"Fibromyalgia"

H

happystar

Peer Supporter
Hello everyone,
Has anyone here been diagnosed with "fibromyalgia"? I am wondering about my aches and my feeling ill every day. I have not been diagnosed with this but I know it is tough to determine because there are not real physical tests. My mom keeps telling me it is depression. I know fibromyalgia is purely TMS so would not be surprised if this is what happening to me. If anyone has been told they have this, can you give me some insight on the symptoms and how they came to the conclusion this was what you had?
 
I don't have fibro, but my neighbor/friend was recently told she has it. For her, they seemed to reach this conclusion by eliminating other things such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. Once they decided she didn't have those other things, it seems fibro was "left" as the conclusion. It's so very clear that she has TMS, but she isn't interested in hearing that. She wants the Drs and the meds to "fix" her. Nothing I can do but focus on my own issues. I do know I can't "fix" her. (took me years to learn that one LOL)
 
Thanks for your message :-) . True, you cannot fix her especially if she does not believe in TMS. I know I have TMS, have had lots of psychological issues to resolve and I've reached a point where my body is aching. I had an eating disorder for many years. And as soon as I overcame the eating disorder, this TMS stuff surfaced. It is very clear... stress, anxiety, TMS. My psychologist said that I once handled the anxiety with the eating disorder, now that I don't have it anymore, the anxiety has to come out somewhere else... makes sense to me.
 
happystar:

I've wrestled with anxiety my entire life. After multiple programs I see that now. So the question is - what to do with it? I am on a campaign to FIX mine, but not entirely sure how to do that. I do stop now and assess before I go into hyper-drive. Several good books on the topic, depending on what you have.

BG
 
Hiya happystar,

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and had severe pain in my wrists. The good part is that you don't need to be diagnosed with fibroymalgia if you have TMS. I tend to think that by calling our symptoms by their physical name (fibro, RSI) we may be hanging on to the structural diagnosis. Call it what it is, TMS, and you will overcome it.
 
Thanks Beach Girl and Forest.
I am not planning on going to yet another doctor. They cannot find anything (other than the anxiety and the hypoglycemia). So I MUST call it and accept it is TMS and deal with it by working on psychological issues. It is so clear given my history, I am shocked at how sometimes I still have doubts - I now know it is my mind trying to distract me of emotional pain and trying to trick me.
Forest, did you heal your wrist pain? I started having pain in my hands and forearms -it is a very strange pain that comes and goes.
Thanks guys, you rock!
HS
 
happystar:

Anxiety seems to be a common thread among many of us here. It can really wreak havoc after years of silently suffering with it. You can change those thought patterns though, and that is exactly what I do now. When my back starts to hurt, I do a little anxiety inventory to see what's really bothering me. I don't think my back hurts because of the way I'm sitting, it's what is running through my head. Hard habit to break, but once you start catching yourself, I think you're part way there. Good luck and keep posting!

BG
 
Yeah I healed and overcame my wrist pain. I had it for a really long time and it prevented me from typing on a computer. If I can recover you can recover. Check out my story on my profile and in my video success story. The main thing that I did was reading a whole bunch of success stories and slowly begin to challenge myself by increasing my activities. This ranged from walking (I also had leg pain) and increasing the amount of typing I did. I can honestly say that now I can type all day and I have absolutely no symptoms at all. Once I realized that I was not going to hurt myself and that my symptoms wouldn't get worse, my symptoms started to fade away.

Accepting the diagnosis can take some time for the information to really sink down into our unconscious mind. This means that even though we accept the diagnosis intellectually, our unconscious mind may still put doubt in our minds. What is going through your mind when you notice you have doubt? Is there a common event/issue that is causing your doubt?

Most likely it is just your unconscious mind trying to distract you. I would also recommend running through a list of reasons why you have TMS like the one Alan Gordon discusses in the Q&A with an expert question: Is it PPD/TMS or a Structural Issue.

Best,

Forest
 
Hi Beach Girl and Forest,
Thanks for your advice!Great Video Forest!!! It is nice to hear a success story vs. reading it - it sinks in better.
Forest when I have doubts I just think "what if it is something else"? Of course it is the anxiety. They've done every test under the sun (MRI, extensive blood work, EMG, circulation test) and everything has been clear except that MRI little thing which is nothing and the doc said to forget about it. I am going to make a conscious effort to think psychologically from now... I know I have so many things to resolve at the emotional level. Thanks guys, you are awesome.
 
happystar said:
I am going to make a conscious effort to think psychologically from now... I know I have so many things to resolve at the emotional level.
Click to expand...

It's a habit. Like biting your fingernails. (also TMS) I know because I worry too. Not so much about my body anymore, I know this is emotional and not a real injury. I don't want to spend one more nickle with a doctor and also discontinued "alternative therapy" from my medical insurance because I wanted to make a statement to myself. It's hard at first to "catch" yourself. But being mindful, grateful, and living in the moment, will all help you.

Good luck happystar!!

