Ibuprofen?

hey all,

Question: what’s been your experience with taking ibuprofen during a flare up? In the past, it never really did anything for me. But this flare up has been pretty gnarly, so I got a prescription for muscle relaxers and 600mg ibuprofen, neither of which seemed to do anything. I spoke to a nurse friend and he said ibuprofen worked better if taken for a while. So after my TMS doc suggested I get an MRI to rule out anything malignant, I sorta succumbed to thinking it might be physical, thus began taking the ibuprofen, which seemed to help. Long story short, got MRI back Tuesday and nothing malignant, TMS doc assured was TMS. I didn’t take anything the past two days, but noticed pain a bit more, especially at night. I wanted to test it, so I took one today and I feel better! This is messing with me because it makes me worry that if I feel better, is there something structural in there? Or is it just a placebo? Or does a high dose of ibuprofen help all pain, even TMS?

 

Kevin,

I think the gremlin is messing with your head. A Tmsing brain will make sure to convince you any way it can.

Lizzy

 

Just a placebo in this case--especially if the TMS doc ruled out structural. Let the doc's assurance also give you confidence in the diagnosis!

 

Yes, darn that TMS gremlin! Hahahah

 

I was prescribed a muscle relaxer and ibuprofen for my last flare up and it honestly didn’t do anything for me. So I try not to take anything anymore

 

Was the mri for low back?

 

Yea, a lumbar MRI. It's been my 3rd MRI on my back since 2009, annoying and waste of time... but this one was suggested from my TMS doctor just to be on the safe side, so I'm glad I did it. Here's to hopefully NEVER having another one in my life!

 

Just curious. They found nothing?
Or just normal abnormalities, like Sarno says in his book?

 

They found stuff. I had the results sent to my TMS doc to interpret the report because I knew if I went to the neurologist who prescribed the MRI, he'd plant all sorts of fear in me. We did the MRI to rule out cauda equina, specifically, because some of my symptoms were similar to that syndrome. He called me and said there is no sign of cauda equina syndrome, nor any other malignant process (e.g. cancer, tumors, infection). He went on to say there were some changes compared to the last MRI (they typically do a comparison in the report to previous MRI findings), but he didn't go into great detail. He said it mentioned herniations and stenosis, both of which were also found in the previous reports... but he also said it's been 3 years since the last scan, so of course there are bound to be changes. Beyond that, we didn't go into details. He offered to send me the report, which I declined. Reading that stuff or even knowing the specifics won't do me a single bit of good. Hell, just the fact that he mentioned "changes" has had me a bit worried the past few days, but he's a medical doctor. He outright said TMS, nothing on the report he hadn't seen plenty of times before, definitely nothing requiring surgery. It's a bit hard to fully accept because the symptoms are so "real" feeing, and frightening... but it boils down to who would know better: a doctor trained in TMS with nearly 20 years of TMS treatment experience, or me, who learned of TMS under 3 years ago? The logical answer is clear, now it's just a matter of accepting at a deeper level.

Hope this helps!

 

Thank you. Believe it or not what u said is kinda what I’m going trough the difference is I saw a regular MD and not a tms.

 

Yea, I hear ya man. Try reading “repudiate the diagnosis” from Sarno’s The Mindbody Prescription. It may be helpful to see a TMS doctor if you feel stuck, though I’ll tell you from my own experience, it’s nice to have that, but it all still comes from within, nobody else can do this for us, unfortunately

It can take some time, and isn’t linear, but it passes if we keep at it. I just read an older post of yours from a few weeks ago and you said you went and ran 3 miles- there’s your proof right there! If you had anything wrong with you, you’d not be able to run any miles! I can still hardly walk, yet I have TMS, you see?

What happened between then and now that has you scared? Did you decide to get an MRI, or was that before all of this?

 

Had severe low back pain with sciatica.
Saw a doctor had physical therapy
Was good for couple weeks. Flared up to were I was limited to mobility. Had an mri and found an annular tear in my l5 - s1.
Was good after a couple weeks. Then 1 month ago I had another flare up and back to physical theraphy. I’m good now and able to run, hike and normal activities. I guess now is the knowing about the annular tear that’s freaking me out.