| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| fadoozle |
Posted - 04/04/2012 : 05:54:27
Hi all,
I haven't been around in a while. I've been working hard on staying in the present moment to alleviate anxiety and hypochondria. Some days I do great; others I backslide.
I am 41 years old and have had intermittent mild discomfort in my neck and back since my early twenties. For a while I was into chiropractic but as soon as I would get some relief from an adjustment I would stop. I now understand that chiropractic is a placebo, and haven't been for a treatment in a long time.
A few weeks ago I woke up with my neck completely out of whack. I thought it had resolved, but over the past few days I had awful headaches under and around my ears, alternating sides, and a popping and cracking noise has begun when I turn my head (only sometimes). Meanwhile, some additional popping and cracking has begun in my shoulder/collarbone area, sometimes my wrists. I sometimes feel some pain in my knees, too. The headaches have subsided over the last few days.
The scariest thing is some pain in my upper thumb. When I press on my thumb, it hurts, and it also hurts sometimes when I use it. No swelling and no stiffness. Also, I cannot sit cross-legged for very long or even fully sit in a cross-legged position.
My question is, am I just looking at osteoarthritis that comes with age? My husband, who is my age as well, laughs me off, tells me about his occasionally sore shoulder and knees, cracks his thumbs at me and tells me to get over it (he is not, shall we say, a TMS sufferer!).
Being the hypochondriac that I am, I fear rheumatoid arthritis or some other degenerative condition, though again, I don't have any visible swelling or stiffness. I took a round of prednisone for ulcerative colitis from last May to last August that caused a lot of joint pain in my hips when I came off of it (this is a known side effect and I only discovered it after the pain had begun...not a nocebo in that case!) so now I fear that my bones are screwed up because of it.
I know that one way to go is to just see my doctor, but, as someone who struggles with health anxiety anyway, I am reluctant to do so yet again, especially if there isn't really anything to be done. I feel a compulsion to get a chiropractic adjustment again even though I know that clinically it's a waste of time. Is this just a case of the body aging and me not really dealing with that?
Any thoughts much appreciated! |
| 14 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Goodney |
Posted - 04/21/2012 : 08:19:22
Fadoozle:
I think you you should get checked out by an orthopedic specialist. I am no doctor, but I know the last time I was put on prednisone my doctor warned me that one of the known risks of prednisone is avascular necrosis of the hip. If you get the all-clear, then you can concentrate on TMS being the culprit. |
| fadoozle |
Posted - 04/21/2012 : 07:24:13
Fair enough, Goodney. I'm still wondering about the hip, though. Can that loss of range of motion and pain in the joint be just TMS? |
| Goodney |
Posted - 04/20/2012 : 14:11:43
Fadoozle, I recently went to a chiropractor for my ongoing neck symptoms, so you are not alone. By the way, my chiropractor told me I didn't have much of a curve in my cervical spine.
My philosophy has always been that when I am in a lot of pain, I am not going to simply suffer. Yes, I keep in mind that it is probably TMS, but there a just times when relief is needed, whether that be ice/heat, massage, chiropractic, medication, or any placebo you can think of. I see no reason to suffer needlessly so that one can remain a TMS purist. Even Dr. Sarno supports the use of pain medication. I say get some relief AND work on the underlying issues that are causing/contributing to you pain. |
| fadoozle |
Posted - 04/20/2012 : 06:25:55
Full confession: I went to a chiropractor for relief from my neck and upper back pain. He told me that I have probably lost the curve in my cervical spine (same thing a chiro told me 20 years ago). In any case I am now mostly concerned about my hip, which was feeling stiff for several months after I came off a round of prednisone last August and now is both stiff and painful.
When I try to sit cross-legged, I cannot fully lower my bent right leg to the floor the way I can on the left side. When I was riding my bike with my kids the other day, and I went to swing my right leg over to the left side of the bike, I felt a horrible pain directly in the hip joint. Yesterday, after a brief, easy hike, that same joint was sore. It's bothering me as I sit here typing this, when before it was just occasional weird movements that would set it off.
Is someone going to tell me that I need a hip replacement at 41? Seriously? Do I now go and get an MRI? The thought of going to a doctor yet again makes me want to throw up, yet I feel like I cannot deny that I have this pain, and that it seems to be getting worse. |
| lynnl |
Posted - 04/06/2012 : 12:48:37
I am absolutely convinced that most of the aging issues (stiffness, various pains, etc) that we think of as just natural physiological changes are simply another form of mental/emotionally induced ailments that effects the entire human population (almost).
