Introduction, mental stress causing physical pain

[Shipsta]

Hello everyone,

26, Male, Adelaide, Husband, Father (of 1)

The history of my relationship with depression over the past few years is up and down to say the least so I’ll try and explain it as briefly. During my early twenties I was experiencing a lot of muscle pain and migraines, after seeing all sorts of practitioners the symptoms basically went undiagnosed. They were preventing me from doing what I loved most which was sport and physical exercise. When I left Uni and traveled interstate to commence full time work for the first time, I now had the money to spend to investigate these issues further. So I spent 1000’s of dollars visiting physios, osteopaths, doctors, chiros, exercise physiologists, doing training programs etc. None of these people could find a problem and the pain was becoming worse and worse and ended up being the only thing I could think of. It got to the point where I just broke down. I couldn’t think anymore, I was depressed, in pain etc. It was affecting my work, my relationship, everything. At this point I came to the conclusion that it had to be me, so in tears I sort the help of a psychologist. It was then when I realised that I was under constant stress (relationship, uni, sport, work) and was on edge all the time. From an early age, I just wanted everything to be perfect and didn't have an off switch. I was convinced that due to my personality, I just put way too much pressure on myself all the time which caused the muscle pain and now the mental problems.

For the past 6 months I have been on anti-depressants, practised mindfulness meditation, adopted adaptogen herbs, exercised, maintained sleep and focussed on reducing stress. This has helped somewhat to the point I can function again, however I still go through the fight, flight and freeze response (to varying degrees) throughout a weekly period. Some days, I just can’t think and this will last for almost a week, where my productivity plummets. This used to stress me out further, however I have learned to roll with the punches more and wait for the episode to be over. As it seems the more
I do this, the fewer and farther in between these episodes occur. Right now, I am going through heavy a brain freeze/fog period, so just writing this post is difficult.

I could go on forever talking about this but I am coming close to the word limit, so I will stop it here for now and look forward to any responses of people going through anything similar.

[blondguy]

Hello Shipsta

Im sorry for the delay for the response. We are usually quick in responding to posts.

You have been through so much pain. You have also been so pro-active with healing too. I have had acute anxiety that started in 1983 when I was 23. It did take time to get a handle on this mongrel of a disorder....years. I understand where you are coming from.

Some good news for you, the severity of the anxiety will dissipate with regular counseling from a good GP/therapist.

I know you have moved mountains where being pro-active is being concerned and good on you for doing so.

Just what worked 'for me'.....I had to seek help in the mid 80's from a community mental health worker from my local council. They sent out a young guy...a psychiatric nurse...and I thought...oh my goodness.

In a nutshell...this young nurse saw me twice a week for six months and saved me. He counseled me better than any psychologist/psychiatrist I have ever met. He made me cry and 'vent' about my issues. It was awful at the time but I didnt realise that sometimes we have to feel worse in order to recover.

If I may ask you, do have a good GP that you can start with? I am lucky now that I have found a legend of a GP that has an interest in mental health. The anxiety is nothing more than a bad memory..

I am sorry for the delay....I hope you can respond and talk to us. You are more than welcome to post as many times as you wish.

Anxiety and its 'feelings' do take time to heal....

My kindest wishes

Paul

[White_Rose]

Dear Shipsta

Hello and welcome to Beyond Blue. Like Paul, I also apologise that no one has responded to your post earlier. This does not usually happen but occasionally one slips through to the keeper. We are here now to talk with you.

I fully understand the muscle pain you have described. I was diagnosed with post viral fatigue, not the same condition as you but similar in terms of muscle pain. I was away from work for the best part of six months. And I cannot take anti-inflammatory medication because it causes too much pain elsewhere.

The psychologist I used to see for my depression often commented when I had aches in shoulders, neck and arms, "Listen to your body". He said the same as your psych, my pain was due to the tension in my life. So two different causes of pain in my life. The tension pain was not as intense or as debilitating as the first condition, but enough to let me know I needed to do something about. I have a wonderful physio who helped me heaps as well as the psych. Now I can recognise what is happening and do something about. I am pleased to say I have very little of that type of pain these days.

Being a bit of a perfectionist does bring its own set of difficulties and it sounds as though you have found this out the hard way. Now you are moving ahead and managing your pain quite well. Congratulations.

What are adaptogen herbs? I have not heard of these before. I presume this is a group of herbs that manage muscle pain, but perhaps they work in the mental health area. I am interested in knowing what they are. If you want to talk about these please be careful not to mention the names of these preparation.

The dreaded three F's in action. I think most people here have experienced these. I am sad you have this experience so often. It takes up so much of your life recovering from this. Do you still see a psychologist? I imagine this would be very helpful.

Learning to roll with punches is exactly what we need to do and well done for learning this very difficult skill. Just when I think everything is under control something comes out of left field and reminds me I am not yet perfect (smile). I cannot master the art of putting in smiley faces.

Please continue to write in here.

Mary

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi Shipsta,

Welcome aboard and thanks for posting.

Man am I glad you finally got some answers. Your post resonated with me a lot. I'm also an Adelaide-an and I've struggled big time with health issues. I've jumped from Doctor to Doctor and got told over and over again to 'stop stressing and deal with it'. So I can definately relate to what you've been experiencing.

I'm glad that you've managed to find a few different ways to help manage what's been going on for you. I know mindfulness mediation was a big one for me. Learning to 'roll with the punches' as you say is not easy, but it does make you more resilient and it does make things easier in the long run with your health.

