| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Sarah Jacoba |
Posted - 07/19/2004 : 01:04:42
Based on my experience, the common thread to all the very disparate symptoms I've struggled with is actually mental obsession with the question "is it real or is it TMS?". so much so that now when I find myself doing that constant yes/no thinking, I pretty much conclude, just on that basis, that this new symptom has got to be TMS. Interesting for me to see that other people post having had the same experience with this constant questioning. I think that this constant mental yes/no is more of the goal of TMS in my life than the pain itself! Kind of ironic too that the best way to resolve the agonizing yes/no question is to recognize the question itself is a symptom of TMS, rather than answer it on its own terms.
Another interesting and helpful idea over the years for me: Occam's Razor. (Hope I spelled that right) If I remember correctly, the medieval thinker Occam believed in favoring the simplest explanation. With my labyrinthine brain I can usually do mental backflips to explain how something might not be TMS again, but the simplest explanation is that it is. In other words, with my track record of resolved-through-Sarno's-method TMJ, colitis, hyperacusis pains, etc, etc, what chance is there REALLY that some new obsessive chronic pain is NOT just TMS again? Occams Razor demands that I see that it is.
--Sarah
"When dream and day unite" |
| 3 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Sarah Jacoba |
Posted - 07/20/2004 : 01:25:21
Allan asked if I ever found the cause of the pain. It seems like kind of a funny question to me now. The answer is kind of complex. I would divide it up like this: the inclination to have chronic TMS pain is my intense detail oriented personality, the trigger was divorce, the perpetuation was a combination of habit, neurochemical habit (i.e. a kind of biochemical body funk that despite its discomfort becomes habitual and self perpetuating), obsessive personality tendencies and the gremlin part of the personality having the perfect forum in TMS for exploiting her goals. I dont believe it was repressed issues or emotions (beyond the ordinary everyday crap) that I finally got at; I got at those (through years of counseling and introspection) long before TMS finally got in check. There were definitely perpetuating factors separate from the original emotional triggers.
And I wouldnt say its gone either. Both the gremlin and my intense personality are lifelong issues. The body memory rut of TMS, I know, is easy to slip back into. The tendency toward TMS pain is a given now. But I've felt pretty good and free for six straight months now for the first time since I had a 2 1/2 year reprieve in 1997-2000. Hope I dont fall for it again. That's one reason I post here and make sure I stay unafraid of the idea of TMS!
--Sarah
"When dream and day unite" |
| cnaber |
Posted - 07/19/2004 : 20:47:04
Sarah--I think you may have just said the most helpful thing I have ever heard yet. That is EXACTLY my struggle. Is it or isn't it TMS? I never thought to recognize that that question means it IS TMS. I get diverted into the mental gymnastics of trying to prove that it is or isn't TMS, which of course is just another diversion. Thanks! I am going to print your post and read it to remind myself when I have doubts.
Christine |
| Allan |
Posted - 07/19/2004 : 09:09:14
Occam is the accepted spelling although other references are to Okcam. Occam's razor, literally meant to "shave" off the unsupportable stuff. Today it may be called KISS, which we all understand.
I believe that your assessment of these TMS "popups" is not only correct but it can also be very helpful to all of us.
Congratulations on your achievements to become pain free.
Did you ever locate the cause of the pain?
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