Day 13 Doing pain causing things

[LauriK]

I'm on Day 13 even though I started this programme about a month and a half ago. I keep getting distracted by the talk of the doctors. Luckily now I think ( I hope) I am convinced my problem is TMS only. Even my very conventional doctor has said now the position of my collapsed disc and the position of my pain don't jive.

So I read something the other day about how you should do the thing that causes pain and then when you finish reward yourself in an attempt to rewire your brain. So I have a timer every 15 min I walk around the garden the next 15 min I sit to the count of 100. The pain for sitting is terrible. From today's article there seems to be a way I can turn off my brain to the pain. I'm trying affirmations for those 100 seconds but with little success.

I'm curious what more experienced people think of my new method and what they think I should do while sitting to try and deal with that pain.

 

[AngK]

Hi, LauriK
I'm new at this too so take what I say with a grain of salt (I haven't read the Day 13 article yet).
But, for me, when I am doing things that cause pain I try to not to focus on the pain itself, instead I either reflect on that day's stresses, how I feel about them, what I'd really like say to someone who's upsetting me, etc. If I can't think of anything bothering me then I just remind myself that the pain is caused due to repression... I'll kind of do a mental review of the types of things that I usually repress - kind of a run through of past journal entries ... and tell myself I'm ok, there's nothing wrong that won't go away eventually... and I usually thank my subconscious for trying to take care of me, but no thanks, I don't need it anymore. The first day or two I started this approach ended up with pretty long conversations with myself I find now that just a short check in is enough to help. I hope other members have some suggestions too. Good luck!

 

[gailnyc]

LauriK, I think the goal is to move your mind away from thinking of the pain whenever you can. At first this might be an almost constant battle, because the pain is screaming for your attention.

There are many, many ways to do this and I would just suggest you read about them and find some ways that work for you. You might try thinking about current problems, but you don't want to start ruminating too much, either. Some people advocate distraction, others advocate mindfulness. I find that when nothing else works deep breathing, and focusing on my breath, can work for at least a short time. Some people like affirmations. In his book, SteveO recommends bringing your attention to a healthy, pain-free part of your body (I do this sometimes and it can help). My therapist suggested focusing on one of your five senses--focusing on what you hear, see, can touch, smell, or taste. I tried this and found that touch worked best for me--I rub the outside of my pants and focus on the texture to get my attention away from the pain.

Don't give up! This may take awhile to work! In January when I started I was constantly trying (and failing) to get my attention away from the pain. I finally started working on letting go of my fear of the pain, which worked, although very slowly. Now I am actually able to enjoy long moments of not thinking about my pain. I only expect those moments to get longer and longer. You will get there too. Be patient.

 

[LauriK]

Thanks Gailnyc. I really like the idea of concentrating on another sense and I'll try focusing on my breathing. The not being able to sit is causing all sorts of problems with work, I'm a writer. I've tried to work laying down but I'm getting about 20% done of what I used to. And sitting now is the most painful. I dig and dig with journaling and find issues that might be causing it but nothing deep deep, like a breakthrough. Although trying to make a living writing fiction nowadays is likely enough stress in and of itself- ha!

 

[Leslie]

You might also want to consider beginning with some type of physical activity that you've either never done or never experienced pain while doing to build up your confidence in your body's physical abilities, a stepping stone to doing the activities that have caused you pain. Maybe swimming instead of walking, biking instead of running, something like that. The different activities won't have the pain pathways attached to them so your subconscious won't generate the pain just based on conditioning