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Yes, it's TMS

sarah430

sarah430

Peer Supporter
I don't really have a question, but am posting here mostly as an affirmation to myself. I've been dealing with a TMS relapse since December. First, sciatica type pain, then foot pain...both which I've had before and healed with TMS techniques. So while these pains were distressing (as a recreational endurance runner I always have my doubts about things being structural) I was able to get through them pretty quickly once I acknowledged they were TMS. But, symptom imperative at work, I developed knee pain about 3 weeks ago. I thought it could be TMS, but since this is a new pain to me, I sought out treatment from a physical therapist.

The diagnosis is that my issue is functional, not structural. She even told me there's no inflammation or any sign of damage. She released my quads and said I'm holding a lot of tension there (which is pulling on the knee), but that she was easily able to release the tension. To me, that's the green light for doing the work to heal my pain with TMS techniques without fear that I'm doing damage to myself by continuing to run. I still have pain but I'm almost to the point where I can acknowledge it and more on. I'm working hard on not fear it or letting it distress me. Honestly, I could have a pain in my arm or somewhere else and it wouldn't bother me so much. But my subconscious mind knows that the way to get to me is with pain that affects my running. I love to run so much. :)

Sorry for the rambling...thanks for reading....
 
This is cool to know. Now you know its tms for sure. Have you done the SEP program yet.
That will be very beneficial; to you. Yes the tms is going to always hit you were it hurts.
But now you know its devices. You can just turn all of that around
now through re-conditioning.
Keep us up to date.
Bless you
 
Thank you for your responses. For me, knowing and accepting the TMS diagnosis has been very powerful. I've read, The MindBody Prescription, Great Pain Deception and The Meaning of Truth. Reading success stories has always helped too. I know I'm one of the lucky ones. Since this current relapse I've worked more on journalling and I need to keep this up. I think the SEP would be very helpful to me so I'm going to look at that.

I've been feeling a lot better since me PT told me that there's nothing physically wrong with me. I was actually able to keep the pain at bay this weekend by focusing on that. It would start to increase and I could get it to back off. The anxiety and fear of it has greatly decreased. So I'm on my way but I really want to keep progressing and not go back to my old ways. I don't want this or another symptom crop up again. So I will hang around and look at the structured program.

Thank you!
 
I am still battling this knee pain! So frustrating. I'm positive it's TMS because it does come and go. I can mentally acknowledge that it's TMS but emotionally it's so hard when I'm in pain. Other TMS pains (foot, sciatica, low back, nerve pain) I was finally able to ignore or work through so that they didn't cause me this mental anguish and then they eventually dissipated. But this knee still has me. PT still confirms that it's tension and "trigger points"...no structural damage. I've been so busy and unfocused lately that I need to find time to just sit with my thoughts and get this under control. It's like I know what I need to do but a little paralyzed with "life" to get it done. Would like the world stop for a few days....does anyone else get that feeling?

Any encouragement is greatly appreciated!!
 
I too find it emotionally draining when in TMS pain. It’s hard to not buckle under the pressure sometimes. I find that when I am busy – or rather engaged with life – I thrive and am not in pain. You say you are “busy and unfocused” but doesn’t being busy make you focused? Having complete focus in something other than pain monitoring is a good place to be in! I’m struggling with this, because of the nature of my work which is stop-start, and very political, so that has me ruminating which is NOT healthy.

I think there’s a fine line between a healthy mindfulness (being aware of our moment to moment thoughts) and unhealthy ruminating, where those thoughts go down an unhealthy path. Perhaps being aware of this is in itself a valuable lesson. Time will tell.
 
Sometime busy makes me more focused. But in general, busy makes me frazzled...especially when different areas of my life (work, home, etc.) are busy all at once. But that's a good point...being able to really focus on something else besides the pain can be helpful, I agree.

And thank you, Colly for posting on this older post of mine. A good reminder for me that yes there is absolutely nothing wrong with my knee....
 
Hi, Colly. I too find that keeping busy with work or fun activities takes my mind off physical pain and even headaches.
Distractions like hobbies can be great.
Even short breaks from work, such as at the computer, can put us in a better Living in the Present mood.
 
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