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Should I still have an MRI if I am starting to feel better?

A

amkeire32

New Member
Hi,
Seem to have had a relapse after being many years pain free. Pain now in slightly different area so should I go through with MRI in order to rule out things or carry on with the programme. I was right back in the spiral again but after re reading Dr Sarno’s Mindbody Prescription and watching his video lecture I’m almost 100 per cent sure but wonder as he always said to check things out to make sure nothing else is going on if I should just go and have it done?

just want wonder what anyone else would do?
 
amkeire32 said:
Hi,
Seem to have had a relapse after being many years pain free. Pain now in slightly different area so should I go through with MRI in order to rule out things or carry on with the programme. I was right back in the spiral again but after re reading Dr Sarno’s Mindbody Prescription and watching his video lecture I’m almost 100 per cent sure but wonder as he always said to check things out to make sure nothing else is going on if I should just go and have it done?

just want wonder what anyone else would do?
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It's a great question - I don't think there's necessarily a right answer and it's up to you.

I will say firstly that Dr Sarno meant (at least the way I interpret it) to check for more obvious health markers - essentially to go to a doctor with your symptoms and have them check you out (and they would check for things that could cover a range of symptoms, such as blood tests etc). It depends where your pain is - if you were having chest pain then obviously that's something that needs to be investigated. If you're having nagging foot pain after an injury, then an MRI for that I don't think is what he meant and I don't think that he would have required you to do that before seeing him/before he treated you (maybe if he couldn't help you recover he might have suggested it afterwards - but it wouldn't have been urgent). I had to say that even if it contrasts with my own opinion.

Personally, and in your situation given you have already been through the process and you know about TMS, I would probably get it done.

I completely understand the opposite viewpoint in that it might distract you (and you risk falsely blaming the pain on a finding), but if you already know about TMS then it drastically minimises the chance of misinterpreting the scan or getting sucked into the narrative from a health professional who may read too much into it and falsely link the pain with the findings.

On the other hand, even just the scan ruling out something really sinister (even if it isn't completely clear - remember that we have a lot of normal abnormalities that don't cause symptoms even if present) could really do wonders for your confidence and that will avoid a nagging thing in the back of your head lingering around "maybe I should have got that scan".

I should ask what are your symptoms, but those are just my general thoughts. It depends on your personality too - for me I know that I probably wouldn't have been able to move forward without getting the testing, but some people can :)
 
Hi Adam,
Thank you for responding to my post. I actually decided to go ahead because when you have a good day you are far more confident but today after doing a bit more yesterday I don’t feel so great. I know how TMS can be, how extremely clever it is so if there is any tiny doubt it will cling to that and find a way to mess with you. My symptoms this time started with back spasms after exercise when I was tired - i continued on with my life and work for a few days and then the real pain kicked in. I did not think of TMS at all in the beginning - just blamed it on tiredness and overdoing it. However the pain got worse and when I would back off and rest it became better sometimes even going away completely only to return if I did anything too much. I went to a physio who said possible si joint injury and said to stretch mildly and go very slowly. Did all that practically in the bed all day except for occasional walking around the house. After a week or two the pain stopped and I started to be up more and decided to clean the house and did vacuuming and bang back to square one. This is how it has been back and forth for 3 months now. I did not want to even contemplate that TMS has returned but a friend suggested I read The Mindbody prescription again which I did and of course it all started to make sense again. The day of the ‘injury’ happened after a long period of stress and before that I’d had a couple of months of recurrent sinus infections which really knocked me down. I know I have had a lot of stress the past few years, my partner dying, a relative who came to stay temporarily staying too long and they are not well. Also I was doing too much in order not to deal with my feelings. It all sounds so like TMS except the last time it was supposed disc problems and this time possibly ligaments? But my rational mind keeps saying by now you should be improving and somewhere in my head I seem to remember Dr Sarno saying to check if it was ligament maybe in some video or something and that is in my mind. I am almost 100 percent sure it is TMS and am reading the books, journaling and thinking about everything but still here but really it has only been probably a week or two since I have taken the TMS diagnosis on board - I notice though my mind has become quite programmed over the last 3 months and even though this week I have been challenging it and trying to do more it is still there and today after quite a good day is painful again and trying to say you stood in line at a shop for too long you have made it worse. TMS is a horrible condition and really messes with your head. My last bought with it brought me to a nervous breakdown after 16 years of agony and attempted suicide but I recovered fully after learning about Dr Sarno’s work and built a wonderful life again so I know it is possible. My heart goes out to all in pain. Thank you again for responding to my post.
 
You're welcome! It definitely sounds like TMS to me (and if you've had it before then the next symptom, if there is one, is more likely to be TMS too) - hopefully the results give you some relief but then again I'd warn against reading too much into them (because they'll likely be incidental findings if anything is found) as you know :)
 
Adam Coloretti (coach) said:
You're welcome! It definitely sounds like TMS to me (and if you've had it before then the next symptom, if there is one, is more likely to be TMS too) - hopefully the results give you some relief but then again I'd warn against reading too much into them (because they'll likely be incidental findings if anything is found) as you know :)
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Adam Coloretti (coach) said:
You're welcome! It definitely sounds like TMS to me (and if you've had it before then the next symptom, if there is one, is more likely to be TMS too) - hopefully the results give you some relief but then again I'd warn against reading too much into them (because they'll likely be incidental findings if anything is found) as you know :)
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Only too well Adam. Thanks again.
 
Hi Adam, I received my MRI results and thankfully nothing sinister
and no structural abnormalities- of course there are age related symptoms and something called a small annular tear at L5 S1 ? I am trying not to read anything into it as it seems to be in the same location as my last bought of TMS. Does this sound like TMS to you? I seem to remember Dr Sarno saying disc related things are like the grey hair of the spine. Thanks
 
amkeire32 said:
Hi Adam, I received my MRI results and thankfully nothing sinister
and no structural abnormalities- of course there are age related symptoms and something called a small annular tear at L5 S1 ? I am trying not to read anything into it as it seems to be in the same location as my last bought of TMS. Does this sound like TMS to you? I seem to remember Dr Sarno saying disc related things are like the grey hair of the spine. Thanks
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Excellent! I'm glad you got it done and the risk paid off. I would absolutely be treating (if I were you) that small tear as equivalent to a grey hair of the spine - that's exactly the type of thing Dr Sarno was talking about on my reading. L5 S1 is from memory the most common site for such natural wear and tear (most people will have some form of it in that disc - as it does a lot of work for us).

If you think about it too, a herniated disc is more advanced than an annular tear, and so many people have herniated and bulging discs with absolutely no pain. I can't advise you obviously, but in your position I'd be treating that finding as a normal abnormality (and I'd look at my other evidence to rule in TMS) :)
 
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