Can this approach deal with pain overlying that from a physical issue?

Hi,
I read that TMS pain can occur overlying pain from a physical issue. I have Ehlers Danlos syndrome (hypermobility type). A lot of the symptoms are the sort listed for TMS but I also have subluxations (joints slipping out of place) and have had symptoms since I was born, three of my children have inherited it and have had various joint problems as well. My joint pain got worse when I found out my husband had an affair (I have soreness in all my joints, different from the pain when one is injured or slipping, plus muscle tension issues). Common sense tells me that is more likely to be because I gave up my exercises and good diet when I was very upset, and maybe I am clutching at straws, but it has been 5 years now and I have made so little progress. Do you think the education program could help me? or is it necessary to believe that my symptoms are 100% TMS? I would love to at least get back to where I was in 2010.

Thanks for your help

 

Your symptoms sound like TMS to me. You are probably hurting physically because you are angry at your husband
for having an affair. Shame on him. Especially since he is a father. Why can't men exercise temperance?

I urge you to begin the Structured Educational Program, free in the subform on this web site. It leads you through
short daily activities that help to discover the emotional stresses causing us pain. Journaling is a great way to do this.

Besides your husband straying, you may also have long-held repressed emotions going back to childhood,
or a perfectionist-goodist personality.

It really is essential to believe 100 percent that your symptoms are from TMS.

Believe totally in TMS and you will heal and be even happier than you were in 2010.

 

Hi Phoenix,

Welcome to the forum.

Yes, TMS can absolutely piggyback on a physical problem, making the symptoms worse. I broke my leg a few years ago, which was cause enough for pain. But the leg continued to hurt for a long time, and after a while it became apparent that TMS had stepped in. That's one of its favorite tricks. An actual site of injury is a convincing place for TMS to hide.

The pain will respond to Sarno's methods just like any other TMS. You have the added complication of teasing out how much is TMS and how much is the physical syndrome, so it's a little harder. Give it a try. Different methods work for different people.

David.

 

Thanks. Yes I am very angry with my husband, and not just about the affair, there are issues with how he treats me too. And also with my parents for refusing to believe in my EDS symptoms and instead teaching me that I am weak and whiny, and with my doctors for misdiagnosing me until I was 38. I'm going to give the Structured Education Program a go . It would be lovely to process thos emotions and be able to move on.

I'm wondering about getting a book as well- is there a particular one you would recommend for me?

 

Phoenixrising, since u have already been diagnosed with EDS u probably have a protocol that u follow for managing yr symptoms so carry on with that as you delve into the world of TMS .

That your pain has become worse as a result of yr husband's affair is no surprise and it would seem that there r other issues with him, yr parents & the medical community which need to be addressed.

As Walt has suggested do start the SEP immediately . There r more than enuff resources here on the TMS wiki for you to avail of - lots of reading material, audio & video links, expert advice from TMS practitioners & TMS authors, success stories & of course this forum.

As for books there are so many. Maybe u could go thru the list & the reviews & decide which one u might think is most suitable for u but in the meantime there is so much you can choose from here on the wiki.

Good luck!

Mala

 

Thanks for your reply Mala
My EDS management is stuff that would be sensible anyway- walking, pilates, strength training, meditation, getting en0ugh sleep etc, so not specific to being unwell anyway, which I guess is a good thing.
I'm finishing an online course this week (psychology lol), so I can get stuck in to the SEP straight away next week. Excited!

 

I know this post is a year old, but I found it while googling because I am also a person with EDS hypermobility type, who has just started investigating TMS and think it may be the reason for a portion of my symptoms. Pheonixrising, how did your research/investigation go? I'd love to hear from someone in a similar situation!

 

Hi Phoeonixrising,
I am interested in the replies you get and your research. Although not ever diagnosed with the syndrome you describe, I do have hypermobility, so I have some sense of what that's like. There is not much stability in joints I almost always wind up with some sort of pain after exercising. I have been struggling as to whether my physical issues are a result of the hypermobility that I just have to live with or, as Dr Sarno says we all have structural abnormalities, that it's all a big lie and my pains (almost always exercise related) are in fact TMS. I am wanting to believe that I am normal because my specialist said plenty of athletes have hypermobility. "Why don't they get pain, then?" "Because they've been doing stability exercises all their lives, and they are an athlete and you're not." To my thinking, if an athlete can cope with hypermobility, then so can I. think TMS may have hijacked my condition for its own purposes. I am only waking up to this now. Interested to see what sort of responses Parakeet and Phoneixrising get.

 

Hi Miss Metta,

It's very possible that TMS is causing the pain that you think is coming from hypermobility. TMS can cause pain almost anywhere. You may have a harmless condition that TMS is conveniently using to create a distraction.

Do you think you have a TMS personality? Have you had other TMS equivalents before?

David.

 

uhhh it sounds like you are still buying into the (imo) bs physical diagnosis. hypermobility is a bunk diagnosis for pain and so is subluxations, joints don't just slip in and out of place. the first and most important step is 100% rejecting any of these nonsense physical diagnosis and knowing it is from TMS.

of course your husband having an affair created a lot of unpleasant emotions, a lot of which are probably repressed and unconscious, which is the root cause of TMS. it's your mindbody creating a distraction to keep those emotions from becoming conscious.

 

Hi David

I have a TMS personality through and through, in addition to a very unstable and unhappy childhood and unstable adult life. I'm getting it together, slowly. I came across TMS because of leg pain that a savvy sports doctor said had no organic cause, and to stop going down the diagnosis and tests track. He said I had 'overactive pain sensors and it was probably related to stress'. Although he didn't say TMS, he said I was a case of chronic pain and the worst thing to do would be to keep going down the diagnosis track, or worse, surgery. I thought he was being very honest for a medico. He gave me Lyrica (which I have recently stopped), and said see how things were six months from now. My life was very difficult at the time. The Lyrica helped, but then all these other symptoms flared up. I went to one final specialist last week who said it was the hypermobility and because I am now getting older, (50) the tendons and ligaments are no longer holding it together like they used to. I don't think I entirely believe this, and am a bit annoyed at this. It makes me feel like I can't exercise, (except for Pilates, he tells me to do Pilates, and yes, this is the only exercise where I don't wind up hurting myself. ). But I like exercise. The hypermobility however does not account for the leg pain, which started whilst swimming, and occurs mainly whilst swimming. (I suspect my body has been trying to keep me out of the pool but that's another issue). I am for the first time starting to see my hypermobility pains in a totally different light. A week ago I stopped drinking but instead have flared up with lots of pain, even though I have started to make some breakthroughs about anger, rage, and my 'dark side'. A rare autoimmune condition I have has suddenly flared up after being quiet for a while. So I suddenly have more energy but more pain. I tried to do a deep knee bend this morning and my knee has been really upset since. They tell me I have no stability in my joints. Funny that, isn't it? No stability in my joints, no stability in my life, for the longest time! Sounds like my body acts out the no stability in life in my body. I'm fed up, though.
Revealing my darkside to myself was, however, delicious. Wickedly delicious. I have never felt so free and clear headed and unburdened. Now, if only my body would also follow, but it's not, if anything it's worse. Thank you for your insight, I am going to go on it all being TMS and taht there is nothing wrong with me. Autoimmune disease...does that equal self-punishment?

 

Very interesting question. Sometimes it seems like the ways our bodies act are symbolic and sometimes it doesn't. I have often thought my allergy symptoms (not actual allergies the testing revealed) are due to a need to cry, and this is the only way I'll allow it.