| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| smashist |
Posted - 10/23/2007 : 00:30:53
This helped me tremendously with the biggest hurdle, moving from thinking I had some sort of horrible physical f@#k-up in my body to believing fully that this was completely psychological:
GATHER. EVIDENCE.
Examples:
1. Remember that one time it went away for a few hours/days/blah blah? Physical injuries don't do this. I've sprained my ankles, dislocated my knees, my shoulders, torn muscles, etc. These things don't magically disappear and stop hurting randomly. I repeat, real injuries DO NOT MAGICALLY VANISH when you aren't stressed out.
2. Write these times down. When you feel your brain slipping into panic mode, reference back to these times so you actually begin to convince yourself it's psychological. Don't make the mistake I did with trying to neurotically jam affirmations into your head, start to dissasemble the entire machine from the core.
3. If you can remember a time when you were stressed and it got worse/if it appeared when you were stressed, write these down too. Reference back to them in your head when you freak out.
This exercise really, really helps. I guess I have sort of a skeptical mind, which was a big stumbling block (plus 2+ years of garbage diagnoses). This helped me break through it. I actually am able to look (almost) completely from a psychological standpoint when dealing with this. Evidence gathering / really working at identifying the parts of my personality that drive me up the wall is starting to do it for me. Amazingly enough, this whole Sarno thing is actually starting to work.
yeah right. |
| 14 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| JohnD |
Posted - 10/31/2007 : 15:01:21
Lidge,
I got better not by challenging the pain, but by doing the work. You can bypass the pain by focusing on your emotions and getting angry,sad,afraid, guilty to the point where you are only with that emotions (crying, punching a pillow, yelling etc...), or you can focus on whats bothering you in general. The emotions are more powerful since it access's a different part of the brain. This takes time tho and becomes more powerful over time. |
| res |
Posted - 10/31/2007 : 10:16:12
I thought of another example today. I knew this guy who got something called Guillian Barre. It makes every nerve in your body quit working for a while, which makes all of the muscles quit working. The muscles then slowly return to function, but not always full strength. Anyway, this guy had had back pain his entire life, but after this disease, he quit having back pain. Without the muscles to spasm and cramp, etc. His back pain ended.
Interesting... the nerves still sensed pain, but with out the muscles the pain was gone. |
| westcoastram |
Posted - 10/27/2007 : 15:13:13
To give an example.
As I was doing the work (on both leg and shoulder pain) I started to get better but was having terrible stomach cramps. As I began to suspect the stomach cramps were TMS, I simply began to list the reasons I suspected it: stomach cramps only came at certain times, stomach cramps came and pain either ceased or decreased, thinking psychological during a stomach cramp made the severity fluctuate.
As my shoulder pain got better, I got elbow pain during exercise. I began a new list: shoulder pain is gone, now have elbow pain (I think it's prudent to suspect any new pain site with the decrease in pain in your primary pain sight), elbow pain comes on during physical activity but goes away just afterwards with no lingering effect, elbow pain only comes on during specific activities (this is the biggest thing for me as real structural pain i.e., a broken arm will cause pain during EVERY activity) etc...
Please do not use my examples as a anything more than an example... everyone's symptoms are different and are more tied to their conditioning than to an arbitrary pain pattern. Mine may not match your own.
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| fup |
Posted - 10/26/2007 : 05:29:09
westcoastram: It might be helpful for us (certainly me) if you would provide details of your evidence list. What sort of stuff went on it?
thanks |
| lidge |
Posted - 10/25/2007 : 14:25:57
If only I could see one instance of challenging the pain and seeing a positive physical response I would be overjoyed. What I find is that I challenge the pain and it persists, but sometimes the pain diminishes without rhyme or reason. I have yet to be able to push through the pain- it just doesn't happen - the pain gets worse. Even doing things I enjoy. I keep telling myself
its deconditioning of my body, etc. but it feels more like burning nerve pain and it really brings you to your knees.
I have no doubt that I have the TMS personality and many manifestations- but this one has me stumped. But then, that is part of it I suppose - feeling that somehow your pain is "different". |
| westcoastram |
Posted - 10/25/2007 : 14:12:55
Gathering evidence has been the single most important skillset for my recovery.
I had a ton of symptom imperative issues and each time I started a list on paper of reasons it might be TMS. I'll tell you, when that list grows and you see it's length... it's a pretty strong indicator.
Be sure to include times you challenged the pain and it went away on that list. |
| armchairlinguist |
Posted - 10/25/2007 : 13:01:00
lidge, I think the pain patterns vary a lot. I know Sarno checks certain points all over the body, not necessarily in areas of pain, that are usually tender when pressed on for TMS patients.
The oscillating pain (on one day, off the next) is certainly TMS-like. What physical injury would do that?!
