Several years ago, I saw Dr. Sarno for chronic knee pain following an injury. He cured me. A year ago, I simply turned my back and fractured and compressed several vertebrae due to osteoporosis/low bone density. Since then I have been taking daily Forteo shots and I do bone strengthening exercises. The acute pain as the bones healed (albeit in a very bent kyphotic angle and I lost 2 inches in height) has now morphed into chronic pain. A recent x-ray shows that there are no recent fractures. Can this injury be explained by TMS?
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Alan has completed the new Pain Recovery Program. To read or share it, use this updated link: https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/painrecovery/
Osteoporosis Broken Vertebrae
- Thread starter Kak
- Start date
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- Tags
- osteoporosis
Baseball65
Beloved Grand Eagle
Your 'situation' may be explained. Just because there is a pathology or a bunch of fancy words the Medical people are using about you doesn't rule out plain old TMS.
I broke my vertebrae during a fall....well, I THINK I did...all I know is they found a knitted broken vertebrae in my spine when they were looking for problems with my gall bladder and liver. I had a dramatic fall about two years previous, and my thumb was severed...I was so amped up about them properly fixing my thumb I never got checked for anything else.
I am definitely shorter than I used to be and that has been the way of the world and gravity loooong before Sarno and co.
I had NO pain associated with the vertebrae because I did not know about it!!!
I had to look up 'Kyphotic' and I giggled.. not at you, at us. Generally when we start using 'their' language it means we are slowly being indoctrinated into 'their' system and way of thinking.
There are many times when there is something visible or 'physical' going on where the event gave TMS a home to live in. Aging is normal. Not everybody who ages or shrinks is in pain. Lots of people with Curved spines (Kyphotic) aren't in pain. Lots of people with broken vertebrae aren't in pain. This tends to incriminate TMS
The best example I can give: One of my co-workers watched me recover via Sarno and 'Healing Back Pain'...his wife had been in a dramatic car accident and had pins and metal and multiple surgeries in her lower spine and cervical area , to no avail and was in constant pain.
She read the book and was pain free in a few weeks despite having a 'real' structural problem.
TMS doesn't explain accidents and Injury..It explains ongoing untreatable or poorly recovering SYMPTOMS that serve to distract us and become obsessional and intrusive.
As Sarno said, the largest bone in your body breaks and there is pain for a few days, weeks at most...anything lingering past that begins to look awfully suspicious..and Yes, is probably TMS
I broke my vertebrae during a fall....well, I THINK I did...all I know is they found a knitted broken vertebrae in my spine when they were looking for problems with my gall bladder and liver. I had a dramatic fall about two years previous, and my thumb was severed...I was so amped up about them properly fixing my thumb I never got checked for anything else.
I am definitely shorter than I used to be and that has been the way of the world and gravity loooong before Sarno and co.
I had NO pain associated with the vertebrae because I did not know about it!!!
I had to look up 'Kyphotic' and I giggled.. not at you, at us. Generally when we start using 'their' language it means we are slowly being indoctrinated into 'their' system and way of thinking.
There are many times when there is something visible or 'physical' going on where the event gave TMS a home to live in. Aging is normal. Not everybody who ages or shrinks is in pain. Lots of people with Curved spines (Kyphotic) aren't in pain. Lots of people with broken vertebrae aren't in pain. This tends to incriminate TMS
The best example I can give: One of my co-workers watched me recover via Sarno and 'Healing Back Pain'...his wife had been in a dramatic car accident and had pins and metal and multiple surgeries in her lower spine and cervical area , to no avail and was in constant pain.
She read the book and was pain free in a few weeks despite having a 'real' structural problem.
TMS doesn't explain accidents and Injury..It explains ongoing untreatable or poorly recovering SYMPTOMS that serve to distract us and become obsessional and intrusive.
As Sarno said, the largest bone in your body breaks and there is pain for a few days, weeks at most...anything lingering past that begins to look awfully suspicious..and Yes, is probably TMS
JanAtheCPA
Beloved Grand Eagle
@Kak, that's a great explanation for you from @Baseball65. As for unexplained fatigue, try substituting a different F word: Fear. Fear and, of course, even more importantly, Rage.
