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Those constant symptoms...

Rusty Red said:
Said screw it today and ran and lifted. Then I see a story in my FB feed about someone with a torn hamstring and all these comments with people who also had them. Lol sheesh. I really don't think mine is torn but lord.
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Rusty, your issue with wanting to work out/run and having to pay for this reminds me of what Howard Schubiner tells about violinists. He says there's a research with this group that shows their sensitivity on the left hand is way higher than the right one, and that's because they're usually terrified of hurting it and losing its movement.

I think the stakes for you are too high right now. You're sort of putting all the eggs on this basket. I'm not telling you to stop doing what you love, but isn't there anything else you can add as a plan B when your limbic system is on fire? Things like music, photography, healthy cooking etc.
 
feduccini said:
I think the stakes for you are too high right now. You're sort of putting all the eggs on this basket. I'm not telling you to stop doing what you love, but isn't there anything else you can add as a plan B when your limbic system is on fire? Things like music, photography, healthy cooking etc.
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I'm not ready to abandon it just yet. I am working on making sure on the days when it is really bad to be okay with resting.
 
feduccini said:
Rusty, your issue with wanting to work out/run and having to pay for this reminds me of what Howard Schubiner tells about violinists. He says there's a research with this group that shows their sensitivity on the left hand is way higher than the right one, and that's because they're usually terrified of hurting it and losing its movement.

I think the stakes for you are too high right now. You're sort of putting all the eggs on this basket. I'm not telling you to stop doing what you love, but isn't there anything else you can add as a plan B when your limbic system is on fire? Things like music, photography, healthy cooking etc.
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This brings up a good point. I believe part of recovery in a situation like this is becoming indifferent to the pain - ambivalent about it - whatever you might call it but certainly the opposite of watching it like a hawk and waiting for it to "ping" with pain. This is adjacent and similar to the thinking of outcome independence.
 
I took my socket seat off my work chair today. For a while my upper leg was in agony, got really tempted to put it back. But right now it has settled down.

Just adding evidence type stuff here.
 
Good move. I admit I didn't know what a socket seat was so I looked it up. That's a big no no in Sarno thinking. I had a cushion I used back when I was at my low point and it's a total crutch and distraction.

Incidentally mine was the type that's supposed to simulate sitting on a "balance ball" or "bosu ball" - the good news I repurposed it as a tool for when I do strength and balance work. I never use it to sit on though.
 
Well some good news. The "wrong" scan I paid a fortune for didn't show any cancer of the organs. Only "finding" was some small lymph nodes in my neck but they said consistent with normal wear and tear and inflammation of the body.

I am still likely going to get tested for autoimmune but that's good at least.
 
Rusty Red said:
My understanding from the medical side is complete rest isn't great for a tendon, but at this point I guess it doesn't matter. I just want out of pain. Not exercising is definitely going to take a hit on my mental health but it is what it is.
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Just seen this thread and thought I'd share this video. It sounds like you have weakness which stretching won't fix. You must strengthen these areas.

Trust me I get the frustration with pain and discomfort. I still struggle with lower back pain from time to time and basically daily dizziness/alsorts of head tingling etc. All you can do is lock in and say each day im going to do something that's better than yesterday. Maybe that's not over thinking and reacting to your discomfort, maybe its stopping yourself from training maybe its doing meditation even though you don't want to. I hope you start feeling better but just know im in this with you just like the rest of us. God its hard but I believe we can all heal, it just takes time.

Best of luck
 
Joulegirl said:
I agree that this is frustrating. When I had other symptoms (not the ones I am dealing with now)-they were constant. And I was at my wits end. I did notice that they did not show right away when I woke up. It was almost like I had to be fully awake and then the symptoms would do their thing. (which was in the first 5 minutes of waking up) See if something like that happens with you as well. Do you get brief microseconds of relief? What happens to when you get tired or groggy? It might help to look at them different like that.
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This is exactly what happens to me with my dizziness and head sensations. They come on during the day. Almost as if my mind reactivates after sleep and remembers ohh its time to turn these symptoms back on. Difficult but it helps when you can become aware of this. Really good comment.
 
