I'm taking a big step

General
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Tomorrow I have an appointment for hypnotherapy. I know that stress is the main thing that fuels the fibro, and I have “unresolved” issues from things in my past. Chief among them is mental abuse from a previous relationship. I spoke with the therapist/counselor on the phone this morning, and when I mentioned that I have fibro, she, very brightly, said, “Oh, I have fibromyalgia too! I just don’t let it rule me!!!!!” <sigh> She sounds like what we in the hotel industry used to refer to as “bright and bubbly” (bright and bubbly usually went along with blonde hair and a very large chest) I let her know that, apparently, mine is further advanced than hers and I am officially disabled because of it.

This therapist uses, almost exclusively, the positive affirmations approach. She mentioned Louise Hay’s book as a guide for me. I’ve attempted this approach in the past with little luck. I’m hoping that the hypnosis part of the therapy is what will help. I have trepidations about this. I’m not sure whether to bring my husband along with me or not. If she needs to use the headphones to induce a hypnotic state, I may end up with vertigo problems. Since the phone call came just as I had woke up, this morning, I was not fully functional and neglected to ask about that. As I sit here, thinking about this session tomorrow, the mechanism in my brain that protects me from harm has kicked in, and I cannot think of what to begin with in this session. I’m crossing my fingers, hoping tomorrow brings good things.

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Tell her to find a comfortable position to sit because she has to stay in that position for the entire session! I went to a hypno once. Just as I was about to 'go under' the voice talking to me shifted from the left of me to the right of me & I bolted up very wide awake & I never trusted him to try again!!!

I also have "trust issues".

yipee skippy M

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I'm so excited to see how the hypnotherapy works for you. I'm up for anything to try. I'll be looking forward to how it works for you, keep us posted! Hugs, Susan :-)

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Interesting. I had an identical thing happen many years ago.

I had trust issues at that point, but since that time I've worked through it. That was in the early 80's. Thanks for sharing your experience.

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{{{{{{{{{{{lovett}}}}}}}}}}}} Thank you for the words of encouragement :) Support means a lot to me. Honestly, I think it might be better if my husband doesn't go with me. He's fussed about going with me to grouse about my behavior. <sigh> I know it's hard for him to continually put up with my "baggage". We'll just have to wait and see how things are today.

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{{{{{{{{{{{{Luna01}}}}}}}}}}}}} I'm sorry your session was uncomfortable for you. Thanks for the advice on the comfortable position. I had tried hypno once before, but my fibro wasn't nearly as bad as it is now. I'd have never thought of this, thank you so much! This forum is so great for support and ideas, I don't know what I'd do without it some days.

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Well, out of the blue, we have thunder storms here. It's pouring and my therapist just called wanting to know if we could re-schedule--she doesn't get out in the rain. <SIGH> We settled on waiting to see if it clears out. So by 11:00 a.m. I should know if I have to re-schedule or not.

But I will let you now how it goes and if it helps--whenever I finally do get to go.

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Good Luck tomorrow! I will be interested to hear how you do. You're very brave...I do counseling but don't think I could take the walk you're about to take. Too many demons in my closet that I don't want to stir up by chance.

Be sweet to yourself and best of all possible outcomes tomorrow!

PeacenLove~Always~Laurel aka Northwoods

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UPDATE:

Ok, just got back from the therapist. We didn’t attempt hypnosis today. There was just too much ground to cover so she knows what to work on. I do, however, feel comfortable with her. There are some topics that I can discuss with her which she does not feel the need to dis-possess me of my thoughts/beliefs on them. That was a major stumbling block in the past with other attempts at counselling. The method we will be using is hypnosis. After discussing my previous attempts at the positive affirmation approach, she decided it was not for me. I do feel comfortable, so far, talking with her. It will be another month before I can get back into see her, her schedule is that booked up. She didn’t give me “homework” but did point out some things for me to think about. Issues that I had not considered or even had occurred to me before.

So, all in all, a not too bad outcome. I think I may see a spec of light at the end of the tunnel and do not have fear that it’s the train coming to run me over (again).

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Tracy,

Thank you for the good luck wish. I certainly needed it. It seemed like this was going to be derailed but in the end I was able to keep the appointment! Perhaps all the good vibes from this forum made this possible!