You had to have seen Dr Sarno quite a few years ago, given that he retired in 2012. That's not a small amount of time, so do not make the mistake of downplaying the psychological pressure that aging inflicts upon us. There are a lot of legitimate reasons for our TMS brains to repress our extremely fearful and negative emotions about aging and mortality. And as Dr Sarno would have taught you, Repression is the underlying cause of TMS symptoms.
It sounds like you're new to the forum and didn't do a structured program to really learn some advanced skills and develop lifelong habits to maintain emotional mindfulness and defend against the constant triggering of TMS mechanism. Options include our free Structured Educational Program on the main TMSWiki.org, or Alan Gordon’s free program here on the forum. Reasonably priced offline options include Dr Schubiner's Unlearn Your Pain workbook, or the Curable app, and there are also paid programs offered by Nicole Sachs LCSW (although she has a lot of free content, esp. her podcast and her journaling advice) and I think the PPD Association has a program as well.
The important thing is to take action to do something. We find many people who had past success with TMS knowledge, now need a more structured approach as we get older, and especially as we try to manage in the current climate of societal and environmental dysfunction. It's a challenging combination!
You had to have seen Dr Sarno quite a few years ago, given that he retired in 2012. That's not a small amount of time, so do not make the mistake of downplaying the psychological pressure that aging inflicts upon us. There are a lot of legitimate reasons for our TMS brains to repress our extremely fearful and negative emotions about aging and mortality. And as Dr Sarno would have taught you, Repression is the underlying cause of TMS symptoms.
It sounds like you're new to the forum and didn't do a structured program to really learn some advanced skills and develop lifelong habits to maintain emotional mindfulness and defend against the constant triggering of TMS mechanism. Options include our free Structured Educational Program on the main TMSWiki.org, or Alan Gordon’s free program here on the forum. Reasonably priced offline options include Dr Schubiner's Unlearn Your Pain workbook, or the Curable app, and there are also paid programs offered by Nicole Sachs LCSW (although she has a lot of free content, esp. her podcast and her journaling advice) and I think the PPD Association has a program as well.
The important thing is to take action to do something. We find many people who had past success with TMS knowledge, now need a more structured approach as we get older, and especially as we try to manage in the current climate of societal and environmental dysfunction. It's a challenging combination!
Wow. That is great information. I do have the Curable app which I signed up for, but I am going to look at the other ones as well. I definitely need some help convincing myself that it is TMS as I am stooped over because of these fractures. I even went to Dr Rashbaum, who is an acolyte of Dr Sarno at the Rusk Institute, when I was in the acute stage right after the fractures. He told me it was not TMS, but as it has become chronic, I feel that it has morphed into TMS. I saw Dr Sarno in 1994 so I am no spring chicken (70 years old). Thank you so very much for your valuable help.
JanAtheCPA
Beloved Grand Eagle
And at 73, I know what I'm talking about when I connect age and rage! 
I also get the "is it TMS or not? question, and I'm here to say that there is a TMS component to every physical condition, including illness and injury. The story I repeat over and over is about my hip fracture in a bike crash when I was 57 - three years "Before Sarno" in fact, so I didn't have the term TMS to apply, but it applies! So I'm in the ER with off-the-chart anxiety along with intense pain - which instantly dropped from about an 8 to a 3 when the ER doc told me I could be "pinned up" and on crutches in two days. I had a fucking broken hip, which of course was intensely annoying and inconvenient, but the excess pain was 100% fear. Once I was able to be annoyed and also have a plan of action instead of being mired in fear, my brain only needed to provide me with just enough pain to remind me to let the fracture and incision heal, but it was totally controllable with ibuprofen and acetaminophen even after surgery.
I discovered Dr. Sarno and did the work in 2011 after having reached a TMS crisis earlier that year. I had a good nine years until 2020 came along, which essentially gave me RA. I consulted Dr. Schecter after my diagnosis, who said I could definitely view the RA as TMS based - BUT I also had to (I still do) take the prescribed medication to reduce the risk of permanent damage from the excessive inflammation I had managed to create - which I blame on multiple sources of extreme stress in the spring of 2020 along with goodism, perfectionism, and a serious lack of mindfulness.
