Somatic pain / Somataform disorder

My GP mentioned somatic pain to me and my therapist has also talked about repressed emotions turning to physical pain. I am in a lot of physical pain and have been for years, I always thought it was just the stress of being in pain or depressed, but am starting to explore the possibility that the pain is about something, the problem is I'm not sure what.

I have not had a traumatic life, always been relatively relaxed. My family is very supportive. So I always dismissed the idea of somatic pain because I felt it was only in people that have suffered some actual trauma.

But now I'm thinking, after reading some books, that it could be something that I feel strongly about even if it wouldn't be defined as traumatic. But how can I go about finding out what it is? I have been exploring with my therapist but wondering if there is anything else I can do, exploring within myself?

Post Edited (Andy1986) : 5/16/2016 3:08:46 AM (GMT-6)

Andy,

After about 4 months with my therapist, I started having dreams, these dreams were very though provoking for me and I wrote about them in my journal.

A couple of months after that, repressed memories started to come back.
My therapist DID NO PROMPTING, it was a slow process.

I did not believe the memories were real even when they came, it took time. My physical body pain started to go, when I processed memories.
It is still a process for me.

I hope you find answers.

Peace
Trina

andy ive been watching your posts and i have similar gi issues, can you try blend brown rice cereal (then strain it so that you get a powder) and put it a liquid you can tolerate? I use almond milk but sometimes this gives me trouble if its not treated correctly.

Food is very very difficult to prepare for someone with a very badly inflalmed tummy. If I heat up the almond milk just a lil for example i blow up so i just leave it out of the fridge for it to get less cold preferably 40 min tops otherwise it spoils and my tummy doesnt like it.

try it its the only thing im surviving now i hope it works better for you than it does for me. if it does this will coat your stomach and give you some vitamins, it will help your potato - fish diet by a long shot.

Thanks photon, I actually have an issue with rice for some reason, upsets my stomach, but I have tried the rice flour and making custard and things with it in the past but makes me feel very sick. The mashed potatoes seem to be the best thing I can tolerate at the moment, I've experimented with some pasta and seem to have been ok with it so hoping to add a little bit of variety. My insides are not badly inflamed they are just very sensitive.

I am pretty sure now that I have somataform disorder, I have resisted the diagnosis for 4 years and just could not accept it but slowly everything organic has been ruled out, and the pain can be in one place for a few months, then be somewhere else for the next few months. I dont think it is just depression either, I think it is more that I am depressed in part because of the constant pain. The pain itself isn't debilitating but I am completely obsessed with it which makes it debilitating. I have always had an obsessive personality but now it is really hurting me. The reason I am doubting major depression as being the root cause is that my cognitive function is just too good, I can do puzzles, read complicated books and understand them, and many other things that most with major depression find challenging.

I am very scared by the diagnosis, that is why I couldn't accept it for so long, because I just cannot see how I will ever get better from it. But resisting and fighting it just doesn't seem worth it anymore, I have to accept it, I dont have a choice, despite how scared and despairing it makes me feel. I hope that with time I can stop being so afraid of it and not feel like it has complete control of my life.

I saw the mental health team last week, they don't have a psychiatrist at the moment so I have to wait until they get one to see them, but I actually felt it went well with them and I liked the person I met with. She seemed to really get what I was going through. She agreed to see me regularly to keep an eye on me which makes me feel a little better.

I also got results from a gut bacteria analysis I sent off and I didn't have any pathogens, parasites or yeast and had plenty of good bacteria which is good news, another organic illness ruled out but one that had been bugging me so glad to put my mind at ease.

Thanks photon, I know what you mean now. Actually one of the foods I had always done ok with was Rice Krispies which is like rice cereal. Unfortunately I cant even tolerate that at the moment as anything liquid gives me awful heartburn.

Interesting you mention amylopectin, it was mentioned in the Fast Tract diet book I read which I loosely follow now, certain types of potato and rice are low in it like jasmine rice and desiree potatoes and I seem to be ok with these.