I do not have insurance either. Fortunately, this therapist has a sliding pay-scale for those patients who do not. You can listen to Louise Hay's book on Youtube. Search for the title "I Can Do It". Perhaps her method will help you. Again, thanks!

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Thanks for the kind words. Please understand, I do not consider myself brave. If anything, I sort of feel like I'm taking the coward's way out--I mean, I won't be conscious for this! LOLOLOL ;) Seriously, I'm at the point where this may be the best way to get through to my subconscious and fix things. I am, after all, German/Dutch and very stubborn/hard headed ;)

I plan on using my phone to record the hypnosis sessions so I will know everything that goes on. And at some point, my husband might be in there with me. (Oh, and on the way home, I stopped and got some Tastekake chocolate cup cakes for myself hehehehhe)

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I tried to edit but was unable to... My therapist does not use the headphone method for hypnosis. Thank God! :)

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A bit of an update here...

As I mentioned, even though I didn’t undergo hypnosis, the therapist had some interesting comments and suggestions yesterday. Apparently, she must have hit a nerve somewhere in my psyche, because I did not rest well last night and had a minor flare today. I spent part of the day in bed sleeping. I had issues with using my left arm. I’m surprised that I didn’t sleep well, there were no apparent indicators that I’d have trouble sleeping. And this flare today kind of came out of the blue. I pretty much know what will trigger flares—or thought I did.

I did discuss with my husband pretty much all that was said in the session and that discussion was ok. We discussed all that I could recall—Gabapentin does mess with my brain’s ability to recall things as well as to form thoughts correctly. I didn’t think my emotions got to the point of causing this today. It’s too bad the brain mechanism I mentioned in an earlier post that blocks remembrance of bad things didn’t block this flare today.

Maybe when I do go under hypnosis, I could ask the therapist to suggest to my brain that this not happen. I know the brain is capable of doing fantastic things, hopefully a post hypnotic suggestion will work.

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Happy to hear things went well. Thanks for the update!

Be sweet to yourself

Always~Laurel

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Thank you all for the well wishes and positive thoughts. I posted this to another thread, but since it has to do with my counselling, I thought I should post it here as well.

Ok, I wasn’t going to get into this, but perhaps it will help people on this site. And before you judge, please check it out. Also, I understand if some have tried this and it doesn’t work. Or that some may think it’s hokum. That’s fine. I’m a very FIRM advocate of I may not agree with what it is you have to say, but I WOULD defend to the death your right to say it. And to respect other’s view points. During my counselling session, I mentioned to my therapist that I have the Silva Ultra Mind System CD set. She was familiar with it and wondered how that worked for me. Since the fibro has invaded the nerve endings in my inner ear, I have problems listening to anything via headphones. So, I told her I have the system, but I have trouble in using it. Frankly, I’m a bit afraid to. Never knowing if listening to it at the volume necessary for me to hear the background noise that is the mechanism this system is based on will trigger a major vertigo flare.

After having the minor flare up the day after my counselling session I decided to go ahead and try listening to one of the meditation cd’s. I did it before going to bed. Now, at the end of the cd it tells you that you’re fully awake. I took a Xanax before listening to this and that allowed me to sleep after listening to this cd. That night, I not only slept well, but I dreamed, and the next day I felt better, physically and mentally, than I have in years. I know that once you achieve the dream state, your body can work on healing itself. The Alzheimer’s like state you describe I have experienced I don’t know how many times. As well as all the physical things you mentioned. The day after listening to this cd, even with all the drugs I have to “pump” into my system, my brain was crystal clear. I had no issues with short term memory or getting thoughts formed and expressed. And I used my cane only to placate my husband. However, by the end of the day, my lower back was beginning to bother me. Like I said, though, I never know when listening to things via headphones will trigger the vertigo and I’m cautious about how many times I listen to this.

I have one of their free meditation mp3’s. It’s ok for me to share this, as you could get it free off of their site. However, to get it free from their site, you have to register. I understand not everyone would want to do this. So, if you would like to have this mp3 to try it out, message me and I will email it to you. You can google the site, or if you want I will send the link to it along with the mp3.