--
It's not 100% belief that's required, but 100% commitment. |
| lidge |
Posted - 10/25/2007 : 10:37:38
I'm am struggling mightily too to gather evidence so that I can pursue the correct course of healing. Like AnthonEE, I wonder why if I'm having problems accepting it on an unconscious level because there still are doubts as to whether some if not all my pain is TMS.
I have been taking pain pills pretty much all the time and in the last week, I have had one decent day of low or minimal pain only to be followed by waking up in the night with that same damn pain which seems to last all day once it is here. This has now happened twice-one day horrible pain, next day bearable or minimal pain.
It is very specific burning pain in the sacrum which seems to "light up my legs with fire". The location has not varied. The area itself is not at all tender to the touch- I could grab the skin and press on it and it makes no difference. It feels like either nerve or bone pain.
Is the tenderness of the area of pain pretty universal in TMS patients?
I find that when I am not in pain (or slight pain) I can accept very readily that this is psychological -I tell myself yes, this is leaving, I know what this was and now I am getting better.But then when the pain comes back severe I find it very difficult to "think
psychological" and as the pain often starts at night I find it very hard to "head off at the pass".
I don't mean to use this forum as some sort of support group but perhaps I do use it as a distraction - but a distraction that I hope will reinforce that this is in fact TMS.
I have appt. with TMS doctor but I have a wait still and I dont want to place too much
hope on that visit as I have with so many doctors.
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| AnthonEE |
Posted - 10/25/2007 : 07:52:54
quote:
Originally posted by res
... I am glad that I am not the only [one] that this happens to ...
Definitely not the only one, I'm constantly struggling with this. While I'm relatively new to the concepts, I think my progress is a little slower because somehow I keep "convincing" myself there must be some physical basis for many of these pains. Even as I write this post I'm not even completely sure. But SMASHIST is really on to something with this technique. I know for absolute certainty that some of my issues magically appear and then disappear for no clear reason. I've never thought to make note of it in my journal. This would be a very helpful thing to consolidate into a dedicated section of the journal for easy future reference. Even if it doesn't succeed in finally convincing me once and for all, it should be of immense help when times are feeling tough. And by the way, tips like this are exactly the reason I like to frequent this forum. Many thanks! |
| res |
Posted - 10/24/2007 : 14:51:15
It is amazing how the panic can set back in so easily even when you know it is TMS. I am glad that I am not the only that this happens to (reverting back to stupid physical treatments). I am also glad to know that even someone like this has succeeded.
Thanks! |
| la_kevin |
Posted - 10/23/2007 : 20:21:34
I'm a big fan of the sleep, bath water, massage notations. These things relieve pain for me which made me aware something else was going on. The are a strong indicator of muscle tension. I have found my TMS will go away even by putting on socks, which is bizarre. I've had real injuries, they don't respond to benign things like that. If I go swimming I have no pain too, so sometimes the most physical things ease the pain, which is counter to the common logic of physical abnormality. I was an athlete/fighter for a long time, I know injuries and healing. You're correct, real injuries don't act like that.
Think about getting into a hot tub and the pain going away. So hot water miraculously heals discs and ligaments, absorbs into the calcium in bones, penetrates so deep it shrinks herniations?
Any other community would consider that crap pseudo science, but the medical community pushes this BS as if the laws of biology and physics are in the Twilight Zone. NONSENSE MYO MYO MYO SITIS SITIS SITIS Tension in muscles, pure and simple.
P.S. There's this kid in on the high school soccer team that practices down the street. He has some sort of birth defect with his back, almost like severe scoliosis. Anyways, the team practices with their shirts off and so does this kid. He's really messed up and crooked like nobody I've seen before. But he runs with the team, is fast as hell, makes aggressive plays, etc. He doesn't look like he's in pain at all, and his back is a good 6-8 inches off it's axis. Makes me think when I see him.
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| smashist |
Posted - 10/23/2007 : 17:20:46
^ Exactly.
There's usually not one "Aha!" moment in this process, but some dips and curves along the way. I can remember going from completely believing it was psychological back to obsessions with stupid physical treatments and the like over and over until I got to the mental state I'm at now. It can't be rushed or forced either, the realization has to come naturally. Gather evidence and you'll get there, though.
Yeah, and when the pain changes. Magical changing pain and pain hopping around your body. Amazing bulls@(!t.
yeah right. |
| res |
Posted - 10/23/2007 : 15:09:25
Thanks for this post! Doubt has been a huge issue for me. However, I know that there is no other explanation for why I can eat lunch for an hour and not have pain and then have it within 2 minutes of sitting in my car. Also, there are days I have almost no pain and days it really hurts. Also, I can wake up painfree but the pain starts if I lay in bed to try to "sleep in".
Another point... If a disc were herniated and causing the pain, then the pain would be constant because a disc would not herniate and unherniate.
Renee |
| JohnD |
Posted - 10/23/2007 : 10:42:45
Thanks for bringing this up, as I found it very helpful when I was in the trenches with TMS. You can expand on this by making note of when the pain changes (pain to tingling etc...), and other things that don't add up. |
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