Recovering from BFS: A Year Later

[radwraith9]

My recover from BFS began just over a year ago when I found this site and read "BFS in a Nutshell" by Aaron. I had wasted a year of my life being misdiagnosed as having symptoms caused by two herniated discs, even though I had no sciatica, or any of the pain normally associated with disc injuries.. By a stroke of luck , I found a brilliant Neurologist named Brian Haineline who dismissed the diagnosis as nonsense, and told me about the existance of BFS. He told me that herniated discs cause distinct pain paths, not bizarre symptoms all over the place. It was only when I read Aaron's post however that I was fully convinced. Aaron, whoever you are wherever you are, Thank You. I still have BFS. Maybe I always will. But it no longer has any impact on my quality of life. My symptoms are also quite minimal compared to just a year ago. My sources of recovery are as follows:1) complete acceptance that this is an annoying but ultimatley benign condition.2) realization that in my case the symptoms were a type of post traumatic stress reaction following three years of severe family health crises.3) trying to ignore the condition, which unfortunatley includes not visiting this site much anymore. The less I think or read about BFS, the better I feel. Stay off the internet completely if you can, this site excepted of course.4) I resumed all the activities I stopped during the misdiagnosis period. Any of you familiar with Dr John Sarno will understand this.5) Accepted that in my case, prescription medication under the careful direction of my doctors is OK. I resisted this for a long time, since I am in Recovery for drinking, and try to avoid all meds if possible. Speaking soley for myself, I find low dose SSRIs , a nightly low dose of Lyrica, and a very occasional benzo for acute flare ups works for me. I felt a responsibility to report that there is hope, and if you are new to this learn what you can from this great site and get on with your life.

 

[simonw00]

Dear SullystoneThanks for the very useful post. Always good to hear from people who are doing well and this is very reassuring to those of us who have had symptoms for a shorter period of time. The advice you gave was very pertinent.All the bestSimon

 

[seadragonsovereign]

Thanks for the hope filled reply and I am glad you are dealing with this the way we all need to. Your meds treatment is similar to what I am doing, though I have given up the SRRI's in favor of using an occasional xanax when things get bad and a nightly Klonopin for help with the twitching. Good luck and check back in with us occasionally with updates.

 

[DonJose]

Agree with everything Sully stated in his post. I am also a longtime twitcher...2 years 4 months. The best thing you can do for yourself is accept this as benign and try to live your life WITH it. When I began doing that, my symptoms began to improve!!I truly believe this syndrome is fueled by anxiety and once the anxiety is under control, the symptoms do improve. As I said in another post, I am not cured and still have twitching, but I don't freak out about it anymore and I can honestly say, most days I hardly notice it anymore. For the newbies on the forum, hang in there...things will get better