Feet trouble solved with TMS? But now a major relapse

Hi there!

I’m relatively new to TMS and new to this website. Ill introduce myself and my story and really hope you can help me out.

I am Eline, am pretty sporty (normally I sport 4-5 times a week) and I bought a longboard (some kind of skateboard) in May. Very happy as I was with my own longboard, I did a pretty long tour for a first timer, about 1,5 – 2 hour on a surface that not always smooth but sometimes very sturdy. The next day I had some pretty bad pain on the bottom of my left foot (the foot I use to push). I thought it was some soreness and continued longboarding. The weeks afterwards, I just kept on going. The pain decreased a bit when I didn’t go longboarding, and increased a bit when I went longboarding again. Something I started to use my other foot to push, but the pain stayed. I decided to stop totally, waiting for the pain to stop. It didn’t however, I always kept having some kind of pain in the bottom of my left foot. On one particular night, I went clubbing, and the pain got worse and worse, also in my right foot kind all of a sudden, and there was this moment then I just went right “through” it and could barely walk anymore. From that night, it got worse and worse, until one day I couldn’t walk at all anymore and walked on crutches for 4 whole months. Even walking on crutches did hurt like hell. Other parts of my feet also hurt most of the times, but not always, and sometimes also my leg(s) were kind of numb/tingling. Starting my new, first real job after uni on crutches without knowing what was going on was hell. I went to numerous doctors: physiotherapists, feet specialists, orthopedists etc, used special soles for my shoes, did many scans like MRI, CT-scans, echos (nothing was found), tried resting for a long time, stretching, exercising, etc. Nothing helped, it didn’t make sense at all. Until one day, I read The Mindbody Syndrom. I threw away my special shoesoles and started walking a little bit, still using the crutches, and later without. It went better and better, and finally I could walk again; I had my life back!

Only, now and then I have a major relapse, like right now the worst so far. The moment I could walk for an hour again and party all night without pain, I started to play squash again, very gently. The first time it went really well, only a little bit of pain, nothing too bad. The second time I squashed a little more like I was really recovered. The next day I had a bit of pain, the day after more and now five days later I have a lot of pain again on the soles of boot feet. I am really doubting about TMS and don’t really know what to do. I think if it is TMS, the fact that I worried about the outcome of playing squash didn’t help at all. When starting to walk the day after squash, I walked gently, like I wanted to try whether squash really wouldn’t have damaged anything..

Some people I talk to about TMS don’t believe it and think it is nonsense, or think it might increase my physical problems but in the mean time think I shouldn’t have played squash this soon etc, damaging everything again. This really doesn’t help and gets me more confused. Can anyone help me out of give me advice? Right now I don’t really know that to do to get out of this relapse.. I live in the Netherlands, where, as far as I know, no TMS practitioners exist. The doctors I speak to do not want to recognize it, which doesn’t really help either

Sorry the story is this long J

 

Hi, eline.
You write about your pain but you don't say anything about applying Dr. Sarno's theory that most pain is not structural
but is caused by TMS repressed emotions and/or a perfectionist and "goodist" personality.

You write that some people you know do not believe in TMS. Ignore them. You have to believe in TMS and I mean 100 percent.

There are many videos in the subforums that will help you to believe in TMS, and books such as Sarno's, and the Structured Educational Program, free in that subforum. You need to stop thinking about your pain and believing it comes from exercise.

It would be helpful if there was a TMS practitioner you could see, but the videos in the subforums here can help you to heal.

Dr, Sarno says in Healing Back Pain that we should stop strenuous activities (squash, longboading) until we feel little or no pain,
but to resume normal activity (walking, bending, etc.) while practicing TMS healing techniques. Those are in his books and others
including one I wrote with Eric Watson called GOD DOES NOT WANT YOU TO BE IN PAIN.

Believe in TMS and you won't be confused anymore.

 

Thanks for your advice! I still find it hard to accept often that it really is tms since after activity it gets worse. I did wait with strenuous activity until I had no to almost no pain, but then it started again. So what can I do best? The fact that I am in pain again feels pretty scary..

 

I was almost completely disabled for years from foot pain. Mine didn't start from a particular activity, except slight soreness that increased. When I learned about Dr. Sarno's approach, and when I started thinking psychological about my pain instead of physical, the pain began to subside. I also took it very easy at first, so there would be no physical reasons for pain to act up.

I think the feet are very strong, and bounce back faster than any physio thinks.

My thought is that there has been so much time since the accute onset, and you are seeing how it comes and goes, and you used Dr. Sarno's work to cure yourself the first time---that this is in all likelyhood TMS. Also, nothing was really structural ever found.

Reading your story, I hear that you may have had a fairly "easy cure" using Dr. Sarno's work. Maybe this time you need to dig in and do the SEP program here in the Wiki, or otherwise really apply yourself. I think most folks have to put more work into it, and continue somewhat the work over time (Dr. Sarno says this), in order to keep TMS at bay.

I wonder if you did the SEP, what the results would be? Could you do that and be patient with the results? You are most the way to a good cure, since you are already a Sarno believer!

Andy

 

TMS words of wisdom from Walt.

 

Thanks a lot for your support guys. Means a lot.

I do sometimes still have some doubts whether it truly is TMS. If I think hard about it and think about all the evidence I have (the pain doenst make sense at all, is jumping around, can be very intense and be a lot better in a few minutes, etc) I know it is TMS, but everytime the pain gets a bit worse I get scared and start to doubt again. I know this is feeding the pain, being some kind of selffulling propecy, but I can't really help it sometimes.

I just started the educational program and hope this can help. You are right, I might be a bit unpatient, but the fact that I was almost fully recovered and now feel like having a major relapse just feels really scary. There are moments that I doubt, but also moments I am really convinced (on which there is a lot of prove of TMS being the cause, like moments when the pain goes from very intense to nothing and back) Sometimes I think something like "Ok Im sure this is TMS, but why does the pain stay"?

I am also doubting whether continuing to play squash or not. In general, it makes me very happy. On one hand, Sarno says you have to be at least almost recovered to start strenuous activities. Other TMS patients say that in no way you should hold back, since that means you believe that you have to hold back since something is wrong.

I do have major triggerpoints in my legs also. Often, different places on my leg feel really cold and numb. I visisted a triggerpointmasseur a few times to help get rid of them. Should I stop visiting him?

 

If you feel some relief by going to the masseur, I think that's fine. I believe in acupressure and acupuncture. Massage, too.

Just keep believing your symptoms are 100 percent TMS.