Overuse or TMS?

Hi everyone,
First I wanted to say thank you for the support I received leading up to my wedding when I was having a recurrence of back pain. Once we picked up my friend at the airport and got started on the week's exciting plans, I was distracted from the pain and it faded away over a couple of days. Amazing, right?

My current dilemma is about some pain I am having in my left knee (my "good" knee) since taking up a pretty regular running regime. I haven't been going crazy, just a few kilometres two or three times a week usually. I don't know if it is just too much for my body (but even as I write that, that seems untrue) or whether I might have really injured it, but there wasn't a precipitating event. The only thing I can think of is that my running shoes are somewhat worn and could use replacing. I have really, really been enjoying the jogging so I wonder if my subconscious is putting up a fuss somehow, as it seems I am finally putting one of my most tenacious symptoms, my right knee pain and hip discomfort, to bed.

Anyway, I would appreciate some input about a course of action... Should I see a doctor? Lay off jogging for a little bit? Carry on as before?

Thanks in advance- it has been really helpful to engage in the forum again

 

Hi Hopeful_Alexandra,
If it was me, I would ignore it, and go on. On the other hand some rest does not hurt. Whatever I'd do, I think it is great to keep the following in your mind foremost:

Good luck. With more time, we TMS'ers learn to dismiss new little painful things with less thought or worry.
Andy B.

 

Congratulations on enjoying your wedding, Alexandra, that's great news!

I agree with Andy. I've had some nagging shoulder pain that I ignored even when my trainer had me doing weights at the gym - and oddly it always felt better after each gym session even though it would hurt quite a lot doing certain things. That started getting better when I finally did some meditative visualization on it. Except now it's being replaced by some weird foot pain I've never had before. Geez, it never ends! None of this pain is enough to send me to the doctor, because I know there was no precipitating event, other than a lot of stress this summer.

I'm really working on taking mindfulness seriously and incorporating it into my daily routine. It's not easy - too many decades of NOT being mindful, LOL!

 

In my experience pain that I could link to sport (TMS offers me to make a link that I can refuse to do thereby preventing recurrence) is never a physical injury. Physical injury has a precipitating event in my experience and even then TMS can blow it out of proportion for me. I do however prefer to do strenuous sport every other day so getting plenty of rest days (not necessarily that my body can't handle it, just that it feels like I am being gentle on myself). It is likely a few kilometers a day is comfortable for you. I agree with Andy - I would carry on. Also I would definitely not see a doctor unless they understand TMS but that is very much a choice personal to me - everyone has to make their own healthcare decisions in that respect I feel.

 

Hi, Hopeful Alexandra.

Your doubts about exercise and worrying about physical injury are common among TMS sufferers. The best example of how being active despite any pain is from Steve Ozanich in his wonderful book, THE GREAT PAIN DECEPTION. He played golf despite hurting all over and it helped heal him, together with TMS knowledge that he was repressing anger. It was because a doctor had botched his wife's operation that nearly killed her.

I suggest, as the others have who replied to your post, that you be as active as you can. Think positive when pain comes. Tell yourself that being active will not harm you. I stay away from doctors because sick people go to them and they are usually prescribed medication that doesn't solve their real problem, which is not physical but emotional.

If you haven't done the Structured Educational Program, I also suggest you start it. It's free in the subforum of this web site and will help you discover the emotional reasons you are in pain and how to relieve it.

Here is a post from Kevin, just one of those who healed from the SEProgram. He posted it helped him become 95 percent free of pain, then a few days later said he was 100 percent pain-free. You will be, too. Give TMS a chance to heal you.

And my congratulations too on your wedding. Getting married can cause anxiety and stress. You've come through the wedding. Now enjoy your new life with someone who loves you.

Kevin healed 95 % from SEP


Welcome to the SEP and to the path of recovery. I am on my final two days of the program and I can say with complete confidence that I am a changed man. I started after 6 months of nasty low-back/butt/leg pain, could hardly walk, stand, etc. was in physical therapy, chiropractor, acupuncture, pain medications, etc.. the usual. My MRI showed 3 disk bulges/herniations touching nerves, so that is what I believe it to be....that is until I read Dr. Sarno and found this site.

I encourage you to really get involved, follow the instructions, do the journaling, take time to read all the suggested readings, and watch the videos. I'd say I'm 95% cured. There is still some very light lingering "annoyance", but I still have some work to do. I've been walking miles with hardly any pain these last few weeks. But even more, if the pain comes on now, it just doesn't bother me like it used to, I sorta just see it, acknowledge it, and go about my business. It took working the program to get to that point, but 6 weeks compared to 6 months is nothing! I made more progress in the first week than I did from two months of PT!!! It's going to challenge you and your "beliefs" in medicine, but you have nothing to lose. We generally wind up here when all else fails.

So give it a shot, especially before considering anything invasive like surgery. If you put the work in, you will get better. Have you read Dr. Sarno yet? I assume you have since you're here, but in case you haven't, definitely readHealing Back Pain. Again, it will challenge everything you've believed about your pain, and backs in general. You'll be encouraged to resume life as normal, i.e. stop ALL "therapies" (PT, chiro, etc.), stop taking medications, and most importantly, stop thinking STRUCTURAL problems are the cause of your pain and shift to psychological as the reason.....again, this can be difficult and takes some time to sink in, so be patient and kind to yourself.

It was a process for me. A few of the bigger moves in my case were: I ripped up and threw out my MRI test results (I found myself obsessively reading over them and comparing them to other results I could find on the web and even here on the TMSwiki site...); I got back to the gym and stopped using a weight belt; and I even cancelled an appointment I had made with aTMS doctorbecause it was more than a month away and it was hindering my recovery (that is, my 100% belief in TMS was lagging because I had this pending appointment, but as soon as I cancelled it, my recovery sped up significantly). Everyone's journey is unique to their situation, but I've found that really committing to the program and brining what I learn from it into my daily life has had profound results. Also, sharing along the way here in these forums has been extremely helpful - there's something about knowing that you're not alone in your TMS recovery that really helps. I encourage you to look through my past posts for some insight into my experience with SEP. Like I said, I'm just now finishing, tomorrow is my final day, and I feel like a changed person. It's amazing. And I feel as though it is something that one carries on with, not just like a one time 6 week thing and that's that...it has helped me to get to know myself and taught me tools to "deal" with my emotions. Learning and accepting TMS is a life changer for sure.

 

Hi everyone,
Just wanted to pop in and say thanks again for the advice offered to me. I had actually forgotten that my knee was causing me trouble for awhile there! I also thought it would be useful to point out that my TMS almost always fades (if not goes away completely) during days and weeks when I am in "the zone" or hyper-focused and enjoying my schoolwork. When I am struggling to start a new project, and usually feeling anxious about it, something inevitably pops up.
Alex

 

Now that you mention it, my left arm pain that flares up occasionally (feels like the pinched c6/c7 dx) has gone after being on the road for two weeks, and also not swimming my usual back-stroke. Moved on to the emotional imperative of hating on my brother issues. Multi-tasking is a myth, only one TMS pain per customer in the now.