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Daniel L. Can profound structural issues be helped with TMS treatment?

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Hello,

I was in an accident leaving me with my back broken in three places, three crushed discs, broke tailbone, fractured hip and sacrum joint injuries that the doctors say surgery nor meds will ever help.

I currently have rods, screws, fake discs and fusions in my back. I am in constant pain most of the time. I am on pain management and take pills around the clock to help deal with the pain.

I hate taking these pills. They cause me all sorts of issues such as constipation, lack of energy, muscle loss/fat gain, poor sleep habits..etc..etc. Even my attitude toward life itself has changed.

Has anyone like myself been helped/cured using what ever method it is that you folks are talking about?
 
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Answer
Wow, it sounds like you had quite the accident – I’m so sorry to hear that. Your question is such a valuable one for this community.

Many people come to TMS after having been in an accident of one kind or another. The pain that ensues after the accident is because of a structural issue, but after months of healing, if the pain still continues, then it can become a TMS issue.

That said, your current situation is a tricky one. It sounds like you’re still physically healing from the accident, and that healing may take a while. Once the physical healing is done, if the pain persists, then yes, there is a good chance that some of your pain might be TMS. You’d need to check with a TMS physician about this, but it’s possible, and even likely.

I think what’s more important, however, is that while you’re going through the healing process, you consider how you stress and anxiety can impact your healing. For many people, the hardest part of healing from such an intense accident can be the psychological stress is puts on you. Not being able to do what you once could do causes depression, anxiety, and a handful of other stresses on the body.

However, that stress is slowing down your healing process, pretty significantly. It’s important to find ways to feel good, even if it’s not in the ways that you are used to feeling good. Take up a new hobby, watch the 100 best movies of all time (find a list online), or come up with a creative way for you to enjoy your time. If you’re in a good mood, you will heal faster. That’s not speculation, that’s science.

So if I were you, here’s what I’d do: Do everything in your power to feel better about yourself and the situation you’re in. Perhaps see a therapist to aid with that process. If you’re still in the same amount of pain once you’ve more fully healed, then go see a TMS doctor and see if your symptoms might be out of line with the structural issues.

In the meantime, be patient with yourself as your body continues to heal.

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.

 
great point on stress slowing down healing. Elevated cortisol is absolutely devastating for the body and a factor in many diseases throwing the body out of whack and vulnerable to oxidation.
Its a really good case to consider but my advice is to try some of the techniques. I would very strongly try Mindfulness meditation especially body scans by Shinzen young and others. The pain may increase to begin with but it allows the mind to reinterpret the pain. Check it out!
 
I am a newbie and by no means an expert. I have a genetic structural heart problem called HOCM. The doctors insisted that I get a myectomy, surgery to cut down the left ventricle that was blocking the blood outflow. Since I had no one to take care of me and was 68 at the time, I just declined. I was called names," non compliant" and the docs got very angry with me. Subsequently, in the next 5 years, experienced some bad bouts of AFIB. When I have Afib, I basically have 1 1/2 chambers out. I can't walk, talk, or breathe. I continued to seek yearly expert advice as this this new wrinkle created a lot of fear. In 2016, on 0n the way home from the xpert consultation with the godfather himself who again urged myectomy and at the very least insisted that I have an ablation for afib. Ironically, I went into devastating AFIB heading homeward and went to the ER. In my case the experience was horrible and the treatment was worse. They would not give me water, the cure! They thought I was having a panic attack and would not listen to me or read my documents. Anyway, even with a letter with instructions from the cardiologist as to ER treatment for AFib, which was hydration, hydration, hydration and metoprolol in IV, not Cardizem, the hammer, which could kill me. !!. The ER doc decided that I had written the cardiologist's letter of instructions that I always carry with me, his stance was so adversarial that I had panic in addition to AFIB. These events were so traumatic that I vowed I would never go to an ER again nor back to a cardiologist and that I would never have AFIB again. I went exactly 11 months without AFIB, and (had a very mild event after climbing stairs with 10 pounds of books) simply because I decided I would not. Then I discovered TMS and Sarno March 1st 2017 . At the time I was housebound, afraid to drive fearing that my heart would act up. Then I began to put two and two together. The stress that the docs put on me, the fear, the accusations actually made me housebound with near agoraphobia. After reading Sarno, I said, "I'm taking me life back again." And the fear and anxiety went away (the very things that increase epinephrine that increases outflow track obstruction). I now drive! I am not afraid and I don't collapse with exhaustion anymore at 2 or 3pm. I have many things that I am working on for TMS but I was making my heart worse and the doctors were making it worse. I am back to the way I was before I became symptomatic. Sure, I probably won't hike in the desert or up hills, but I can walk on a flat surface (if my knees let me) and the chest pain is almost gone. Trust me. TMS can ransack a structural problem and turn it into hell! I am not afraid of dying (another thing they warned me of again and again). I am not afraid of stroke, that they threatened me with! I will die when it is God's time and I will not let fear predetermine the time! I still have a long ways to go to get rid of the back, knee pain and the insomnia. ;) Subsequently I discovered Dr. John M, an electrophysiologist online who confirmed all of my suspicions regarding the push to get surgeries. I am a classic TMS'er with symptoms beginning as early as six years old. Everything that can happen has and it is wonderful to be connecting the dots at age 75.
 
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Thank you for such a well written piece Peggy, and I know it will be helpful to many of us on the forum.
 
Meggy,

It is very early in the morning this sunny day in the Netherlands and i am reading your post with a smile on my face.
Really impressed by your strenght and very inspired by it.
How great it is that you found this and got your life back. I know that this is the post from a 'guest' but its great you responded with your story!
Wish you many more good years
Thank you
Karina
 
I guess this is an old thread but I just wanted to mention that I know someone who was hit by a van on their bicycle, sustaining multiple breaks and fractures and were initally bed-bound and then wheelchair bound. Within a year they were back shoveling snow and working and living a completely normal life again. So people can recover from crazy injuries. All tissue heals and the pain eventually subsides, I guess.
 
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