| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Birdie78 |
Posted - 04/14/2013 : 01:37:20
Hi!
I really needed some confirmation about the subject of trigger points (and I mean the little muscle knots and not the trigger points Sarno is talking about which actually describe the tender points).
In my head I really know (or let's better say I strongly suppose) that trigger points are TMS stuff as experiments have shown that these points are very oxygen deprived, BUT:
I still struggle a lot with this condition as my whole shoulder muscles (really everywhere) is covered with TRP's, my doctor told me he could not count them any longer, each trigger point is next to another. Due to this my shoulder/arm is nearly complete stiff and extreme painful. I had this condition about one year ago at my ellbow with the result that now my elbow joint is complete stiff because I wasn't able to bend it due to the extreme muscle stiffness. Even my doctor tried to bend it without any effect. Well, the TRP's spread up to my shoulder so that I couldn't move it any more and the doctor (who is at least rudimentary informed about TMS because I showed and explained him some TMS stuff) told me that additionally to my TMS-related muscle soreness and stiffness I now have a shrinked capusla (called "frozen shoulder"). He does several tests and movements with my arm to diagnose this. We both agreed on doing NO MRI because it's probable that something will be found and that this will be a nocebo for me.
So he told me that he will do no further diagnostic and no further therapy (what I really appreciate because with patients of my kind doctors can earn lots of money!) but that he strongly recommends some physiotherapy to get back the flexibility in my capsule.
So I think I remember gigalos who was also afflicted by TRP's and who got rid of it only with the TMS approach? It's really hard to give it a 100% belief as I 1) have a kind of "secondary damage" (my stiff ellbow joint) on the top of the TMS and 2) these TRP's are so "real", you can palpate them and they react positive with twitching. And I really don't want to get a stiff shoulder joint, too. It's my right arm and even brushing my teeth or eating is nearly impossible. Unfortunately massage really helps so it's hard for me not to do it. I stopped massage treatment last year when I learnt about TMS and the TRP's got worse since then.
So, if somebody was succesfull with treating these TRP's only by TMS-approach please tell me some success story, I really needed these confirmation!!!
Some of my other TMS-related conditions got better, but my footpain (not due to TRP's) and my severe arm pain remained and got worse. I really really hate it to be dependend on others for pain relief (like massage, physiotherapy), I'd really like to help myself. I guess I am one of the people called "trouble healers" in SteveO's book.
I actually do guided (TMS-)meditations about one hour a day, also sometimes free meditations. I do my affirmations and I really work hard on my childhood issues and about my feelings and negative thinking patterns (psychotherapy, EFT and a programm recommended by one of the members here called emotional brain training to "reverse" my distorted attachment patterns).
But actually I am a bit desperate and really feel stuck. I feel that my whole sysmtem crashed due to stress a few years ago (I am diagnosed with "fibromyalgia"), also my immune system goes crazy. But the joint stiffness actually is bothering me the most.
Thanks for reading!
Kind regards from Germany sends Birdie |
| 6 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Birdie78 |
Posted - 04/24/2013 : 13:17:12
Thanks again for all the useful replies. You're right: both - trying to do the TMS work in a sometimes very straining way - and fearing the symptoms probably keep my TMS alive. It's a very deep ingrained pattern. Already as a small child I bugged my stepmom with my symptom-fear ("mum, will this persist or ever go away?"). I grew up with an extreme hostile father and with the grief about the death of my biological bother (thinking it was my guilt) so that worrying about symptoms seemed to be more safe than worrying about the terrible things in my life.
My life actually isn't so stressing. I have the most supportive husband I could have, there's no stress in a job (because due to pain I am actually not able to work). I guess most of my stresses and strains are due to my past and my extreme tendency to go numb and shut down all feelings. Also the way I use to react to daily stressors is really suboptimal.
RageSootheRatio: I am just reading "The Pathway" and I also bought the "Wired for Joy". Thanks for your advice to use the skills carefully because they can cause stress. Anyway I have to begin at the point of origin: because I hardly ever know what I am feeling. I am living in my head most of the time.
I try to get more active since a few months now because I spent most of the time in my bed (wasn't able to stand or to sit or to use my arms).
My sciatia is way better now and I am able to sit much longer...and the better my sciatica got the worse got my arm (hello symptom imperative ). I am swimming three times a week and riding my bike for half an hour daily...but: I am never without the fear that this will increase my symptoms. And you're so right: getting rid of the fear will be the most important key for me. And being more kind with myself (I tend to blame myself for being so vulnerable).
