| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| deer |
Posted - 04/10/2005 : 19:18:14
I have already posted some of my story on this forum.I asked whether my manic/dillusional episode is a TMS equivelant,and it seemed that others were quite sure that my psychotic episode is another manifistation of TMS.
The following is a letter that I sent to Dr. Marc Sopher,a TMS doctor,regarding my psychotic episode.It seems that Dr. Sopher doesn't agree with what Dr. Sarno told me.
Dear Dr. Sopher,
I would like to ask you a few questions regarding the psychological symtoms that are TMS equivlants.
Around fifteen months ago I had a full blown manic episode.The episode came at a time when I was extremly stressed out for a number of reasons.At that time I had not slept well for weeks,I was pushing myself to change certain bad traits in myself,and I was in a rage at what someone had done to me.As I got more and more wound up I started to get upset about some major things that had gone wrong in my life.At first I started to feel very weak.At one point I just collapsed from exaustion and fell asleep.In addition, my head felt like it was going to snap apart because it was so tight.As time went by my thoughts and speech started to get very rapid.Then I started think that everybody was talking about me and making some kind of "good plan"for me.Everything I saw ,I thought was a clue for me to figure out what they had in store for me.As time went by I became dillusional and started to "hear people's voices".At one point I thought I was the Messiah.My parents took me to a psychiatrist and he put me on Zyprexa.The medicine worked and I was normal after a few days.The doctor kept me on the medicine for a few months.Ever since the episode I have felt extremly fatigued.
I went to see Dr. Sarno around four months ago for a number of TMS symptoms,mainly for fatigue.When I told him about the pyschotic episode that I had ,he told me that it too is a TMS equivlant.He told me that what I had was a dillusional episode,not a manic episode.Then I asked what is the difference between this and Bipolar disorder.He replied by saying that people with Bipolar disorder get very depressed all the time and there the kind of people that you would seein a mental home doing bizarre thing too light fixtures etc...
However,I am afraid that he didn't get enough of a discription of the episode from me.When I told him the details of the episode I only got a chance to tell him that I was taking clues from everything and I thought that everybody was setting up some kind of plan from me,which was the dillusional part of the episode.However, I didn't get a chance to tell him that I had rapid thoughts and speech etc... which are part of a manic episode.
I would like to know if it makes a difference if it was a manic episode or a dillusional episode.In other words, can a manic episode also be a TMS equivlant or is it just a dillusional episode.
In addition,I am quite confused as to what makes someone Bipolar.From all the medical literature that I have seen it seems that anybody that has a manic episode,is Bipolar,even if it is only one single episode.
I am sure that Dr. Sarno does not consider Bipolar disorder to be a TMS equivlant.Therefore ,I would like to know if Dr. Sarno differs in his opinion of the diagnoses criteria for Bipolar Disorder .
I would really appreciate if you can clarify this for me, for the mere thought of being Bipolar distresses me greatly.
THANK YOU,
The following is Dr. Sopher's response to my question:
Dear,
I appreciate your candor and will try to help you better understand your situation. This is just my opinion, based on what you've shared, but may provide you with some greater insight and hope.
It is quite possible that your experience is consistent with what is known as brief psychotic disorder. This is taken from Moore & Jefferson: Handbook of Medical Psychiatry:
The onset is said to occur in either adolescents or adults, most notably in those in the third and fourth decades, and to be rapid: although most cases are said to be immediately preceded by marked psychosocial stressors, occurrences in the absence of such stressors is also allowed. Delusions, hallucinations, loosening of associations and bizarre or catatonic behavior are described, generally in the setting of profound confusion, emotional turmoil and intense and labile affect. By definition, brief psychotic disorder, while enduring for at least a day, undergoes a spontaneous remission within a month with a full and complete return to the premorbid level of functioning.
Based on your description, I am not entirely convinced this was a manic episode. Typically there is a heightened sense of wellbeing, which you do not describe. I have had numerous patients with bipolar disorder and all have had significant episodes of depression, which you do not describe. It is also quite conceivable that you would have improved without the zyprexa. My sense is that you had an acute psychotic episode as a result of extraordinary stress. I do not believe that you have bipolar disorder. I also do not see that episode (or bipolar disorder) as a TMS equivalent. Persistent fatigue may be a manifestation of TMS and perhaps now, aided by the information I offer, you will be able to tackle it.
