Physical Ailments with CPTSD - Part 1

Started by Dyess, April 25, 2015, 06:17:34 AM

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Indigochild

Jdog, have you changed your name back?

That is so great and I'm glad to hear it!
My dad has always had psoriasis and nothing has ever worked for him.
;)


Boatsetsailrose

Hi yes I do - meditation helps me and shiatsu - more exercise I know is a good answer but I lack motivation to get up and go with it :) maybe I will :)

The headaches are the worst - I wonder what life is like headache free
I do steaming which helps

It seems a lot of our symptoms are regarding stress .. I read somewhere the physical is common for suffers of cptsd -
I know for me I can get stressed and overwhelmed very quickly

tired

lately:
can't eat without pain
muscles feel tight all the time
headaches, nausea, lightheaded
pulse races when i lie down and i feel like i can't breathe and my chest is tight
gained weight although might be just eating crap and having no energy to exercise
joints hurt
skin problems maybe from eating foods that cause this

part of this may be worsening tardive dyskinesia that is mild in general
partly might be just a spiralling downward of things that happen when you don't take care of yourself. 

MaryAnn


Quote Trace:
QuoteMy back muscles are rock hard and you can feel the knots in the muscle

Everyday, this is one I deal with.  I do not know how to relax and my husband has told me many times that I was extremely tight in the neck and shoulders and that he could feel the knots in my back.  I guess I just got used to it because I have never been able to be really relaxed since about age 8 and it only got worse the older I got.  I was so tensed up a while back, I was about to jump out of my skin.  My husband gave me a very hard aggressive massage of the shoulders and back to release the tension, it felt great.  Until the next morning....  Thought I was having a heart attack only to find out it was something called  Costochondritis which is related to symptoms of constant stress and anxiety.  The pain in my chest seemed like it was getting better, but now it is flaring up again and is sore on the breastbone to the touch or to breath.

I also experience numbness, tingling, and lightheadness.  Headaches, Anxiety and Panic Attacks (daily - is constant), and joint pain in the knees and arms.  I have suffered from stomach issues all of my life, since I arrived on earth.  I have had diagnosis of IBS but the last gastroenterologist I saw told me that IBS is what a doctor tells you when they can't figure out what your symptoms are a result of. Mine stomach issues were a result of being stressed and hypervigilant as a child.  I had to take a medication called Modine (no longer available for a few decades) and it was found later that it actually killed nerve endings in you intestines.  So over time, it actually caused more problems.  The doc told me that I needed to start exercising to help movement and to help me relax.  This was several years ago.  It worked for awhile but as a workaholic, I finally became so consumed with work that I was doing neither. I  experience all of the things that no one wants to hear about on a regular basis.  It is embarrassing and I deal with it the best I can. 

That is the extent of any physical symptoms I experience as a result of the CPTSD.  I too, now realize that I am not alone.  Thank you listening and for sharing your own experiences.  It is not fair that we have to go thru this things but I guess if we try to look at the positive side of things (which is really hard to do most of the time), our struggles make us stronger people in the end. 

MaryAnn  :hug:

Jdog

Indigo-

No name change, just hadn't been active for a bit.  Yes, getting relief from psoriasis is a huge help both physically and emotionally.

chairmanmeow

Anxiety disorders come with all kinds of fun side effects, muscle tension soreness, stomach issues loss of appetite from said stomach issues, A friend once described it like having your insides dosed with acid, pretty accurate to my experience when I get over stressed, the flood of adrenaline is very physical, sleepness hair trigger fuel when your hyper alert. and not to mention the fog of derealization and depersonalization from having your brain stuck in a gear thats good for fighting rabid polar bears and not much else. loss of access to memery so you forget stuff get lost even... yep so much happens...

tired

I was recently told I have a murmur and when I looked it up it said something about hypercatecholamine state.

