To what extent is disease a result of trauma?

[Puffy]

Since around December I've been having weird heart episodes. Like palpitations, high blood pressure, arrhythmia, angina (tightness / sharp pain), etc. It's been coupled with a kind of tennis elbow sensation in my right shoulder and arm.

It's been slowly getting worse and I had a particularly bad episode a week ago. I sat in meditation to calm myself down and tried to feel into it. Over about an hour of sitting with it the pain softly opened into this emotion of grief and bleak despair in my heart. It was apparent this is from my ex-partner passing away a few years ago. I've since noticed that whenever I suppress the emotion my chest starts to tighten, blood pressure goes up, and the heart sensations return. When I feel the despair and start crying my heart goes back to normal.

So it feels there is a positive correlation between what could become future heart disease and a build up of unprocessed painful emotions, which ultimately stems from past wounding (i.e. trauma). So it could be framed that ultimately the trauma has created a situation in which heart disease has occurred and so is the underlying root cause of it (literally "heart break" in this case.)

I've experienced a similar phenomenon before with acid reflux and IBS. I developed it about 18 months after a close friend passed away. I was experiencing a lot of chronic anxiety and stress at the time, which I noticed triggered the IBS symptoms. I went into therapy for 4-5 years and eventually I cured my anxiety. Around the same time I stopped experiencing IBS and acid reflux symptoms.

Doctors have been able to prescribe me medication to regulate my heart pressure or stomach acid levels, etc, as a means of managing symptoms and helping prevent them from getting worse. (tl;dr - I had to stop the acid blocker medication as it causes side-effects, so in honesty the medical system was a detriment to me in that case.) But they have not been able to help me in curing IBS or my heart condition (so far) and these would not have sufficed as treatment plans for me with that goal. In order to cure it in my case I've needed to identify and address the underlying traumas in my life that has created the stressors that were contributing to poor health in my body.

I suppose I'm curious to what extent this applies as a principle to health? Anecdotally, I have observed other people I've known who have developed some form of disease within a few years after a significant stressful event happening in their life. From a place of pure speculation, I can only imagine it applies as a factor to some situations more than others?

 

[Ex-User (9086)]

You probably know this but if it's any serious health issue and you're not convinced by what the doc is saying then it's best to try another doctor or two and compare their opinions. If two evaluations are similar then they're on to something, if they disagree then you've got to keep looking. Where I live it's not uncommon for me or people I know to try about 3 doctors until they find the cause and I heard UK health service isn't great.

I think what you're describing is possible, to a degree it could be caused by your mind. For myself no doctor I talked to could explain why I get a fever when I'm under stress or think too much, or why I can get fight or flight response from imagining stressful things.

Stay well and take care of yourself there, I hope you recover soon.

 

[Puffy]

You probably know this but if it's any serious health issue and you're not convinced by what the doc is saying then it's best to try another doctor or two and compare their opinions. If two evaluations are similar then they're on to something, if they disagree then you've got to keep looking. Where I live it's not uncommon for me or people I know to try about 3 doctors until they find the cause and I heard UK health service isn't great.

I think what you're describing is possible, to a degree it could be caused by your mind. For myself no doctor I talked to could explain why I get a fever when I'm under stress or think too much, or why I can get fight or flight response from imagining stressful things.

Stay well and take care of yourself there, I hope you recover soon.

Thanks for your well wishes. Yes, absolutely. In the case of IBS I spoke to 3 different doctors and a surgeon. They were all within the public health care system, like you say. I eventually gave up and worked it out on my own.

I suppose I'm partly asking as if what I were hypothesising were true, something in the approach to screening would also have to change in order to best serve the patient. A clinician would need a more holistic snapshot of the person, their context, their history, and any contributing factors, to make an assessment of what might be happening in the person and what kind of assistance they need.

In the examples I've given, it's not that far-fetched anyway. Broken heart syndrome is a known thing. And it's known that stress and anxiety contribute to gut health. But I don't see how a doctor could narrow it down to this unless they were to explicitly probe the patient in that direction.

 

[EndogenousRebel]

Ever considered hypnosis? I think it's more effective than meditation for therapeutics. Meditation is more of a strength exercise imo, and it won't really achieve the desired effect if the underlying issues aren't remedied.

I couldn't imagine the chronic stress the passing of a close loved one would be. I think that it does call for more investigation into the cause of these things. Especially if you didn't have these symptoms before and they don't run in the family.

