What do you use to relieve deep abdomenal tightening, related to fear?

[Seasounds]

If you have the symptom above, what do you find most helpful?

 

[Friday]

<chuckling> I've tripped a few doctors out with this one! Because most of the time I can divorce my body freaking out from my heart/mind freaking out... Means I've been seen for this, while carrying on a normal conversation. I can even, with a whole lot of effort, arch my back against my abs (so they can have a hand on each, feeling the deep abdominal spasms, while also feeling the other muscles along my back and abs fighting against them to pull myself straight). The look on their faces is always kind of priceless. :D Tandem muscles aren't supposed to work like that.

Medically? In a word: Valium.

For me it's an anxiety thing. I've tried muscle relaxers (bad, bad, baaaaaad idea... I become something of an electrocuted jellyfish... Which is not as fun as it sounds). Does jack to stop the anxiety spasms, just robs me of my ability to control my other muscles.

***

Physiologically... I've also had a masseur who could hit a pressure point (pressure points?) which causes the sudden relaxation of those muscles as well. It feels exactly like banging your elbow, hard. Kind of blinding cross eyed not-pain. The 2nd biggest downside of this one, for me, is that it also triggers a tickle-kick response, but with a right cross. So if I was ever going to have him do it? I needed to be cuffed. I've tried controlling it myself... It doesn't work. I'm halfway off the table fist already having connected -or hit dead air depending on how fast he jumped- no matter how many times we practiced it. Shrug. Cuffs ain't the end of the world. The biggest downside, for me, is that this one only lasts about 15 min to an hour. So it's theoretically fine if I'm living/working with someone who can do this, but not really something to schedule an appointment for. It's one of those weird ones, where first they have to relax the first layer of muscles, and get in between them & the next layer of muscles, so it's not something I can do myself. It's a totally weird/quirky thing.

 

[BlueDream]

Cannabis works for me ;)

 

[Mit]

I suffer from levator ani syndrome and its variant proctalgia fugax. It's suggested the spasm can be brought by stress, and I definitely get it more often when I am anxious. The only thing that seems to help is a warm bath. The pain is excruciating, for me anyway. If it happens when I'm out I'm in big trouble and its agony until it passes on its own. I've attended the ER a couple of times when it hasn't passed and been given valium rectally.

 

[The Albatross]

Breath work. Relearning how to "belly breathe" and how to breathe through stress or fear responses rather than breath holding.

 

[Born to Run]

Reiki on yourself. Put your hands were you have the most tension.

 

[Tinyflame]

Sounds weird but while standing push your feet into the floor.

The belly breaths are the closest I have. I've had it since about 5. Check for an ulcer too. However, it does leave you with taught abs, that's for sure!

 

[lostforgottensoul]

Breath work. Relearning how to "belly breathe" and how to breathe through stress or fear responses rather than breath holding.

The app i downloaded for anxiety has this in it (along w/ other breathing exersizes; the one i cant seem to understand is "roll breathing i think its called; using the lower lungs first and then the upper i think)

For the OP, i suffer MASSIVE anxiety that has a f*ck load of phsyical symthoms. I take xanax, not valium, but any meds takes time to work & in my job, i havd to snap my brain out of it as to not go off on customers (like ive been caught doing) so i do 2 things (both from the app i downloaded for anexity called What's Up & just helps me the best)

i first take deep breathes, slow my breathing, i make sure thay im breathing and not holding my breath but i also make sure to slow it, breathing deeper and not shallow and (had to do this w/ my eyes closed at 1st but dont have to now) imagine my body floating on water on my back. When ive attchived that image correctly, my body and my mind relax & it gets me back to the now, reality. I think this type of thing is what a lot are calling "grounding"?

For me, when the anxiety comes (about 8 ish times a day) all my muscles tighten, including in my stomach, my body shakes really bad all over, get naucious, my mind races worse than nascar & what runs through my head is not good and if not stopped ends up.at rituals/cutting/pusnishing, possible uncontrollable red zone explosions then at suicide and theres no telling what nastiness will spew from my mouth.

This imagine helps to.snap me back to being relaxed, stops all of it, at least enough time to get off the phone & walk away.

Theres a TON of metaphors & thinking pattern exersizes in that app; thats what just helps me.

If you have a smart phone, search anxiety in the app store, thats how i found this app.

This sounds very anxiety based, to me rather than medical but if you havent,.make sure it isnt medical.

Hope this helps some!