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Mary Ann
Canada
42 Posts |
 Posted - 06/16/2006 : 08:07:07
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Just thought I'd share an interesting experience. I have been a follower of Sarno for 6 years now. I've overcome chronic shoulder problems, and most recently food intolerances. I'm super aware of the tweaks in my body that could be telling me I have another flare up and try to practice the ongoing treatment to alleviate the pain.
The most recent case has been my right hip. Right around when I started training for a bike tour (beginning of April) it started to ache. Nothing debilitating, but definitely there. It bothered me throughout my rides and while doing other activities. I figured it was TMS and tried to ignore it.
Then my left knee started in. I NEVER get knee trouble. So I suspected my new biking shoes and pedals were the culprit and made some adjustments that brought minor relief, but the pain didn't go away.
So now I have TMS in 2 places: knee and hip. Again, not debilitating but definitely aggravating. I figure it's due to the pressure I'm under now at work and the stress of planning a wedding in a short time frame.
I continue my bike training and the weekend before our big bike tour we go on a long ride (almost 80K). Half way through, I decide to ask my fiance to see if he can notice any misalignment with my pedals because my knee is killing me. So he goes behind me and says that I look well-aligned but I could probably raise my seat.
My seat was not on my radar at all. But it turned out the screw in the seat post had loosened and my seat had lowered almost a whole inch! I rode that bike for almost 500K with a seat too low! We raised it and the pain went away almost immediately! And in the 2 weeks since then I have completely lost all twinges in my knee and hip.
My fiance said to me afterwards: "You know sometimes there is such a thing as being too psychological!" I attribute pretty much every ailment to TMS, but in this case I was very wrong and it was due to a poorly fitting bike.
Anyone else ever mistake symptoms for TMS? I know the reverse is more likely, but I am curious if other TMS converts who have mostly cured themselves find situations of being "too psychological."
Mary Ann
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Suz
559 Posts |
Posted - 06/16/2006 : 10:38:54
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Interesting, Mary Ann.
I would really love to hear about you overcoming food tolerances if you can elaborate on that |
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Mary Ann
Canada
42 Posts |
Posted - 06/16/2006 : 11:25:30
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quote:
Originally posted by Suz
Interesting, Mary Ann.
I would really love to hear about you overcoming food tolerances if you can elaborate on that
I have replied to you on this topic before. Nothing really has changed. You can review what I wrote at:
http://tmshelp.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2049&whichpage=2
Basically, I ate the food, felt the reaction, but ignored it. Eventually I stopped reacting. I am enjoying a return to dairy for the first time in about 3-4 years. Yogurt, cottage cheese, ice cream. I can eat it all. (Still don't LIKE milk though).
Good luck!
Mary Ann |
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armchairlinguist
USA
1397 Posts |
Posted - 06/16/2006 : 12:28:10
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I have been wondering something similar. Once I knew I had TMS for my RSI symptoms in my arms, I realized that some other pains, like knees and feet, could be too. And they went away, so they were. But I am still struggling with other things, like dandruff. It's a definite candidate for being a TMS equivalent, being in the same category as eczema and acquired skin allergies, I would think. And I think it is one because no treatment seems to help, and it's only in a specific area, so it's illogical. (My mom once told me that allergies can exist but only occur "on a part of the skin that's for some reason the most sensitive". This sounds like a signature of TMS to me: not making sense.) But I do keep wondering (which I'm sure is impeding healing if it is TMS!) if it's an actual problem.
Likewise I wonder if there is a point where a computer user can develop RSI or eyestrain, or in general a case where an "incorrect" alignment, routine, or equipment can really cause damage. Where is the line between TMS and real pain, and how do we find it?
Sarno has some criteria for this:
1) The pain/problem doesn't make sense.
This one is sometimes clear, but sometimes there are logical contortions to explain something, and those can be hard to detect. Also, not all TMS pain doesn't make sense.
2) The problem doesn't respond to any adjustments or treatment on a permanent basis.
This one is pretty good, though it can take a long time to find out whether something does or doesn't respond, if a placebo works well enough. One of my friends has been placebo-treating mild RSI that I'm pretty sure is TMS for about 8 years! (He's moved to progressively more expensive keyboards, mostly.)
I guess what you did, Mary Ann, actually makes a lot of sense -- a kind of alternation between the two modes of thinking, so that all possible causes are covered. But it could be problematic unless you're able to really believe the TMS without doubting, while still maintaining, if it fails, that it *could* be physical. Kind of a paradox... |
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Mary Ann
Canada
42 Posts |
Posted - 06/16/2006 : 13:15:58
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Quite ironic actually. For me, the reason I had no clue it was physical (and assumed TMS) is that I did not know my seat post screw has loosened. I had my bike professionally fit a few years back and have not changed seats, so I made the assumption it was TMS because there was nothing wrong with my bike position.
The fact that the pain IMMEDIATELY relieved upon raising my seat was the other clue. If the pain had persisted after the correction, or was only relieved temporarily, then I would have continued my TMS approach.
I just thought it was amusing to show that the reaction "it MUST be TMS" could prevail in the wrong situation (it's usually the other way around). |
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art
1903 Posts |
Posted - 06/17/2006 : 14:52:14
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This is a huge issue to me as someone who works out almost every day of the week in one way or another. I'm absolutely chronically beset by one over-use symdrome after another...Since I'm 55 years old (how'd that happen?)I can't help but think some of this stuff has to be "real." And yet my new m.o is to run through everything..Knee hurts? Run harder. Ankle hurts? Run harder. Hamstring twinges? Run harder.
In years past not only would I be taking time off for all this stuff, I'd be chronically worried as well..Now I just blow it off...Once in a while I begine to fall inot the old pattern of obsessive worry, but I'm much much better now than I used to be..
I also had food sensitivities Mary Ann, and for the most part they're gone...I was a very sick guy for a long time and had given up hope that I could ever get better...
I don't need to tell you I'm sure how fortunate we are on the food thing...many to most do not recover.. |
Edited by - art on 06/17/2006 14:53:57 |
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j0yful
17 Posts |
Posted - 06/18/2006 : 20:19:52
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| Nope, I've never blamed my symptoms on TMS and then had it turn out to be something else. I remind myself of this when I am starting to head down that road. Since my own rule is It's TMS unless proven otherwise, I'm sure it will happen someday. |
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Sometimes you can be too psychological
