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Singer_Artist
USA
1516 Posts |
 Posted - 03/20/2008 : 23:53:29
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Hi All,
It's been a while.. I've had my share of TMS aches and pains since another accident last August.. Shortly after returning to Vegas from NY, I had a wrist and knee attack.. I was in NY/NJ for a funeral and stayed on for a month seeing friends/family, looking for singing work and checking out galleries to exhibit my paintings..
Within one week of being back in Vegas my wrists got really bad after spending an afternoon on the computer.. (alot of clicking the mouse and typing) Now it hurts to paint or play the piano when I teach voice.. My fingers will swell up intermittently and I sometimes have pain in certain fingers and a little in the inside of the right forearm.. Occasionally the wrist pain gets very sharp for a second, other times it's a dull ache.. I'm still driving and refuse so far to wear any splints or braces, I really don't want to go through this again.. I may have to cancel four vocal/piano students tomorrow, if it still hurts like this..
Internally the same dilemma of moving back East continues.. Leaving friends here and potentially dragging my 12 year old Basset Hound across the country.. She is quite comfortable here, with my surrogate brother and other roommate.. But, she is most attached to me, and it feels like abandoning my child if I leave her here.. It is alot more expensive to find housing with a dog, and I am on a tight budget.. Hence, the pain returns and is getting worse.. Thanks for listening, any words of wisdom would be appreciated.. My friends have to type for me, so forgive any delays in writing back..
God Bless,
Karen |
Edited by - Singer_Artist on 03/21/2008 00:15:27 |
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stanfr
USA
268 Posts |
Posted - 03/21/2008 : 07:25:54
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Hi Karen:
I think you have to make some reasoned decisions and then live with them, stop second guessing yourself since that's the cause of the anxiety and hence obviously the pain as well. I cant recall your whole 'move east' dilemma but i know i wouldn't 'abandon my child' either, so if you have to move, take the hound too and figure out a way to make it work. I'm sure things will work out, and obviously you stand a much better chance if you stop worrying about whether they will or not.
Incidentally, i hate to sound like the broken record of numerous past replies by others in this forum, but just look at your own words: "my wrists got really bad after spending an afternoon on the computer" No, and you know this is not the case! Your wrists got bad because of the anxiety you mention in your second paragraph--you even acknowlege this by saying "Hence..." So, stop feeding the problem by giving credit to your doubts. Even just writing things like the statement i quoted above has the affect of programming your mind to expect pain. You have to stop talking about it that way. You'll be fine once you stop dwelling on it. |
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Singer_Artist
USA
1516 Posts |
Posted - 03/21/2008 : 07:57:36
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| Thank you, Stan.. I guess I am also concerned because my hands are my livelihood.. ie. painting and piano.. I also type alot networking to sell my art.. But I realize I am extremely anxious living in almost a Catch-22.. Not 100% sure bringing my Basset is the best thing for her, as I will be out alot performing, and she will be alone, unless I find some nice neighbors.. |
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Dave
USA
1864 Posts |
Posted - 03/21/2008 : 08:10:16
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Welcome back!
It is really great that you are connecting the pain with emotional issues. Clearly you have made great strides.
If you continue to do this the pain should fade on its own. Try your best to push through and not focus on the pain, or to consider any physical remedies. Take some ibuprofen if you need it. But if you start again down the physical path, the brain will "smell blood" and ratchet up the symptoms in another attempt to grab your attention. Don't let it win! |
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alexis
USA
596 Posts |
Posted - 03/21/2008 : 09:53:06
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Hi Karen,
I think I may have said this before, so forgive me if I'm repeating myself. But I do think you need to start looking elsewhere for help. You have appear to have had a limited success with this approach. While I disagreed with hillbilly's assessment that distraction syndrome is non-existent, I agree that straight forward anxiety approaches and treatments are a reasonable next step when TMS/distraction syndrome treatment has been as unsuccessful as it appears to have been for you.
I'm not saying you haven't achieved a lot. You have definitely shed the tendency you had to infantilize yourself, and I hope that your less frequent posts indicate at least in part an improvement in symptoms. Your recent posts show not only maturity and clarity, but most importantly brevity and perspective.
For you, however, it seems that tackling the TMS style cause has achieved only partial success. Either because you can't go further or because it is not the whole story for you. I do believe you need to approach things at another level, because honestly, no one should live like you have at so many times.