When I learned of and made my Sarno/TMS breakthrough 12 or 13 years ago, not only did it resolve my main/target pain issues, but I absolutely felt like a teenager. (I was about 55 at that time.) I started sleeping like a baby, snoring and sleep apnea issues ceased. Stopped up nose/breathing passages at night cleared up. I bounded out of bed each morning more totally refreshed than I could ever remember as an adult.
Over the ensuing 12 or 13 years I've sort of lapsed back into my old ways, and no longer have that same joyful experience. Now at 68, I wake up stiff with more minor pains than I care to try and catalog.
...BUT, if I just lay there and literally not move a muscle, but rather just remain motionless while becoming fully mentally active and involved, then the stiffness and pains abate and I will have normal freedom of movement when I do get up.
So it is obvious to me that the physical stretching and loosening of the muscles and joints, that we think of as effective, is not what's accomplishing what we think it is.
This is another area where we humans perceive things NOT as they really are.
Lynn |
| jitterygal |
Posted - 04/05/2012 : 16:52:13
I had a terrible pain develop in the webbing of my middle and ring fingers last August when I started with the low back pain, and then it started in my THUMB. I was terrified that I had developed Rheumatoid Arthritis, because my mother was a lifetime sufferer. But the weird thing I noticed was that I had no swelling or redness in there. So I decided that anxiety had probably caused the pain in my thumb, because I was having mini panic attacks at that time. After a while, the hand pain went away, but unfortunately the back got worse. Then when I got the MRI results, it got worse. I now see how my mind can really work a number on me and make me think I have "conditions" that either don't exist or aren't the true source of my pain. I like the thought of staying in the present, or even looking forward to an upcoming event, to distract your mind from gloom and doom... |
| fadoozle |
Posted - 04/05/2012 : 05:53:20
darko, balto, and wrldtrv, thanks for such great advice. I'm still cracking and popping all over the place, and my thumb still hurts, but I'm trying to just let it go. I instituted a moratorium on Internet symptom searching a while back and broke it for the cracking and popping, so it's time to get back on the wagon.
TMS (and I think "real" health problems, too, because I have a few of those) is so much about distraction and fixation. I know intellectually that in every moment I chose where to put my thoughts, or even to let thoughts go altogether. It's a discipline and it feels like really hard work, but the alternative is to sleepwalk through life in a hazy of worry and obsession (something I've done for most of mine).
Thanks, all. I love this forum. |
| wrldtrv |
Posted - 04/04/2012 : 20:12:13
Fadoozle, as a fellow hypochondriac I know exactly the dilemma you're in. Sometimes I think it would be better to have a "real" disease than all these phantom ones (knock on wood!). It is extremely stressful and time consuming to spend nearly every waking hour ruminating about one symptom or another. My current obsession is my feet, probably because I'm a runner and have a couple of big races coming up, incl another marathon in May.
If it's any consolation, the symptoms you describe sound very psychosomatic. One doesn't just wake up one morning with a body that is suddenly falling apart. I know because almost every night before I go to bed (my best time of day) I feel the picture of health. Eight hours later, I feel like crap, mentally and physically. I'm not kidding. This scenario plays out almost every single day! The only exceptions are when I have something important to do, like get up and run a marathon! Then, my body feels great. Does that make any sense at all?
Fadoozle, you probably know all the things we hypos should not do, and that includes not going to the doctor to check out every fearful symptom. Here, I'm a bit of a hypocrite because, though I've gotten much better on this point, sometimes the compulsion becomes so great that I can't resist. And here, it's like cigarettes if you're an ex-smoker; have just one and then it's easier to have the next one...
Your work on trying to stay in the moment if good. Mindfulness meditation (if you get proficient at it) can help. Trying to turn your attention to external things is great. Humor. Exercise. Social activities. Let us know how things proceed.
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| Sarnotic-nerve |
Posted - 04/04/2012 : 19:04:36
quote:
Originally posted by balto
If I were you I would also try to not Googling any health topics and try not to watch any drug company commercials. Better yet stay away from the internet, tivi, and newspapers for a month. Just concentrate on having a good time with your loveones.
Agreed- great suggestion!
Even a week with no exposure to media can really help calm and quiet your mind.
Life is short and there are far too many distractions.