Please keep me posted with your progress.
Sincerely,
Marc Sopher,MD
The truth is that I indeed felt a heightened sense of well being,and I made a mistake leaving that important fact out.However,it seems that Dr. Sopher believes that the episode,whether it was a manic episode or awether it was a brief psychotic episode ,is not TMS.
This seems to differ with Dr. Sarno's opinion.
Anyone that has any opinions or advice on this please post.Thanks.
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| 6 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Plantweed |
Posted - 04/04/2006 : 06:24:34
That's what led me to Sarno: the fear of another spasm. I had two very painful ones last year, one landing me in the ER for major painkillers. I started freaking out a couple of months ago, worrying about getting another, and I started feeling worse. Something clicked, and I realized the worrying is causing the pain. I remembered Howard Stern regularly mentioning Sarno, recently suspecting TMS in a caller who was on disability for repetitive stress injury from woodworking. It seems the idea is break out of the "funk" we're in and LIVE LIFE. |
| n/a |
Posted - 04/04/2006 : 05:09:49
Hi Deer
I'd just like to add my twopence worth to what the others have said. You need to let that episode go - very hard to do, I know, with something so frightening.
If you can get yourself into the position that you can say to yourself that if it happens again - it happens - and you'll deal with it then; rather then try to work out a foolproof way to avoid it ever happening again - then the fear will go.
My biggest fear was the possibility of a recurrance of the sheer agony of an episode of back pain that left me unable to walk or do much of anything for nearly a week. I wasted so much time in mental fear of having that happen again. It never has.
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| Stryder |
Posted - 04/22/2005 : 22:40:37
Hi deer,
Live in the now, and stop playing the 'movie' over and over again in your mind. It's a hard habit to break and I myself am still trying to break this engrained habit.
I've been telling myself that "I can't change the past, I need to think in the now, I might be able to change the future". I used to spend endless hours going over past events to the Nth degree. I've been having much better success at twarting my TMS by breaking the endless loop.
Take care, -Stryder |
| Baseball65 |
Posted - 04/22/2005 : 22:09:44
Hey deer..
I have read most of your posts since you first wrote on this 'event'
You seem to be still obsessed with the minutiae of the details and diagnosis....verging on obsessional now.Like 'forgetting' to exactly,positively,without a doubt make sure you've conveyed every single piece of pertinent information to every single person you've sought out for assistance.
THAT is actually a symptom of OCD...needing to completely absolutely positively make sure you have absolutely positively beyond a doubt checked and double checked the 'system' you're anxiety is trying to "bind" in the Psychological community's jargon.
OCD is just TMS of the head and is essentially beaten using the same technique we beat TMS with....ignoring the symptom,turning our mind to a real problem(like our marriage,finance,job) and repudiating the diagnosis.
You seem to want to get the perfect diagnosis...what will that do?
How are you today? What is going on in your life now?
That event is over.
I hope you can find a way to let it float downstream.
peace
Baseball65 |
| Colleen |
Posted - 04/13/2005 : 10:49:32
Deer,
I have two close friends who were both diagnosed by Pyschiatrists in their late teens/early 20's as bi-polar. They have both been on meds for about 20 years and are doing just fine. One of them is a Psychiatic Nurse. They had very high highs and then periods of very low lows.
Now my daughter now has a friend in her early teens who claims she was diagnosed at a very early age (age 5) as bi-polar. I have never heard of this before. I know there is a whole debate of biology vs. environment and whether it is truly a bi-polar illness or a result of extreme stress in the living environment.
Colleen |
| Dave |
Posted - 04/11/2005 : 08:35:54
Diagnosis through E-mail is completely unreliable.
Neither Dr. Sarno or Dr. Sopher is qualified to make a psychiatric diagnosis. If that's what you're after, you should see a psychiatrist.
If it were me, I'd just get on with my life and not worry about that one isolated episode. If it happened again, I would get my ass into a CT-scan and do whatever necessary to rule out a serious illness.
Our brains can do incredible things when we subject ourselves to extreme stress levels. I personally believe a manic or even psychotic episode is not out of the realm of possibility.
Nevertheless, if you continue to obsess about it, you are playing right into TMS' hands. |
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