Self-hypnosis is very learnable, and you can very much mimic YouTubers (Michael Sealy is great) and take your own approach to it. Conversely if you know the dial on your ego, shutting that off and slowly drifting towards what may be bothering you is the move. We get in our own way a lot when we are in pain, so yeah, hypnosis is really good for that, but it's kinda delicate.

Wish you luck on your endeavor, health is something we take for granted, so when we lose reasons to preserve our health, it's normal that we slip up in that regard. Not sure how long you've been trying to get to the bottom of this, but it's good that you're proactive about your health, many people kinda can't muster up the energy to take care of themselves, so cheers to the fact that you're probably on an upward trajectory.

 

[BurnedOut]

So it feels there is a positive correlation between what could become future heart disease and a build up of unprocessed painful emotions, which ultimately stems from past wounding (i.e. trauma). So it could be framed that ultimately the trauma has created a situation in which heart disease has occurred and so is the underlying root cause of it (literally "heart break" in this case.)

Anxious and Type A personalities are at a greater risk of developing cardiac diseases. Your trauma is causing your somatic symptoms to some degree. I had all the sensations as stated in the first 2 paragraphs of OP. Turns out I had GAD. Puffy, you should see a doctor again. If your physician is not able to trace it back to a physical cause, I suppose it is time to land in the shrink's office to amend this problem. I remember my heart palpitations, chronic back pain and migraines were adding fuel to the fire of my depression but it later turned out that depression and anxiety were causing all these things. I am on meds now and such symptoms do not come or if they do, they are usually manageable. So yes, trauma can metaphorically and literally kill you earlier than most other people who don't have these problems.

We are all gonna die early anyways.

 

[scorpiomover]

Since around December I've been having weird heart episodes. Like palpitations, high blood pressure, arrhythmia, angina (tightness / sharp pain), etc. It's been coupled with a kind of tennis elbow sensation in my right shoulder and arm.

It's been slowly getting worse and I had a particularly bad episode a week ago. I sat in meditation to calm myself down and tried to feel into it. Over about an hour of sitting with it the pain softly opened into this emotion of grief and bleak despair in my heart. It was apparent this is from my ex-partner passing away a few years ago.

Sorry to hear that your ex passed away.

I've since noticed that whenever I suppress the emotion my chest starts to tighten, blood pressure goes up, and the heart sensations return. When I feel the despair and start crying my heart goes back to normal.

When you suppress emotions, the emotions remain as chemicals in your body and thus build up, eventually leading to toxic levels of those chemical hormones & neurochemicals.

When you feel the emotion, you allow it to flow and thus discharge. So the chemicals can be flushed and recycled.

I suppose I'm curious to what extent this applies as a principle to health?

Stress is a major factor in the strength of the immune system, the healing factors, and health in general.

Emotional stress counts as stress, because emotions are a way the body uses to communicate danger to all the cells, so every cells responds to the same types of threats in a consistent manner.

That's also why doctors often talk about mental health and mental illness, because emotional stress can even cause serious dysfunction in behaviour, like suicide attempts, self-harming, and anorexia.

 

[dr froyd]

it's a well-known fact that stress increases cortisol levels, and cortisol has various effects like increased stomach-acid secretion, suppression of the immune system, damage to brain cells, etc.

having chronic high levels of cortisol is obviously not good long-term, and is referred to as "allostatic load". This destroys the body over time.

so the connection between chronic emotional stress and poor physical health is very much real

 

[Black Rose]

Symptoms occur in different parts of the body. The Ancient Greeks said courage is in the spleen. Sadness can be in different places. I had bad anxiety a week ago because I was off my meds. I was vomiting blood. not eating. I can feel my right amygdala where the anxiety is. I don't cry because my limbic system is blocked. It is all in the head. I don't feel anything in my heart. My feelings are in my head. That is where the tangle is, the suppression. Trauma is buried there. Because I dealt with it on a mental level not emotional. I ignored it. Cried on the inside.

Addiction is a coping mechanism so that you don't pay attention to the pain. It can be anything. But what it does is drain your energy trying to plug the hole where the pain is. You are leaking. This is not integration. It is all a pressure system on the inside.

I stutter because what I have to say is not completely formed. To create something, to think of something new requires effort. But trying too hard scrambles and overworks the brain. This for me is a trauma, I try too hard mentally.

The system self regulates but only in a balanced state. Trauma is a clamp to stop things from falling apart. It drains from extra sources to be stable. So the balance shifts.

Repairs leave scars but you do not want to remain imbalanced.

