Day 8 battle

I am struggling with the tms diagnosis because of the MRI and what the doctor said about needing surgery. I 100 percent want to believe in tms. I can see the logic behind Sarno and desperately want to embrace the concepts and get better. However, my brain also tends to think that when I stand up and put pressure on my sciatic nerve it causes pain. That seems very logical. Stand up get pain. Sit down little or no pain. I know there are many others with more severe diagnosis and pain that have gotten better with this type of treatment so I am hopeful. However, I still have this battle in my head. My chiropractor did diagnose me with tms 8 months ago and that is helpful. I just wonder if he is wrong???

 

Hey Chris,

I feel you man, I too had the MRI-induced doubts, still probably have some lingering in my unconscious because I'm not yet 100%, but I am FAR better off than when I started. What has helped the most for me is really doing this program 100%, reading everything they suggest, doing all the journaling, posting, etc. I'm at day 32 now and many steps have helped along the way. For me, a major one was ripping up my MRI results and throwing them in the trash. I also stopped all physical therapy, chiropractic care, research on the internet about medical reasons for back pain, etc. I've forced myself to do things that I was afraid of like going to the gym, long walks, and standing any sort of time.

For me the pain comes on with standing and walking, I get it in my left buttock and in different spots down the left leg, classic sciatic nerve stuff. But I try to ignore it and remind myself that it's emotional, not structural. I mean look, I have had broken bones and surgery; torn ACL and surgery; tonsils out; wisdom teether out. All of these incredibly invasive procedures, and my body healed. So I lifted some heavy weights 6 months ago, felt a pop and a surge of pain (all of which Dr. Sarno addresses), and I still have pain when standing/walking six months later? It makes no sense. My body would have healed LONG ago if it were simply an injury. Think about that. Our bodies are these amazing healing machines, so why in the world would our backs be so screwed for no apparent reason? All the TMS doctors say that once any serious ailment has been ruled out, which in my research include essentially only tumors, infections, or direct spinal cord injuries, then TMS must be the culprit. I'm writing this to help both you AND me, I'm reassuring myself that it is not structural, it can't be.

Finally, you wrote "However, my brain also tends to think that when I stand up and put pressure on my sciatic nerve it causes pain. That seems very logical. Stand up get pain. Sit down little or no pain" - this is what I have been dealing with in standing/walking, but as you'll learn in the program here, this is conditioned pain. We begin to associate certain activities/postures with the pain, indeed expecting and fearing it, and so it is. Most of it is fear based. But you were right when you wrote "my brain also..." because it is YOUR BRAIN creating the pain to distract you - it is not structural.

I hope this helps a bit. It certainly has helped me set my mind straight for the remainder of the day.

Take care.

 

Hi, Chis. Kevin has given you excellent advice. Doctors can scare the s--t out of us by saying surgery is imperative. Many if not most are in business to give pills or cut. A cancer surgeon wanted to cut my neck open to remove a tiny pimple he said was very likely cancerous. I insisted on a culture be taken first and, over his loud objections, he finally relented and the culture was taken. It revealed that the pimple was only a water pimple and no treatment at all was necessary. So I urge you to believe Dr. Sarno and TMS.