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sagelady
USA
61 Posts |
 Posted - 04/05/2008 : 16:23:37
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overall I have been doing alot better. Numbness is still threre in my heels and occational in my baby toes. but nothing like it was pre-TMS treatment. I am now thinking psychological rather than physical when the symptoms occur. And I usually notice there is a psychological component. IE: stressful day, anxiety, ruminating. You get the idea.
I have been starting to increase my activity. I have been walking a few miles every day. With no increase in numbness or back pain. So today I decided to up the activity a bit. Went out to do some spring clean up in the yard. Was alittle concerned as I gathered my tools to do this. Hoping this wouldn't cause numbness, as I have been doing so much better. Went to the store, bought fertilizer etc... Saw a kneeling pad. Thought maybe this would be a good idea, so I wasn't doing so much bending in the flower beds. Came home started working. Noticed some numbness. Con't working, continued numbness. This lead to thoughts maybe this is structural. Got alittle fearful. Finished the work though. Numbness started to subside about an hour after I finished.And was totally gone within a couple of hours.
So my questions are these:
1) have others had trouble when starting to increase activities they were fearful of.
2) How do i handle this the next time. As now I am a little gun shy to do this again.
Ant thoughts or others that have experienced
this would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Sage
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swmr1
USA
118 Posts |
Posted - 04/06/2008 : 07:57:35
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| I find it helpful to remember that the human body is built to be strong. Things heal. People through history have done far more physical labor than we do today. Also, I think pushing through it and seeing that nothing worse happened to you is a big victory. You may have experienced some increased numbness while gardening but it went away! YOU WON! That's one of the best parts of challenging your pain. You often come out on the other side with nothing you haven't experienced before (and sometimes less pain than when you were babying things). That's good indicator that your pain is nothing to be afraid of, IMHO. |
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swmr1
USA
118 Posts |
Posted - 04/06/2008 : 08:19:18
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Let me add (after reading about your situation a bit more) that I had piriformis pain for 6+ years that (at times) included some numbness. I did the chiro, PT, MRI, all that stuff. All helped for a little while then problem would return. I thought surely it was all my athletic activity that was causing the problem. Then, it started to occur to me that my problem had to be somewhat psychological since my pain was so inconsistent. I'd train one day and have pain. I'd rest another and have pain. Then I'd train and the pain would go away. Or I'd rest and the pain would go away. It never made any sense. And the Dr.'s could only find those vague "slightly bulging disk" issues (except for the chiro that acted like my back was the back of an old, old woman--not into chiro anymore).
I read Sarno and the pain has been gone 95% of the time for almost a year. When I do have a twinge of pain while exercising or even in the evening at rest I refuse to panic and do my best to ignore it. I go about my activities as normal. That seems to take care of things. Not panicking prematurely is a key for me. I have decided to wait for the real injury to occur before obsessing about it and letting it make me panic. I have issues with anticipating injury and that's a big part of my problem. Pushing through and telling my body it is going to have to work a lot harder to sideline me has been very effective thus far... |
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Baseball65
USA
734 Posts |
Posted - 04/06/2008 : 10:53:58
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You are right on time.
I try to not look at things like kneeling pads.
Everytime I 'moved up' my activity level I did it alone, without distractions like company, or the radio. I kept an interior running dialogue... in fact, this is probably the best time to 'talk to your head'
Follow your thoughts. Watch them like an outside observer.
Am I afraid?
Of what ?
Why?
What am I conditioned to believe?
Where did I get that Idea?...is it mine, or did I just inherit it from the general population?
All of us went through that and still occasionally do some refresher sessions.
Expect to succeed and plan out your discussions with yourself.
---
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armchairlinguist
USA
1397 Posts |
Posted - 04/06/2008 : 22:22:29
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It's pretty common to have twinges as you try new activities. Just the brain trying to act up, plus condititoning. If you just keep at it and use some quick thoughts (I'm fine, this is just conditioning, etc) it shouldn't be much of an obstacle.
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It's not 100% belief that's required, but 100% commitment. |
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sagelady
USA
61 Posts |
Posted - 04/08/2008 : 02:34:52
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On Sunay I did alittle more ouside work. Concentrating on all your input. Seemed to be better . Not near as much numbness.
Obviously I still have work to do. But what a great sounding board, a place I can count on for advice and positive input.
Thanks all,
Sage
PS I'll apply this next weekend, as I take on more spring clean up. |
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jdshetterly
USA
9 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2008 : 11:18:05
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| The fact that your numbness went away after your activity is a great sign. I experience the same thing. This proves it isn't physical and also proves that fear has some control, but is easing off. Baseball's techniques are similar to mine in that you keep playing thoughts in your head that it's just TMS and you CAN'T possibly injure or hurt yourself, no matter how much pain. Be at peace with the fact that if your numbness increases or frustrates you, back off, stop, and try to shift your thoughts to the psychological issues bothering you. Try the physical work later on, or later that week. Don't give up. Sounds like you are on the backside of the journey and getting control over it. Good job! |
Edited by - jdshetterly on 04/20/2008 11:19:10 |
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increased symptoms with increased activity
