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floridaboy
40 Posts |
 Posted - 10/23/2004 : 15:28:35
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I love to run. I am have been training for a marathon for the last couple of months. Things were going well...battling through numerous TMS related issues...but going well. The last 3 weeks I have been overwhelmed by strange muscle pains all over my body, but in particular my quads. I am talking PAIN...joint pain, muscle pain, butt pain, neck pain, some back pain, shin pain...real funky, aching, oh my God what is happening to me, I can't take this anymore, PAIN. It hurt to stand, walk, sleep, run, sit...etc. I finally told my wife - TMS won. I was afraid to run, didn't enjoy to run, where is the fun in all of this...simply didn't want to beacause all of the pain...I finally told her I was giving up on the idea of running the Disney marathon in January. I got to the point in training where I did a 12 mile run, two 13's...then the pain hit. I was able to get one 9 miler in...but it hurt SOOOOOO bad I haven't run since. All my life...before TMS discovery...I have wanted to run and never could because of TMS (knee, shin, etc pain). I was so bummed and depressed. I felt I lost the biggest war of my life. A war for my freedom from mental/emotionally controlled pain. TMS won. I quit! Done...finished...over. Insert tears here.
When going to bed last Tuesday I had a thought. A brillinat thought. You see, I have high cholesterol and have taken multiple statins (Lipitor, Mevacor, Provachol, etc) but have been intolerant of them due to muscle pain (an uncommon...but documented side effect that is very dangerous. I was so intolerant of this side effect (my brother is too) that I no longer take them. My doctors put me on a newer drug called Zetia which does not have the muscle pain side effect. Appearently it was developed for people like me (Cholesterol over 300 with perfect diet and exercise...I am not fat). Well I popped out of bed in total pain and typed "Muscle Pain Zetia" into Google. WOW... the horror stories I found were unbelievable. So I smiled a bit and thought "that's got to be it". I have had so much succes with TMS (5 years ago I couldn't type 2 sentences because of pain, run a block, drive a car, read my kids a story (TMJ), was medically discharged from the Navy with a 40% disability rating by the VA (I used to fly fighter jets)...look at me now!). I stopped the drug then and there and went into the doctor to have a CPK test done the next day (CPK tests whether your muscles are breaking down or not...normal range is under 200). While on Lipitor a few years ago it was over 1000 when I was in real bad pain. I realized that night the pain I had on Lipitor was similar...maybe it wasn't TMS winning...but the drug? The genious pharmacetically sold doctor said "impossible...Zetia doesn't cause muscle pain...it works in your intestines." He looked at me like I was a looney and said..."We'll test you if you want, but it is going to show normal." I got a call from the doctors office..."stop taking Zetia... you are 4 times the normal range (almost 900)". I have been off for 5 days now (I stopped the night I went on the internet or the count would have been even higher, I am sure).
Well I haven't ran yet. I have decided to give my body time to heal from the muscle destruction the Zetia was causing...and candidly...my 100% TMS focused mind. I was so TMS centered that for 3 weeks I kept training through terrible pain...focusing on the psychological. I am sure I didn't do any permanent damage...but I could have. TMS is the correct diagnosis for most things that ill me. I feel GREAT right now as compared to 5 days ago. The body over pains are 100% gone. I still have my standard TMS struggles that I have been dealing with for the past 10 years...but not the crap I had a week ago. I kept telling myself that I had the TMS on the run...that I was close. It wsa shifting its strategy...
The pain was terrible...
I smile now knowing that I am still winning the TMS battle. I thought I lost...but it was only the drug. I am going to run that marathon. I will start running again on Tuesday. This weekend I have been resting. I took advantage of the down time to go have a Vasectomy! My wife just had our 4th kid 3 weeks ago (I thought the terrible pain might have been caused by the stress of a newborn...nope...just Zetia). So Tuesday I will run...rested, drug free, TMS focused and neutered!
Moral of the story. Those of you taking medication. Make sure your pain is not from the meds. TMS is real. I am living proof. But so is the horrible side effects of the super powerful and potent drugs the pharmaceuticals companies are making. |
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tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 10/23/2004 : 20:31:43
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Floridaboy,
That was quite an interesting and moving post. Thanks for sharing it. I'm curious about your high cholesterol. I don't know anything about the subject. Is it possible that you could live a healthy and normal life with that cholesterol number with no ill effects? Has that high number caused you any debilitating problems?
Is it possible that your cholesterol number is an anomalie that you could live with. Maybe you could research high cholesterol and see if there are others with the high number who live with it in a TMS fashion.
Like I said, I know zero about high cholesterol. It's just that my TMS thinking, now, makes me suspect of conditions that may fall into a range of natural variation that perhaps are better left untreated.
