| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Warren |
Posted - 07/02/2011 : 20:17:37
I will not detail all the gory details of 6 1/2 years of chronic, usually unrelenting foot pain (sesamoid/first metatarsal of left foot), supported structurally by many, many impressive medical tests - MRI, CT scans, and numerous doctor's opinions (including Jame Rochelle, an orthopedic surgeon, who wrote a Chapter in the Divided Mind). Having said this, my foot has been examined by Dr. Marc Sopher, and I have shared all my test results and history in numerous consultations with him. He is 100% convinced that my foot pain is due to TMS, but I have not been able to fully accept this diagnosis, even though his advice was instrumental in me having much less pain in the fall of 2009. Dr. Sopher strongly believes my real issue is DOUBT in the diagnosis.
I have overcome severe back and neck pain by by appplying the TMS principles. But, I have been unable to fully accept that my chronic ball-of-the-foot pain is due to TMS. How have any of you dealt with doubt about the source of your pain? |
| 14 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| balto |
Posted - 07/18/2011 : 03:52:34
I don't think of it a the source of panic. I think of it as "triggers" of symptoms. Just like drinking coffee. I was a heavy coffee drinker, but when I got TMS and panic attack, I have to stop drinking coffee because it triggered my panic attack so badly. Even after I "cure" myself of TMS and panic attack, the coffee still make me anxious and nervous. To elliminate those "triggers" and all the other conditionings, I have to force myself to drink it, use it, face it... I drank coffee and just seat there and explain to myself that all those coming sensations and feelings are just normal body reaction to caffeine, nothing is wrong with me or my body. I forced myself to go on the airplane, go over the tunels, bridges, I run to raise my heart beats... all the things that I avoided while having panic attack and TMS because they would triggered the attack and pain. After about 2,3 months of forced desensitize, my fear of doing all those things disappear. They no longer trigger panic or caused pain. I now realize that TMS sufferers are just more sensitive to all those body sensations. I stop looking for repressed rages because I thought that we all have pressure in life, we all have rage, but why some of us developed TMS and panic while most other don't. We're just more sensitive than normal. We focus more on the negative, we take longer to get rid of negative thoughts and negative events in our life. We put ourself in prolong stressful situations which caused us to breath harder, faster. Our heart pump faster, heavier, our thought then focus more on our body and then we made the worst mistake, we thought wrong. We thought those normal body sensation are symptoms of something wrong with our body. And we focus more on those sensation, we think more negatively, and then our body's reaction to stress and bad thought magnified and create TMS and panic.
To stop it, for me I just stop fearing the symptoms. When I have back pain, foot pain, leg pain, neck pain, tintinus, panic... I just tell myself: ok, it hurt, it is my thought, It will go away when I stop thinking negatively about my symptoms. I stop my thought from saying: I will have a heart attack from this palpitation. I will paralize from thi back pain, I will this and that. I was hard at first but with persistence I was able to change my thought in a few weeks. I stop all those ANT (automatic negative thoughts) and my pain ceased. It stop creating new pain, new symptoms elsewhere.
To me it is more important to work on stopping your fear of the symptoms than to go look for repressed rage or long forgotten negative events in your life.
You can think yourself into an illness, you can think yourself out of an illness. Good luck to all. |
| Dan |
Posted - 07/16/2011 : 13:55:10
Funny how something that once seemed innocuous becomes a source of panic once other symptoms arise. The hard part is learning not to read too much into these phenomena (e.g. noises). Goodney, perhaps your MRI would also have looked the same years before you developed symptoms? Could be an argument for getting these things done while we're symptom-free, although no insurance company would pay for that. |
| Goodney |
Posted - 07/16/2011 : 13:00:59
I can say with certainty that the crunching and grinding noises and sensations in my neck definitely were present for years before I had any pain at all. I remember rolling my neck and listening with amusement to all the sounds and thinking I must have some real arthritis there, and wondering that it didn't hurt at all. Interestingly, I wasn't frightened at all by those things then. Now, every time there is the slightest sensation, I find myself facing panic. That's the subconscious distraction. |
| Dan |
Posted - 07/16/2011 : 12:16:08
Thanks, Tom! That was just what I needed to hear. To be honest, I can't say with certainty that the noises weren't there before the other symptoms. I don't remember ever noticing them before, but that may simply be because there was no reason to. I just know that I've noticed them a lot lately, because I'm worried. So your point about TMS inducing fear (and hypochondria) is right on the mark. Thanks again. |
| tennis tom |
Posted - 07/16/2011 : 08:29:04
quote:
Originally posted by Dan
... Yeah, the crunching sounds are the worst. There's actually no pain associated with the noises, but it just SOUNDS like something bad is going on. I've wondered whether TMS can induce such noises (maybe by affecting the tendons in that area?), or if something else is going on.
Those "crunching" sounds you are experiencing, are probably normal, harmless and nothing "BAD" is going on. TMS doesn't "induce" those noises, they are normal bodily joint sounds. I'm making those noises by rolling my head around while typing this. It's like popping the joints in your fingers.
TMS does induce your FEAR that there is something wrong. Now, if you had a compound fracture in that area and bones were sticking out, I would view it differently. Joint bone sounds and noises are covered in the Good Doctor's books and are normal.
