Ye old question: is it real?

Hey all,
I recently discovered tms and read David ozanich's book. This was super empowering, especially the part in which he writes about how he overcame his pain.

In the past I'd try to work out (running, weight lifting) but would be stopped quickly by multiple injuries. I had decided that I could never run again because of my fragile body.

After reading the book I was hyped to start running again and to consider every pain that would bother me to be TMS. In the book, there is no mention at all of the possibility of real injuries.
I loved the idea of my body being strong and being able to do anything with it!

So I ran, several chronic injuries spontaneously disappeared. (Win win win!)
I built it up slowly -4 days a week-, but the 4th day (I ran 10x2 minutes) pain in both my knees started bothering me.
This got me, because in the meantime I had been reading up on this forum, where a distinction is made between tms and real injury.

Also I tried to ignore it by running again the next day but it got pretty painful. (I admit the tms still worked cause I couldn't -and can't- stop worrying about it).

So this is why this pain is getting to me:
- this is a new pain and not a chronic one, so it could be a real overuse injury.
- overuse injuries can occur when people just start running (although I ran soooo little.. But then again, maybe my body is really more fragile than others)
- when I rest a few days the pain does get less and when I run the pain is getting worse afterwards. This really trips me up.

Why not just take two weeks off and see what happens:
- my injuries are many and I don't want to take two weeks off, or go to the doctor every time a new one appears.
- I don't want my body to be so fragile and to still have to worry about doing too much. I loved the feeling of being strong and able.
- I strongly suspect tms because there is no swelling, also the pain was moving around a llot before settling in my knees. I don't want the tms to win.

Should I continue running? I'm afraid of what will happen but I think I have to make the leap of faith. On the other hand to keep running seems irresponsible and stupid.

Hoping for some words of wisdom!
Harriët

 

If your knees weren't a weak point for your running previously I'm going to make a guess that they wouldn't necessarily BOTH start hurting at the same time from starting to run. If it was structural, it seems like one or the other might get pulled or whatnot?
But I'm not a doctor.

Assuming you started out with good sneakers and it sounds like you know proper running form.
With the small amount of running your doing presumably you won't do any damage if you forget about and keep doing a little running?
I'd be inclined to keep going with your slow and steady approach knowing that your body will figure out. Maybe the knees did hurt legit but generally speaking, a body will adapt to take care of that.
(Or in our case if we over focus our worries on it -- the reverse.)

Go. Enjoy some more light runs. You are not fragile your body is a wonder!

 

Thanks Booble!
Yeah they started hurting at the same time, it's very suspicious indeed

I'll read some more success stories en run tomorrow

 

Have fun!
Enjoy. Enjoy.

 

How are you feeling now? This could absolutely be TMS. But I also don’t know you well enough to say overuse isn’t an issue here.

If you need to take a week off, don’t fret. I injured my ankle and tendons from overuse recently. I was on fire one day - burning almost 4,000 calories according to my fitness device and wanting to keep going physically (that oh so wonderful cardio high!) - but I did genuinely need a week of rest. I’d been going hard for months and that day in particular crossed the threshold of what my body was ready for.

I initially tried to fight it and disregarded urgent care’s instructions by going on a 7 mile excursion (not at all once, definitely filled with pain, and sometimes not including my ankle brace), but a week off was ultimately needed and perfect.

This may not apply to you at all, but I totally understand being committed and not feeling like rest is a viable option. It’s a scary thought! But it can be a nice time to sit back and work on acceptance. I kept wondering whether I would harm my endurance, lose strength, etc. Especially since I had just received many compliments on my strength and physical fitness at a recent event. That was the result of commitment… and now it felt like I had to say goodbye to that.

After I rest for a week, any continued pain is almost certainly TMS in my experience.

 

Thanks Dorado,
Yeah the running is the only exercise I did, in total 20 minutes 4 times a week, so nothing extreme..
I continued running and it seems like it doesn't get worse, even a little better than it was before so my hopes are up.

Also I know that feeling of excitement and not wanting to chill. XD

 

That's great to hear, Jettie. I'm glad to hear things are settling down. Enjoy.

 

@Jettie1989, welcome to the wonderful world of our TMS brains

As @Dorado reminds us, we always need to take a moment to properly analyze what's going on, especially for people new to the process - but I think that your response makes sense. It makes even more sense when you consider the extremely common and well-known phenomenon of the Symptom Imperative. This is the term Dr Sarno applied to a new pain or symptom that suddenly and inexplicably appears a couple of weeks after you start experiencing success by following the TMS path. This is very discouraging at first, until you realize the good news, as I think you're figuring out, that this is actually proof that your symptoms are TMS.

You just have to work past it, learning to live with (and even love) your fearful brain - and if you can also laugh at it, so much the better

 

Sounds like TMS! I’m glad you’re doing better. Enjoy those runs - I love that feeling so much.

 

@JanAtheCPA
Yes, it is amazing. I've experienced several old injuries to go away and my tmj pain and tension headaches haven't showed up since I read the book. (Only a few minutes and I could think them away)
Now I sometimes get really intense stabbing pains in my... Everywhere xD back, feet, stomach, you name it. I'm so glad I know it's the symptom imperative. I'm just looking at it in amazement.
Thinking about how I used to speculate in fear what could be going wrong in my body when I experienced pain.

Also thanks @Dorado , will enjoy them it's so amazing to be able to run again, I had already given up on that!

 

Years ago I read a book about a couple who decided to walk across France. At the beginning, the wife was like, "I have to stop, my ____ hurts."
She said her husband said something like, "Pain is just a feeling. It doesn't mean you have to stop what you are doing." She said that was the first time she ever considered the possibility of not responding to pain with stopping what you are doing. I thought the husband was just being a d___ but it is an interesting paradigm shift to rethink pain.