Hope you find a few posts and people around here you can relate to - feel free to post again and ask questions or just chat when your brain is a little less foggy!

[Shipsta]

Thank you to you both for replying. I must admit I did wonder if I was going to get a response there for a bit!

@Paul;

I saw a good GP who refereed me to a good psychiatrist in WA, however since moving back to SA i have not seen another specialist. I have recently got in contact with the psychiatrist to see whether we can give me a referral for someone in SA. Thank you for your comment concerning being proactive. I have certainly tried to be as much as I can, I do not want to leave any stone un-turned with respect to getting better.

@Mary:

Glad to hear you have experienced similar pain in the past and have overcome it. Did you find that when you got sick i.e common cold or flu your muscles would tighten up further? In addition, did you experience any brain fog? This too seems very prevalent with my condition and seems to come and go, along with worsen when I get common illnesses as well.

With regards to Adaptogen herbs, I was going to paste a link but I am not sure whether the post would get blocked. If you google them there is a host of information available but basically they are 'supposed' to help your body in adapting to stress and help both your adrenal and nervous system. I am not sure the research is completely sound but I am giving them a go anyway. The herbs include Ashwaganda, Ginseng etc. and are readily available at pharmacies without a script.

[blondguy]

Hi Shipsta

Thanks for posting back! That brain fog can be a pain. There is a poster on here called Starwolf and she said it was like walking around with a heavy blanket over our head thus making it hard to find our way.

Have you had any joy with a psychologist at all?

Kind thoughts

Paul

[Shipsta]

Hi Paul,

Certainly is. I saw a psychologist in WA for a number of weeks. This was during my worst period. She basically made me realise that I was not in control of my thoughts and they way that I dealt with them or reacted to them was what counted. Because of these sessions, I realised that I was not crazy (like I thought I was). Since then I have basically tried to disregard any negative/unpleasant thought as just that and not a reflection of who I am (even though difficult at times). What was and is still frustrating, is that I appear to have an irrational over sensitivity to negative thoughts / emotions which I never used to have, which is what triggers my anxiety. So what logically appears to be a small problem to myself, my 'brain' seems to recognise it as a large problem. This is where I am hoping the medication, reducing stress philosophy, exercising and healthy eating etc. will come into play whereby hopefully over time, it will improve my reaction to perceived stressful thoughts / emotions.

[Doolhof]

Hi Shipsta and Everyone reading this excellent thread,

There have been some very beneficial points made here regarding pain/depression/anxiety and stress.

My problem is keeping up with all the things that I know are beneficial for me.

I have a mixture of pain caused by medical conditions and then pain in muscles due to stress.

When the pain is bad, the depression is worse, when the stress is bad the muscles tighten.

Various Drs and Psychiatrists/psychologist have talked about "Pain clinics" but when I inquire further, nothing seems to progress.

I've tried acupuncture, Pilates, Physio, Osteopaths, massage, traction, pills, potions, meditation, mindfulness, stretches, swimming, walking, just about everything you can imagine except the two fish being banged together above your body. Does anyone remember that commercial on t.v.?

Someone mentioned brain fog. Years ago I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue and had it quite badly for a couple of years. I felt like I had more than brain fog, I felt like my brain had gone out for a walk and forgot to return. Ha. Ha.

Depression, stress and pain can certainly help to make the brain feel like it just doesn't know how to work properly any more.

The most stressful thing I find with my pain is not being able to do the things I want to do. I just have to try and do things in a different manner and make the most out of each day.

When my back was at its worst, I made a 1 metre square quilt while lying on my back, all hand stitched. It was a bit difficult working out how to use a sewing machine on such an angle. Another ha. ha.

Wishing you all a pain free day!

Cheers from Mrs. Dools

[White_Rose]

Hello Shipsta

Yes, I remember brain fog at times. Memory was the worst bit. I couldn't remember names and places and worst of all there were times when I didn't realise I was using the wrong name. It was quite scary. The good news is that as I got well the brain also improved. Maybe if the body is stressed the brain doesn't get enough blood supply and therefore oxygen. That's only a guess but it correct it would account for much.

Depression on its own can really give us the run around. I know how the slightest obstacle or event can have us running for the hills. Have you tried writing down all the good things about you, what you can do, your personality etc and pin it up somewhere. Or make several copies and post them around the house. Then when your brain starts playing the old record of how stupid/incompetent/ lazy/etc you are, take a look at the nearest list and 'know' which is the real you. It's amazing how quickly we can forget that we have skills and talents, that we are lovable good. But that depression for you.

I see you have discovered you are not crazy. Congratulations. This is a horrible feeling, wondering if you are after all completely nuts. If it helps I would say many of the folk who write in here have had the same thought.

Hang in there my friend. You are making all the right moves, it just takes time for everything to get together.

Mary

[blondguy]

Hi Shipsta

I hope you are still on the forums. I have re-read your post and noticed something you wrote "So what logically appears to be a small problem to myself, my 'brain' seems to recognise it as a large problem"

Well said....this is a real pain (and common) with a 'tired' mind or a over sensitised nervous system. You are doing everything so well. The meds will provide you with a platform on which you can use to practice the coping mechanisms available to heal even further 🙂

We are still here and hoping you are doing okay Shipsta

My Best

Paul