Chris, What 'until you hear or die' means, is that you need to heed the warnings your body is sending you. The health problems you face are your body's cry for help - for you to do something different to help yourself. After all, you are having a hard time now so obviously what you are doing isn't working. There are links for the glossary on every page - just click on them to get to what you need to read about. All of us who have made progress have had to dive in and work hard.
SR is skilled relaxation.
Study skilled relaxation on this 'site. Also, try to find the book Dr. Stoll suggested for you because it will help you understand why these things have happened. Go to the homepage and scroll down to Dr. Stoll's articles. I think that's how its titled. Stress is more than you think it is and some of us are genetically predestined to be more susceptible to it.