| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
Aussie
Australia
87 Posts |
 Posted - 02/19/2012 : 00:04:01
|
| I'll start this off by saying although im in the early phase of learning/understanding TMS i have reasonable understanding of it and am sure my chronic back pain is TMS pain. I am yet to have any significant pain reduction, Although the only thing iv'e done so far is read 3 Sarno books without yet trying any sort of treatment plan. My reasoning for this was as there are no doctors to diagnose me in Australia i have been wanting to 100% believe i have TMS so i have the best chance in getting over the syndrome. From reading Sarno he clearly states one must truly believe in the TMS diagnosis if they are to expect any sort of relief. I have so many questions but would like to share my family's experience with back surgery first. My mother divorced my father when she was 38. She had suffered from mild intermitent back pain since giving birth to me 8 years earlier, At age 40 while raising 2 children and now paying a mortgage with no financial help from my father at all she developed crippling sciatica and back pain to the point she could no longer walk. This massive pain came on right at the exact time she was faced with all this enormous stress and pressure and was only barely keeping up the payments on our house. She was hospitalised and diagnosed with a herniated disc at L5/S1. Conservative treatment did nothing so she ended up have a microdiscectomy after a few months of putting up with the pain. She was home in a week and back at work in 4. She to this day has never had any back pain or restriction whatsoever with her back. It has been 25 years since her surgery. She has also not developed any other pain syndromes since either. Next up was my sister, A super fit 33 year old who developed sciatica after running a 42km marathon. 12 months of PT and she was getting way worse, Diagnosed with L5/S1 herniation. Had to give up all sports and exercise and was miserable. Had surgery 2 years ago on a herniated disc and had a slow recovery of around 6 months but is now 100% for 2 years. She just finished a marathon of 42 km's and got the 5th fastest time a female has ever ran in the event. My point of telling their stories is NOT to discredit TMS in any way. I have severe chronic back pain with a MRI diagnosed minor disc bulge that specialists here have said could not be causing the pain. I also have suffered from a multitude of other TMS symptoms and have battled on/off with anxiety for the last few years. However i find it hard to get the physical stuff out of my head and believe all disc stuff is TMS when there are some questionable parts of the TMS theory such as when the pathology matches the pain/neurological symptoms. If herniated discs are in contact with a nerve does that now mean it's not TMS? It really is a big grey area and one you see completely disregarded time and time again by people who are big TMS believers. The most obvious proof is when a dog is limping around in pain and a herniated disc is discovered on MRI. I have seen this with my own eyes and it totally proves that discs can cause pain in an animal that obviously doesn't have TMS. I hope people dont take this as an attack on TMS theory cause thats the last thing im doing. Im simply putting some of the grey area's out there for discussion in hope we can get some input from some of the really knowledgeable TMSR's (and i know your out there!) I guess i also wanted to highlight that apart from all the absolute nightmare stories out there some people get life saving relief through surgery from crippling back pain and it's hard to believe that my mother has been experiencing a 25 year placebo! I do believe that fusions are another story though and with the incredibly low success rate you would have to be so desperate to even consider one. I wish i could 100% believe i have TMS and beat this horrible pain, Part of me is even considering travelling overseas to get a diagnosis once and for all from a TMS doc. Thanks for listening everyone and please understand i just wanted to talk my doubts out loud, Not discredit TMS as i know hundreds of thousands of people have found relief using this approach and i really hope i can be one of them soon! |
|
|
bryan3000
USA
513 Posts |
Posted - 02/19/2012 : 01:01:26
|
I can't speak for dogs, but I know that scores of doctors have discredited the direct connection between bulging discs and back pain. What kind of injury wouldn't heal over 25 years? I could literally walk into my kitchen, chop a finger off and as long as I stemmed the bleeding, would be pain free in a relatively short period of time. (outside of possible phantom limb pain, which is mental)
Why would the brain continue to send the same pain signals for years?
The purpose of pain is to alert the mind. Why would the mind need to be alerted for years, even if there was a "bulge."
If bulging discs cause pain, how come surgery never works? Why do repeated studies show the same abnormalities in those without pain?
Why do antidepressants and sedatives seem to give people with chronic pain relief?
Dr. Sarno explains a pinched to cause numbness, not stabbing or dull pain. (Think of a limb falling asleep) Why would a pinched nerve cause such massive pain?
How would 200k years of evolution and walking upright have led to such fragile, frail support structure for the middle of our bodies?
From an evolutionary standpoint, what purpose could stabbing, random back pain have served and why would this trait have survived with the fittest?
Why has back pain skyrocketed into a mainstream health problem in the past couple of generations? Our discs went suddenly bad?
---
I'm sorry for your pain. We all are. Could there be a physical cause? It's possible. Doctors don't know. They're guessing. Same docs that did cigarette ads 60 years ago.
If they truly knew, they would be able to address it. They don't, so they can't.
I guess it's like being in a desert and knowing there is water somewhere. It's really up to you to decide when you've run in one direction long enough, and it's time to start looking elsewhere.
Thoughts and prayers to you.
