Day one:

So my pain is foot pain, quite severe at times, especially when walking. There are definite structural abnormalities that could be causing this pain -- arthritis, bunion, neuroma. But I feel that the pain may also be psychologically caused or exacerbated. Is it possible that pain is caused by physical issues but is made much worse by psychological ones? I can imagine that may be true in my case. I can see that fear and distraction probably play a role. There is a lot in my life that I'd rather not think about just now. Especially related to the physical and mental changes of aging. So the foot pain is both a distraction and a reminder of my aging body

 

Hi Nellie, and welcome to the forum!

You bet this is true! I have proof in my own life, both before and after discovering TMS, that our fears will definitely increase pain as well as cause and increase other symptoms. It's part of the fight-or-flight mechanism, after all. Pain is used to keep us alert and scanning the horizon for danger, which is not a very useful mechanism if you are fortunate enough to live a safe life in modern society.

I just wrote this example in another post:

I am reminded of my brief hospitalization in 2008 when I crashed my bicycle and broke my femur. This was "before Sarno" but I recognized that my pain decreased significantly the moment I heard that the fracture was non-displaced and that it could be pinned up in a short surgery and I could be on crutches the following day.

I was terrified of being bedridden, but when that fear was removed, the majority of the pain went away.

Before and after the surgery the nurses kept asking me to describe my pain level, which I found very annoying because I didn't care, and I had no intention of taking any opioids. My response was that I used to get cramps worse than this and that a couple of ibuprofen would be just fine. Both of which were absolutely true in spite of the fact that I had a fracture across my femoral neck, that someone had sliced through all of my thigh muscles, and had then screwed three metal pins into my bone. I had such faith in the process, and in my own ability to heal quickly thanks to this marvelous technology, that there was no reason for my brain to create a bunch of pain or anxiety.
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Nellie, I have since learned, and I am still learning to practice, that being mindful of our mental and emotional thoughts is a vital key to taking control of our symptoms. If you can learn to listen to the fear messages that your brain is constantly perpetuating, you can make a choice to turn them off, and replace them with something that is positive and constructive.

One thing you need to know from your medical practitioners is whether you are in danger of injuring yourself by doing or not doing certain things, like exercising. Once you know how much you can do without injury, those things can become goals in order to keep yourself healthy as you age. These days I train with weights, something I wouldn't have dreamed of doing when I suffered from neck pain, low back pain, shaky legs, dizziness, and a list of other symptoms.

I'm 64 now, and back in 2011 at age 60, I thought my former life was over. Feel free to read my profile story and to ask me any questions you like, because we might have a lot in common. One of the authors in The Divided Mind specifically talks about the deep repressed rage that we have at growing old and facing our mortality, and that one hit home for me.

As I read The Divided Mind, I knew without a shred of doubt that I was suffering from TMS, and that belief turned my life completely around. I did the emotional work (still doing it four years later) and achieved significant success within a few months. So even though I still struggle with some symptoms, it feels like I'm at about 90% recovery most of the time, which has given me more than 100% of my life back.

You can do the same, if you're willing to trust and love yourself enough to face, accept, and get beyond the repressed emotions that every single human being has.

 

Hi, Nelliemaud. I'm 85 and started having severe back pain when I was 82, but thanks to TMS knowledge and journaling the pain left me,
Every day brings new or old problems and I try not to worry about them. I amazingly healthy for my age and thank God every day for it.
What comes, comes. If you are 90 percent recovered and have more than 100 percent of your life back, you too are blessed.