1. Alan has completed the new Pain Recovery Program. To read or share it, use this updated link: https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/painrecovery/
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I dont know what to do anymore..

Discussion in 'Support Subforum' started by Christian95, Oct 12, 2013.

  1. Christian95

    Christian95 Peer Supporter

    Hello.
    I am 18 years old, and i had low back pain since feburary this year, so 7 - 8 months now, and im really tired of it, it has been a terrible year beacuse of that, i have been MRI scanned and it showed a "small bulging disc" or herniated disc, im not sure, but a small one, so i was sent to psysical therapy, and it didnt help, then i found out about TMS and i would say that today im 100 % sure that my pain is beacuse of TMS, i started the educational program here on the site, and i was pain free for a week, but then it started again and now im on the edge of giving up.. i no longer only have low back pain, but also the rest of the back, and neck pain. I want to buy some of Dr. Sarnos books but beacuse im exchange student in 3 months i need to wait untill i get home.

    Personality traits.. im not really a perfectionist, but i am definitely a goodist, a legalist, a "stoic" i have extremly much fear for everything, and i have social anxiety and health anxiety, i also have low self-esteem, i also match the "Dependency" so life is just GREAT!
    someone help :s
     
  2. Stella

    Stella Well known member

    Hi Christian,
    Celebrate..this increase in pain is very normal. Your mind is trying to distract you with more pain from investigating all these deep emotions. So you were pain free for a week then the pain moved to multiple other locations. Yeah.. you have/TMS. The pain is benighn but scarey I inow.

    I never thought I was a perfectionist. I saw other peoples very clean houses thinking i am not a perefectionist because that is not important to me. But I am selective about my perfectionism. I pick and choose what I will try to be perfect in...

    Keep working the program... this is an amazing journey. Talk to your mind "I am doing this no matter what. You can't stop me now".
     
  3. nancy

    nancy Well known member

     
  4. nancy

    nancy Well known member

    Stella is leading you in the right direction. Try to relax and meditate if you are able. I have had some special
    help and have seen a change in just a few days!
     
  5. Eric "Herbie" Watson

    Eric "Herbie" Watson Beloved Grand Eagle

    Yea Christian95 you need stay with the program now
    as Stella said when the pain intensifies its because you are on the right track.

    You have the same issues that most all Tms'ers have-
    So id go back to the beginning of the SEP and start over if you took off some time
    http://www.tmswiki.org/ppd/Structured_Educational_Program
    and Remember Alan Gordon's Program will help you with the fear and health anxiety too.
    http://www.tmswiki.org/ppd/TMS_Recovery_Program

    Do both these programs and let us know how things are going in a couple of weeks
    You don't need any time limits though, so take your time and really learn what's really going on.

    Its all emotional conflict whether it be conscious or unconscious.
    The trick of tms is to get you to think structural so remember to always think psychological.
    Which means- if I have a pain, then I think about what is bothering me emotionally.
    The programs will help you here
    Good luck.
     
  6. Christian95

    Christian95 Peer Supporter

    Thank you so much for your answer every one of you.. it always helps to get answer from someone.
    My back pain are actually better, but still there a little, but the neck pain is really bad.. but im just glad not to have so much back pain, im trying to think psychological and not physical. Thanks again.
     
    Eric "Herbie" Watson likes this.
  7. Walt Oleksy (RIP 2021)

    Walt Oleksy (RIP 2021) Beloved Grand Eagle

    Pain moving from one place to another such as yours from the back to the neck is typical of TMS.
    It means your unconscious mind has gotten the message that you know one or more repressed emotions
    are causing your pain, so it shifts the pain around.

    Steve Ozanich writes about it in chapter 10 of his TMS book The Great Pain Deception and calls it "The Symptom Imperative
    Phenomenon." That's a mouthful but it just means what I just wrote above. There will be a call-in discussion about it on TMSWiki
    next Tuesday night. I posted a notice about it tonight in the general forum.
     
  8. Walt Oleksy (RIP 2021)

    Walt Oleksy (RIP 2021) Beloved Grand Eagle

    This Tuesday, October 22, the call-in discussion group will be discussing Chapter 10 (The Symptom Imperative Phenomenon) in Steve Ozanich's book The Great Pain Deception starting at 9 pm Eastern Time. It lasts an hour, sometimes a little longer. Phone lines will open half an hour early so you can talk to hosts and early callers. Here's how to join the discussion (for detailed instructions, visit http://go.tmswiki.org/connect ):








    · If you're connecting by phone, dial 1 (347) 817-7654 and when prompted enter the meeting number 18311499.


    · If you're connecting via your computer (Fuze Meeting), go to www.fuzemeeting.com/fuze/app/48fb7aa8/18311499 and follow the instructions from there.


    For more information, visit www.tmswiki.org/ppd/Call-In_Peer_Discussion_Group .



    The Symptom Imperative Phenomenon

    A short but significant chapter in TMS healing that involves what Dr. Sarno calls “the symptom imperative” (SI). Steve explains in this chapter that it is a psychological condition that requires “continuing symptoms.”

    It's all about why pain can move around from one part of our body to another.

    An imperative is something that demands attention or action. But our conscious mind knows that is being observed, so it changes how we react to shifting symptoms.

