov 09, 2008 06:29PM
I had 4 years, twice a week, of therapy and I needed it.  I too would not face what I felt and I didn't even know where to begin to express it.  I shoved it on down and just thought I was normal.  After counseling was complete it changed the way I thought about certain beliefs and also gave me strength to allow myself to 'believe' what I heard, saw and felt.  What a wonderful relief.  

Some of my issues were definitely psychosomatic and brought on by my own fears and anxiety.  However, the pain I felt was real, regardless of what caused it.  I have a biological disorder and take antidepressants and will continue to take them.  When i'm off of them my body and mind goes awry again.  

Suppressing feelings and pushing them away will only manifest as a physical problem in the long run.  The stress and anxiety levels will eventually change the way your body senses pain (which what I believe causes fibromyalgia).  I feel it results in a metabolic disorder that causes permanent damage to the CNS.

So you are not alone at all.  If you can, continue with the therapy and it will help you to face what your body and mind is denying.  You will learn how to better manage stress and feel so much healthier.  Therapy can be quite a lengthy process, so it takes a 'stick with it' attitude.  There will be times you just do not want to go, but force yourself because that is when you will breakthrough.

Take care and best of luck to you.

by VaBreeze, Nov 09, 2008 06:36PM
mikee22

If you are that upset and convinced, then you should contact your physician and get in there to be tested.  If it isn't positive then you may check into some counseling to help you deal with your anxiety.  If it is positive, then you wouldn't want to be putting it off...you would want to be treating it and feeling better.  I don't know you that well to say if it could be all in your mind, but I do think you should check with your doctor soon.  

Be safe and take care.

Post a Comment
Post