New to support forum & battling TMS

Hi,
A dear friend from another TMS forum suggesting I give this a try..I am battling a combination of a real ankle injury and subsequent pains in other areas that could be TMS..I am not sure I am doing this right as this is my first post..Hopefully I will figure out how to continue..(not the best on computers)..I badly sprained my ankle and had a hair line fracture in my fibula..Thankfully the fibula healed rapidly, but the sprain is taking a long time..it's been over a month..I worked out in the gym yesterday and believe i may have irritated a previous, real injury in my knee on the hip abductor machines..So i am doing ice/advil, etc...and very aware that some or even all could be TMS..I have suffered and worked the program of TMS recovery in the past very well for CTS, neck/knee/etc..so I know the principles..

I am in a new area of upstate NY since early January and have been feeling lonely up here having moved here knowing only my boyfriend..whom I see just on weekends..this is not how I thought my life would be at this age..I am also paying out of pocket for my PT due to my insurance only covering me in NJ...I am a hurricane Sandy victim and that is part of why I moved away from my home at the Jersey shore..enough said for now..don't want to write a novel and want to see how this works here..
thanks for listening,
Karen

 

Surprised I have not gotten even one reply..Looks like no one has ever read my post..I came here for support hoping that it was more interactive..Will give it another day or so, then probably look for another venue.

 

I read it but am new to this so don't have much info to help you! I often get replies after a few days...

 

Thanks for writing, Val..Maybe I will get some replies soon, hopefully...

 

Hi Singer-Artist. Welcome to the wiki forum. It isn't possible for anyone to say without a shadow of a doubt that someone has TMS or not. However, it sounds like you are experiencing pain at the site of an old injury. This is pretty common. Your mind lingers over the memory of the injury and leads you to believe the pain is due to this.

It also sounds like you are candidate for TMS from how you are feeling, isolated and dissatisfied with your life in general. You mention not being where you thought you would be by this stage. I can relate to all of this and have been making some major changes to try and alleviate some of my own symptoms. You seem quite sensitive and worried that no one will respond to your post. I think this is related to your feelings of isolation. Again I can recognise this from my own reactions.

How did you recover from TMS in the past?

 

Karen, it seems from your post that you are a prime candidate for TMS--you've moved to a new place, don't know anyone there except your boyfriend, and you were a hurricane victim! Your situation sounds very stressful!

It seems to me like an ankle sprain should heal before a bone fracture, so if I were you I'd definitely treat this as TMS. Have you checked out the Structured Educational Program yet?

 

Thank you yb44 and Gail..I appreciate you both writing.. Yes, I do believe that my sensitivity regarding getting responses is due to the isolation..for sure..Also, it has to do w/ a big change I have seen on another tms forum i was very active in years ago..It has changed so much..I went back there and only 2 people responded..(both old timers)..It has almost become 'clickish' and if you haven't been there for a long time you are ignored..I guess my being overly right brained (singer, artist, musician, etc..) makes me more sensitive as well..

The way I recovered in the past was with watching Dr. Sarno's lectures on dvd, getting a lot of support on the forum I mentioned above and talking to my brain..I fought it head on and said 'enough is enough.' Seems now this has become hard due to it showing up in my knee..(one of the worst times I had w/ TMS and with real injuries was w/ the knee)..

The fracture I had was just a hair line on the fibula..When Xrays were taken again..it was gone in 2 wks..I was told a very bad sprain can take longer to heal than a fracture..There is no doubt my ankle is a true injury..The knee, however, that seems like it could be TMS or a combination of real and TMS..I worked out w/ weights on low tension on Monday and had no pain at the time..2 hrs later the pain started in the knee..My quadriceps are visibly smaller in this leg due to the 3 previous injuries so the leg, in general,is weaker..I am using ice and advil and staying off it..BUT..I am afraid the leg will get even weaker still if i baby it too much..I am thinking of doing bicycle kicks in the pool at the gym tomorrow to keep it moving..There is no visible swelling or warmth in the knee and I can bend it and straighten it which is a good sign..And...also perhaps a sign it is TMS trying to drag me down again..

Yes the hurricane, 5 moves since my brother and 2 of my 3 dogs died in Vegas 2 yrs ago..I also lost the house that was willed to me and I stress about finances since I am only singing part time on weekends and my art sales are slow..The relationship I am in is not in balance either..I love him more than he loves me..I blame myself partly because I leaned on him too much emotionally in the past..He prefers independent women and that is who I am deep down..just that he met me at a very low point in my life..

Never heard of the structural education program...

 

http://www.tmswiki.org/ppd/Structured_Educational_Program

I wouldn't take it personally when people don't respond right away, either here or at the other forum. Lots of people only check in once a week or so. I've often made posts that got no responses in the first few days but got a bunch after a few more days. I really don't think it's anything personal!