BG
 
Isn't "fibromyalgia" diagnosed as sensitivity or pain experienced at 11 out of 18 classic pressure points on the legs, neck and torso? Only problem with that it seems to me is that those pressure points correlate exactly with the same pressure points Dr. Sarno uses to diagnose TMS. In fact, Dr. Sarno thinks that "fibromyalgia" is TMS writ large. So if you've ruled out physical diagnoses like rheumatoid arthritis or lupus, it sure sounds like what the docs in your case are calling fibro is in fact an intense version of TMS. I have to assume that you've gone to conventional doctors who've ruled out any autoimmune disorders, lupus or rheumatoid arthritis? That is of course a very important first step before jumping to a body-mind hypothesis and treatment. Therefore, it sure sounds like you should be able to eliminate your "fibromyalgia" by following the same body-mind protocols recommended by Dr. Sarno, Dr. Shubiner, et alia. I too know a lady that the doctors at Kaiser-Permanente have diagnosed with fibro who is forever walking (limping) with hiking poles around a nature preserve near my house in the SF Bay Area. I don't know all the particulars of her case, but she seems very lonely and is engaged in a fire-fight of some kind with her eldest daughter. Middle-aged, retired school teacher (goodist I'd say), who is very alone and wants a BF, perhaps in "the worst way possible"? All the docs do is keep prescribing strong narcotics for the pains in her neck and back. I've tried to describe body-mind conditions to her, but all to no avail. At least, the docs at Kaiser have told her repeatedly that there's nothing physically wrong with her, so perhaps she can work it out from there?
 
Hi MorComm, thanks for your insight. Yes, they have done every test on me. Have been to neurologist and oncologist, they found nothing... but I have not been diagnosed with "fibromyalgia". Have not had the trigger point test. The podiatrist threw it out there as a possibility along with neuropathy and RLS and wanted to give me Lyrica. I have not filled the prescription and won't. How come these symptoms I have came right AFTER I recovered from a long time eating disorder? How come the docs cannot find anything in the bloodwork and tests? It is clearly TMS! I will work hard at this. Thanks you for being so supportive guys! Light and love your way.
 
Beach-Girl said:
It's a habit. Like biting your fingernails. (also TMS) I know because I worry too. Not so much about my body anymore, I know this is emotional and not a real injury. I don't want to spend one more nickle with a doctor and also discontinued "alternative therapy" from my medical insurance because I wanted to make a statement to myself. It's hard at first to "catch" yourself. But being mindful, grateful, and living in the moment, will all help you.

Good luck happystar!!

BG
Click to expand...

Good for you BG, I also am also not planning to visit anymore docs re. my pain. I've been to so many, even went to a chiropractor that said he could help but after 3 months of seeing no improvement I decided to stop wasting my money, hope and time. He gave me so many supplements (he sold them in his office) too. No palpable results. You are right, mindfulness, gratefulness and living in the present is the key. Happy day and light to you!
 
Thank you happystar. I too went to MANY practitioners who promised to help with my pain. Each time I'd get excited - "this was it!" - but each time after a few hundred bucks and logging many hours in my car, I was disappointed. Now I am working a program that I created using things that have learned from others here. I am getting there....but it's slow go. I think the best thing I'm doing, is to do nothing and not call attention to my pain. Sounds odd, but I'm sure it's temporary. Everything is always changing! Feels right though - time to let it go and ignore it.

BG
 
A couple of months ago I went to my doctor because my arms have been hurting since January. That is now in addition to my chronic 18+ year headache and neck pain, which expanded a year ago to include shoulder pain, Raynaud's Syndrome, TMJ, and Tinnitus. Oh, by the way, Generalized Anxiety Disorder was the first diagnosis way back in 1990. My doctor ran blood work for Lupus and RA and both were negative. She started pressing on some areas that were painful and when I asked what she was doing, stated that those were Fibromyalgia points. She said that she didn't want to label me with that, but I know a lot of doctors would. Thing is, I am all too aware that it is only a catch-all term for when they can't find anything else wrong with you, so even if she did give me that diagnosis, I would have refuted it. From what I have read in Sarno's books, Fibromyalgia progresses, sometimes slowly, to where everything eventually hurts. He believes, as do other TMS doctors, that Fibromyalgia is a severe form of TMS. I know in my heart that I am a classic case of TMS and need to look no further.

I have spent thousands over the years running back and forth to every kind of doctor and therapy you can imagine. Today I can honestly say that I am done with that. I always knew that the answers were inside me all along. Time to get down to self-healing. I deserve it!
 
honeybear424 said:
I have spent thousands over the years running back and forth to every kind of doctor and therapy you can imagine. Today I can honestly say that I am done with that. I always knew that the answers were inside me all along. Time to get down to self-healing. I deserve it!
Click to expand...

