I am learning much more about myself everyday here and i attribute some of these moments to my Neurofam-

I am still in denial (working on acceptance) on how these physical symptoms can be caused by anxiety.

I am now realizing that i do have a big anxiety problem........keep in mind that i was always the guy who felt like i was in control of everything.

I am slowly realizing that my anxiety is most likely the cause of the majority of my "new" symptoms"! Even though its so hard to wrap my mind around the thought of anxiety causing swallowing difficulties.

For example:
I am a really good "worse case scenerio" person. I think in the Anxiety world its called Catastrophizing! Before my concussion i had no idea about MS or ALS but when i heard on the news that a Hockey player got MS, i started googling the symptoms.

Prior to googling, i had no unusual symptoms. SHortly after, my skin was itching and some if not all of the MS symptoms started showing up. Same happened with ALS.

Currenty i have difficulty swalloing and ironicly enough, i jsut read about that sypmtom two days before i got it.

If this is......sorry, Since this IS anxiety causing or exaserbating most of my sysmptoms i am amazed at how powerful anxiety can be.

Is the Mind really that powerful that it can manifest symptoms?

Yes.

Go easy on yourself and don't feel guilty that you're in a bit of denial or having trouble wrapping your head around this. Anxiety is calling the shots right now and you can't be expected to catch up so quickly. So it's ok and it's normal to question just how much physicality that anxiety can cause.

But yes it can cause physical symptoms. Check out your PM's for my heart problem story. (All caused by anxiety)

Having anxiety doesn't mean every single thing under the sun is caused by it either, but it merely should be on the list of causes and considered a strong probable cause for most new and especially "hard to describe" or "weird" symptoms.

Be kind to yourself. You like to be in control as you say, so it's no wonder this is really difficult on you. That's ok. We're all trying to help and no one will lose patience that you haven't instantly been converted or cured be good to yourself, distract yourself with something that relaxes you and invest in some deep breathing time ok? Take care... Be patient with that lion, takes a while to tame them...

Some time ago I came across a line of videos made by Ajahn Brahm a Buddhist monk. Now, as an atheist, I was sceptical at first. But it seems like Buddhist psychology actually have a place in western medicine. Now I couldn't find the exact video I wanted, but take a look a this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpFPVYP92CM

It teaches you how to create some space between you and your thoughts. This will help with your anxiety as it prevents the sympathetic nervous system from reacting. Its really not a problem with your thoughts, rather its your reaction to your thoughts.
Give it a good chance. Sometimes he tend to speak in metaphors so don't take everything he says literally

Congrats to you all to often it can take a long time for a person to even begin to understand that an emotional component is involved. PCS is a long recovery! Even my own pcp told me the medical society takes too long to recognize it and does a poor job to treat it.

I'm going to make this short because reading about other people's intrusive thoughts used to be a trigger for mine.

About a year ago, I suffered from horrible intrusive thoughts. I found that taking Ativan, which is a benzodiazepine, made them go away. HOWEVER, they would always come back ten fold when the effects wore off. There was no way in hell I wanted to be hooked on benzos. So, I kicked the benzos, stopped looking up "intrusive thoughts" on Google, avoided reading about other people's OCD, and they eventually went away.

The more attention you give it, the more you feed the flame. Let this thread die, keep your mind busy with other things and stay off Google.

Yes it's amazing how powerful a thought can be! I'm going to try to tell a true story that I read in my meditation book but I'll probably mess it up...hopefully the point comes across...

So there's a woman in the hospital with heart problems and she's being seen by a very talented doctor that she trusts completely. He tells her everything looks good and says goodbye. As he's leaving the room after seeing her he says to some interns that had been in the room observing. ..this woman is TC and then leaves the room.

A short while later one of the interns notices the woman is in distress and is crying. When he asks her what's wrong she says she knows that TC means terminal case and that she's dying. He explains to her what it really means (can't remember but it was nothing serious) but she doesn't believe him and gets further distraught.

He tries to contact the doctor that said it, and that she trusts, to come back and explain to her. He can't be reached. No amount of talking can convince the woman and she cannot calm down and ends up dying of a heart attack.

All of the test results were fine. If the woman had not been so worked up she would have been fine. I know I've probably mutilated this story but you get the point....the mind is very powerful!

It can also take away pain and you can train it to calm you, lower your blood pressure and all sorts of good things too!

I had a Dr. tell me I haven't dealt with my own humanity. I am just human. Things will happen to me that I can't control, that aren't my fault, and the effects of the situation aren't my fault either.
He was right. Ask for help, talk to others that get it, and that can help keep your feet on the ground. Family, although they love us, they don't get it all the time. Many people here get it.