Close to Positive that I'm suffering from TMS, looking for some back-up and suggestions

Hello to those who are kind enough to generously answer and browse these support forums; I'd like to note that you are making a world of difference for those who suffer from this condition.

I've suffered from consistent pain for a year and 3 months now. My pain started back when I was in my sophomore year of highschool. It was a highly stressful time in my life, as I was simply trying to stack too much work up for each day and was not allowing myself any sort of break. I also am very much a perfectionist, so doing any worse than straight As in school was simply unacceptable for me, especially since I had the goal of getting into a top grade college.

Along with the basic stress of the school life, I had also been one to suffer from severe anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder. I had these problems for 4 to 5 years prior to the uprising of what I believe is TMS. My pain developed as a specific sharp pain in my right hand around my pinky area. I sort of just ignored it expecting it to go away like a normal ache; and as you can guess, that didn't work out too well. The pain continued - into the next day and so on. I took a break off the computer but still had to attend school (which meant about 13 hours of writing a day for my classes), so the break wasn't much of a break.

I did some research and found the concept of repetitive stress injury. I fit the bill pretty well for that. I had been an avid online gamer since I was around 4, meaning about 12 years of using the computer on a common basis. My posture was rather horrid and ergonomics wasn't even in my dictionary at that point. After discovering RSI I begin to worry a lot, as this would not allow me to enjoy my life anymore. Everything I had fun with was on the computer - and school was also something that heavily required the use of my hands; so being the anxious mess that I am, I stressed quite a bit over the fact that I may have repetitive stress injury.

After about a week more of using the computer my hand would ache the entire time I used it and only let up after I stopped. I compensated with my left hand for that week, and upon finding in an RSI article that RSI can eventually effect your left hand too if you overcompensate, my left hand instantly begin to experience pain as well. I took a fair break about a month after my condition developed, for about two weeks - and noticed little to no improvement.

Eventually I discovered the concept of TMS (Pretty early on in my pain streak). I fit the bill for it all too perfectly. I suffer from anxiety, paranoia, OCD, and irritable bowel syndrome, all problems that are common in those who experience TMS. Along with that the pain in my hands had arisen in a period of time only a few months after I had cleared up my obsessive compulsive disorder, which follows the idea of it taking the place of another problem. I never really took a proper 'break' longer than a month for my hands as I wanted to implement the TMS recovery program over this past year; however my condition has only worsened in coordination with the RSI symptoms I had researched. My left and right hands, wrists, and forearms now burn consistently, and ache quite a bit when using the computer, and I am never without some form of pain. The difference now is I've taken the steps to get a much deeper understanding of TMS, and I'm really going to go all out with the TMS recovery process as it seems far too much like my problem to overlook. I recently took a month break from the computer, not a single click or button press - which helped me experience some relief; however I am back at it going with the TMS recovery program and not the RSI program.

Therefore at this point I'm looking for support, suggestions, anything. What are the odds that I truly have TMS? What steps should I take to deal with this issue? Is it wise to take a long break before assuming I have TMS; or do I fit the bill for TMS to the point that I should continue down the route of healing TMS? Any information will really help, and thank you so much in advance!

- Shane M

 

I think working on belief is the most important activity you can do with TMS and posting to this forum is a great step. I have been meaning all week to write about my belief so I can spot ways to continue working on it.
I'm not a doctor, etc. It sounds like you have TMS. It's my guess that the online gaming isn't helping because it is also a distraction from emotions you don't want to face. The Presence Process calls out addictions (gaming) and afflictions (TMS) for working in a similar manner in this regard.
IMHO, continue writing and consider doing the Structured Educational Program.

 

In the book The Great Pain Deception there is something that talks about the stages of TMS. The short version is that often happens after are body perceives the stress or danger to be over.
For example, you are fine at work but after you get home in the evening the pain or other symptoms start. Some people often find it hits them on vacation.
So the issue with not being able to play computer games may be related to that.
I think there is kind of a balance. On the one hand, the gaming might be preventing you from spending time on the issues. One the other hand, The Great Pain Deception lists several things you need to recover and one of them is "have more fun." Another is to keep doing things despite the pain. So if gaming is something you love, I would not give it up, as long as you give yourself some time each day to journal write or read a book about TMS.