My first bout with chronic pain was in high school, in my knees. The diagnosis was Patellar Femoral Syndrome. My knees would hurt four hours after bicycling, but not running, which confounded my doctor and physiotherapist, since running tends to be harder on the knees then running. I don't know that this was TMS, but the pain persisted for a couple years, until it just stopped in University.
My second encounter with chronic pain began in my third year of University. The diagnosis was tendinitis in both forearms, and it lasted about 2 years. For this problem I saw a medical doctor, sports doctor, massage therapists, chiropractor and physiologist. I am a programmer by trade, which means I spend a lot of time typing at a computer, and for the final 6 months of my tendinitis I had abandoned my keyboard altogether. Instead I made do with a mouse and the on-screen keyboard. During this 6 month hiatus my pain slowly faded away, and when I resumed keyboarding I switched to a special ergonomic model. I can use it pain free, but using a standard keyboard will still bring the old pain back within minutes.
My third, and current, bout with chronic pain is in my low back. I've had many different diagnoses, but none have been linked to a structural abnormality, so they've all been quite vague. I've been dealing with this pain for over a year and a half, and it's been getting steadily worse. Before my back pain I was active, and exercised regularly at the gym. I skated, swam, cycled, jogged, and practiced judo. As the months wore on, and the pain persisted, I slowly abandoned each of these hobbies. Then I began icing and heating my back for 45 minutes each day, and spent less time outdoors and correspondingly more time at home, in bed reading or watching tv. Even a 10 minute walk around the mall was an ordeal I'd follow up with 45 minutes of rest.
Just before Christmas I borrowed Dr Sarno's book from a friend, and I read it over the break. I'd already heard of the link between emotions and pain before reading it, and I'd been pretty skeptical, because the explanations I'd heard had been very vague. I remember reading an account of a patient with TMS who became bedridden--more disabled than a paraplegic--just by fear of bringing on a new attack, and knowing that is where I was headed. It was Christmas day, and I was so horrified I put the book aside for a day.
As cliche as it is, I saw myself on every page of the chapter on people who get TMS, and the chapter on the physiology of TMS allayed my skepticism. With a couple hours of reflection, I realized that I'd been preoccupied with personal issues starting a couple months before my back pain started. After the back pain started (but before reading the book) I'd thought on a couple different occasions that the silver lining to my back pain is that I hadn't thought, or worried, about my personal issue pretty much since it started.
Since reading Dr Sarno's book, I've been feeling significantly better, and have cautiously resumed some of my old hobbies. My rate of improvement plateaued a week ago, however, and I decided to follow this program as a means of getting it back on track.
I live in Ottawa, Canada, and if anyone knows of a TMS-trained physician in the area, please let me know.
Richard
My second encounter with chronic pain began in my third year of University. The diagnosis was tendinitis in both forearms, and it lasted about 2 years. For this problem I saw a medical doctor, sports doctor, massage therapists, chiropractor and physiologist. I am a programmer by trade, which means I spend a lot of time typing at a computer, and for the final 6 months of my tendinitis I had abandoned my keyboard altogether. Instead I made do with a mouse and the on-screen keyboard. During this 6 month hiatus my pain slowly faded away, and when I resumed keyboarding I switched to a special ergonomic model. I can use it pain free, but using a standard keyboard will still bring the old pain back within minutes.
My third, and current, bout with chronic pain is in my low back. I've had many different diagnoses, but none have been linked to a structural abnormality, so they've all been quite vague. I've been dealing with this pain for over a year and a half, and it's been getting steadily worse. Before my back pain I was active, and exercised regularly at the gym. I skated, swam, cycled, jogged, and practiced judo. As the months wore on, and the pain persisted, I slowly abandoned each of these hobbies. Then I began icing and heating my back for 45 minutes each day, and spent less time outdoors and correspondingly more time at home, in bed reading or watching tv. Even a 10 minute walk around the mall was an ordeal I'd follow up with 45 minutes of rest.
Just before Christmas I borrowed Dr Sarno's book from a friend, and I read it over the break. I'd already heard of the link between emotions and pain before reading it, and I'd been pretty skeptical, because the explanations I'd heard had been very vague. I remember reading an account of a patient with TMS who became bedridden--more disabled than a paraplegic--just by fear of bringing on a new attack, and knowing that is where I was headed. It was Christmas day, and I was so horrified I put the book aside for a day.
As cliche as it is, I saw myself on every page of the chapter on people who get TMS, and the chapter on the physiology of TMS allayed my skepticism. With a couple hours of reflection, I realized that I'd been preoccupied with personal issues starting a couple months before my back pain started. After the back pain started (but before reading the book) I'd thought on a couple different occasions that the silver lining to my back pain is that I hadn't thought, or worried, about my personal issue pretty much since it started.
Since reading Dr Sarno's book, I've been feeling significantly better, and have cautiously resumed some of my old hobbies. My rate of improvement plateaued a week ago, however, and I decided to follow this program as a means of getting it back on track.
I live in Ottawa, Canada, and if anyone knows of a TMS-trained physician in the area, please let me know.
Richard
Veronica
