Burning so so bad

Welcome crimstock:

I have also done both programs and found Dr. Schubiner's to be a bit overwhelming. I did love the journaling though. But, the meditations are valuable. If you can find that you now sit comfortably, I suggest you try the meditations again. Focus on his words. Block all else out. You'll find it brings down all anxiety, and brings the body to a peaceful state. This may help with sleep if you do it just before bed. I have listened to meditation music via headphones and an mp3 player in bed for years. Puts me right out for the night!

Sounds like you're doing great! Whatever works!

BG
 
Thanks BG... Really getting into the journaling from Schubiner's book too!!!
My burning is still causing me grief when sitting and lying in any position, so finding meditation tough. Just can't relax and focus with constant pain. I am keeping of the brain talk stuff which is helping a little. I guess will just take some time.. Thanks for your comments>>
 
Conditioned response: Post by Alan Gordon... 12 June 2012

I found this a really good post, mainly"“It isn’t the sitting that’s causing my back pain, it’s the belief that sitting iscausing my back pain that’s causing my back pain.”

I seek help on this or should i say clarity.. When i lye down or sit my burning in the legs starts and its horrific.. I honestly don't believe its caused by the action (sitting or lying) anymore, after reading all the TMS books etc.. When i sit or lye i don't think any more this will cause me to have burning. So why am i still getting horrific burning when i truly don't believe the action is causing the burning?? As soon as i sit or lye the burning starts... I am really struggling with this.. I have overcome all fear of physical activity and have been bike riding, gardening, painting decks (bent over for hours) and now even road walking!!! But the burning just will not go.. My major symptom that has sent me nuts for years.

Also his suggested approach "Once you’ve sold yourself on this reality, it’s helpful to just let it go. Don’t try so hard to get rid of your pain. Your new goal becomes outcome independence. You attempt to alter your definition of success: It is no longer “I succeed if I take a walk around the block and have no pain,” and is replaced by, “I succeed if I take a walk around the block and don’t care whether or not I have pain. Remember, the pain feeds on fear and attention. You take away those two things and you’re in good shape"

I find this also confusing because i thought when we experience pain we are to: talk to our brain with the suggested statements or focus on the repressed rage and what cause the rage or focus on unpleasant thoughts and feelings or imagen and visualise the repressed rage or yell at the pain and tell it stop. Isn't this then not letting go?

Sorry folks still new to all this and some times get very confused and over whelmed...I think i am putting to much pressure on myself and trying to do it perfect again.. Think i need to let it all go and just realise i have TMS which is harmless. I should also focus on enjoying my life and simply: "belief we all my heart, mind and soul i will be pain free one day..."
 
Crimslock,

Two things on your struggle with sitting....I again wrote down on a note card "I am successful if I can sit and not care if it is uncomfortable or not--no fear, no attention.". This has been a really difficult one for me as well AND it does get better. Being firm with my mind that it can stop the symptoms is a follow up.

The note card idea I wrote about before that is in my car has a helpful message I repeat a lot in all sorts of situations....sitting, driving, or whatever is a normal, healthy activity and I will not tolerate any symptoms or problems. This tends to get my mind refocused.

Finally, be patient and remind yourself you do not need to be perfect. I must do this to keep from being discouraged because I didn't get a book cure and I am working the Structured Ed Program and following Schubiner's approach as well with an easy does it attitude and complete, I hope, openness to what ever memories and repressed emotions that arise. I daily do a lot of processing, crying, get angry, write tons about all of this.

Just this week I added a close family member to my list to work on and ended up with a new flare up which was the most pain I have had at any time. I thought I had no repressions related to this individual and discovered that i had major defenses erected around doing the emotional work related to her. Keep digging. Things will get easier and you will be better.

Listen, if you haven't to the Scubiner CD of meditations. They are very effective.

Wishing you a decrease in the burning and an increase in kindness toward yourself.

Susan
 
My main TMS symptom was headaches...sometimes they seemed to be triggered by something structural but other times they would just come on out of the blue, so challenging myself with activities wasn't really helpful. I have very little pain now, and I think of it as the nerves that were always activated before have just kind of cooled down (this is my total non-medical view of what's happening ;)

I find this also confusing because i thought when we experience pain we are to: talk to our brain with the suggested statements or focus on the repressed rage and what cause the rage or focus on unpleasant thoughts and feelings or imagen and visualise the repressed rage or yell at the pain and tell it stop. Isn't this then not letting go?
Click to expand...
There are a lot of different approaches you can use. Sometimes just telling myself the pain is there to distract me from repressed emotions and that nothing is physically wrong can be enough to make it stop. Other times I just sit with the pain and observe what emotions are present and let myself sit with the feelings until they move through (and usually they take the pain with them). Other times I see the pain as part of the "TMS bully" that along with negative thoughts is just another way I am not compassionate to myself. As time goes on, it has become easier for me to do whatever I need to do in the moment to take care of myself.
 
