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cliptomaniac
United Kingdom
6 Posts |
 Posted - 10/10/2009 : 08:46:28
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Hi guys
Was told about this site and after reading peoples stories and advise I am findin it very helpful.
My story is very similar to everyone else (physio, drs, acupunctures, misdirection, no one knows) and now I am 100% convinced its TMS.
Problem I have is that everytime i am thinking about TMS and also going through the problems, my hands and fingers actually start playing up. Its almost like if i dont think about it they are ok (Except when i am typing of course) and when i try to do the TMS stuff then it hurts.
Has anyone got any suggestions?
Nice to met you all
:-)
Andrew |
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HilaryN
United Kingdom
879 Posts |
Posted - 10/11/2009 : 06:08:36
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Hi Andrew,
Welcome!
I know other people have experienced similar - in fact some people are unable to spend too much time on this forum because just by reading about other people's symptoms their own symptoms get worse!
Before we learn about TMS we often live in fear of the pain, but more than that, we are in fear that our bodies are damaged, perhaps permanently so. So the first stage for many people is getting past that belief.
Perhaps when you experience the pain you could review the "Daily Reminders" listed on this page:
http://tmswiki.wetpaint.com/page/So+You+Think+You+Might+Have+TMS
or more simply just tell yourself: this pain isn't structural, it's cause is psychological.
The results may not be immediate (it can take a day, a week, a few weeks...), but eventually it does percolate through to your subconscious.
Also, if the pain is too much, then don't spend too much time thinking about TMS if that's what triggers your pain. Just do whatever you can manage each day. (See the final paragraph in the above link.)
Hilary N |
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Hilary
United Kingdom
191 Posts |
Posted - 10/12/2009 : 06:25:47
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Hi there andrew
Another Hilary here!
Welcome to the forum. You'll get lots of support and help here.
The most important thing is believing 100% that you have TMS. That's an important hurdle crossed. I agree with HilaryN that telling yourself the pain is psychological and that there's nothing physically wrong with you is really crucial.
I am just curious to know exactly what you are doing when you say "thinking about TMS and going through the problems". Could you say a bit more about this? |
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Monte
USA
125 Posts |
Posted - 10/12/2009 : 10:43:02
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Hi Andrew,
Actually what you describe is quite common. The distraction strategy in TMS is very real and very powerful. The strategy is serving to keep you away from the real cause. Your pain/symptoms begin to act up when you start reading about and thinking about the real cause - your thoughts, emotions, feelings.
This is really a good sign and you should be excitted about this. It helps to confirm this is tms.
Try communicating back to the disorder. "Thank you for the signal, I know what is going on here and I don't need you (pain/symptom) anymore".
Now ask yourself a think psychological question. "what is going on with me right now, what am I feeling stressed about, what am I feeling or what have I been thinking about" - the important thing is that you acknowledged the pain as a signal, you communicated back to it and now you are treating the cause by genuinely thinking psychological.
Hope this helps. It works!
Monte Hueftle
www.runningpain.com
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pandamonium
United Kingdom
202 Posts |
Posted - 10/12/2009 : 11:10:04
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Hi cliptomaniac, welcome :)
so are you saying you're thinking about TMS when not experiencing any symptoms? If so, maybe wait till the symptoms start, and then follow the advice given by Monte. Get into the habit of that instead of thinking about the pain, tell yourself there is nothing structurally wrong, and that will be a good start for you.
Panda
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A beginner's guide to psychology: If it's not your mum's fault.... it's your dad's... |
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Gibbon
United Kingdom
138 Posts |
Posted - 10/12/2009 : 11:34:38
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hiya Andrew,
maybe you've read the thread i started a couple of weeks ago. I've suffered from RSI for 3 years, and have seen massive improvements in the past 3 weeks after embracing Dr Sarno's teaching. The big thing for me has been addressing the fear - my heart was absolutely pounding the first time i sat down to try typing without Dragon voice recognition.....
When you say you're 100% convinced you have TMS, are you really? I only ask because after going swimming for the first time in over a year, i had some slow onset pain in both elbows. I emailed Georgie Oldfield to ask if i should go swimming again, and in her email she included the reply "....because there's nothing physically wrong with you." Which really quite annoyed me! And then i stopped and thought about it - why was i getting annoyed? I supposedly believed it too! Part of me was obviously still buying into the physical explanation - and almost getting defensive about the notion of a non-physical explanation....which is not surprising given that that is exactly what i've been conditioned towards over the past three years. It's a hard mentality to really break out of.... |
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forestfortrees
393 Posts |
Posted - 10/12/2009 : 16:56:37
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quote:
Originally posted by cliptomaniac
everytime i am thinking about TMS and also going through the problems, my hands and fingers actually start playing up. Its almost like if i dont think about it they are ok (Except when i am typing of course) and when i try to do the TMS stuff then it hurts.
