question

[Guest guest]

Hello,

Sorry I havent posted in a while, been busy trying to find a job and

looking into volunteering at a hospital within the next couple

days. But I have a questions again...I have been looking at TC

websites and saw that a sign of TC is foot deformities? Is that

true. For the past few years I have had a bump that appears to be

the bone of the outside of my foot sticking out of my foot. Could

that be a sign of the TC? I am going to my ortho on Friday because

I may need surgery to have it fixed because the last procedure to

help it did not work(the just shaved off excess skin from my foot :

( ) If anyone has had a problem similar to this can you help me?

Any thing would be appreciated. Thanks... M.

[Guest guest]

About 20 years. I was diagnosed with high blood pressure in my early 30s, and

have been on atenolol ( " Tenormin " ) ever since, except for one shortish period of

about a year when a doctor tried something else.

I was reduced to half my previous dosage in the middle of last year by a

specialist who said that I was more beta-blocked than I needed to be. My pulse

was often below 50, occasionally below 40 at resting, and I fainted once in the

shower and ended up at casualty! Now my pulse is higher and my hands and feet

don't feel cold.

I can't say whether my 4S got worse then, because that was about the same time

that I discovered that I (and my daughter) were not the only ones with this

problem - and I found this forum. I have been more self-conscious and aware of

4S since then, and have been taking more active steps to avoid triggers (e.g.

using an mp3 player), and probably became less tolerant of triggers and not

trying to hide my reactions so much.

My wife finds the problem more noticeable for the same reasons. I think we are

both more focused on 4S now than a year ago, which is both good and bad. When I

thought 4S was just my weirdness, I tended to ignore it as much as possible and

hide it from everyone else and try to appear normal, even if I was freaked out.

It was probably a form of self-administered CBT in some ways.

But an apparent increase in 4S might also result from the lower dosage of

beta-blocker. I am not that self-aware and my general feelings and body state

(tension, relaxation) seem to go up and down without any particular reason that

I understand. I might be more susceptible to triggers now, but I have no way of

measuring it.

But I was interested when my niece told me a week ago that beta-blockers reduce

autonomic reactions (she takes them herself and she has a post-grad diploma in

psycho-biology, so she has a double interest). It could well have helped over

the years - and may still be helping me somewhat at the lower dosage. Hard to

say, but plausible.

>

> Just curious how long you have been on the beta blocker? I'm wondering if

there is any chance that it might have prevented your 4s from getting as bad as

others here.

[Guest guest]

I am on a beta blocker for migraines and it doesn't help my 4s one wit.

Tammy

To: Soundsensitivity Sent: Sun, January 31, 2010 4:51:45 PMSubject: Re: Re: Question

Just curious how long you have been on the beta blocker? I'm wondering if there is any chance that it might have prevented your 4s from getting as bad as others here. I know they use betablockers sometimes for people right after a traumatic experience because it can keep them from developng PTSD. I used it a few times for some phobic reactions I was having, but didn't really notice it helping the 4s.

I take medication for blood pressure, and that includes a beta blocker which _may_ reduce my reactions to 4S, as this article shows:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_blocker#Anxiety_and_performance_enhancementI would not regard myself as having as severe 4S as some people here.

[Guest guest]

Chips would annoy me too. Both the crunching of the food and the crinkling of

the packets.

Lots of people here have noticed that our own eating helps to reduce our 4S

reactions to other people eating. Some people even grab their own bag of chips

and deliberately mimic their trigger person's eating behaviour, including all

the mouth movements, and find that helpful. Of course, the mimicking might also

annoy your trigger person and start a fight!

For what it is worth, I think that 4S is at bottom an inherited neurological

problem and then it grows worse through bad experiences (the psychological bit)

- we begin to react to more and more things, and become anxious just

anticipating triggers. Psychologists can help reduce the impact of 4S by

cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), but that doesn't cure 4S - it only helps us

cope with it better.

Other people here, like maikaefer and Darlene (gizmookie) and a number of

others, can tell you about their experiences of CBT. I have never tried it

myself. I have been on beta-blockers for 20 years, and that may have helped me

with 4S and general anxiety (and migraines - beta-blockers stopped me having

migraines).

If you are looking for things that your psychologist can try, you could search

this forum for " cognitive behaviour therapy " , and read up what others have done

and how it went.

>

> Ian,

> Thank you so much for the information. ;-) It's really helped. I will take

that article to my psychologist. The last time I was there, she said she's never

heard of something like what I have, and even said it sounds like an audiology

thing. I thought it was more of a mental thing.

....

I think my eating blocks out his eating sounds or something. But if we're just

sitting on the couch and he brings out a bag of chips, that's when it really

annoys me.