DR. SARNO'S 12 DAILY REMINDERS:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0dKBFwGR0g
TAKE THE HOLMES-RAHE STRESS TEST
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holmes_and_Rahe_stress_scale
Some of my favorite excerpts from _THE DIVIDED MIND_ :
http://www.tmshelp.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2605
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"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." Jiddu Krishnamurti
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| Goodney |
Posted - 07/15/2011 : 17:42:08
Thanks Dan, I really appreciate your thoughts. You take care as well. I'll be thinking of you. |
| Dan |
Posted - 07/15/2011 : 17:13:12
Good luck, Goodney. I know how hard it is. One thing that is encouraging is that the physical therapy seemed to help. I'm not sure that it would if the problem were spinal degeneration, since it's not clear that PT can do much for the spine. So maybe the PT was just a placebo, in which case the problem may well be TMS. In any case, best of luck! |
| Goodney |
Posted - 07/15/2011 : 07:04:43
Dan:
I had an MRI done in May of 2009. Showed a number of bulging disks and degeneration throughout my neck. I saw a neurosurgeon who told me he didn't think I needed surgery at that time, but that I might in the near future. I went to physical therapy and it did well for over a year.
Last August at the end of a particularly stressful day I tensed my neck while I was turning my head and felt a nasty twinge. It hasn't stopped hurting since, and has gotten much worse over the last couple of months. My stress level has also skyrocketed over that same time period, so I'm trying to stay focused on the connection between the two, but it is painful and at times downright frightening, which is what my subconscious wants it to be. I intend to do everything in my power to avoid returning to the surgeon, or even getting another MRI at this point, but may consider physical therapy at some point. |
| Dan |
Posted - 07/14/2011 : 19:25:06
Goodney: best of luck with that! Yeah, the crunching sounds are the worst. There's actually no pain associated with the noises, but it just SOUNDS like something bad is going on. I've wondered whether TMS can induce such noises (maybe by affecting the tendons in that area?), or if something else is going on.
Have you had your problem checked out? I've been to the doctor, but since I haven't had this problem that long, he didn't recommend getting an MRI, etc. Have you noticed any improvement? |
| Goodney |
Posted - 07/14/2011 : 06:54:09
Dan, your situation sounds almost identical to mine. I suffered for years with terrible low back pain which completely resolved after reading "Healing Back Pain". I had off and on issues for a number of years with pain in other parts of my body, and then 2 1/2 years ago developed terrible neck pain which has now developed into shoulder and arm pain. My neck also cracks and crunches terribly. It definitely is worse with stress and anxiety, but I agree, it is SOOOOO hard sometimes to convince myself there is nothing structurally wrong, and that it is just TMS. |
| Dan |
Posted - 07/13/2011 : 18:51:38
Sorry to hear about your troubles, Warren. I empathize, as I'm going through something similar. I once had debilitating lower back pain that went away after reading Sarno's book--so I believe that TMS is real. Lately I've developed a bad neck/shoulder problem: pain in my neck and upper shoulder, accompanied by numbness and tingling in my arm and hand. It's very scary, as it seems like the nerves are involved, and the ER doc diagnosed it as cervical radiculopathy (my regular doc doesn't think it's so serious). I also have a lot of cracking noises in my neck, which makes it hard to believe there's nothing structural.
I'm about 90 percent sure this is TMS, but the last 10 percent is hard and could be the reason I haven't been able to shake this. The only thing I can suggest is to pay close attention to the problem and its emotional and physical correlates. For example, in my case the symptoms definitely get worse when I'm anxious about something, which suggests an emotional component. Also, there are inconsistencies in the physical circumstances that cause problems. For example, symptoms appear when I'm driving or at the computer, which suggests that a certain arm/shoulder position is the problem. Yet, I often have my arm/shoulder in the same position in other activities without any symptoms. This suggests that conditioning, and not the physical activity itself, is at work.
Anyway, these seem like thin reeds to lean on when you're in pain or worried about your health. But try to keep in mind that you've had TMS before and are therefore prone to it. And keep asking yourself whether the evidence is more consistent with a TMS diagnosis or with something else. |
| ABrooks |
Posted - 07/03/2011 : 19:13:00
Warren, sorry to hear of your pain and struggles. I too have been going through chronic pain for over 6 years. I have bilateral foot, ankle and leg pain, in addition to TMJ, acid reflux, anxiety, etc. After reading Dr. Sarno's Divided Mind and looking at Dr. Sopher's website I'm pretty convinced I have TMS. When I called to make appt. with Dr. Sopher his recording said that the office is closed - do you know if and where he relocated to?
As for advice, I can understand and sympathize with your dilema as to what to believe and how to proceed. I guess my advice would be that if you have been diagnosed by Dr. Sopher with TMS relating to your foot, I'd just keep working on the mind and writing down your successes as they occur with your foot to remind you when you are doubting it's TMS. I've had some great success in the past week but find it's VERY easy to doubt when I'm having pain, although, not having an official diagnosis yet doesn't help me much. Have you been to psychotherapy? I know some people need more than just the diagnosis to get over the pain. Thanks for sharing and best of luck to you! |
| Warren |
Posted - 07/03/2011 : 11:50:38
goodney - thank you for your feedback. I know I am not the only one who has battled TMS on numerous fronts for most of my adult life. It's beyond frustrating. And it is challenging to know if the "current" or the "next" pain is TMS. I am hoping a few folks have insights on how they have dealt with their DOUBTS about TMS being the source of their pain. |
| Goodney |
Posted - 07/03/2011 : 07:50:09
I conquered years of back pain by reading "Healing Back Pain" by Dr. Sarno. The pain then started moving around, going into my hips, knees, and feet. I dealt with all of it and it disappeared. Now it is in my neck, with arm and hand pain and headaches, and I find myself in the same boat as you: doubting whether this is again TMS, or whether it is finally something structural. I am dealing with it by reminding myself of how crippled I once was with back pain, how now my back is pain free, and how my neck will be some day too. It is a constant struggle. |
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