If you have already exhausted the anxiety path as well, there are a number of other avenues to pursue, all of which you, with a background in psychology, should be aware of even if you have not yet applied them to yourself. Can I assume you've done a full personality disorder panel?
I well recall the descriptions of your many varied symptoms, so I won't even recommend physical approaches. I think those of us familiar with your history can rule the physical out for all but possibly a very isolated subset of your experience.
I know those who have responded so far were around for Karen's history, so I won't argue with your choice to post classic TMS-type recommendations, even if I disagree at this point. But please anyone else who wants to reply I recommmend reading a significant number of past posts first in order to get some history.
Alexis |
Edited by - alexis on 03/21/2008 09:54:42 |
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Dave
USA
1864 Posts |
Posted - 03/21/2008 : 10:23:46
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quote:
Originally posted by alexis
Hi Karen,
I think I may have said this before, so forgive me if I'm repeating myself. But I do think you need to start looking elsewhere for help. You have appear to have had a limited success with this approach.
I completely disagree. Just look at the history of her participation in this site.
It is not uncommon for TMS to flare up when emotional conflicts surface due to life changes. In this case Karen immediately identified the connection between her new wrist pain and these life changes. This is tremendous progress from where she began.
If you stay the course, take a long term view, and "float" through episodes, those flare-ups will be shorter in duration and occur less frequently.
It is too easy to say the approach is not working when symptoms return. It is much harder to keep the faith despite those flare-ups. Those who do have a better chance at long-term success. |
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alexis
USA
596 Posts |
Posted - 03/21/2008 : 10:45:47
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quote:
Originally posted by Dave
It is not uncommon for TMS to flare up when emotional conflicts surface due to life changes...If you stay the course, take a long term view, and "float" through episodes, those flare-ups will be shorter in duration and occur less frequently.
I agree. That's what successful TMS recovery is. But I don't take it as given that either all people are capable of this full recovery or that all people who gain some success are classic cases of TMS. TMS methodology may be the "penicillin" for some chronic pain, but even when penicillin is the best medication for an infection, some are still allergic and will never be able to take it. And some may have an infection for which penicillin is only partially effective, and for which a different or combined therapy is worth a try.
I think we just have different interpretations of Karen's particular case. I would like to be wrong and see her truly better through whatever is the fastest and most effective approach available.
quote:
Originally posted by Dave
It is too easy to say the approach is not working when symptoms return. It is much harder to keep the faith despite those flare-ups. Those who do have a better chance at long-term success.
Agreed again. I certainly had some good flare-ups in the early stages, and know some will have them for life. Again, this is a very specific case and I probably was negligent not to be clearer on that -- but I don't want to rehash Karen's whole history here. Certainly no one else should apply my specific suggestions to Karen to their own case.
I would put this in the respectfully disagree category. I genuinely accept that you may be right. But if I had to put my money on the best possibility for future success for Karen, it would be growing onward from a TMS-centric approach and moving far away from any reliance on this board.
[Aside: I had an odd experience posting this in which a) initial attempt to post failed, b) second attempt appeared to succeed, c) I made edits to the successful post that succeeded and then d) post reverted later to original "failed" version. Just a note in case anyone experience the same problem which I've never experience here or elsewhere myself.] |
Edited by - alexis on 03/21/2008 12:00:06 |
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Singer_Artist
USA
1516 Posts |
Posted - 03/21/2008 : 11:42:55
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Thanks for having faith in me, Dave.. |
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retainer
USA
20 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2008 : 23:37:08
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My thoughts on my wrist pain. I am an orthodontic lab tech. I bend
wire all day to fit people's teeth. I left my first, wonderful boss to work for a terrible boss when I moved out of state. My wrist started hurting. That was 1978. I wore a wrist guard at night and a lighter elastic one all day while working.
About two years ago I read Dr. Sarno's books. Right then and there I stopped wearing all supports. All day I would tell my wrist that "I had been exercising my wrist since 1978. That I had the strongest healthest wrists in town. My wrists were pain free and felt great." Within days my wrist pain was gone to never return. The power of the mind is a wonderful thing. Now I just wish I could do the same thing with my right heel pain! My left heel pain stopped, then moved to the right!  Good luck!
"It's all up to me!" |
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swmr1
USA
118 Posts |
Posted - 04/23/2008 : 12:00:54
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Singer-Artist--
The title of your thread betrays your warped way of viewing all of this. What, exactly, is a "wrist attack"? As if your wrists are these monstrous entities that are out to get you when you anger them in the least?
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Wrist attack again