So stress pushed my immune system over the edge, and continuing to face aging in this depressing and dysfunctional world is more than a bit problematic in terms of achieving remission without medication - however, my new rheumatologist has said that she considers me to be in "remission with medication" which may just be feel-good medical-speak, but you know what? I'll take it! I had been crediting my TMS awareness and a lot more mindfulness for keeping my inflammation markers at almost zero since 2020 (and I think that increased exercise and reduced sugar also helped with stress and inflammation). I've been on a low-moderate level of the most well-know, basic (and cheap) RA medication there is, with no side effects that I'm aware of, so although the RA is obviously a setback, I'm more than happy to find the wins where I can. And so can you.
Apply your TMS knowledge to the issue, follow medical orders, continue to be proactive and advocate for yourself, not just with the medical community but also with yourself (don't let TMS win!) and you can find ways to succeed in adversity.
We're here to help and to cheer you on, so keep us posted!
I also get the "is it TMS or not? question, and I'm here to say that there is a TMS component to every physical condition, including illness and injury. The story I repeat over and over is about my hip fracture in a bike crash when I was 57 - three years "Before Sarno" in fact, so I didn't have the term TMS to apply, but it applies! So I'm in the ER with off-the-chart anxiety along with intense pain - which instantly dropped from about an 8 to a 3 when the ER doc told me I could be "pinned up" and on crutches in two days. I had a fucking broken hip, which of course was intensely annoying and inconvenient, but the excess pain was 100% fear. Once I was able to be annoyed and also have a plan of action instead of being mired in fear, my brain only needed to provide me with just enough pain to remind me to let the fracture and incision heal, but it was totally controllable with ibuprofen and acetaminophen even after surgery.
I discovered Dr. Sarno and did the work in 2011 after having reached a TMS crisis earlier that year. I had a good nine years until 2020 came along, which essentially gave me RA. I consulted Dr. Schecter after my diagnosis, who said I could definitely view the RA as TMS based - BUT I also had to (I still do) take the prescribed medication to reduce the risk of permanent damage from the excessive inflammation I had managed to create - which I blame on multiple sources of extreme stress in the spring of 2020 along with goodism, perfectionism, and a serious lack of mindfulness.
So stress pushed my immune system over the edge, and continuing to face aging in this depressing and dysfunctional world is more than a bit problematic in terms of achieving remission without medication - however, my new rheumatologist has said that she considers me to be in "remission with medication" which may just be feel-good medical-speak, but you know what? I'll take it! I had been crediting my TMS awareness and a lot more mindfulness for keeping my inflammation markers at almost zero since 2020 (and I think that increased exercise and reduced sugar also helped with stress and inflammation). I've been on a low-moderate level of the most well-know, basic (and cheap) RA medication there is, with no side effects that I'm aware of, so although the RA is obviously a setback, I'm more than happy to find the wins where I can. And so can you.
Apply your TMS knowledge to the issue, follow medical orders, continue to be proactive and advocate for yourself, not just with the medical community but also with yourself (don't let TMS win!) and you can find ways to succeed in adversity.
We're here to help and to cheer you on, so keep us posted!
And at 73, I know what I'm talking about when I connect age and rage!
I also get the "is it TMS or not? question, and I'm here to say that there is a TMS component to every physical condition, including illness and injury. The story I repeat over and over is about my hip fracture in a bike crash when I was 57 - three years "Before Sarno" in fact, so I didn't have the term TMS to apply, but it applies! So I'm in the ER with off-the-chart anxiety along with intense pain - which instantly dropped from about an 8 to a 3 when the ER doc told me I could be "pinned up" and on crutches in two days. I had a fucking broken hip, which of course was intensely annoying and inconvenient, but the excess pain was 100% fear. Once I was able to be annoyed and also have a plan of action instead of being mired in fear, my brain only needed to provide me with just enough pain to remind me to let the fracture and incision heal, but it was totally controllable with ibuprofen and acetaminophen even after surgery.