Good luck in the marathon.
tt |
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polly
127 Posts |
Posted - 10/23/2004 : 20:55:38
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Floridaboy,
Thank you for the post. Very interesting. I'm about to look up the blood pressure meds I'm on. I'm trying to get off all meds. Having a rough time. This helped me. Good luck in your race.
Polly |
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floridaboy
40 Posts |
Posted - 10/24/2004 : 06:13:37
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TennisTom
My Dad hada major heart attack at 36. His cholesterol was over 500 at the time! He is still alive at 74...2 bypass surgeries + an anorism on his aorta. His corotid (neck artery) is completely blocked. So the short answer is that high cholestrol in my family is a serious issue. Living life completely in pain because of medication is just as serious! I am going on a very strict diet the next few months to try to A. Drop weight for my run B. see how low I can get my cholesterol on diet and exercise alone. We'll see.
I have wondered since learning about TMS if high cholesterol could be a TMS equivalent??? Who knows. |
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tdk
15 Posts |
Posted - 10/24/2004 : 07:20:57
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Floridaboy,
Two weeks ago I had a very scary drug reaction, as well. I have been on antidepressants for many years due to GAD (gen anxiety disorder). I eventually weaned off Paxil onto Lexapro 18 months ago. In August a new med, Cymbalta, was approved and my doc and I decided to give it a try. Unlike Lexapro, which works solely on serotonin, Cymbalta is a "dual reuptake inhibitor," works on serotonin and norepinephrin. Supposedly helps w/pain receptors, as well.
In the three days I was on it I went for being a fairly stable person to very depressed, suicide ideation, severe insomnia and increased pain (due to fatigue). I missed two days of work while I came off the junk and cleared out my body with lots of water, walking, hot baths, etc. It was frightening.
Not the say that Cymbalta won't work miracles for some people. But the moral of the story is YOU MUST LISTEN TO YOUR BODY, NOT THE DOCS. And not everything is TMS. You still need to check things out that seem strange, severe, etc.
Glad we are both feeling better. TDK |
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tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 10/24/2004 : 09:04:08
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Dear Floridaboy,
Thanks for that background on cholesterol. With that background it must be certainly viewed seriously. As, you, others, and myself have found out, meds can cause as many problems as they fix.
A lot of things are TMS, my guesstimate is 80%. Some things are not. Some "real" conditions may have a TMS emotional component that magnifies the pain. Only we know how we feel inside. A good doctor like a Sarno, can help sort out which is which.
It seems like many doctors have abdicated their judgment, over to diagnostic testing and outside interpretation. I saw this with the x-rays of my right hip. A radiologist looks at it and writes a review, citeing all the anomalies. My doctor(s) read that report and accept it whole-cloth. I've heard that some of these radiological reports can be made as far away as India. I personally, would like people making assesments on my health, to be some one, I can see, feel or touch.
To me, it seems somewhat analogus, to what happens in our courtrooms today. A judge sits there, seemingly powerless, while the big-shot TV attorneys rule the stage and OJ walks. The inmates are running the asylum.
Floridaboy, I share your compulsion with exercise. In my case with tennis. At least exercise is a positive addiction. I've overdosed on my tennis and am going to take a few days off and drive to the desert. Many have posted on this board, that their TMS goes away on vacation, so, I'm going to give my tight-ass a rest.
All I can suggest, is, that you learn as much as you can about your condition. The mind and the body sides of it. We have to be as coversant about it as the dox. We have to find doctors who allow us to be equal partners in our health. If we feel a doc is not 100% on our side and professional, move on and try another one. |
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godmother
5 Posts |
Posted - 10/24/2004 : 19:32:34
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| I know what it's like being sensitive to drugs. I can't even take a multi-vitamin every day. If I do, I have problems sleeping, become anxious, etc. I can't take even a very minute form of estrogen...I get the same symptoms. My doctor looks at me like I'm crazy when I tell him this. He says he has never heard of anyone being this sensitive to hormones. I might add that I had very severe pms (I was very sensitive to the hormone fluctuations). Could this be tms? Could being sensitive to drugs be tms? My cholesterol is higher than normal, 239 but my "good" cholesterol is high in relation to the "bad." Could this be your case? |
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molomaf
119 Posts |
Posted - 10/25/2004 : 11:39:07
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Well, reading these posts, I felt I should post what I have found regarding cholesterol. I've read this book. I am pretty convinced that unless one's cholesterol is in the 500's, we do not need to be concerned with our cholesterol numbers. It's another pharmaceutical ploy.
http://www.ravnskov.nu/cholesterol.htm
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Drug side-effects and TMS