 

[ZenRaiden]

Trauma does not exist, its just in your head?
But it can be in your body as well.
I think trauma is brain stem.

 

[birdsnestfern]

Palpations can just be an imbalance of nutrients like Potassium, Calcium and Magnesium. Try pears, avocado, dates, oranges, walnuts, bananas, (banana walnut bread!) (these have a wide variety of minerals and electrolytes) and supplement with those and cal/mag/k2 vitamin D3. Your heart needs those to work properly. Drink more water and take Healthy Heart (has Guggul and Hawthorne) and Omega 3s.

Absolutely, stress levels contribute to all kinds of disease, especially the acid reflux. If you have a fall, or if you get sick, it all contributes to health issues. Toxins in the body and whether you have a body that can assimilate certain things like folic acid also contributes to your liver being able to detoxify itself. For example, most people on the 'spectrum' need a supplement called B12 with MTHF in order to help detox from things in the environment. I will put a link below. Try these - one or two a day really helps:


The shoulder tightness, I have that too. Its a sign of ascension believe it or not. Its often where our wings would be if we had them. (I get that with shoulders, back of neck). Its how our body adjusts to big world changes/frequencies. I had it in February and March strongly. Drink coconut water to help that.

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Acid Reflux, I have that too, but mine is in a version called LPR which means the acid gets into your sinus and its like asthma/sinus congestion and it DOES cause palpations too. The throat will feel like it has a lump that you can't swallow, and its just mucous that yoru body is trying to protect against the acid from. It causes swallowing issues too. The answer is, before you eat acid forming foods like chocolate, coffee, meats, fats, tomato sauces, take Zenwise Digestive Enzymes about 5 minutes before those meals. Go to facebook and look for LPR support groups, for some amazing tips. For example, d-limonene will heal the esophogus lining of acid damage. Gaviscon Advanced with anise seed is an antacid you order on amazon from UK and it has an ingredient that no other medicine has that will really help, but don't overdo it. I mean only take it when its really bad and just a few times a year. Also, take your palms and pull down on your belly, especially if you are overweight, something called a hernia can be causing the GERD, so massaging helps. H. Pylori can cause Gerd/LPR and IBS. The oregano oil will help those.

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IBS: I have that too! Take a tablespoon of Virgin Coconut oil before bed and or if you can make yourself macaroon cookies with coconut flakes, eat a cookie before bed. It really helps IBS. But also, oregano oil like this: Put five drops of oregano oil in a bottle of water and shake. Drink it. (strong, but it kills microorganisms in the gut that may be causing both the LPR AND IBS). I will put a link for oregano oil below. You can also find them in soft gels if you can't stand drinking it.

Solar flares can also cause us to be wiped out, so if you do feel extra tired/exhausted, look online for when these solar flares are going on. Again, coconut water will help.

Also, if you had covid, then broken heart syndrome is definitely associated with it. Keep well hydrated and take it easy.

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[Puffy]

Thanks for the posts everyone. I've read all of them with interest but would likely be a bit tl;dr to try and reply to them all individually.

I spoke to the doctor again and will be having the standard tests done. He agrees that he thinks it's due to emotional stress. But I'll look into nutrition as well @birdsnestfern

The last week has been so bizarre. It's been daily I'll have a heart episode as described. I go into meditation until the feeling of despair surfaces. I stay with it until the emotion starts closing back into a knot in my chest. The heart episode starts again. Rinse and repeat.

Twice as it's started opening in me I've suddenly started feeling a body high, strong vibrations in my body, a thumping heart beat THUD THUD THUD and a kind of "BZZZZZZZZZZ" feeling that feels a lot like the come-up of a hallucinogen. That unnerved me as my mind freaks out that it doesn't know what's happening.

For now I'm putting it down to the effect of emotional purging. I had an especially strong emotional purge yesterday. Afterwards everything seemed lighter, crisper. I felt cleaned out and at peace and was in an afterglow for the afternoon. I haven't experienced a heart episode since then so hopefully it's done its thing.

The morale of the story for me is that there's honestly no way out except through. I can't run away from my emotions. I just have to accept them for what they are, feel them, let them pass through and be released. Holding them in just creates problems until those problems force me to examine them. So at the end of the day, sooner or later, life gives me no choice but to surrender.

 

[Black Rose]

I stay with it until the emotion starts closing back into a knot in my chest.

Look into expressions of love in your life. It seems to have a Heart Chakra block.

I have throat Chakra issues. The inability to express the true me. Restricting what I want to say. And my inability to cry.