self sustaining abdominal muscle tension?

Hello everyone,
Just joined this forum. I'm hoping to get some help with a muscle problem? This section seems the closest to what I'm experiencing but it's not quite fibromyalgia.
I don't have any physical health problems or intractable problems with life (not much trouble with work/money; not in a relationship), but do have some anxiety. Most of the time I take it without problems as I know it's usually irrational but sometimes it gets bad enough that it makes my abdominal muscle go into spasm (the trigger is always a clear anxiety problem)--it doesn't release for a long time, lasts 24/7, at first it doesn't make a big difference but after a few days it becomes painful and it's difficult to concentrate or go about daily activities. Usually it still goes away within a week which is always a great relief but on some rare occasions it's managed to stay with me for over a year which is very disruptive. I'm trying to understand what can cause the ab muscle to tense up continuously. Although the muscle tension is triggered by anxiety problems, I'm suspecting that it gets a mind of its own and even when I can feel that I've dealt with the anxiety triggers (I can distinctly feel a partial but incomplete release of the ab muscle when I overcome an anxious thought), the ab muscle seems to 'ignore' signals to release. Conversely there have also been times when I didn't make efforts to dismiss my anxieties, but within a week the tension goes away (again, I can feel a sudden release in my ab when it happens) and without the tension pain to sustain it, my anxieties go away too.
What I have trouble understanding is, what can cause this abdominal muscle tension to get a 'mind' of its own like this? I read a bit about fibromyalgia and some articles mention that constant pain by itself can cause muscles to tense up. Given that when a muscle tenses up, it can cause pain, is it possible that this creates a viscious circle? I hope I got my question across correctly. I'd be most interested to hear from your experience.

Seb

Hi mmbtu and welcome. The worst of my fibro is abdominal, and is caused by tension in the muscles whether from stressors or more usually movement. However my symptoms encompasses the whole body, but with everyone, fibro is different. You should talk with your Dr. Maybe keep a journal of foods, activities, stressors, and symptoms.

I hope the day got better for you.