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When is it NOT TMS?

E

elelsnow

New Member
Hello everyone - it's been over a year since reading Sarno and having my life changed. While I whole heartedly believe that I absorb my feelings physically, I am currently dealing with some pain that makes me think there's no talking/meditating my way out of it. I do notice the techniques I have learned help me tolerate the pain, but it ain't going away. We talk so much about when it is Sarno....but when is it NOT?

Onset: 2 weeks ago - windsurfing on vacation (talk about something I would have never let myself do pre-sarno!) it felt great, but even though I have been lifting a lot of weights and am strong, I was super sore in my back afterwards and started hobbling later that night (as my sunburn set in too).

Symptoms: don't seem to be changing. Left side only, emanating from my most recently diagnosed herniated disc at L3L4. (Diagnosis 2 years ago after which I talked myself out of it 3 months later after reading sarno). Intense burning in my shin. At its worst when lying down trying to roll over in bed, or standing for too long. Happy to sit! That's never happened before, but I think it's because i was doing a sport standing up.

Treatment: got a massage in the week before windsurfing. Got another massage last week. Usually massages help deep 6 the pain and rev up my parasympathetic. Have not been taking pain killers, bc they never really worked in the past. After reading here that sometime during a relapse they will help you deal, I gave myself permission to take aleve...and it was amazingly helpful. I am now on day 3 of pain killers, but know the pain is down there. Pain have moved from an 8 or 9 to. 6-7.

All of this said, I have had to pull myself out of depression about this pain multiple times and I am both convinced this is not Sarno, but I also have my doubts. I wonder if you all can help me sort through this! I want relief.
 
Hi elelsnow,
can you contact a tms practitioner to check out if the pain makes sense (physiologically) or if the TMS gremlin is playing tricks on you? If there's no TMS doc near you, perhaps you could email the results from your recently diagnosed herniated discs?
 
Sorry to hear the pain was that bad. At times when my pain was the worst, reading Sarno's books and this forum were my best comfort. I'd say to pick up those books again, especially healing back pain, and read them. Go over the daily reminders, and work on an evidence sheet. You need to convince yourself the pain is TMS first and then work on thinking psychologically.
 
A very wise question. You say the onset was a couple of weeks ago, but really a fortnight is a short space of time and not so long for the healing of anything. I'm not clear on whether you've had yourself examined by a real doctor or if you are applying tms by default? You need to rule out real injury first. Once that's done I like Birdie's thoughts on mailing a tms doctor, assuming one is not nearby. It's ok to take painkillers. Wherever did the notion of not doing so arise? Sarno wasn't trying to create a sect of martyrs, he wants people to heal not suffer. The only way out of your doubts is through them so get yourself checked out and let us know how you get on. Chances are it is tms and you'll be back here with a chuckle in your voice. Take care.
 
I'm no doctor, TMS or otherwise, but in my personal experience, pain killers have never worked for TMS. I had a freakin' epidural during childbirth and it didn't put a dent in my TMS pain. Legs ached, burned, stung and I wanted to chop them off, all while I was supposedly numb. Couldn't move my legs, but every nerve ending was on fire! Aleve, ibuprofen, vicoden, oxycodone...no impact whatsoever.

Now, if I have a major hot yoga workout and get some intense muscle soreness, a little ibuprofen does the trick. So, for me at least, when pain is in the brain, pain relievers don't work. If you are experiencing a significant decrease, perhaps you are dealing with a physical injury that needs a little time to recover. Your body can still experience a physical injury, it just shouldn't last for months or years!
 
Remember that the body is strong and it heals--usually quickly. If pain persists, chances are it is NOT a "real" injury. Look how fast a cut on your skin heals. Even if it's deep. That's always so amazing to me--to watch it heal from the bottom layers up.

Seems to me you need to be reassured by going to a doctor. BUT keep in mind, even if they find something, that does not mean your mind is not playing a role. I have herniated discs, yet my pain went away after "doing the work". I did take vicodin which worked at the beginning, but then did nothing!

How about reading Dr. Sarno's books again?

Best wishes for healing!
 
Thanks everyone. I am indeed back with a chuckle...but not out of the woods. This episode of activation is intense!
I decided to commit this week to rereading sarno, and trying my hardest to not waiver from a tms mindset, looking for signs of inconsistent strength and symptoms. I also picked up doing the course again, which I never finished 2 years ago because my pain was so miraculous, I seemed to have control over it. Wednesday evening i felt a shift after journaling a list of fears. I stood up, felt relatively normal and thought "HA! I gotcha!". I had a terribly painful night of sleep (woke me up at 2am!) the night before, so I took one more aleve (I needed sleep - so was hoping for placebo) but decided to not take any on my way to work the next day. I never needed it.

I seem to be in pain first thing in the am that I some days I can talk myself out of. Between 5-7pm no matter what I am doing, it gets terrible. I attribute that to being exhausted mentally from talking to myself like a crazy lady all day. I have noticed that once my tms is activated, the smallest triggers that normally wouldn't faze me, send my pain shooting and burning.

Also, as things are flaring in the evening, and I fight the leg pain, new symptoms come up. I had a near panic attack at the mall the other night. During which I seem to be super sensitive to heat, and smells. It is so frustrating. I am trying to remind myself that it's the last gasp on tms's way out, but this is hard! Recovery my first time was so much easier. It's hard not to get depressed.

Friday night I had intense proof I was fine..perhaps tmi, but i decided to just feel every present emotion in earnest. While embarrassing write, I was able to be totally pain free and euphoric with my boyfriend. But by the next afternoon I was back to hobbling.

Right now I am really battling my patience. The pain seems to want me to sit on my couch all day (which I am not- I just cleaned my house without major incident - just discomfort - i was trying to ignore it). Now that I truly know what it is, it's not enough to know it's physical anymore. I feel like I am still looking for what my inner family are fighting about!

I should add that I started seeing a therapist this fall, which may be bringing a bunch of this up. But I would think that would be helpful. incidentally, the tms Doc in my area is the husband of an employee of mine. I don't feel like I can see him bc of that. I have been thinking about dropping in to one of the online chats though.
 
hi, Elelsnow. Sounds like you're doing great. Just keep reminding yourself all your symptoms are 100 percent TMS. Holding back even to 99 percent is not good enough, as Steve Ozanich says. It's all or nothing.

I hope you will join the call-in this coming Tuesday Nov. 12. It will be on chapter 14 of Steve's book, The Great Pain Deception, titled "What You Need to Understand to Heal." It's like a short course in TMS healing and a lot of it relates to your symptoms and belief in TMS.
Here's a link to my summary of that chapter.

I sometimes lose my postings when I skip around so I'll post this now and the URL to the Ozanich chapter 14 summary next.
 
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