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Day 2 Need help convincing myself that it is 100 %

Discussion in 'Structured Educational Program' started by Arnie, Feb 9, 2017.

  1. Arnie

    Arnie New Member

    Ok, did the day 2. After reading BrianLee Jackson's story, I said to myself my wrist/thumb/hand problem gotta be TMS. But it is just so hard to get around my head to convince myself that it is 100% TMS. Can experienced people help me how to achieve this pls, i.e. point me to some resources on this. A lot of people must have had this difficulty of accepting the fact that it is 100% TMS.
     
  2. Walt Oleksy (RIP 2021)

    Walt Oleksy (RIP 2021) Beloved Grand Eagle

    I had severe back pain, learned about TMS, and healed about 90 percent. I kept believing the pain could be structural because I was 83 and had lifted something heavy. I finally told myself it was 100 percent TMS and the pain went away. Once in a while, some pain comes back, like it did last night (I'm 86 now). I told myself it was TMS, and the pain left me.
     
  3. Arnie

    Arnie New Member

    I am working on it. Thanks for your supportive comments.
     
  4. Lydia

    Lydia Peer Supporter

    What helped me is to really be very honest with myself, and have a very close look at how and when the pain was manifesting. I saw several things, that eventually helped me to accept the TMS-diagnosis for 100%:
    1. the pain moved around (sometimes very obviously and sometimes less),
    2. certain issues in my thoughts influenced the pain very much (emotions, regrets, anger),
    3. the pain resonated also with emotional issues on TV,
    4. the pain got much worse after the diagnosis of the physician/doctor,
    5. the pain got chronic, although the hurtful movements/accident already was months ago,

    Then, looking at the list of personality traits, was quite helpful too. It fitted so well!
    Also, just working on the program, doing the excercises helped me also a lot to accept the diagnosis. Because then, by putting things into practice, I saw clearly the difference between clinging to the doubt and accepting the TMS-diagnosis. The latter won: my body felt much better, happier, healthier and relaxter working from a psychological than a physiological point of view.

    Hope this encourages you to just go on, and give yourself some time to get used to a completely different diagnosis, than your mind wants you to believe.
     
    Lunarlass66 likes this.
  5. Arnie

    Arnie New Member

    Thank you very much Lydia, I will definitely keep pushing on.
     
  6. If 6 was 9

    If 6 was 9 Peer Supporter

    Hi Arnie, I'm on Day 10 and I'm still having doubts like yours at different times, usually when the pain hits when I get up from a chair....(mine's in lower back). But I have noticed some of the things that Lydia says especially the pain moving around. I'm now getting really nasty pains in the front of my thighs when I sit at my desk. When I realised that my pain was following this predicted course, I almost welcomed it because it appears to be a sign that the TMS theory is on the right track.

    Also, like what Lydia says, I've noticed the pain getting stronger when I have certain negative thoughts. Normally I would never have made the connection, I just would've thought, oh it's because I've been sitting longer at my desk. Yesterday at work I felt the pain get stronger and I thought to myself, what was the last negative thought that I had? It turned out it was a text exchange I had with my brother about me asking him if he had any part time work available and him saying no and then me joking around about it because I felt a bit embarrassed asking about it in the first place. But I think even identifying these conscious thoughts you need to explore what this could translate to in the subconscious. In my case, I think it was that I feel emotional pain when I compare myself to him because he's always gone out on his own and has been successful (though it has also been very stressful for him) and that I have always gone down the safe, conventional path because, the fear says, I'm not good enough to go it alone. Or because I'm really not good enough. To take this to extreme, my subconscious is in pain because I have feelings of worthlessness.

    Anyway, once I arrived at this conclusion my pain abated somewhat. It was almost like I'd just taken some codeine, except without that nice floaty feeling!

    Then when I got up, it all returned, or if I did a movement that exacerbated it (which I find myself doing often to test how much pain I'm experiencing - not sure whether that's a good thing or a bad thing), it all came flooding back. But perhaps that's because the pain from aggravation is very real, because my muscles are starved of oxygen. But pain from no aggravation at all - such as sitting down and not moving, actually lessened. So I took that as a sign that I was making progress.

    I didn't mean to go on about myself here, but I just wanted to show that you can make small improvements over time just by looking at what your thoughts have been going just before the pain is brought on. Like you, I'm finding it hard to 100% believe it too, because it seems like certain actions cause the pain. But the evidence is slowly mounting on the side of TMS. Also, while I've been experiencing pain, I've been trying to be indifferent to it rather than give it what it wants - for me to be its victim and prisoner. Yesterday when I had the meanest pain I was telling myself, it's just pain! So what - is that the best you can do (I got this last line from someone else in these wiki pages, I can't remember who).

    All the best.
     
  7. Arnie

    Arnie New Member

    Hi If 6 was 9 (that's an interesting name:happy:)
    Thanks for your detailed response. I really do appreciate all responses but especially detailed ones like yours. Because I seem to find things that correlate to my case amongst the details.
    So keep them coming even if it is talking about yourself, there are so many things to learn from other's experiences, thoughts, feelings;)
    I am also trying very hard to be indifferent to the pain. But it is not an easy task, sometimes it is excruciating pain and it is nerve pain which is so different to ordinary pain.
    Any way we will get there sooner or later, keep on pushing:cool:
     

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