Frustration with Muscle Issues and Doctors

[AllGoodHere]

For us at the Forum, it usually goes something like: you have a muscle problem and/or twitching - you go to the doctor or specialist - they can't find a reason for it and you get either rolling eyes or bfs/bcfs/pnhe to take home with you as a label. Sometimes they just think it's 'all in your head' or a reaction to stress. What is so frustrating for most of us is that - even as we heal (as most of us who have had this for a while have found) we're left with remnants so we never feel like we 'once did' and we may relapse.I've been thinking about how so many here have had the label of psychosomatic, somatic syndromes, somatoform disorders, or hypochondria, and it seems that the terms are confusing not just from the patient's end but also for many medical professionals. Well, somatic disorders are something almost everybody has because we humans do not always integrate mind and body. Old muscle memories, injuries, and mental attitudes (which may include stress and anxiety) get in our way of perfection. There are therapies to deal with this such as Feldenkrais and the Alexander technique, and qigong. SO the purpose of this post is to see how many here have tried one of these three techniques and see if they have worked for you. You can google them and check them out and find sites to link you to professionals in most major cities: qigong has been around in some form or another for a few thousand years, F. M. Alexander and Moshe Feldenkrais developed their techniques in the 30's. If you are interested in getting better it would be good to try these techniques - it's not as easy as medication but more enjoyable and actually good for you. I really believe that they can help many people here. Plus, because it is an education or re-education, it is something you have forever - you will not have to refill the Rx once you have the basics. Qigong has really helped me but it is not for everyone - Feldenkrais and Alexander though also work internally, helping to correct movement patterns, organize new healthy patterns. They integrate better into standard exercise and western practices. Through these changes, people that have been thought untreatable heal, people fix problems that were tossed off by other professionals as non-problems.Let me know what you think.

 

[Outlook1958]

Many of my docs suggested that I might have a beginning psychosomatic disorder based on health anxiety. I do not really trust the functionality of my body and always keep on thinking that something's wrong... Now combine a harmless heart arrythmia (an extra-beat now and then) with that health anxiety, and you'll spend your days running from one cardiologist to another and panicking around about heart attacks etc. I got a *beep* good reminder about it this night: I dreamed that I was analyzing my pulse, reading lists of different heart diseases and their symptoms and trying to find one that fits, and I did eventually. I didn't get a name for some reason, just an ICD-10 code which I don't remember anymore. Then I woke up, scared and everything... It's a pity that I couldn't remember the ICD-10 code, I could have turned on my computer and looked it up lol. The problem about that heart stuff is that I get a faster and quicker pulse when I'm scared because of some perceived heart symptom (what is normal - fear = stress = adrenaline), then I think that these palpitations are part of some heart disease ("OK those other times it was anxiety, but THIS time something's REALLY wrong") and then I'm scared even more. That new BFS stuff isn't very useful either, although I've more or less managed to get used to it and get rid of the **S-anxiety after five months now.My doctors (GP, both cardios, cardio hospital, neuro) independently suggested to do some Autogenic Training or PMR (Progressive Muscle Relaxation). Actually I don't really believe in that, but as nobody is able to pinpoint any specific health problem I might as well try it one day. That's better than pills anyway. I also consider buying a "mystically enchanted stone" on ebay (gee that's basically just a polished glass shard, but...) that is supposed to help against nervousness, anxiety and all sorts of somatic symptoms etc when put under the pillow or mounted under your office chair. I'd never suggest trying to cure a REAL heart or nerve disease with that, but if you don't get a diagnosis and no medication (because there's nothing to cure actually) and the symptoms still annoy you, well, why not give it a try... If normal medicine fails to help you, it's perhaps worth trying that "magic".