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toronto_guy
Canada
2 Posts |
 Posted - 10/27/2007 : 18:45:59
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Hi all. First off let me say thank you for everyone who participates in this forum. It is somewhat comforting to know that other people are going through RSI related problems.
I am writing this because I am feeling very desparate. I know that it makes me weak mentally but that is how I feel. I need some advice.
Here’s my RSI story:
A couple of years ago I had a period of high anxiety and depression for about 8 weeks where I thought I was going to lose my job. I noticed a faint tingling in my right hand. I assumed that it was due to bad ergonomics at my workstation. I switched hands with the mouse and soon I had tingling with both hands.
I tried to treat the RSI by reducing my time typing, taking breaks, and doing stretching. I also did IntraMuscular Stimulation (to relieve trigger points in my muscles) which my doctor told me was causing pain. Despite the treatment, each week the tingling got stronger. Then I got a new project which changed my mood so I was no longer anxious and depressed. The symptoms in my hands completely disappeared after a few weeks so that I had no pain/tingling at all – even after marathon sessions at the computer with no breaks. A year passed with no symptoms in my hands whatsoever.
Last year I again went through a period of high anxiety around losing my job. The pain in my hands returned stronger than it was before. I did the same treatments as before and the pain only got stronger. Again, I was assigned to a new project, my anxiety was drastically reduced, and the symptoms completely disappeared within a few weeks.
The symptoms were completely gone for a 1.5 years. Now I am in a period of anxiety/depression again. The pain in my hands has returned – stronger than the previous time I had it. I am doing the same treatment as before but this time I am using vitamins (B12, magnesium, etc).
This time it is unlikely my anxious/depressed mood will change in less than 8 weeks like my two previous times I was in pain. Again the pain is getting worse with each successive week. I am concerned because at this rate I will have to start considering taking time off work and I don’t feel confident I will get any better. I feel like my RSI is on a downward spiral leading to me becoming a 34 year old invalid.
My thought on TMS as the potential cause of my pain:
- At first I took this quiz ( http://rsi.deas.harvard.edu/mb_diagnostic.html ) and got a medium score and thought “OK – I probably have TMS”. That gave me temporary hope that I could get better.
- But after reading “The Mindbody Prescription” and “Healing Back Pain” I did not notice that my symptoms have changed for the better – even a little bit.
- I have problems with anxiety and depression and have been seeing a psychiatrist for 10 years – however he focuses on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and not a Freudian approach.
- What bothers me most about the TMS treatment approach is that I need to stop doing things that treat the physiological cause of the pain: stretches, take typing breaks, getting massages, etc. to relieve my pain.
I’m sure that my obsessing and negative attitude are making my pain worse but I don’t know how to stop.
Has anyone else had similar experiences to me? What did you do that helped?
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altherunner
Canada
511 Posts |
Posted - 10/27/2007 : 19:04:25
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| I had tendonitis in my right arm, golfers and tennis elbow. Both dissappeared with the back pain. I have a friend that had carpal tunnel in both wrist at the same time, and I showed him a description of the nerves and tendons, that having both at the same time is most likely tms. |
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lidge
USA
184 Posts |
Posted - 10/27/2007 : 19:28:06
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Toronto Guy-
I know that Sarno firmly believes that insight therapy is the proper one for TMS patients. I recall in one of his books he talks of a woman who had been doing cognitive behaviorial therapy for years with no success re physical symptoms. He then recommended insight therapy and she recovered.
Most psychiatrists have discarded this form in favor of "cognitive behaviorial" so maybe you would have to find a different therapist. It seems to me that if you are still obsessing and thinking negatively
after 10 years of this type of therapy, it just isn't working for you. I think sometimes you can just get comfortable with someone and that makes it difficult to make the break.