This forum is so helpful, it gave me hope I never felt before in my life. And I even notice some small changes in the way I react to different situations...my family doctor told me I appear much more positive than a year ago so I think the affirmations and the relaxation techniques are working even if I am still in a lot of pain. I will try to be more patient.
Kind regards from Germany sends Birdie |
| RageSootheRatio |
Posted - 04/24/2013 : 09:30:25
Birdie, I just have time/energy for a very brief reply for now, but I worked personally w/ Laurel Mellin (founder of EBT) and she said doing the EBT work IS stressful, and as I was under a lot of situational stress at the time, she advised me to *stop doing it* (ie the EBT kit work.) She even tried to "simplify" the 5-point system for me ... to a 3 point system (just 1, 3 and 5.) What I found helpful was just to use the 5/ Damage Control tool ... but NOT do any additional kit work, etc.
As Ace1 so clearly and I think rightly states: "You cannot fix a strain with another strain"
We can be so steeped / living in a strained way, that *anything* we do is done in that same strained way and we aren't even really aware of it ... even our attempts at relaxation, healing, etc. So ... doing "nothing" might actually be more healing than doing all our "somethings" in a strained way!
RSR |
| Dave |
Posted - 04/23/2013 : 10:08:32
quote:
Originally posted by Birdie78
...But the joint stiffness actually is bothering me the most...
Which is exactly why it is the most persistent symptom.
Focusing on the physiology of the pain is counterproductive. Accepting that the pain is benign is what is important.
TMS is a very clever process. It will keep trying to give you symptoms that turn your attention towards them, that generate fear, that cause you to believe there is something physically wrong. The only way to break the cycle is to outsmart TMS by accepting the symptoms and ignoring them as best you can, and turning your attention towards potential psychological triggers. |
| forestfortrees |
Posted - 04/23/2013 : 07:42:09
quote:
Originally posted by Peregrinus
Don’t let the TMS exercises become a routine like doing your laundry.
This is such an important point. It is so easy to make TMS recovery another thing that we have to do, instead of something that we do for ourselves. So many people feel like they have to do everything exactly right. They read every single book out there, and do every single technique every day. Trying to do TMS work perfectly will only create more tension and stress in your life. Go easy on yourself, and do what you want to do, not what you feel you must do.
Forest
My Video Success Story
www.thankyoudrsarno.org
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| Peregrinus |
Posted - 04/15/2013 : 15:36:43
Birdie:
Sorry to hear you are suffering so. It sound like the TMS symptoms have succeeded in distracting you from the emotional stress you have. Once the pain leaves all this stuff about trigger points will seem silly. While you are trying to figure out what is going on with your shoulder and elbow you are not paying attention to what is troubling you. I’d suggest that you just accept the pain and focus on those emotions and experiences that you know are troubling. Try to forgive those who hurt you.
Don’t let the TMS exercises become a routine like doing your laundry. Every time you start thinking about your frozen shoulder or your trigger points try to root out the source of these problems.
I really wish you the best.
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| gigalos |
Posted - 04/14/2013 : 04:03:21
Hi Birdie,
I posted this in an older thread: http://www.tmshelp.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=8192&SearchTerms=trigger,point
I still believe TrP's is a mechanism used by the mind to create pain.
I still believe TrP-treatment won't do the job. It may give some relief temporarily, but I am pretty certain that it reappears.
I wouldn't be surprised if the mechanism Sarno mentions about oxygen deprivation can be explained by or explain triggerpoints, but this is just my suspicion.
The problem though, as I discussed this with Ace yesterday (coincidence?), is that whenever people discover they have TrP's they are in risk of focusing on the TrP's instead of starting work on their mind. In the thread I attached, I and Redraider stated that doing mind work is the only thing that really helps. Just see the TrP's as a sign that you suffer from TMS.
If I look at the patterns of pain TrP's can give, pain in your elbow can be a direct result of TrP's in your shoulder. I recently also saw this pattern in my sisters' tennis elbow. We (me and my aunt) found a string of TrP's going to her neck, but I couldn't get my sister to accept it may be from stress. The result is that she got some relief that very moment, but it reappeared the next day and she still suffers from it. I treated my mother for a stiff neck and she fully acknowledged it was stress and we talked about it, the result was that she had no pain afterwards.
I think other people here that had frozen shoulders should be able to convince you further that the TMS approach works for them.
I also started to read about (faster)EFT and feel it nicely resonates with what I learned about TMS. I hope you find more relief with that method. You deserve it and I wish you all the best. |
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