    This phenomenon should be of special interest to those who have posted on TMSWiki asking why their pain moves around their body.

    Steve says that as long as there is an unresolved conflict, the mind will continually shift symptoms to keep fear alive, as a purposeful distraction. The symptoms bounce around in our body to keep us feeling that we have suddenly developed a “real pain” or a “real injury.”

    The brain scans our body until it finds an area or system that we are most fearful about. Then it induces a symptom there and lingers, waiting for our response to it.

    If we don’t fear that area much or don’t pay much attention to that particular symptom, it will then shift to another area until it can grasp your attention again somewhere else. It does this to keep you from tending to your emotions.

    Steve calls the symptom imperative “a hunter, preying on fear.” There it stays, until you realize you’ve been fooled by your own brain. Then it quickly shifts again, repeatedly, as long as the underlying psychological conflict remains.

    He says most of the remaining chapters of his book, The Great Pain Deception, go into why the symptoms become imperative. He believes it all begins with early separation anxieties, and possibly later trauma or multiple “little traumas that lead to an obsessive, compulsive, intuitive, colorful, and highly creative personality.”

    The symptoms bounce around in our body for two reasons. One is to keep the conscious mind focused away from the threatening emotions. The second is to send messages of discontent from the unconscious mind back to the conscious mind, to be resolved.

    So it seems to all go back to really spending time considering what our repressed emotions are that are causing the symptoms, which may not just be pain, but pain equivalents.

    How do the symptom imperatives move around our body? Steve says these are some of the ways:

    Your hip locks up. An hour later, or even a few days later, you feel chest pains. You worry you’re having a heart attack, but the chest pain leaves and lo and behold, your elbow or shoulder locks up or “freezes.”

    Or, under hidden stress, you develop an ulcer, so you go to a doctor and get some medication for it. The stomach pain then goes away and you think the medication cured it. But then your blood pressure rises. When you meditate or just slow down, that goes back to normal, but your back starts to hurt. You may worry about that so you see your doctor and you wind up having an operation that you didn’t need.

    Or, your heart flutters then you feel like you have heartburn. Maybe you take an antacid pill and the heartburn goes away, but then you have a migraine headache.

    You have back pain and may get an epidural injection. The pain then shifts to a migraine or skin problem. Your back pain then returns and you get a back operation. Then your knee begins to hurt and you get knee surgery. Your doctor and hospital are getting rich with you under the knife, but none of the operations were necessary. Your brain is just making you a victim of the symptom imperative.

    The solution, says Dr. Sarno and Steve, is to discover what the unresolved conflict is in you… what repressed emotion. “The pain,” says Dr. Sarno, is the symptom imperative at work… an indication of the power of the unconscious conflict within.”

    One of the best ways to solve the mystery of that conflict is in journaling. You may have to spend some weeks or more on it, but eventually you will uncover the repressed emotion. Once you convince your unconscious mind you know what it is, or they are, you begin to heal. Maybe instantly, maybe gradually. But you heal.

    I hope you will join the call-in next Tuesday to share your experiences about the symptom imperative in your life.​
     
  9. Christian95

    Christian95 Peer Supporter

    Hello again.
    Thanks for the answers everyone.
    My pain went from neck pain to low back pain again, and mostly when i sit down. I cant seem to concentrate on following the program right :( and i cant concentrate on my homework beacuse of the pain and my worries about the pain, like today i have been worrying alot about the pain, and i know its not good to do. So im not feeling very good, today i read that 72 % of people with TMS had no or a little pain after 6 months or something, and know i worry about if im in the 28 % that is left :(
     
  10. Walt Oleksy (RIP 2021)

    Walt Oleksy (RIP 2021) Beloved Grand Eagle

    Christian95. Hi. I'm sorry you're in such pain, but want to assure you it will go away. TMS pain just
    takes its own time to go away, even after you are convinced it's 100 percent psychological and not structural.
    The unconscious mind holds on to thoughts and emotions longer than the conscious mind.

    Try not to set a timetable for healing. Its taken longer than six months for many to heal.
    Try not to worry about pain. Put your mind on happier thoughts. Do something that you like and
    that might even make you laugh. Practice deep breathing. Breathe in slowly through your nose, hold the
    breath for a few seconds, then blow it out through your open mouth, while saying, "I feel peace."

    Watch a funny movie. Take a walk. Don't worry that you'll never get better. You will.
     
  11. Forest

    Forest Beloved Grand Eagle

    Don't worry about how long it took other people to recover. This is your journey and you will get there in your own time. If it takes 6 months great, if takes a year that is terrific, and if longer it is also okay. Success in this approach is not determined by what your level of pain is. Instead it is measured by how you react to the symptoms. Do you let them create fear and worry or do you use them as a sign to think psychologically and to investigate your emotions? That is the measure of success, and in time you will get there.

    The program is great, but there is no need to follow it to the letter of the law. This approach is all about finding out what works best for you. If you find that you can't concentrate on the program, then think about switching it up some. As Walt, suggested some of the best things to do is simply having fun and doing something you enjoy. Take a walk, watch a funny movie. Any thing that brings joy to your life will help you overcome your symptoms.
     

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