While walking to work on a cobblestone street my footing got a little uneven, I was triggered, my body reacted with TMS pain symptoms. When I arrived at work I visualized blood and oxygen flowing wherever it was needed. I focused on Google News for a while and the pain gradually vanished into thin air. Later I was emotionally triggered by something someone said to me in the office. I had anxiety related to the comment that this guy made towards me. As I was outside getting my lunch I thought about what was behind my feelings of anxiety related to the comment. I thought back to my childhood and traced my reaction about the guys comment to an early childhood pattern where I felt unsupported. Bing the anxiety disappeared – as I began to accept the so called “negative” emotions that surfaced in the form of anxiety.
 
Alan is really touching upon where our focus is. The mission of TMS is to consume our attention and create fear. If your goal is to walk without pain, you still give that pain power over you. The real key, and what accepting the diagnosis is all about, is to recognize that the pain is completely harmless. You worry about your symptoms because you either fear hurting yourself or fear it will prevent you from doing something. The idea that you want to walk without pain implies that having pain will prevent you from walking. The truth is that the pain will not limit your ability to walk becuase you don't have a structural problem, so there is nothing to worry about.

I realized that I accepted the diagnosis, when I was able to play broomball and didn't think about my symptoms. My knees had pain at the time, but I knew it was just TMS and nothing to worry about. I continued to be active and didn't care about if my leg hurt or not.
 
Hi Forest, I know this post was written years ago but I came upon it when looking up " burning pelvic/perineum pain "which increased rapidly together with another condition IBS after writing about memories of my parents. This was an exercise given to me by my practitioner in the UK. The burning was nowhere near as bad as it is now and like many others I find it so hard to walk, sit or lie without this burning. I can not get my mind off the pain. In your incredible experience would you think that I may have been getting to the repressed rage within me and that is why my symptoms flared so dramatically? Even though I am been following Dr Schubiner's and Georgie Olfield's program via the assistance of a therapist for the past 3 months, I do find so much comfort and support on your tmswiki site. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for putting so much commitment into helping others.
 
Hi Abbo,

When symptoms flare up when we review certain things, sometimes that is a strong signal that we have found something that we have unresolved feelings about and that we need to explore. Our bodies can be emotional barometers for what is happening underneath. It sounds like a good thing to explore with your therapist, thinking about all of the different feelings that could be floating around that you might not be aware of yet.

Sometimes in our relationships with our parents, we can feel strong feelings of ambivalence. We love them, but we may be profoundly angry as well. Worse, we may harbor unconscious shame for the negative feelings, and that shame can lead to TMS as our unconscious minds try to distract us from the feelings. If this resonates with you and your therapist thinks it may help, you might want to check out Stephen Conenna's TMS book. It is one of the few TMS books that Dr. Sarno has given the "highly recommended" level of endorsement like he gave to Dr. Schechter's recent book (the only higher level of endorsement is when he actually writes the preface, like he did with Dr. Selfridge's book or Dr. Sherman's and Dr. Sommer-Anderson's book).

In that book, Stephen explores his own ambivalent feelings toward his father and explains how his shame regarding these feelings led to his TMS. He refers to it as a two-step A-Ha moment. The original ideas may have come from Dr. Eric Sherman, under whose patient he was. Dr. Sherman mentions similar ideas in his chapters of his book with Dr. Sommer-Anderson (see above) called Pathways to Pain Relief.

You can find information about all of the books mentioned via our search engine on this page. If I recall correctly, we have recordings of a seminar or two with Stephen, discussing his book and his experiences.

Thank you for your kind words about the site. I wish you the best in your healing. Perhaps you might find that your TMS is a messenger, helping you understand yourself better and learn new ways to be kind to yourself.
 
A huge thank you Forest for your reply. Yes I do (and my husband ) believe I have to go deeper into my feelings regarding my parents. I do feel a profound sense of disloyalty and shame digging up the hurt, anger etc that I have because I also love and respect them and I know they did their best despite times being so difficult. I also had an older sister who (I now realise) bullied me in a subtle way.
I cannot thank you enough for taking your time to give me such valuable advice. I now know how to continue.
 
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