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entheogens
USA
24 Posts |
 Posted - 05/06/2007 : 13:38:55
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Ok, a month or so ago I was suffering some back pain, listened to an audiobook by Sarno and had an immediate healing. After this, I started doing some journalling to investigate possible rage, etc. About a week ago, I started getting bad gastrointestinal problems (pain after eating and rather severe constipation).
I suspect the conditions to be psychosomatic, but I have a lingering doubt. Sarno's works mention gastrointestinal symptems as being sometimes TMS related, but none of his works spend a lot of time discussing it.
So, I have a dilemma. Do I treat this as psychosomatic or do I treat it as organic? How does one go about determining this?
Thanks,
Thomas |
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shawnsmith
Czech Republic
2048 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2007 : 14:17:12
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Dr. Sarno says when a new symptom manifest then go see a Dr. to have it checked it out. If nothing is found the see it as TMS or equivalent. Gastrointestinal symptoms are very common TMS equivalents and since it is close to your back pain recory I suspect that is what your are experiencing, but I would still have it checked out.
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Sarno-ize it!
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sensei adam rostocki
USA
167 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2007 : 15:08:20
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Gastrointestinal discomfort is perhaps THE MOST common back pain substitute symptom. I had it even before my back got really bad (25 years of GI discomfort, dating back to childhood) Now that the back pain is gone, the GI pain has NEVER returned.
CURE-BACK-PAIN(dot)ORG |
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entheogens
USA
24 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2007 : 19:03:47
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| Yes, but unfortunately my health plan is with Kaiser Permanente, so we are talking very typic MDs. So what if they come back with a diagnosis that would seem to indicate that there was something organically wrong? How could I determine if they are not just coming up with some diagnosis when in fact it is psychosomatic? Any guidelines? Experiences? |
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Littlebird
USA
391 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2007 : 20:38:53
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My irritable bowel syndrome type symptoms started when I separated from my first husband and never really went away, although there have been better times and worse times. After having it for 9 years I had testing done at a Kaiser facility and was told I had IBS, but I was told the cause of it was "stress." It seems like many doctors believe this one is related to emotions, regardless of their attitudes about any other psychosomatic stuff.
I don't think there are that many true physical causes of GI problems, so it's probably a fairly safe bet that your Kaiser doc will either consider this to be related to your emotions or will just tell you there's nothing physically wrong with you and they don't know exactly why you're having these symptoms. If you feel it's best to get it checked out then you probably should, but if you're content to give it a few weeks to see how things go, that's probably safe as well (unless you're seeing blood in the stool or blackish, tarry stools--but you didn't mention that, so I'm assuming you're not).
Let us know how things turn out. Take care!
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Singer_Artist
USA
1516 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2007 : 22:01:29
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Hi Entheogens,
I think GI symptoms are very often stress related or TMS equivalents..I have battled them as well from time to time..When I get very emotionally upset, I get nauseous..It happened recently when my dog first got sick..I think even conservative, allopathic doctors recognize ulcers and other GI isses as oftentimes caused by stress..
I do, however, get a pain in my upper left abdomen if I have had to use advil or motrin for long spells after a true injury..I take aloe vera juice and that helps alot..I have also noticed that that spot will act up if i am very emotionally upset or eat dairy products..So in my case it could be a combo of physical and psychological..I do think, however, that the stress plays the biggest role..I bet yours is the same..
The symptom imperative, as Dr. Sarno coined, means that when one symptom goes away frequently another shows up while you are still dealing w/ the unconscious rage..or current life pressures..
Hope this helps!
Karen |
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entheogens
USA
24 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2007 : 22:23:38
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Thanks for all the kind responses. I do not consider this moment to be particularly stressful in my outward world.
Anyway, I think I will go ahead with an exam and see what comes up. It's interesting. A year ago I had acid reflux. I got rid of that... (before reading of Sarno) Then, the back problem. Got rid of that. Now this....which feels completely different than the acid reflux.
One other item supports the idea that this is psychosomatic. Last night I was in particularly bad pain and I forced myself to think about possible issues that I had not yet discussed in my journal. I had a flash of insight about something and almost immediately the pain subsided by 90 percent. |
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armchairlinguist
USA
1397 Posts |
Posted - 05/07/2007 : 13:05:25
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I've also had a lot of stomach upset recently after being pain-free (from RSI/back/neck pain) for about a year. I think the reservoir is building up again. Remember that the current time doesn't have to be stressful for the reservoir to overflow. Could be just one tiny thing that pushes it over. Or it could be another layer of old stuff trying to come up.
I have wondered if it's physical, but I don't think I'd get much from a doctor that would really help anyway, so I'm going on with TMS approach unless it is persistent and unresponsive for a long time. I had random GI symptoms actually the summer before I was depressed, which was itself a year before I got pain. The connection just now occurred to me, so I'm betting this is the same thing again.
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Wherever you go, there you are. |
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shaun canada
Canada
3 Posts |
Posted - 05/30/2007 : 09:51:50
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i'm happy to find this site, as info and support are tough for people outside of major locations in the USA (I'm in Canada).
Singer_Artist you hit the nail on the head for me in my difficulty with GI related TMS. In my opinion it's hard to accept TMS 100% in these areas because there are more factors involved with stomach issues.
However I'm willing to accept that I'm putting up that barrier myself. It's just hard to try and figure out what's TMS and what's a reaction to digestion. The mind is a tricky little fella.
I've had IBS since a child, which got worse when I became more aware of the IBS diagnosis - which basically re-enforced the concerns and worrying about flare ups.
About a year or so ago, my IBS diarrhea stopped completely and I had terrible issues with Reflux and Heartburn. Now I'm dealing more with a constant upset/sensitive stomach, plus I also get some anxiety from time to time- which is something new for me.
I believe it's a classic case of symptom imperative at work, so I'm back to give a full 100% effort towards treatment. |
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Non-Back Related: Organic or Psychosomatic
