| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Marci |
Posted - 10/12/2005 : 21:06:04
Hi - I am new to the Forum. I have been suffering from constant back pain since early 2004. The MRI showed a slightly bulging disk which from everything I read, many people have this and don't have back pain. My pain is located all along my right side of my body from head to toe. More specifically, I get headaches on the right side, feel like I have swollen glands and earache on the right side, upper right back pain, right arm numbness at times, lower back pain on the right side of the upper glut muscle, and numbness in my right foot when I exercise.
I have read 2 of Dr Sarno's books, healing back pain and mind over back pain. I read these books between Sept 17 - Oct 12. I believe that I have TMS but I am frustrated that I have not been feeling better. I have had two weeks where I was pain free and it was wonderful. This week the pain is back where it was before the books were read. I know that Dr. Sarno states that it will take 4 -8 weeks to get rid of the TMS. In the mean time, I have been stretching more often and working out (cardio - step machine and treadmill) more often (2 - 3 times a week).
My questions are
during the 4 - 8 weeks after TMS acceptance, has the TMS experience been intermittent with less frequent occurences as time goes on?
why do I feel major pain all along the right side a day or two before I menstrate? A good test was last month where after reading Dr Sarno's healing back pain, I was pain free for almost 2 weeks. It was wonderful. But I experienced major right side pain 2 days before the onset of my period and this has been a pattern for over a year.
why when I work out, do i feel numbness in my right foot and sometimes in my right arm? If I truly have TMS and no other structural medical issues, my expectation is that when I exercise, I should not have any numbness.
I do want to believe that the pain is caused by TMS but since I have pain prior to menstrating and numbness while exercising even when I have been pain free for a period of time, I am confused.
Thank you for the feedback
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| 7 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| drthea |
Posted - 11/03/2005 : 10:58:25
I am new to the forum, but I have been lurking for about a month. I just bought Candice Pert's CD called "Psychocomatic Wellness" (Dr. Sarno mentioned her in one of his books.) I have been listening to the CD for 4 days and what a difference! The blood flow to my knee (I believe this is my TMS manifestation)is almost instantaneous! I am feeling so much more relaxed and able to deal with stress on another level. Hopefully, the CD and recognizing TMS will move me back to a pain-free life.
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| lavitsef |
Posted - 11/02/2005 : 07:09:10
Having trouble locating the mixed bag of Anger/ fear that is causing my TMS. Have lots of old and not much new stuff. Divorce 10 yrs ago stuff. Old business stuff, childhood stuff. Started two years ago when I drastically downsized my business to save it. Now all is OK
and life is good but my legs hurt. A joking phone conversation with a friend about his divorce My legs went from good to tight. We were
laughing. My daughters wedding, all perfect I could hardly walk down the aisle. How do I find the demon that triggers this very uncomfortable hamstring and quad tightness. Should I also stretch.
I have Freeze Framer biofeed back on my pc. Very helpful but I am stumped on finding what to unscrew. I am and was an anger avoider
then BANG but now (the last year has been very happy but with pain)
Thanks
Rick |
| art |
Posted - 10/15/2005 : 10:30:22
quote:
why when I work out, do i feel numbness in my right foot and sometimes in my right arm? If I truly have TMS and no other structural medical issues, my expectation is that when I exercise, I should not have any numbness.
Numbness, pain, whatever, while exercising, all of these are quite common TMS symptoms. The trick is to not let them derail you. With time they will pass. One of my very worst TMS symptoms was pain in the ball of my foot, which I was convinced was caused by a combinaiton of wearing poorly fitted orthotics..they pressed up on the exact spot where I developed pain... and too much mileage. If ever an injury made structural sense, this was it.
I eventually decided, more based on the fact that I was just riddled with things that were obvioulsy TMS than the apparent logic or lack thereof of this particular "injury," that I was going to treat it as TMS too...
Amazingly enough, to me anyway, it went away, despite the fact that instead of cutting down mileage, I actually increased it..Took a while as feet are notoriously slow, but I saw early on that I was on the right track.
Best of luck,
A. |
| windy |
Posted - 10/15/2005 : 07:56:18
Marcy,
Welcome! The time for completely being pain free really varies from person to person. Initially I was pain-free withing 3 weeks when I used Sarno's protocol against "fibromyalgia" in early 2003. However, now 2 1/2 years later I'm have tms manifestations in my feet. This is being more stubborn.
As for increase of symptoms before menstruating, I think there can be a lot of rage/emotion tied into this depending on your unconscious feelings regarding having children, not having children, aging etc. I used to get a migraine before my period but after reading Sarno's ideas this stopped. It had to do with my ambivalent feelings.
good luck!
Windy |
| HilaryN |
Posted - 10/15/2005 : 06:32:02
quote:
during the 4 - 8 weeks after TMS acceptance, has the TMS experience been intermittent with less frequent occurences as time goes on?
I'm not sure how literally one should take these timescales, but I think that would be about the period after I decided to tackle my RSI that I noticed improvement. Yes, it's intermittent, and yes, the occurrences are less frequent as time goes on. As you notice improvements, your confidence grows, and as your confidence grows, the TMS finds it harder to fool you. A sort of virtuous circle.
quote:
I do want to believe that the pain is caused by TMS but since I have pain prior to menstrating and numbness while exercising even when I have been pain free for a period of time, I am confused.
I used to get bad headaches prior to/during/after menstruation. I could fend them off by taking mineral supplements, but I was having to take more and more in order for them to be effective. I decided to tackle these headaches using the TMS approach and was successful. (This was the first thing I tackled with TMS.) I now no longer take the mineral supplements, and although the headaches sometimes threaten to come on, I can usually stop them by thinking about TMS.
Judging by the improvements you have made, it looks like you're on the right track. Keep it up!
Hilary |
| n/a |
Posted - 10/13/2005 : 08:30:44
Just keep in mind that your brain will use every possible trick to make you think your problem is physical and that is has noting to so with your inner emotions which you generate on a daily basis. It will link your physical movements with pain and then tell you "see your pain is due to your physical movements and you have a structural abnornmality. You need orthodics or a back brace, or an operation, or anti inflammatory pills, etc etc" The very fact that the pain in moving around is a very strong indicator of TMS and also a strong indicator that you are winning but your brain still is contiuing to fight back in a last desperate attempt. |
| johnnyg |
Posted - 10/13/2005 : 07:31:01
Hi, welcome!
prior to menstruating, your hormoes go crazy causing a rush of emotions--in your case unconscious ones. I know 3 days ahead of time when my wife's "special" time comes. When this happens your brain will sense the need to use pain as a distraction. My wife took celexa for a while because of this, but I don't recommend that and she eventually stopped.
If you're like me your pain or numbness, etc. will diminish gradually with occasional steps backward-but overall there should be progress if you do it right. I stopped hoping for the immediate relief that only the genius possess and the insane lament:)
Your pain or numbness might not be going away when you exercise because it may be too soon. Work on the daily reminders until you learn to control your symptoms with your mind, then go back and excercise and concentrate on the blood flow. Exercise should then increase your blood flow making you feel better. This confidence should be enough to get you on a good path of regular activity.
If you still experience pain or numbmess after waiting a little longer, then you need to do the exercise and ignore the symptom until your brain gives up the distraction. You're in a contest of wills, so to speak, so don't give in. |
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