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TMS post cancer treatment anyone?

M

MrSurvivor

New Member
Hi all,

I have symptoms around my treatment site (ear ringing, TMJ popping, and odd nerve sensations) that I believe to be TMS (all my testing has been good for the past couple of years and doctors say very low risk of other issues).

Anybody have experience with convincing your brain to let go of areas where you've had treatment?

Thanks!
 
Hi MrSurvivor,

I'll jump in, not with direct experience but to say that this does sound like TMS, and we know that TMS symptoms often "attach" to physical truama, such as injury. Another example is Lyme disease, where after the underlying cause is addressed, sometimes symptoms continue.

Reassuring yourself that you are safe may be a big help. "I know I don't have cancer now, and I am safe." is an example.

I hope others with direct experience post to this thread.

Andy
 
(oops, I wrote most of this earlier, then didn't post it)
This is a great question, @MrSurvivor, which I can't personally answer, but considering the seemingly infinite symptoms that can be and have been overcome with TMS knowledge and techniques, I have to ask: why the heck not?

Ask yourself : what makes mindbody symptoms that might occur after, presumably, radiation and/or chemotherapy, any different from mindbody symptoms that might occur after any illness, injury, or surgery?

Phantom limb pain is the most obvious example of mindbody symptoms which occur where there is no longer a limb that can supposedly experience pain. Phantom limb pain is the proof that pain along with other symptoms is generated by the brain. THAT is what you need to understand, accept, and eventually teach your brain to reject.

You've been checked out, and there is no other explanation for your symptoms, which makes them all the more likely to be TMS. Read one of Dr. Sarno's books, ( I recommend The Divided Mind, which I checked out from my library) read postings on the Success Stories subforum, check out our two free programs (The Structured Educational Program, and Alan Gordon's Pain Recovery Program) and consider that the time and cost involved in accepting the TMS diagnosis are almost nothing compared to continuing the search for a medical explanation. The more you learn, the more it will make sense, and acceptance is the first step to recovery.

Good luck!
 
Thanks to you both for the comments. Sometimes a little reinforcement helps the most. I have read all of Dr. Sarno's books, plus the Great Pain Deception, and Zero Pain Now. I've gone through Alan's course twice (I actually have had almost the same exact list of symptoms he had), and am almost done with the SEP. I have seen improvement in a number of my symptoms - back, feet, stomach, shoulder - the area around my treatment site has been trickier. I do believe it is TMS, though, as I have a lot of variation there, and as Andy indicated, if my brain wanted to keep me distracted that would be a good place to do it. My guess is that my brain is constantly monitoring that area at some level because it knows it took damage, and I probably have some pretty fearful memories connected to it.

I've thought about asking at my next cancer check-up if they can confirm there is nothing structurally amiss - i.e. at two years out should I have healed in those areas? I haven't quite figured out how to phrase it so that it would be helpful and not a step backwards. TMJ, ear ringing, and nerve issues are all high on the list of TMS frequent symptoms, so it certainly makes sense. I can't quite figure out how to help myself believe more fully. I think I'm afraid I'll lose hearing in that ear. It is worst in the morning when I wake up and my brain scans for all the areas that feel like they are not working the way that they should. Boy I wish I could shut that off!

Thanks for the help!
 
There are plenty of groups in social network where people share information about alternative cancer treatments, I would recommend them here but I don't want to advertise anything and get banned. If anyone is interested PM me perhaps. :)
 
Hi @MrSurvivor!

Interesting subject, isn't it?! Cancer messes with our heads as much as our bodies, I think... A lot of people say, there's this onslaught of treatment and you're very grateful for it, but you rather fall off the conveyor belt at the end and are left to come to terms with it (or not!) on your own...

I had breast cancer four years ago and had TMS all my life before that, so I thought I was ready for it, but I think it really throws you when you've had something 'real'! The treatment does make lasting changes to your body and your mind, of course... I tried a couple of courses for persistent fatigue and anxiety, and went to a support group for a bit, and oh yeah, pretty much read ALL the internet on it! But ultimately I came to the stage where I was ready to get past 'having been ill' and be normal again. I think this is probably quite a normal progression though. But it can take years, and you can't hurry it.

Oh, and when I was diagnosed? I was the perfect patient! Oh, so positive, so cheerful, so determined to stay strong and beat this, even though - or especially because - my Dad died the day before I was diagnosed and I had to deal with my ghastly mother all through the funeral process, keeping my diagnosis secret from the family (who would have made it infinitely worse!) I even asked my GP after why there were so many support groups etc when it wasn't that big a deal, and he said Well it's there for the people who do need it... (what a dick I was).

And then, a few months later, I was Dx with Graves Disease - there's a genetic element, there was the radio iodine treatment I'd had, but I think it was also triggered by all the shock and fear that I was suppressing... TMS.

Anyway, not sure I'm answering your question here... I do think TMS affected me after treatment - even last year, I went for a check up of worrying symptoms that dispersed immediately when I tested clear... and then I was able to look back and see that I had been stressed, and the surgery site was presenting itself as a viable source of TMS pain!

So, going forward, of course it's right to check things, but also worth a bit of journalling or speaking to a good friend or whatever helps you get some perspective on TMS. In retrospect, I think I should have had counselling, but then along came covid...

Anyway, I hope this helps. I did make some good changes, like stopping drinking and vaping (I'd switched from smoking a few years before). But these are things that were 'normal' good for me anyway. I also stopped eating gluten, but that's something I'm questioning now, and will go and start my own thread about that...

Thanks for asking this question, it's given me a lot to think about! Short answer - I'd say it's almost inevitable we will TMS a real illness, if we're that way inclined, especially one as scary as cancer. And we can treat it the same way, though it might take some time and patience, and self-acceptance, and kindness, and love. :)
 
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