Yes you do honeybear! I too have spent a small fortune trying to be "healed" and now I find out - it's all up to me. It's kind of a relief since I was stumped as to what to try next. Anyway. I too have GAD. Seems to be a huge barrier as the "stressful/worry thoughts" invade my head anytime I'm not focused on something else. I gotta hand it to my therapist though. Been seeing her for a very long time. Our sessions have turned into a dumping ground for me, but we weren't doing anything to cure my GAD.

I left her my book "Mindbody Prescription" and she read part of it. So I announced I was cutting way back on my sessions. I told her that I KNEW I had TMS and that the GAD was at the root. So.......next visit one month later, she had bought and started Dr. Schubiner's program herself because I had mentioned it. She also checked out Monte Hueftle's website. Now she can talk TMS. Now she gets it. I'm stoked as she knows me really well and I think we're on the same page now. We're getting to work on ways to cure my GAD - starting from where I am. She is a really good doc, she never knew about TMS. And I think she saw this can help more than just me. She probably has many clients with similar issues.

I will push, I will not go anymore if we stray off track. But SHE is the one who warned me about stress and getting sick. She has been really worried about me for a long time. (long story - nothing evil) I told her last time "you kept warning me, and it's HERE. I've had this back pain since I walked in your door. And now we can put the pieces together and work my way out of it!"

We'll see, but I'm pretty sure that's what the goal is. She's now excited about TMS and the role GAD can play.

BG
 
BG ~ You are so lucky that your therapist is open to TMS. I have been seeing the same therapist off and off for nearly 22 years, and she also knows me very well. (I have seen a few others in between her at times). Last Fall, I really cut way back with my appointments and haven't seen her in a good 6 months. Like you, I didn't feel like my sessions were doing anything to cure my GAD. We would just talk and had become friends. She even invited me to a small meditation group held at her home (she works out of her home, too), and I went a few times. I've been thinking of calling her to see if she would be open to reading the TMS stuff, but she is getting close to retiring. Especially since finding the TMS stuff a few months ago, I figure, why should I give her a copay to just sit and talk. If I can't get my stuff resolved by working Schubiner's program, then I need to find someone who "gets" it.

Like you, in a sense, I felt relief in finding out that I am really the only one that can help myself. I was so tired of running all over the place. I had a feeling it was all up to me long ago, but wasn't ready to face it. Now I am. Not gonna say it doesn't feel a bit daunting, but nonetheless, when I come out on the other side...what a triumph it will be!!!
 
Happystar, Dr. Georgie Oldfield's website has an interesting and very long list of symptoms that are considered to be mind/body syndrome. She is also on this site occasionally.

I also remember seeing somewhere that if an MD is unable to find anything to diagnose, it is likely a mind/body issue. (may have been Dr. Sarno or someone else; can't recall right now).

Best wishes for healing !
 
Beach-Girl said:
Yes you do honeybear! I too have spent a small fortune trying to be "healed" and now I find out - it's all up to me. It's kind of a relief since I was stumped as to what to try next. Anyway. I too have GAD. Seems to be a huge barrier as the "stressful/worry thoughts" invade my head anytime I'm not focused on something else. I gotta hand it to my therapist though. Been seeing her for a very long time. Our sessions have turned into a dumping ground for me, but we weren't doing anything to cure my GAD.

I left her my book "Mindbody Prescription" and she read part of it. So I announced I was cutting way back on my sessions. I told her that I KNEW I had TMS and that the GAD was at the root. So.......next visit one month later, she had bought and started Dr. Schubiner's program herself because I had mentioned it. She also checked out Monte Hueftle's website. Now she can talk TMS. Now she gets it. I'm stoked as she knows me really well and I think we're on the same page now. We're getting to work on ways to cure my GAD - starting from where I am. She is a really good doc, she never knew about TMS. And I think she saw this can help more than just me. She probably has many clients with similar issues.

I will push, I will not go anymore if we stray off track. But SHE is the one who warned me about stress and getting sick. She has been really worried about me for a long time. (long story - nothing evil) I told her last time "you kept warning me, and it's HERE. I've had this back pain since I walked in your door. And now we can put the pieces together and work my way out of it!"

We'll see, but I'm pretty sure that's what the goal is. She's now excited about TMS and the role GAD can play.

BG
Click to expand...

That's amazing BG, what a relief that your therapist has learned about TMS and can incorporate that into your sessions, well done!
 
Happystar said:
I've been to so many, even went to a chiropractor that said he could help but after 3 months of seeing no improvement I decided to stop wasting my money, hope and time. He gave me so many supplements (he sold them in his office) too. No palpable results.
Click to expand...

When I was starting out I also used previous failures to help me accept the diagnosis. Basically, I recognized that I tried pretty much every kind of structural treatment approach to no avail, and thought, if treating it as a structural problem didn't work, I should treat it as a psychological issue. Sure enough this worked. It is important to recognize how fundamentally different the TMS approach is to any other strucutral treatment approach. Just because other approaches didn't work, does not mean this one won't. In fact, when other approaches fail to work, it only increases the likelihood that the issue is truly TMS and therefore more likely to work.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top