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mcone
114 Posts |
Posted - 10/27/2007 : 21:02:01
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quote:
Originally posted by toronto_guy
* * *
Then I got a new project which changed my mood so I was no longer anxious and depressed. The symptoms in my hands completely disappeared after a few weeks so that I had no pain/tingling at all – even after marathon sessions at the computer with no breaks. A year passed with no symptoms in my hands whatsoever. * * *
You are fortunuate in the sense that the association between anxiety/depression and physical symptoms has been demonstrated to you unequivocally. The fact that you could go back to marathon session with no breaks and no pain when the distress abated shows both that smptoms are being mediated psycholgically and that you have the potential to recover again - just as you did repeatedly.
There are plenty of inspiring "RSI" recovery stories in this forum, including:
Redsandro: http://www.tmshelp.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3382
armchairlinquist: http://www.tmshelp.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2366 and
YogaKym: http://www.tmshelp.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3903
Other great recovery stories are these:
http://podolsky.everybody.org/rsi/ and
http://www.conquerrsi.com/
ps I've been challenging my own "RSI" wrist pain this evening, and one of my catchphrases "there is no spoon" seems to be helping me dispel the fear and the pain. |
Edited by - mcone on 10/27/2007 21:08:06 |
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HilaryN
United Kingdom
879 Posts |
Posted - 10/28/2007 : 13:22:33
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quote:
- But after reading “The Mindbody Prescription” and “Healing Back Pain” I did not notice that my symptoms have changed for the better – even a little bit.
Hey, that sounds just like me! Here's my RSI success story:
http://tmshelp.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1322
When you read Sarno's books one does get the impression that one should get better straight away. But in fact he does mention quite a few people who take longer. So don't give up, it's worth persevering.
quote:
- What bothers me most about the TMS treatment approach is that I need to stop doing things that treat the physiological cause of the pain: stretches, take typing breaks, getting massages, etc. to relieve my pain.
I thought you said they didn't help with the pain? So why even bother with them?
Hilary N |
Edited by - HilaryN on 10/28/2007 14:24:56 |
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toronto_guy
Canada
2 Posts |
Posted - 10/28/2007 : 18:13:26
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Thanks to all who replied.
Hey, I just got an idea. Do you think it is plausible that my subconscious flares up my RSI pain so I will obsess about that rather than deal with problems in my job and trying to figure out what my career should be?
I am going to start working through some of the exercises from the Rapid Recovery from Back Pain book. There are good positive thinking exercises in there. |
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armchairlinguist
USA
1397 Posts |
Posted - 10/28/2007 : 23:58:59
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quote:
Do you think it is plausible that my subconscious flares up my RSI pain so I will obsess about that rather than deal with problems in my job and trying to figure out what my career should be?
YES. Job and 'life path' are big stressors. So are family and friends, significant other, activities outside work...anything that is a big concern.
For your, your symptoms seem to relate heavily to your job, so, excellent place to start looking.
BTW, I still physically have trigger points. They only cause pain if activated BY STRESS. :-)
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It's not 100% belief that's required, but 100% commitment. |
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DrGUID
United Kingdom
44 Posts |
Posted - 11/09/2007 : 07:35:37
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My success story is on here somewhere as well. I was on the verge of giving up my career. I took a month off work, switched jobs and read and re-read the Sarno books until I found a passage that hit the raw nerve psychologically speaking. It did take at least 2 months to make some headway with it though.
Try to get away from thinking about your symptoms all the time. I no longer go to a doctor and haven't told occupational health in my new job about things. I still have a bit of pain (especially when using the mouse a lot to do tasks such as photo editing), but it no longer lingers like it used to (I'm usually OK by the time I get home from work now), my non-mouse hand is fully recovered and I'm no longer scared to death by reading other people's RSI horror stories.
Good luck!  |
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skizzik
USA
783 Posts |
Posted - 11/09/2007 : 11:15:56
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quote:
Originally posted by DrGUID
I found a passage that hit the raw nerve psychologically speaking.
What was the passage? |
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Help! My RSI seems to be spiralling downward