"It sounds like you have weakness which stretching won't fix. You must strengthen these areas."
^ has 0 to do with TMS - it's falling back into the physical and medical model that there is "fixing" that needs to be done, and that there is something "wrong" with the body.
With TMS there is NOTHING at all wrong with the body, and Dr. Sarno teaches us this. If you have not read (or fully digested) any book by Dr. Sarno, it is recommended to do so, so that you fully understand what is going on with TMS.

This entire thread is about focusing on the physical and finding a "fix" that falls into the medical model.
 
Yeah, I strongly advise that @Rusty Red ignore the recommendation to watch any video about so-called "strengthening".

Sorry, @Pat97, but it is 180 degrees antithetical to Dr. Sarno's findings, and also to what we practice here. It's also not RR's first rodeo on that subject.

How far did you get with the advice you received the last time you were posting?
 
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No plans to work on extra strengthening beyond my normal lifting. I'm good with treating it as TMS for now that I know there's no cancer causing the overall pain. If something ends up happening, I'll deal with it when/if it occurs.
 
Ruling out the last of the physical, my doc tested for autoimmune and most have come back negative, some of them take longer. I got the good old-fashioned piriformis syndrome diagnosis for my leg.
 
My symptoms have shut down activity for now so we'll see what happens. I got too tired of writing the same things over and over so maybe need a different modality.
 
JanAtheCPA said:
I'm sorry, but no - this is a false belief. To be blunt, this your TMS brain feeding you some top-level mind game BS.

It's also a very common misperception amongst those who find themselves stuck. What really happens is that you can spend a lifetime looking for that perfect recovery story that matches your particular combination of symptoms and their multiple manifestations - which, first of all, doesn't really exist because everyone is different. But let's say you finally find a story you think you can relate to and that will solve your problems. Your brain will let you be excited for a little bit, but it doesn't want you to be happy and relaxed. It needs you to be worried and fearful, so without your awareness, it will erode your excitement by finding reasons why the story just isn't quite exactly on target, and how there are too many differences, but that you if just search a little bit more, you're sure to find that one perfect story with the one perfect answer. So you ask more questions, read more websites and forums and posts and books... and spend a lot of energy on time-wasting and counter-productive activities, to the great relief of your TMS brain which needs to keep you on high alert and worried about your imminent demise at all times.

I'm afraid that I've seen it all too many times.


Please, do whatever it takes to reject this habit and replace it with something constructive and useful. Your TMS brain LOVES this and is probably giving you some kind of reward for engaging in it, but in reality it is completely counterproductive and it's certainly one component of being stuck. If you ask, we can provide suggestions.
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This comment, about how the TMS brain loves scanning the body every day to check, rings so true for me. This morning, I was pleased not to have any hand / arm pain for 90 minutes, and I know this precise fact because when it started to feel weak and grumpy, I checked the clock…
 
I really am thinking I need to leave the TMS group on FB. Tonight one of the regulars posted you have to change your life and personality to get better. To me that goes against everything we learn about TMS - that you don't necessarily have to change them but just recognize them and the associated emotions, and reframe your approach to them. An I way off base? Thinking that I'm stuck because I can't leave my stressful job is really defeating.
 
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Rusty Red said:
I really am thinking I need to leave the TMS group on FB. Tonight one of the regulars posted you have to change your life and personality to get better. To me that goes against everything we learn about TMS - that you don't necessarily have to change them but just recognize them and the associated emotions, and reframe your approach to them. An I way off base? Thinking that I'm stuck because I can't leave my stressful job is really defeating.
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I think this is a case by case thing honestly. Depends on life situations, personality type. Probably even in the most stressful situations it’s possible to fully recover. But it’s definitely more difficult if you don’t address the underlying stressors. Not impossible just harder. I think while Sarno was very much on the money, TMS at its core is an issue with the fight or flight response that is poorly adapted to the modern world. I do unfortunately think that there is probably a greater risk of reoccurrences of symptoms popping up if bigger changes aren’t made, not that they can’t be overcome, but you do have to be cognizant of that fact so you aren’t thrown for a loop anytime in the future something pops up and you get thrusted back into a panic.

not an expert by any means so just my 2 cents.
 
@Rabscuttle that makes sense. I just know my job is where I have to stay at least for now, it has the flexibility I need for my son's virtual schooling from home and I'm highly unlikely to find anything with the same balance of WFH to office work I need, the specific schedule. It makes it harder to do the work if I believe I'm stuck with my symptoms if I have to stay at my job.
 
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