Hello!
I hope this is the right section to post this in but I am looking for some collective wisdom from the folks at NMP. I'm 47 and full on in perimenopause. I know that I started to go into perimenopause around 40-41 because I had a number of things suddenly shift for me that looking back I realize were early hormonal changes (drop in progesterone). These included really bad acne, a very noticeable increase in anxiety, an increase in inflammation. Then at 41 I had what was diagnosed then as an onset of interstitial cystitis, which was pretty severe urgency, frequency, pressure, pain and burning. But, it didn't end there! I also had an uptick in IBS, pelvic pain, reemergence of old injuries, basically a greatest hits album.
What I have come to understand through the last six years of dealing with this is that most of the above is directly related to anxiety. As I've dealt with the ups and downs of healing my body, I have found that my greatest wins have come with addressing my anxiety. But I have reached a wall with my bladder pain/issues. My bladder is my HA origin story. When I was a very young child I had what was later determined to be a completely unnecessary procedure. I had what they thought were chronic UTIs and how they treated it in the early 70's was with a procedure called a urethral dilation. It's very a very invasive thing to do to an adult let alone a toddler. When that didn't do the trick they resorted to performing a surgery and cut open the urethra. I was under anesthesia but in some ways that was worse because I was only four and had a very limited understanding of what was happening. I did know that I was fine before I went to sleep for surgery but was in terrible pain when I woke up.
I've had severe HA ever since. In spite of that, I've made HUGE strides with my HA not related to my bladder with my anxiety work and even some very good changes with bladder HA when I went through the whole IC process. What I am struggling with is the anxiety that occurs during sleep. Due to ongoing anxiety, hormonal changes, and whatnot I sometimes have body spasms while falling asleep or wake me up if my sleep is restless. My work with the Heart Math app has helped me to dial down the panic I experience during a body spasm. Plus, I've been using the panic attack workbooks on the forum and they have been great too. These bladder ones are the worst. I think I may have hypervigilance when it comes to sleep because of my operation. I find that the panic is very severe.
I know this is a total long shot but has anyone dealt with severe somatic anxiety related to ptsd, medical or otherwise? If so, I'd love to chat to see what helped you move past it. I know that there were a couple of ladies who were dealing with anxiety bladder stuff and wasn't sure if any of that was related to a past trauma or if it was just changing hormones and anxiety. Mine seems to be a perfect storm of all three. I understand that ptsd and trauma are very sensitive topics and I'm fine with also taking this to a PM, if that's preferred. Thanks in advance for any help!
PS. I should note that I have been working with my doctors to rule out anything greater than changing hormones and anxiety. I get regular check ups and testing. I'm not looking for medical advice.
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