To me this seems normal and perhaps even encouraging. It almost seems like as soon as someone starts realizing that their TMS is really just TMS, their unconscious starts freaking out. All of a sudden, new symptoms start popping up (not with you, but with other people) and other strange phenomena start occurring. If that's what's happening with you, you just need to recognize it for what it is and not be afraid of it.
When I increase my activity levels, sometimes symptoms return because I'm so conditioned to expect pain when I do those activities. What I've learned is that the crucial thing for me is to keep a level head and just plow through. I remind myself that the previous times this has happened, the symptoms ramped up and then right back down, even though I kept on doing the activity that supposedly was causing them. I've only been at this for 10 months, but it's worked every time for me. I just reflect back on my favorite Dr. Sopher quote: "You are not fragile!"
When I recovered from my TMS 10 months ago, I was so elated that I decided to start a wiki about TMS. It's been growing very rapidly and now we are going to create an official 501(c)(3) charity to back it. Anyway, since RSI people have been important in building it up (perhaps because of their computer skills), we have a terrific page of RSI success stories:
http://tmswiki.wetpaint.com/page/Repetitive+Strain+Injuries+-+RSI
Check it out if you need some encouragement...
Forest
tmswiki.org |
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cliptomaniac
United Kingdom
6 Posts |
Posted - 10/14/2009 : 15:04:39
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Thanks for all your replies. Very useful.
What I meant by this was my hands maybe fine, then they start to hurt and I think about TMS and they seem to get worse. However, since I wrote this I am seeing slight improvements.
Spot on forestfortrees.
How often do you guys think about it or tell yourself its emotional etc? |
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Monte
USA
125 Posts |
Posted - 10/15/2009 : 07:30:44
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Andrew,
in response to: "How often do you guys think about it or tell yourself its emotional etc?"
When you really accept this disorder and begin practicing Think Psychological don't be suprised if you catch yourself one hundred times a day or more!
And that is a good thing...the more you are aware that you are focusing on pain or symptoms and how is this going to be fixed, the more often you can begin to Think Psychological. "Thank you for the signal, I know what is going on here and I don't need your distraction any longer, I am now choosing to treat the cause" -- now get the heck out of there and ask yourself a psychological question or redirect into a more open, allowing, flexible or balanced thought, or just become mindful or present in whatever it is you are doing.
The key is that you have begun to break the strategy and you are beginning to address the cause. The more this happens, the better in the beginning.
Monte Hueftle |
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shamrock62081
USA
14 Posts |
Posted - 10/15/2009 : 13:09:48
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| For many, especially myself, believing 100% that there is nothing phyically wrong and that it is TMS is a real struggle. I have been following Dr. Sarno's methods with the help of this forum for about 6 weeks now and have hope, it does get better, it just takes patience and practice. I know I haven't completely embraced 100% that there is nothing physically wrong with me because when I am not distracted by work/chores/life in general I begin to have pain which leads to thoughts of "what if it isn't TMS and is the herniated disk and stenosis". You just have to keep telling yourself there is nothing wrong with you and do what you want to do. Don't let the pain stop you. Just believe that it takes time and practice. I keep a little card of the daily reminders in my pocket to look at whenever I have these thoughts, and it seems to help a lot. |
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MatthewNJ
USA
691 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2009 : 13:20:14
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Clipto,
You are not alone. I have the same issue frequently and I work with a number of TMS groups and I am very active with the tmswiki.
I even have a name for it. I call it "Sympathetic TMS". Although I have never had RSI, I have had just about every other TMS equivilant that exists. I have been down Dr. Sarnos' road. I am a patient of his. If your bored and have 20 minutes, read my success story on the wiki : http://tmswiki.wetpaint.com/account/matthewnj . I take a slightly different approach today. I have been traveling the TMS journey since 2003. I am doing very well now, but the road has been rocky. I try to stay "in the moment" and be aware of my somatic experience at all times. I am not always succesful, but this approach gives me a very early warning that something is going on. Then I can stop, take some slow deep breaths and let go of the discomfort. Also, I am very in touch with the little kid in me. He can frequently give me clues as to why a symptom has started.
MAtthew
The difficult we do right away, the impossible just takes a little longer. |
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Newbie, RSI and Heeeeelp :-)
