Poll What Somatic Symptoms Do You Experience?

[Chava]

Several of these, but also burning (similar to skin sensations) and shaking, and extreme sensitivity to light and sound...trauma related.

For trauma or major general stress I also sometimes break out in hives and need injections to settle it all down.

 

[asldjfasldjf]

I've had chronic fatigue syndrome since I was 13 years old--I'm 21 now.
I also had chronic pain from ages 18-21 until I underwent a series of EMDR sessions. Now the pain is mostly gone.
I also have sebhorreic dermatitis of the scalp (it's somewhere in the middle on a scale of dandruff to psoriasis).

 

[holdenmonty]

I didn't notice until a couple months ago when I got a root canal and was told not to clench my teeth for 24 hours so I didn't break the filling that they put in. I also tend to just feel anxious all the time. But my doc bumped me up to 150mg so we will see if that improves.

 

[Lionheart]

I have muscle tension and pain when I carry too much weight on my shoulders...I like to call it "Atlas" Syndrome. It isn't as bad as it used to be but with increased anxiety come a measure of muscle pain and stiffness, but I have to owe some of that to the fact that I also have fibromyalgia.

 

[ihateusernames]

Nearly every one of the items in the poll and most of those FridayJones listed in her post. Some of them at times when something sets me off whether I recognize it or not, more often not, I am seriously unaware of myself, some continuously. Muscle pain, particularly in my neck and shoulders and my IBS both started right at the same time when I was 14, I can easily connect them to an event- not a bad one so I don't exactly understand- so I know exactly when they happened, and are present more often than not, but get worse during bad times.

 

[Kintsugi]

Hey, I'm curious, does anyone else suffer from lability in blood sugar? My sugar is very sensitive and drops frequently due to a number of things (including the obvious--lack of appetite), but stress will drop my sugar faster than breaking fast with a bottle of wine.

@FridayJones the motor function and speech problems you experience are things I deal with as well, but these are definitely related to my blood sugar being all over the map. My gross and then fine motor skills will go, and I will stutter, slur, and mix up word order. It's pretty f*cked up.

 

[Deleted member 12723]

When I stress my skin itches fiercely, and my doctor prescribed Benedryl and it takes the itchiness away. I also have IBS flares. I used to grind my teeth very much when I was sleeping.

 

[ihateusernames]

Oh yeah, that one wasn't in the poll was it; my eczema also flares up during times of extreme stress and significant hormone fluctuations (like pregnancy, I think that part is fairly common, though).

 

[Deleted member 1860]

Headaches? Yep! This one got WORSE after I went through processing! Now I get sudden onset migraines when a flashback hits. I never had this type of migraine before. They always used to build up so I had an opportunity to fight them off before they got bad. Now with the flashback migraines, my only choice is to take medication. I have no opportunity to lessen their severity.

Metallic taste in mouth? Yep! Ugh, I HATE that adrenaline dump! A bad trigger and then it takes days (or longer) for the metallic taste to go away.

Grinding teeth? Yep! I've done this since I was a young child. It got worse after my accident, but is now a lot better. This one couples with my neck pain. Thousands in physical therapy couldn't do what a $3 HomeMedics neck massager that I picked up at a thrift store could do... Go figure. I also use heating pads and have muscle relaxers.

Palpitations? Yep! I've had this one since I was a teenager. My doc put me on beta blockers. It got lots better since I lost weight though and I no longer need meds.

Stomach Issues? Yep! I have nausea meds and antispasmodics. Fortunately my stomach issues aren't that bad most of the time. Interestingly enough, heart issues are linked to stomach issues, and when one kicks in, the other does, too.

 

[Ahhlia]

Muscle pain, particularly in my neck and shoulders and my IBS both started right at the same time when I was 14, I can easily connect them to an event- not a bad one so I don't exactly understand- so I know exactly when they happened, and are present more often than not, but get worse during bad times.

I too have had the IBS and Neck and Muscle issues for years - I even would get these attacks in the morning, which I named "The Hook" where the pain in he neck would go right up under the back of the skull causing severe headachs and violent vomiting (called it he Hook because it was like being dangled on a meat hook). Prior to my understanding of my PTSD from past events. I would see doctor after doctor and all I get was muscle relaxers, pain meds and stomach pills - They'd do test and scans (brain scans, spinal taps, colonoscopies) and find nothing wrong. They'd tell me there is no connection between he stomach issues and he 24/7 painful muscle spasms.
It was until recently I read it was related to PTSD.

 

[garden]

@Ahhlia I've had chronic muscle pain in my neck and shoulders since I was a kid. As an adult I sought treatment for this and they could find no cause for it because I'm physically so healthy that it made no sense, but I eventually learned that it was related to my cptsd. It's mind boggling. Medicine is far too compartmentalized...

 

[Ahhlia]

Lewa - I totally agree... I had switched doctor after doctor in the past 10 years (4 in the last 3 years after my late husbands' suicide) who just brushed off the correlation between what physical symptoms and what trauma I gone through. Just as in my teen years, I also had stomach and muscle pain in the shoulders and neck that I could not do a single pull-up (was abused as a child and gang raped at 15) They did test - nothing found, so they brushed it off as perhaps some teen wanting out get out of PE. I am just happy to find that there was and is a connection that these physical ailments were and are indeed related to my traumas and that I am not alone in having these issues. Just makes me cry (well that is not taking much - crying I mean). Glad I am not alone.:hug: