| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| dfl |
Posted - 05/12/2007 : 14:21:41
You probably won't remember, but 9 months ago I posted about quiting NSAIDs. I tried then to quit and failed. I've since seen a chiropracter, gotten worse, gotten a bit better, etc. Lately, I became more and more convinced my problem was pure TMS. Finally, in a heat of passion for the diagnosis, I quit taking NSaids and tylennol (both of which I had been taking a ton of)--this was last monday.
Now, I have some new terribly burning pains (i'm nearly certain this is tms) but other things got better pretty much right away. My neck which has been constantly stiff for years is better--by no means perfect, and my back which had been interminently horribly stiff for months is now pretty much perfect. This seems to me to be progress. I journal daily (but I had been doing this already as part of a 12 step program).
Now my question (sorry this is so long). I am an avid weight trainer. I am currently training my upper body like everything is normal--because it feels fine. but I have some terrible muscle imbalances in my lower body--I mean my left leg is dramatically weaker than my right. I try to force my left leg to work, you know, not giving in to the pain, but it just refuses. So for the past week I've been doing mobility drills for my lower body. My reasoning is that these will help me work into full lower body training, and this has been maybe slightly successful, but it has been only a week.
I am, however, bothered by the contradiction in my doing what are, at bottom, rehab exercises, when I deny i have any physical problem--and the exercises seem to make me think in terms of physical problems. Part of me thinks I have genuine muscle imbalances (any physio therapist would say i do) that TMS uses to create pain.
What should I do? One thought I had was sticking to the rehab exercises that are most painful, and to think of them as challenging the TMS rather than fixing my body--but i fear this is bull**** at bottom. I know the key is to stop thinking physical--but this is nearly impossible when you're awoken at night with pain, and you can only hobble when you need to walk somewhere. I've had some success with trying to think the pain away --tell it to leave, or call it fake, etc.
In addition to suggestions, I'd like to hear of success stories from anyone with a similar situation. thanks. |
| 4 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| dfl |
Posted - 05/12/2007 : 23:23:36
thanks for these responses.
Jst, I do work on finding out what I'm repressing. I've done this, however, even when I doubt the tms diagnosis, just because it seems like part of good mental health (recovering from drug addiction makes this a priority).
weatherman, I think I like your suggestion--keep up the exercises but only with the intent of improving my performance, and bearing in mind that they do not cure the pain. Any other suggestions?
I just got back from my first night out, since I quit nsaids, and I really didn't want to go b/c I had to hobble everywhere, so I'm sure its good that I went--not letting tms rule my life. On the other hand, I feel extremely sore and stiff. Is it appropriate or not, in such situations to do some stretching, which placebo or not, will releave some of the stiffness? |
| jst |
Posted - 05/12/2007 : 21:15:55
Weatherman I'm not talking about figuring out the meaning of life. And I'm not saying it's possible to find the source of all our emotions. But if you don't ask yourself what emotions you might be repressing, how can you ever come to terms with them? How can you come to understand how you came into TMS in the first place? How can you resolve the emotional baggage you have and move beyond TMS? I think questioning your own true emotions, even if you won't always find the answer right away or necessarily ever, is a vital part of healing from TMS. |
| weatherman |
Posted - 05/12/2007 : 20:58:06
Forgive the cliche, but if someone is chasing you with a knife and you're worried about what might happen it doesn't mean you're paranoid.
I believe people certainly can have mucle imbalances, which indeed manifest as weakness - but not pain! I see nothing wrong with strengthening weak muscles, provided you're correct about why you're doing it (for improved performance etc., not pain relief).
I'm not sure that figuring out all your sources of rage is necessary, or even possible. If I made of a list of all the things in the world that piss me off it would be many pages, and would likely still miss some important ones. Even Sarno says that identifying your source of rage isn't what's important - it's 1)believing that unconscious rage, whatever its origin, can generate physical pain, and 2) realizing that the pain itself is harmless. At 50 I have not figured out the meaning of life, and am starting to doubt that I ever will.
Weatherman |
| jst |
Posted - 05/12/2007 : 17:23:24
Hey dfl,
I keep saying this, but in regards to your mental process when you experience pain, I don't believe in telling it to leave or calling it fake. I believe in consistently asking yourself what emotions/thoughts/feelings those pains are being used by your brain to distract you from. The questioning takes a long time. Writing about these questions and answers and really elaborating will help as well. But keep questioning. And that pain will go away. The answer takes time to find, but I think this is the only way to do it. |
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