Question:
Nancy, About your back pain…… The first clue that something was going south for me, before I knew about PTSD, was Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I’d get severe cramping in my colon, that sometimes would double me over, followed by a swing between diarrhea and constipation. About the same time I started getting bronchitis. But I’d only get it just before teaching a class I’ve been doing for years. The class is extremely intense for me. The bronchitis almost always led to laryngitis. The next clue was I developed Bell’s Palsey. It’s a virus that completely numbed the right side of my face. I had a moderate case that lasted about 6 months. Then I developed Gout. My right big toe joint swelled up the size of a baseball, during a 2 week trauma workshop. That was about 18 months ago, and I’m told I will be dealing with it the rest of my life. It flares up in times of stress. I don’t drink alcohol, so I know that didn’t cause it. The latest one for me is I’ve been doing EMDR on a trauma to my genitals. Three days after the first session I broke out with warts in my genitals. Never had them before. Sexually I’ve been anorexic. This doesn’t include the headaches, nausea, etc. All of these things have various causes other than stress. Arguably they could have been caused by something else. Every professional opinion aside, I’ve learned to listen to my body. I try not to draw conclusions. I just listen, and then learn. I’ve learned that for me there is a definite connection between mind and body when it comes to stress and/or PTSD. To treat the mind and ignore the body, or treat the body and ignore the mind, for me, is a mistake. Jim
Response:
JP, I know this probably sounds crazy, but have you considered taking a real vacation? No Ptsd books, no seminars, and a warm sunny beach or whatever it is you like to do. I went away recently and was stunned by how many of my symptons disappeared. Some are back, some are not. Either way I did not think I needed a vacation until I was actually doing it. I did not want to get a way but enjoyed myself in spite of ME. Just a thought.
Response:
That’s a real nice thought………taking a vacation. I would if I could. Right now I’m just trying to decide where I am going to live. I moved to VA from FL to marry a man I met on the internet. I don’t know anyone else here except for the people that I just met at my new job. I can’t go back to FL, too humiliating even if I could afford it. I could go to NY but that has too many strings attached even if they aren’t verbalized. I really like it here, but right now it is unbearable. We are still living in the same apartment and both are miserable. He told me last week that he didn’t want to marry and he has known this for a while but was too afraid to tell me. Now what???????? P.A. HeyYou97 <heyyo…@aol.com> wrote in article <1998050421572200.RAA17…@ladder03.news.aol.com>… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> JP, > I know this probably sounds crazy, but have you considered taking a real > vacation? No Ptsd books, no seminars, and a warm sunny beach or whatever it is > you like to do. I went away recently and was stunned by how many of my > symptons disappeared. Some are back, some are not. Either way I did not think > I needed a vacation until I was actually doing it. I did not want to get a way > but enjoyed myself in spite of ME. Just a thought.
If you like this post and would like to receive updates from this blog, please subscribe our feed.