I discovered Dr. Sarno and did the work in 2011 after having reached a TMS crisis earlier that year. I had a good nine years until 2020 came along, which essentially gave me RA. I consulted Dr. Schecter after my diagnosis, who said I could definitely view the RA as TMS based - BUT I also had to (I still do) take the prescribed medication to reduce the risk of permanent damage from the excessive inflammation I had managed to create - which I blame on multiple sources of extreme stress in the spring of 2020 along with goodism, perfectionism, and a serious lack of mindfulness.
So stress pushed my immune system over the edge, and continuing to face aging in this depressing and dysfunctional world is more than a bit problematic in terms of achieving remission without medication - however, my new rheumatologist has said that she considers me to be in "remission with medication" which may just be feel-good medical-speak, but you know what? I'll take it! I had been crediting my TMS awareness and a lot more mindfulness for keeping my inflammation markers at almost zero since 2020 (and I think that increased exercise and reduced sugar also helped with stress and inflammation). I've been on a low-moderate level of the most well-know, basic (and cheap) RA medication there is, with no side effects that I'm aware of, so although the RA is obviously a setback, I'm more than happy to find the wins where I can. And so can you.
Apply your TMS knowledge to the issue, follow medical orders, continue to be proactive and advocate for yourself, not just with the medical community but also with yourself (don't let TMS win!) and you can find ways to succeed in adversity.
We're here to help and to cheer you on, so keep us posted!
And at 73, I know what I'm talking about when I connect age and rage!
I also get the "is it TMS or not? question, and I'm here to say that there is a TMS component to every physical condition, including illness and injury. The story I repeat over and over is about my hip fracture in a bike crash when I was 57 - three years "Before Sarno" in fact, so I didn't have the term TMS to apply, but it applies! So I'm in the ER with off-the-chart anxiety along with intense pain - which instantly dropped from about an 8 to a 3 when the ER doc told me I could be "pinned up" and on crutches in two days. I had a fucking broken hip, which of course was intensely annoying and inconvenient, but the excess pain was 100% fear. Once I was able to be annoyed and also have a plan of action instead of being mired in fear, my brain only needed to provide me with just enough pain to remind me to let the fracture and incision heal, but it was totally controllable with ibuprofen and acetaminophen even after surgery.
I discovered Dr. Sarno and did the work in 2011 after having reached a TMS crisis earlier that year. I had a good nine years until 2020 came along, which essentially gave me RA. I consulted Dr. Schecter after my diagnosis, who said I could definitely view the RA as TMS based - BUT I also had to (I still do) take the prescribed medication to reduce the risk of permanent damage from the excessive inflammation I had managed to create - which I blame on multiple sources of extreme stress in the spring of 2020 along with goodism, perfectionism, and a serious lack of mindfulness.
So stress pushed my immune system over the edge, and continuing to face aging in this depressing and dysfunctional world is more than a bit problematic in terms of achieving remission without medication - however, my new rheumatologist has said that she considers me to be in "remission with medication" which may just be feel-good medical-speak, but you know what? I'll take it! I had been crediting my TMS awareness and a lot more mindfulness for keeping my inflammation markers at almost zero since 2020 (and I think that increased exercise and reduced sugar also helped with stress and inflammation). I've been on a low-moderate level of the most well-know, basic (and cheap) RA medication there is, with no side effects that I'm aware of, so although the RA is obviously a setback, I'm more than happy to find the wins where I can. And so can you.
Apply your TMS knowledge to the issue, follow medical orders, continue to be proactive and advocate for yourself, not just with the medical community but also with yourself (don't let TMS win!) and you can find ways to succeed in adversity.
We're here to help and to cheer you on, so keep us posted!
I am glad that have relief from your RA. I hope it stays in remission. I think my plan is that I will go back to Dr. Rashbaum and see if he revises his diagnosis. If he says that I have TMS I will be full in on addressing that. In the meantime, it can’t hurt to see if addressing it really diminishes the pain and helps me heal. Thank you again.