_____________________________
-1/2010 - Developed chronic sinus problems. ENTs/Docs can't find anything
-5/29/2010 - Doc gives cocktail of allergy meds which induces first ever panic attack/anxiety.
-7/16/2010 - Anxiety stays/worsens - put on Xanax
2/1/2011 - Began Xanax taper - Withdrawal starts - full body chaos
-6/11/2011 - Last dose of Xanax. Physical/emotional chaos continues for several months.
-Now: Taking it day by day, looking for real answers and ways to heal myself without medical poison. |
 |
|
|
Aussie
Australia
87 Posts |
Posted - 02/19/2012 : 01:44:06
|
| Thanks for your reply. I totally agree the current back pain epidemic is TMS related. I just wanted to highlight what my family experienced. By the way even though my mother has had no back pain in 25 years after surgery i got her to read healing back pain so i can discuss TMS with her. She said she definitely would have tried the TMS theory before surgery and considers it a pretty big coincidence that her massive pain syndrome started during the most stressful and hard time of her life. She is however really impressed with what back surgery did to get her out of the situation she was in. Australia is completely backwards to TMS unfortunately and for people in unbearable pain the surgeons knife is the only place to turn. I really hope some more TMS trained doc's start becoming available for people outside the US and UK. |
|
|
|
tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 02/19/2012 : 04:51:52
|
Dr. Sarno says surgery is the best placebo we have today. Sorry to hear about your pain, keep reading the books, the answers are all in them. Stay physically active for half an hour a day, any way you can, despite nocebos and current popular opinion.
==================================================
DR. SARNO'S 12 DAILY REMINDERS:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0dKBFwGR0g
TAKE THE HOLMES-RAHE STRESS TEST
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holmes_and_Rahe_stress_scale
Some of my favorite excerpts from _THE DIVIDED MIND_ :
http://www.tmshelp.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2605
==================================================
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." Jiddu Krishnamurti
"Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional." Author Unknown
"Happy People Are Happy Putters." Frank Nobilo, Golf Analyst
"Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint." Mark Twain and Balto
======================================================
TMS PRACTITIONERS:
John Sarno, MD
400 E 34th St, New York, NY 10016
(212) 263-6035
Here's the TMS practitioners list from the TMS Help Forum:
http://www.tmshelp.com/links.htm
Here's a list of TMS practitioners from the TMS Wiki:
http://tmswiki.org/page/Find+a+TMS+Doctor+or+Therapist
Here's a map of TMS practitioners from the old Tarpit Yoga site, (click on the map by state for listings).:
http://www.tarpityoga.com/2007_08_01_archive.html |
|
|
|
bryan3000
USA
513 Posts |
Posted - 02/19/2012 : 10:49:42
|
I forgot to mention it, but Tom didn't... almos all surgeries seem to have a small period of time where tr patient feels better. Some may last permanently. Why? Sarno says placebo. He also says the pain will find its way back somewhere else if the mind is convinced that area of the body is "fixed.".
My dad had back surgery in his 20s. For the usual year or so of relief. Has been in on and off back pain since. Sometimes severe. He retired early. He's extremely stubborn though. He'd literally rather die in severe pain than have his way of thinking challenged.
A doctor convinced him when he was 20 that a bulging disc caused his pain and nothing on earth will change his mind.
_____________________________
-1/2010 - Developed chronic sinus problems. ENTs/Docs can't find anything
-5/29/2010 - Doc gives cocktail of allergy meds which induces first ever panic attack/anxiety.
-7/16/2010 - Anxiety stays/worsens - put on Xanax
2/1/2011 - Began Xanax taper - Withdrawal starts - full body chaos
-6/11/2011 - Last dose of Xanax. Physical/emotional chaos continues for several months.
-Now: Taking it day by day, looking for real answers and ways to heal myself without medical poison. |
|
|
|
bryan3000
USA
513 Posts |
Posted - 02/19/2012 : 10:53:16
|
Also re surgery, many here believe TMS is solely about symptom fear. (I believe that is a huge part of it but that it is multidimensional. )
There's an argument to be made that a surgery could totally remove fear for some people... sending them out into life to continue normal activities. This of course is exactly what doctor Sarno suggests to overcome TMS.
_____________________________
-1/2010 - Developed chronic sinus problems. ENTs/Docs can't find anything
-5/29/2010 - Doc gives cocktail of allergy meds which induces first ever panic attack/anxiety.
-7/16/2010 - Anxiety stays/worsens - put on Xanax
2/1/2011 - Began Xanax taper - Withdrawal starts - full body chaos
-6/11/2011 - Last dose of Xanax. Physical/emotional chaos continues for several months.
-Now: Taking it day by day, looking for real answers and ways to heal myself without medical poison. |
|
|
|
Aussie
Australia
87 Posts |
Posted - 02/19/2012 : 14:24:00
|
| I agree surgery would act as an incredibly powerful placebo for many people that go under the knife. I think for me the fear i have about causing increased pain is what i need to overcome. I am still very active and exercise weekly, although i have had to stop running. Swimming and yoga are fine. I will keep working on my TMS and am confident i'll get some relief soon. |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
Successful back surgery??
