Day 8 Connecting the dots.

[misstuttle]

Hi guys,

I think I am starting to have some success at recognizing the emotions connected to my pain. I think internal pressure and expectations play a huge part and so does low self esteem. These emotions make me feel inadequate and isolated. They are soooooo destructive. I am constantly judging myself and feeling backed against a wall. Here are some recent examples.


· I felt really good yesterday until I got a text and call from someone asking me if I would be finished with some work in 2 days that I was told was on "hold." I knew it would take me at least 5 to do it right. Pain appeared in my left arm and neck like magic. At this point, I can’t believe this, but I didn’t even connect the emotion with the pain. It took me 45 minutes to an hour. Pain is gone this morning.

· We are also finishing up the construction on our new house. The plan is to close in 25 days. That means, packing, planning and spending money. And I have a fair amount of project work right now. I feel excited about the new house and move but work is distracting me from what I really want to think about. I'm getting pretty wise to my physical pain so all of the sudden I have a patch of eczema on my face along with a bit of irritable bowel. Gee, I wonder why…

The good news is, I now believe and accept that these issues are only temporary and I no longer spiral into the worry and perpetuation cycle. I just let go and accept that it's happening and believe that it will go away soon. And it's starting to. Whoo hoo!

Thanks for tuning in!

Misstuttle

 

[Walt Oleksy (RIP 2021)]

Hi, Miss Tuttle. Welcome to the TMSWiki community. We all help each other to heal our symptoms.

I'm a writer so I know what deadline stress is. Especially if the work is unrealistically wanted in a fewer days than you know you need.

And your new home and moving... that adds to emotional stress which equals TMS.

The good thing is you recognize all this. It took a little while, but you got there.

I'm having computer problems this morning and wow, does that upset me. I just have to realize it's more technology madness and let it go.
Steve Jobs is lucky. He has no computer problems anymore.

Kevin posted a few weeks ago that he has healed 95 percent, and a few days ago said he is 100 percent pain-free.
It's worth sharing with you.

Kevin healed 95 % from SEP

Welcome to the SEP and to the path of recovery. I am on my final two days of the program and I can say with complete confidence that I am a changed man. I started after 6 months of nasty low-back/butt/leg pain, could hardly walk, stand, etc. was in physical therapy, chiropractor, acupuncture, pain medications, etc.. the usual. My MRI showed 3 disk bulges/herniations touching nerves, so that is what I believe it to be....that is until I read Dr. Sarno and found this site.

I encourage you to really get involved, follow the instructions, do the journaling, take time to read all the suggested readings, and watch the videos. I'd say I'm 95% cured. There is still some very light lingering "annoyance", but I still have some work to do. I've been walking miles with hardly any pain these last few weeks. But even more, if the pain comes on now, it just doesn't bother me like it used to, I sorta just see it, acknowledge it, and go about my business. It took working the program to get to that point, but 6 weeks compared to 6 months is nothing! I made more progress in the first week than I did from two months of PT!!! It's going to challenge you and your "beliefs" in medicine, but you have nothing to lose. We generally wind up here when all else fails.

So give it a shot, especially before considering anything invasive like surgery. If you put the work in, you will get better. Have you read Dr. Sarno yet? I assume you have since you're here, but in case you haven't, definitely readHealing Back Pain. Again, it will challenge everything you've believed about your pain, and backs in general. You'll be encouraged to resume life as normal, i.e. stop ALL "therapies" (PT, chiro, etc.), stop taking medications, and most importantly, stop thinking STRUCTURAL problems are the cause of your pain and shift to psychological as the reason.....again, this can be difficult and takes some time to sink in, so be patient and kind to yourself.

It was a process for me. A few of the bigger moves in my case were: I ripped up and threw out my MRI test results (I found myself obsessively reading over them and comparing them to other results I could find on the web and even here on the TMSwiki site...); I got back to the gym and stopped using a weight belt; and I even cancelled an appointment I had made with aTMS doctorbecause it was more than a month away and it was hindering my recovery (that is, my 100% belief in TMS was lagging because I had this pending appointment, but as soon as I cancelled it, my recovery sped up significantly). Everyone's journey is unique to their situation, but I've found that really committing to the program and brining what I learn from it into my daily life has had profound results. Also, sharing along the way here in these forums has been extremely helpful - there's something about knowing that you're not alone in your TMS recovery that really helps. I encourage you to look through my past posts for some insight into my experience with SEP. Like I said, I'm just now finishing, tomorrow is my final day, and I feel like a changed person. It's amazing. And I feel as though it is something that one carries on with, not just like a one time 6 week thing and that's that...it has helped me to get to know myself and taught me tools to "deal" with my emotions. Learning and accepting TMS is a life changer for sure.

 

[JanAtheCPA]

Nice work, MT! It gets easier and easier