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Gaspacho
Mexico
2 Posts |
 Posted - 07/19/2016 : 10:38:57
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I've had episodes of upper back and shoulder TMS over most of my adult life. I'm a 54 year old male.
My last major episode was in 2002-2003, when I foolishly submitted to an MRI followed by botox injections. The extreme pain I experienced after the botox injections was my bottom. Within a few weeks I found Dr. Sarno's second book. I was pain free in a few weeks.
My last mid-level episode was about five years ago, with pain in the shoulders and upper back that interfered with exercising. It passed with the knowledge I had gained from my TMS literature.
But .... One month ago, I woke up with severe pain in my esophagus when swallowing. It got worse over several days. I didn't at first think of TMS, because of the new location and some of my eating habits. A gastro specialist scheduled a Barium Swallow that showed nothing. This pain passed later in the week, as I began to realize it might be a TMS equivalent.
Then, a few days later I woke up with extreme pain in my upper back. Over the next several days, I had three massages that only seemed to push the pain from my upper to middle back, a location I very rarely have problems with. The pain was very bad one night, especially when I went to bed. I woke up unable to get out of bed without extreme (9.0) pain.
By the time my girlfriend took me to the hospital for a pain shot, I was barely able to walk and get in and out of the car.
The injection for pain lasted about a day, but then the pain came back stronger. It was centered in my middle back, which was new for me. Exactly a week after the pain first appeared in my back (after the esophagus had cleared), I was desperate. I was beginning to realize both were TMS related, but I was dreading months of recovery.
At that point I took out my "Purple Notebook" I had assembled from the 2002-2003 episodes. It's full of insights into why I'm a strong candidate for TMS, lists of my personality traits, memories throughout my life, and a general battle plan to deal with TMS.
The next day, the pain had decreased a little. I then began to get back into the books - I have Dr. Sarno's last 3 books. In his latest book, I read the contribution by Dr. Sopher that brought me to this Forum.
The bottom line is that within a week of re-reading Dr. Sarno's second book, "Healing Back Pain," most of the pain was gone. I re-started exercising. I then read Dr. Sarno's latest book, "The Divided Mind," for the first time over the last two weeks or so.
I'm now with only a slight TMS remnant in the left side of my neck. But I've started a "Couch to 5K" regimen and I'm back lifting weights.
I think I've concluded that TMS hits me when "everything seems to be going perfect." I think it's designed to prevent me from making needed changes in my life. Changes that can be painful and bring up old memories and feelings.
Oh yeah, I'm back in therapy, too! |
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Gaspacho
Mexico
2 Posts |
Posted - 08/04/2016 : 15:55:15
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Well, it turns out that, as one would expect, my TMS has continued to jump around my body.
The remnants of the "pinched nerve" in my neck stopped shortly after I posted above. Then I started getting canker sores on the sides of my tongue! That's a new, weird one. I've had problems with canker sores in my mouth all my life, but canker sores on the lower sides of my tongue was new.
I realize they come when your defense mechanism is down or when you're stressed out. But I've figured out how to control them in my mouth (with Listerine just as they begin to start), so I guess my TMS had to find a new location for the sores. In an area that doesn't respond as well to Listerine-type products. I'm now using an Iodine based mouth wash and it seems to help a little.
But it's very clear that when these sores on my tongue begin to leave, I'll immediately get pain in my upper back, left side of left knee, right hip, etc. I just try to laugh and recognize it for what it is. None of these moving pains approach in level the pain in my middle back I described in the earlier post. We're talking 3.5 max, on the 10 point scale.
The bottom line is, although I'm back in therapy with a psychologist and I'm doing the reading, I need to stay very vigilent when it comes to TMS. Or at least aware. Especially in my current situation.
In the post above I mentioned I think TMS hits me "when everything seems to be going great." By that I meant I've beaten back whatever current crisis is affecting me, so I'm ready to make the bigger changes I want in my life. That's when it hits.
I'm reading for the first time a book I bought a couple years ago: "The Great Pain Deception," by Steven Ray Ozanich. He's a strong follower of Dr. Sarno's theory on TMS and he relates his excruciating journey. But on the point I mentioned above, he writes:
"Timing of TMS symptoms. Phase 4: After the Storm TMS: Pain following a period of high tension levels - The Storm after the Calm - This is the most common manifestation of TMS and follows periods of high tension, personal loss, or goal-achievement. This timing of TMS waits until everything has calmed down. The stressful period is over - the soldier has been removed from the battlefield. During the downtime (after prolonged periods of stress) this expression of TMS reveals the emotions that had been pushed aside, emotions that were previously compartmentalized into the body in order to persevere through the stressful period. Emotions lie in wait for opportune moments, which downtime provides." p. 19-20
That's what I meant. And this is why I know that, after I took care of a number of crises over the last two years, I need to stay vigilent now as I take time to make changes.
(maybe I should post this on the General Forum? But as someone notes today, there doesn't seem to be much activity lately) |
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Different TMS Symptoms After Five Years - 95% Gone
