Extinction Burst?

[D. R. Martin]

I have read here about the so called extinction burst, where the TMS starts throwing more and more at you, as it attempts to stay in charge and keep your attention. Can anyone here tell me the range of time frames for it? Days, weeks, months? Does it always lead to a cessation of symptoms?

 

[BruceMC]

No way to tell - at least in my experience - whether or not an "extinction burst" is really an episode of "symptom substitution" writ large. For instance, now that my lower back pain and sciatica are lightening up, I've developed a skin rash on my back in exactly the same place as the lower lumbar pain used to be. Simply a coincidence? Doesn't seem that way to me. Now, though, the skin rash seems to be disappearing and the back pain isn't coming "back" either. So maybe it is finally over? That is, unless some other weird symptom starts up like headaches or TMJ. Hard to put a time frame on recovery from TMS since it must vary from individual to individual. It may be that a TMS doctor who's familiar with a huge number of case histories and recoveries may be able to make a better judgment call based on years of experience.

 

[TomPNY]

I am going through the same thing.
Read Dr. Sarno's book last month. Got rid of my lower back pain in a few days... but ever since, it feels like the rest of my body is revolting against me because of it.
It is so hard to just stay the course, and not try to treat, rediagnose, or acknowledge all of this other stuff going on. Right now one of my hands will go numb while I sleep. Freaks me right out.
But it only started happening AFTER the back pain went away.

 

[Forest]

You can't put a timeline of recovery. Doing so will only impede your progress as it will make you focus more on your symptoms. The symptom imperative can be a very difficult part of recovery, but it is all the more reason why having 100% believe in the diagnosis is so key. If you believe that your symptoms are benign than there is no need to fear them. Sure you may have those negative thoughts come up every once in awhile, but you can remind yourself that it is only TMS and nothing to fear. This is something that I found to be very helpful in reducing the power the symptoms had over me.

 

[Gigi]

For me, this is an ongoing journey. I'm not sure I'll ever be "cured" of TMS, but I can learn to recognize the signals my body is sending, and try to deal with the stress.
I've had a couple of weeks free from the headache pain, but it's back tonight. I tried meditation and a yoga session, but am still hurting. I've never been fond of the concept of "yelling" at my subC, so tonight I tried visualization and throwing loving kindness at it. Can't say it's been very successful, but I felt it was worth a try!