Day 4 Diagnosis hell

I called this post "diagnosis hell" for a reason. Since my symptoms began months ago, that's where I feel like I was. Back in October, my knees hurt soooo bad, I swore I was bordering on being crippled. I went in to my first (of many) orthopedic visits and he did a standard set of X-rays. When he walked into the room he looked me straight in the eyes and told me my knees were "Stone Cold Normal" - his exact words. I was in disbelief, I demanded an MRI of my knees (minimal meniscus damage), and EMG (normal), later a back MRI, and so on, and so on.

A normal diagnosis should have been good news right? Not for me. I cried. Finally, after many more tests, I got the very common diagnosis of herniated L4 & L5 discs, torn disc, etc., but now I know I was hunting for a cause and this was the one I got stuck on.

I'm am now working on becoming "unstuck." Has anyone else found their diagnosis and clung on to it for dear life? Why is it so hard to let go?

 

Hi, Mellie. You didn't want to believe the good news that your knees were structurally sound, so you went looking for second and more opinions, as if hoping something structural would be found, and you got it. You went down the wrong road, but you are on the right road now by doing the SEProgram.

This morning I talked with a friend by phone who told me she had some back ache and her doctor gave her medication that didn't help her, then recommended she undergo surgery, and she did. She said the medication and surgery nearly killed her and she had a heart attack. She believes now, as I do, that neither the drugs nor the surgery were necessary and just made her worse.

So do not look for trouble. Believe 100 percent that your pain is caused by TMS emotions. Read and re-read Dr. Sarno's 12 Daily Reminders about TMS, and this extended version from Herbie, one of the best friends this web site has:


Herbie’s Extended Version of Dr. Sarno’s 12 DAILY REMINDERS

1. The pain is due to TMS. This is real pain or anxiety but it is caused by subconscious tensions and triggers, stressors and traits to your reactions and fears and also when at boiling point your conscious tension can and does also cause real pain.
2. The main reason for the pain is mild oxygen deprivation. This means that when you get in pain or anxiety then the blood is restricted from going to your lower back, for instance. The blood being restricted causes oxygen deprivation which causes the pain. Remember, where there is no oxygen then there is pain in the body. Also, the pain stays because of fear.
3. TMS is a harmless condition caused by my REPRESSED EMOTIONS so even though you think you can harm yourself from the years of pain you have felt and how you feel in general -- so far no reports have been heard from TMS healing knowledge causing damage to anyone, it only helps.
4. The principle emotion is your repressed ANGER -- this means under your consciousness lies something that happens automatically to everyone. TMSers have repressions that are stored because of our personality traits, traumas, stressors, fears, strain, etc... When these stored repressions build and build, then eventually they cause the brain to send pain into your body to keep you from having an emotional crises. The mind-body thinks it is helping you.
5. TMS exists to DISTRACT your attentions from the emotions, stressors, tensions and strains of your personality traits because if you can get distraction then you won’t have to be in emotional turmoil. When you don't face and feel your emotions and they get repressed because you didn't want to deal with something -- they are just adding up in this beaker, ready to pour over and create real pain and anxiety in your body.
6. Since my body is perfectly normal, there is nothing to fear. So in reality when I fear the pain or anxiety I just cause myself undo strain and tension adding to the beaker of pain. If I fear, then I feed the pain, If I fear, it’s impossible to recondition. Fear keeps the pain and anxiety alive in the body through focus.
7. Therefore, physical activity is harmless. If I want to work against the pain I could but it’s better to lose some of the pain so when I start my life over I have to be in pain trying to heal because facing the repressions and all the other activities that cause the pain and reversing my fear and focus to them, then I can heal.
8. I am resuming all normal physical activity. I don't fear moving anymore. I believe in my body’s ability to heal now. I can move as I want. I will not fear moving with a bent back anymore. I will also practice going out and acting normal again, not in fear of what pain might do to me.
9. The pain is unimportant and powerless. Its only power is how it is hidden -- its illusion, its fear.
10. I will keep my attention on the emotional issues. I will think about my emotions and feel my emotions throughout the day. I will not judge, criticize or fear my emotions. I will not run from my emotional issues but face every one of them. I will feel my emotions fully and cry if I need to. Then I will release the emotion and get my mind and thoughts back to my life and living in the present.
11. I am in control of all of this. This is how I recover.
12. I will be thinking PSYCHOLOGICALLY AT ALL TIMES. This means I will keep my thoughts on psychological issues like happiness, fear and anger -- traits and triggers, conditioning and journaling -- The science behind mind-body/TMS healing, etc.... This way I will not feed my thoughts to the body -- that is a trick of TMS. TMS will always try to get me to focus on the body caused by the pain until I break its show and flair. When I get my attention off physical symptoms and on to emotional issues and psychological issues then I will not feed the fear of the physical issues anymore, thus making the TMS of no pain effect on the body. This will in return, give us the cure and become pain-free.

 

F
Mellie, yesterday I got the same result from an MRI-herniated L4&L5 discs, and other stuff. It was comically odd-the doctor was explaining the diagnosis using one of those pictures of the lumbar and he said something about the left side and I said-wait a minute-this pain is mainly on the right side. He immediately said-oh, yes, the picture is upside down-and then continued. I almost laughed. Anyway, he said my options were the standard epidural injection, surgery. For me this diagnosis just confirms it's TMS. As Dr. Sarno said-the idea that a herniated disc could cause this amount of pain is rediculous. I was thankful I had no tumor or some other structural problem. I know that doesn't stop the pain, at least it doesn't for me. But it is changing my perception of the pain. I am having exceptions which are very encouraging. But at times it still hurts like hell. I realize I just have to try to keep calm and not freak out about the pain. So if I were you I would throw that diagnosis in the toilet and flush it. It means nothing other than you have a normal spine.

 

I hear you, Danny. I wish I would have discovered Dr. Sarno long before all of these doctor's visits, and especially before I went ahead with the epidural injections in desperation. Although I have to admit, those injections ended up being my wake-up call. I am so done with these tests and diagnosis! I'm glad to hear you have no related threatening health problems either. Good luck!