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Answer

Hope. Probably the most important thing to remember in times of extreme, long-lasting pain is that there is ALWAYS hope.

I’ve got a couple of thoughts right away:

- First of all, the thoughts that you might have cancer or a colon problem ARE negative, fear-based thoughts. You have to eliminate fear-thoughts from your life. They are not useful. This is perhaps the most important thing you can do for yourself right now. When you have fear, you encourage tension in your body. That tension will only cause more pain. So if you want to eliminate pain, eliminate the root cause of the pain: fear (as it is with nearly all TMSers).

- If you have eliminated any possible structural diagnosis, then your TMS symptoms will not get any better over the long-term with PT, heat patches, or any other structural intervention. It sounds like you’ve done your homework and have a great understanding of what TMS is, so take a step back and relax. You’re pushing yourself SO HARD (and if you are a TMSer, then you most likely have a tendency to push yourself hard in all areas), and it’s actually to your detriment. Take a step back, breathe, tell yourself that you’re proud of the work you’ve done but need a break. Don’t overthink this – you need to relax. “Obsessively” doing anything isn’t going to help you.

- If you want to go to the doctor to eliminate possible structural causes for the pain (which you should definitely do if you haven’t already), then by all means, please do! But if you’re a TMSer, chances are that you’ve already been to the doctor (probably many of them) and are still scaring yourself about what’s going wrong with you. This speaks to the first point – you’re addicted to fear. Every step you take scares the crap out of you. You’ll never get better until you reign in the fear.

As I’m reading your post and writing this response I’m getting anxious, so let’s take a moment and practice some mindfulness, shall we? Here’s what we do:

STOP. Stop whatever you’re doing right at this moment (other than reading this reply), and as soon as you reach the period at the end of this sentence, take a deep breath.

Did you do it? Good. Now do it again, but this time I want you to think about the nose hairs in your nostrils as you breathe in. Weird, I know, but just do it. Now.

Did you do that? If not, go back and take a breath and only stop taking a breath when you are able to think about your nose hairs and only your nose hairs (no other thoughts!) as they wiggle with the air going in and out of your nose. It’s harder than it sounds, so keep trying. Take a minute or two and see how many times you can do it.

Good.

Now that you’ve got it mastered, do it every single time you have a thought that scares you. That’s right – Every. Single. Time.

“Are all of my negative thoughts and worry turning this into colon cancer?!?” STOP. Nose hair time. Take that breath - only thinking about the way your nose hairs feel as the air goes in and out of your nose. If you can’t do it on the first breath, take another. And another one. Do it until you have one successful breath where you only think about your nose hairs and don’t have any other thoughts enter your brain.

If you start having another thought that scares you – time to breathe again. Do this five thousand times a day if necessary. The goal is to detach yourself from these thoughts. These thoughts do not need to have an effect on how you feel. They are ridiculous, bullying thoughts that do not define you.

Repeat this process a hundred thousand times until you no longer have an attachment to your thoughts. Thoughts will come and go, but the way we feel is held in our bodies for a long time.

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Any advice or information provided here does not and is not intended to be and should not be taken to constitute specific professional or psychological advice given to any group or individual. This general advice is provided with the guidance that any person who believes that they may be suffering from any medical, psychological, or mindbody condition should seek professional advice from a qualified, registered/licensed physician and/or psychotherapist who has the opportunity to meet with the patient, take a history, possibly examine the patient, review medical and/or mental health records, and provide specific advice and/or treatment based on their experience diagnosing and treating that condition or range of conditions. No general advice provided here should be taken to replace or in any way contradict advice provided by a qualified, registered/licensed physician and/or psychotherapist who has the opportunity to meet with the patient, take a history, possibly examine the patient, review medical and/or mental health records, and provide specific advice and/or treatment based on their experience diagnosing and treating that condition or range of conditions.

The general advice and information provided in this format is for informational purposes only and cannot serve as a way to screen for, identify, or diagnose depression, anxiety, or other psychological conditions. If you feel you may be suffering from any of these conditions please contact a licensed mental health practitioner for an in-person consultation.

Questions may be edited for brevity and/or readability.