 

Thanks Gail.. I appreciate that and it makes sense..I just wish I could figure out how much of the knee pain is TMS and how much is an actual physical issue..On one level, it's all mind, I realize that intellectually..just need to realize it emotionally. I am listening to Dr. Peter Zafirides podcasts about the mind/body connection and they are helping!

 

Hi Karen, and welcome to our group. You received good responses from YB and Gail, and I also agree with Gail that starting the Ed Program might be helpful for you, as a way to get back into TMS recovery. Many people say that reading Dr. Sarno again is what helps them get over a hump in their progress - if it's been a while, definitely review the good doctor again!

I have another suggestion, in a slightly different direction, which is the interviews (now up to 20, eventually to be 24) at the Self-Acceptance Project. I'm just guessing when I say that you might respond well to a brain re-boot, and these interviews offer 24 different teachers, authors, and/or healers for doing that - but they are all on the main theme of self-acceptance, and I don't think it's a huge leap to say that your level of self-acceptance does not seem to be great at the moment. We all need love, but we need to love ourselves first and foremost. A number of us here have been listening to the series, and loving it.

Sign up for the series here: http://live.soundstrue.com/selfacceptance/ SoundsTrue.com is a publisher of many well-known authors and teachers, and all they ask for is your email address, nothing else, and the series is totally free. I'm saving the MP3s so I can have the full series to keep and listen to again. You'll get no more than one email a week announcing their books, audio programs and courses, and I already purchased one which I am finding very helpful, titled "Meditations to Change Your Brain".

I remember when I suffered a hairline fracture of my C6 (cervical vertebra - skiing accident) I was told that the bone would heal in six weeks, and that I would no longer feel pain after 12 weeks - I believe that this is because the whiplash I gave myself (falling spread-eagled on my front, at high speed) was indeed more painful than the fracture, and took longer to heal - but the doc was right, almost exactly at the twelve-week point, I woke up one morning with no neck stiffness. That was almost exactly 30 years ago, at age 32, but the neck pain came back to haunt me about ten years later, as TMS - only it took me another twenty years to figure that out!

Anyway, after the normal healing period, it's pretty easy for your brain to remember that pain, and to create it even when there is no actual problem, and it's extremely common for the site of an old injury to become a breeding ground for TMS pain. Because, remember, your brain is in charge of every process in your body, and that includes sending pain signals to areas of your body where it thinks it needs to do so, and it is quite capable of doing this, as Dr. Sarno taught us, in order to distract you from dangerous emotions.

You've got a lot going on in your life, and you're clearly pretty aware of a lot of your emotional issues - but they might be covering up some deeper more primal issues, the core issues that we all have, regarding independence, isolation (which you've already tapped to some extent), meaning, and mortality.

Good luck, keep posting, join in with your own past success and advice, and above all, have patience - we're all in this together, and it IS a life-long journey.

 

Thank you, Jan..I hope that Gail and YB realize I wrote back to them because I just put it up as a post instead of hitting reply like I did just now..I am getting used to how this works..and not the best on computers..I will check out that link as well..thank you! Funny "'We're in this Together" is the title of my music CD! The way I meant it was regarding animals and humans since i am a big activist for animal rights..

Yes I am dealing w/ core issues, indeed..Isolation, mortality, loneliness, etc..When I went thru this in the past I was living wtih my adopted brother, a dear friend and my 3 dogs in Vegas w/ tons of friends all around me..Now I am on my own except weekends when I see my boyfriend..so I am quite isolated and very scared..I do appreciate you sharing some of what you went thru in the past too..it does help to know I am not alone in this..

 

Actually, just adding a new post is the way most of us tend to do it - you'll figure out your own favorite method, but reading other posts is really the best way to get involved - you'll find yourself wanting to respond to people who are truly just starting out - because you're already experienced! Don't discount that, just because you're struggling now. On the menu bar, I always go to "What's New" and start reading.

 

Thanks Jan..that's good advice!

 

You've already got enough great advice here to get you through several weeks but I can't resist adding my two cents. If you check out the self-acceptance project, and I also highly recommend you do - it's played a HUGE role in my progress recently - I suggest you start with Brene Brown's interview first. I think I've listened to it well over a dozen times now and every time it sinks in just a bit further for me.

 

Thanks Leslie..I will check that out..I am now dealing w/ an increase in pain..in other areas..Using the hip adductor machine started the whole ball rolling..Now I am having to talk to my brain and say this is not real..it is TMS..It seems like I hurt either my back or knee doing that exercise and I should know better..chances are in it a cover up for some very deep feelings I don't want to face!