______________
The pain is real! The cause...well, that's complicated. ;) |
| balto |
Posted - 04/04/2012 : 17:01:23
If I were you I would also try to not Googling any health topics and try not to watch any drug company commercials. Better yet stay away from the internet, tivi, and newspapers for a month. Just concentrate on having a good time with your loveones. |
| fadoozle |
Posted - 04/04/2012 : 15:12:11
tennis tom, you nailed it and gave me a good laugh! Also I appreciate you talking me off the chiro ledge.
There is a TMS doctor literally up the street from me that I've never checked out. Maybe it's time to do that.
Thanks for the reality check and advice.
Sarnotic-nerve, my husband has had to tolerate my hypochondria for over ten years, and overall he's incredibly understanding--I think he was just saying, "look, we're all getting older, our bodies change over time, it's just reality!" He's always rational about this stuff (good health is not a guaranteed permanent state, worry is pointless, accept life as it comes)...I am less so, having struggled with anxiety and health fears since I was a teenager.
In any case, I'm grateful to come to a place where people know where I'm coming from! |
| Darko |
Posted - 04/04/2012 : 15:10:40
Hi Fadoozle,
Try re-reading your post but not as if it's your post. Think of it as someone else and you are wanting to give advice....I think you'll get heaps from that exercise.
I would say the pain is caused by tension and anxiety......which is caused by you stressing about silly things, like your health.
Eat well, take some fish oils and relax. Stressing isn't going to help in anyway, if you have an issue....which I seriously doubt you do....you'll just have to deal with it. Resisting what you can't control is like being angry at the sun for being hot.
Stop stressing your life away....
D |
| Sarnotic-nerve |
Posted - 04/04/2012 : 12:01:06
quote:
Originally posted by fadoozle
My husband, who is my age as well, laughs me off, tells me about his occasionally sore shoulder and knees, cracks his thumbs at me and tells me to get over it (he is not, shall we say, a TMS sufferer!).
Sounds helpful. :|
Personally, I'd seek out a TMS doc in the area. Your fear has you in a headlock!
______________
The pain is real! The cause...well, that's complicated. ;) |
| tennis tom |
Posted - 04/04/2012 : 10:29:31
Thoughts??? Well ya', with all due respect and also some humor: "POSTER CHILD FOR TMS!". Some TMS boiler-plate first, one should see a doctor to eliminate any serious medical condition. But, in your case, it sounds like your husband hasn't observed any big change in your health, so maybe you can go with his DX. If you have a TMS doctor near you go get a check-up, I always feel better when the doc says everything is OK.
As far as the prednisone, I had some cortisone, synvisc and supartz injected into my hip about a year ago, didn't help but didn't hurt anything either. I'm still doing everything I did before and my bones have not dissolved into powder.
On to your scariest thing, your thumb, if you didn't bang it with a hammer or run it over with a truck, it's probably OK. Rheumatoid and osteo are two entirely different animals.
Almost all popping and cracking sound emanating from the body are harmless and normal.
Save your money on the chiroquackter, and maybe get a nice relaxing massage or mud bath--you'll get more bang for your TMS rage soothing buck. Or, call a TMS practitioner and have a 50 minute chat with them and that will benefit you directly rather than a temporary treatment.
Take a look at the Rahe-Holmes list in my sig below and discover what life stressing situations you've gone through recently that are triggering your (most likely) TMS symptoms--you mentioned one in your post--resentment and anxiety over aging.
Sounds like the best thing you can do is get a TMS knowledge penicillin booster. I recommend you buy Steven Ray Ozanich's new TMS book "THE GREAT PAIN DECEPTION". It's quite a tome of TMS info and he's got all your symptoms covered. It's the best TMS value you can get for your time and money. Just to be clear, I'm not a doctor, I only slept in a Holiday Inn Express about three years ago.
G'luck
==================================================
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
==================================================
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." Jiddu Krishnamurti
"Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional." Author Unknown
"Happy People Are Happy Putters." Frank Nobilo, Golf Analyst
"Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint." Mark Twain and Balto
======================================================
TMS PRACTITIONERS:
John Sarno, MD
400 E 34th St, New York, NY 10016
(212) 263-6035
Here's the TMS practitioners list from the TMS Help Forum:
http://www.tmshelp.com/links.htm
Here's a list of TMS practitioners from the TMS Wiki:
http://tmswiki.org/ppd/Find_a_TMS_Doctor_or_Therapist
Here's a map of TMS practitioners from the old Tarpit Yoga site, (click on the map by state for listings).:
http://www.tarpityoga.com/2007_08_01_archive.html |
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