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TMS vs getting older

Discussion in 'General Discussion Subforum' started by patelios, Mar 16, 2020.

  1. patelios

    patelios New Member

    Hi there.

    Hope you're all well. In the ongoing battle with our minds and emotionas in accepting a TMS diagnosis I just wanted to ask a question. I am 36 now and over the past few years I have had 5-6 episodes where my lower left back has a lot of pain and I tilt to one side and it's excruciating for a few days and eventually eases off and life is okish again.

    This has happened more frequently recently. Could one not purely argue that this is a result of getting older and that muscles/joints are more susceptible to repetitive injuries? I guess I am asking why has this flared up more frequently in recent times? OR does TMS work in that way as we get older and so despite it actually being TMS, you are likely to get more moments like this as you get older?

    I have read Sarno's work but just don't remember if that was covered and as I constsntly battle with my mind about TMS, it just sometimes feel like it's me getting older and the flare ups are more frequent.

    Is that simply my mind taking advantage of my age and the doubts that creep in with age?

    Cheers
    Mihir
     
  2. TG957

    TG957 Beloved Grand Eagle

    My answer is absolutely NO.

    When I was your age, I could not do a single push-up, I had substantial pains in my upper back, 5 years later I got a serious lower back pain, could barely walk half a mile. 4 years ago I was told that I should never put any pressure on my wrists and that I needed a surgery to save myself, which I refused.

    I am 62 now. I recently got myself to 40 pushups in a single set. I have no back pain, I run half-marathons and hiked couple marathon-length hikes, each in a single day. I go backpacking with the 30+ lbs backpack and my back feels great on the trail. I climbed a 4400 meter peak last summer and plan on doing more, if coronavirus does not get me :=).

    Like you, I thought that my pains were a matter of aging. Turns out, all my pains were TMS. Read this:

    https://www.amazon.com/Defying-Verdict-Defeated-Chronic-Pain-ebook/dp/B0834Q46SM/
     
    Dorado, MWsunin12, Baseball65 and 2 others like this.
  3. JanAtheCPA

    JanAtheCPA Beloved Grand Eagle

    The age-TMS connection is in our brains. It's the result of rage and fear over getting older. Seriously negative emotions that are unacceptable on so many levels that they must be repressed and replaced with symptoms.

    I thought my life was declining rapidly at age 60, "Before Sarno" but I'm in way better shape and more active now at 69 than I was then.

    And you're 36? LOL! That's your primitive fearful brain screwing with you. Your brain would like you to think you'd be safer if you just gave in to your advancing years and stayed safely at home. You can choose to give in to that, or you can call bullshit and fight back.

    Listen to @TG957 and read her book. You'll be astounded at what she overcame, by not giving in, and by being willing to open her mind to the reality of TMS.
     
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  4. patelios

    patelios New Member

    Thank you both so much, very helpful responses. I've been running a lot recently and on some runs my back just doesn't like it after 3-4km. Whether it's muscle soreness or just TMS, I keep going believing it's the latter as this simply wasn't there a month ago but it's maybe the doubt creeping back in. I do the daily reminders but don't always feel the improvement I crave and being completely pain free has been rare moments in the past few years.

    I will read that book for sure and it's inspiring to hear you both being active and being able to do so much activity. I am certain this is all TMS, it#s just trying to unlock that part of my brain causing all this.

    Thank you!
    Mihir
     
    JanAtheCPA likes this.
  5. Baseball65

    Baseball65 Beloved Grand Eagle

    I Missed this post when it went round the first time, but YES, what they said!

    I can throw a baseball harder, for longer periods and more accurately than in my 30's (I am 54), I can hit a ball farther and I have zero pain.

    If you look at the date of your OP it was right when this current FEAR narrative in the world started getting broadcast...It has me all kinds of pissed off. THAT can be a TMS starter.

    just something to chew on.

    peace
     
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  6. TG957

    TG957 Beloved Grand Eagle

    If you keep running, pain eventually goes away. Well, sometimes it moves to the another place - but then you know it is TMS!
     
    Last edited: May 13, 2020
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  7. Dorado

    Dorado Beloved Grand Eagle

    I’m 29 years old. Every time someone mentions that they developed back pain around my age (especially at 30), I raise an eyebrow. Given that Sarno said over 90% of lower back pain cases are a result of TMS/the mind-body connection, I believe there’s a strong connection between our perception of age-related milestones (such as turning 30, which is still quite young) and pain. My mother, who is twice my age and is very similar to me (she also has Ehlers-Danlos and dysautonomia), says this aligns with the experiences she has had as well. The mind-body connection is powerful, but we can overcome it.

    I started noticing severe joint pain shortly after I turned 28 and had to take multiple rounds of antibiotics. Because I had read horror stories about strong antibiotics and also people reaching their late twenties and early thirties, my body clung to that idea, especially as an Ehlers-Danlos patient with funky joints. I ignore it and it quickly goes away every single time I’m stressed out and experience those symptoms. :)
     
    TG957 likes this.
  8. patelios

    patelios New Member

    Hi all, just wanted to update.

    I read and replied to the early messages on the 13th of May. On the 14th I ran my best time yet with less pain and have been quicker and more consistent ever since. I still have pain, but am ble to push through it more now. It's amazing how easy it is to not put things into practice or to not realise that you are not going through the daily reminders effectively.

    I don't know if I attribute everything to 'repressed emotions' or anger but I feel it's a mixture of that, day to day issues/pressures and maybe ghosts of the past.

    I also have a horrid muscle knot giving me issues but can't tell if that's anything to do with this or not but gives me pain every morning and a bit over the day. Also decided to recead the book by you @TG957, quite an incredible journey you are on. I still have a little bit more to go but thank you as well.

    Dorado, agree with you. It's a funny one as I mention all of this being in the mind/brain but it's also a tough one to talk about to people you don't know as well, or even those that you do that are just so difficult to get through to. If this isn't accepted by mainstream medicine, it's hard to convince the average person about the power of the mind when it comes to real pain.

    Thank you all for taking the time. I'll keep using this thread and forum.

    Cheers
    m
     
    JanAtheCPA likes this.
  9. TG957

    TG957 Beloved Grand Eagle

    Wow! Great progress and so fast! Congratulations!
     
  10. Mr Hip Guy

    Mr Hip Guy Well known member

    Fear of age and mortality are certainly a factor in TMS, I know this for myself at least. I have always enjoyed being "physical," when I was young it was playing HS sports and weight lifting. At around 40 I took up long distance running, something which I am particularly poorly suited (I'm a fast twitch sprinter, not a slow twitch distance runner). Yet I am dogged and determined and I've therefore become pretty good at it, by common standards at least (qualifying for the Boston marathon is one example.

    Yet there is some part of my subconscious that is attached to this idea that it is 'bad' for me and that I'm doomed to a life of waking up every morning sore and creaky and that my knees hurt etc. I've come around to the idea that this is TMS but it is so ingrained (not just in my subconscious but in public perception of being this extremely active late in age), that it's a hard thing to let go of. My method of coping so far has been just to grin and bear it and that works to an extent but it's been different than a particular spot of chronic pain and working to make that go away.
     

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