"  People with mitral valve prolapse seem somehow to be wired differently. Their autonomic response can be much more volatile and unstable, as if set on hair-trigger, so that normal stresses and surprises set off an exaggerated response, flooding their systems with stress hormones called the catecholamines. In fact, there may not be a specific stressor–autonomic fluxes may occur unpredictably like internal weather changes. In some ways this could be defined as a catecholamine disorder. The principal catecholamines are epinephrine and adrenaline. People with mitral valve prolapse are intermittently and unpredictably awash in their own catecholamines. This leaves them alternately innervated and exhausted–"wired but tired" is a common feeling. - See more at: http://drhoffman.com/article/mitral-valve-prolapse-3/#sthash.ZDV6qf2Z.dpuf"

I don't know what this means.  I just read it last week.  Makes me wonder about all this.

chairmanmeow

In some aspects anxiety disorders are more like diabetes then mental disorders, anxiety is a natural response without it you wouldent get anything done, throw out the garbage, finish a paper... but prolonged periods of stress can make the thermostat all broken. So little things have your body set to fight rabid polar bears and *... VERY physical. So even after you start to get your emotional baggage in check a perfectly normal stress can have your body going overboard. This is something I think that escapes most professionals.. im not over reacting my physicality is in the same way diabetics have control over blood sugar...  :pissed: this get back to normalish given enough time but that aspect alone I hear makes so many people really feel like they are going nutz.

Boatsetsailrose

Thank u - I do alternative therapies -
Pain killers of varying levels- salt irrigation - daily steaming
Sprays
Meditation
Yoga
I mean gee what more can a women do !
Been in constant and intermittent pain now for 3 yrs -
Referral to a consultant soon :)
Either that or give my head over to science

Jdog

BSR-

Your attitude is wonderful, and I am so very sorry for your constant pain.  I hope the upcoming consult provides new and helpful information.

Meanwhile, know that you have support here.

Boatsetsailrose

Thank you indigo yes I do and shiatsu which is excellent-
Off to the gym now ( I don't go a lot ) but when I do I love the stress relief it provides :)

KayFly

#26
I recently developed a breathing problem that I think was correlated with the anxiety I experienced while on a medication but now I've been off the medication for awhile and the breathing problem stuck.

It is brought on heavily by my anxiety and yesterday I was at my Honors Society meeting and I was in a lot of fear because the environment was  very loving and family like, and I was triggered into what had happened with my family which caused a panic attack and for me to not be able to breathe.

I ended up at the doctors and unable to participate in school and other normal activities today because I got a chest injury from the episode.

I think CPTSD definitely correlates with physical problems. I used to have IBS, but my diet change helped that (more fiber, fruits, veggies, digestive enzymes). And I used to just get sick all the time because I.didn't know how to care for myself after all the abuse.

Fortunately many of my health issues have gotten better with a healthy diet, probiotics, and more that have helped my immune system. But unfortunately I have recently attained this breathing problem and I think it's 100% correlated with the stress of CPTSD, anxiety, emotional flashbacks that lead to panic attacks, depression.

Thanks everyone for this discussion. It's nice to write about what's going on.

basically0kkim

Definitely, somatic symptoms. If not for the severe chronic diarrhea, migraines, widespread pain, sleep disturbance and overwhelming fatigue, I would never have gotten to the proper diagnoses of prolonged PTSD/GAD w/depression. November 2014 to March 2015 I saw 7+ doctors and finally took FMLA leave from work. My employer required me to apply for disability and it was in a psych evaluation for SSDI that I received my initial introduction to my MI. I had been running on self-will and full blast push-through-it mode that I had burned out my coping skills. So all of my anxiety began shutting down my system. I even had slightly elevated liver enzymes and the mystery weight gain. I'm doing much better now that I have begun absolute self-care and therapy. EMDR to begin after developing a trauma history. Thanks for allowing me a place to discuss these things without dealing with the fear of the deer-in-the-headlights look I get from friends. Peace

tired

Neck pain from keeping tension in the upper body and from being hunched over all the time. Hunched over because I feel ashamed all the time.

Cocobird

I've fallen a couple of times recently, which has been very painful. It's hard to get things done, and then I start criticizing myself. All of this has caused a PTSD relapse, and I generally feel awful. I know this pain will clear up. Any suggestions to help me through this grim period?

Thanks!