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igotnosmoke
Australia
6 Posts |
 Posted - 02/12/2008 : 18:14:46
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Hi guys,
I have been lurking in this forum for the past few weeks and thought I’d say “Hi” and share my story and progress thus far with TMS.
I have contained a specific mindset ever since I was brought up believing that 2nd best is never an option and have always been prone to getting into a compulsive mindset to the point where I lose myself and forget what is ‘really’ important... various traits documented in Sarnos book ‘the mindbody prescription’ sum me up quite accurately.
My symptoms and their inconsistency have been quite common amongst various other people documented on these forums. My first taste of TMS consisted of tendonitis whilst being heavily active in sport which eventually (and inconsistently) shifted to back pain. The pain seemed to be the worst in the mornings making it very difficult to get out of bed at times. The back problems got so bad that I had to quit playing sport as well as drums for my band at that stage. Because of my desire to be in a successful band was very passionate & I did not want to give up, and soon after found that, the resolution was to start singing because of the back pain I developed, very soon after I developed a very bad throat which was soon diagnosed as reflux together with Spasmodic Dysphonia. At this stage nothing would go right for me and became severally depressed, that depression effected my job (being involved in sales, it does not sit well) and soon after developed RSI and got so bad that I had to take a month off work. Luckily I bumped into Sarno during the break I had and made a WORLD OF DIFFERENCE.
To this date major problems I have at the age of 23 include:
OCD
Back Pain
Tendonitis
RSI
Reflux / Spasmodic Dysphonia
The pain shifts around depending on which activities I engage in whether is being on the computer at work & singing for my band, drumming for my band & playing any kind of sport.
I can document all of these problems into situations where I have place immense pressure on myself.. from wanting to impress others.... committing to a home loan at a young age.. extreme pressure from my parents to perform well academically & presently... and just striving to be perfect in every way. On the outside friends and family see me as very established, good head on my shoulders and very in control for my age.. but in the inside I have beaten myself up so badly over the years that I feel like a total wreck. I only ever paid attention to this since learning about the TMS method.
My road thus far, has been very interesting. I have gathered enough evidence to convince myself to believe that it is the mind playing games with me and have totally believe in the TMS strategy. I find that as soon as I try access my unconscious state, the pain reduces and the less I apply pressure on myself in any situation whether it be work or don’t care about what others think... the less pain I feel or even no pain.
The biggest form of evidence for me thus far is that when I suffered from RSI and concentrated totally on the RSI and started learning about TMS and started applying techniques.. other problems like my back, tendonitis and throat started feeling a lot better.. This to me was proof that combining the techniques of thinking about your emotions TOGETHER with not thinking about a particular physical pain in other areas helps the symptoms go away. I think that because I concentrated on my RSI but was acknowledging bad emotions I experienced in the past (yet not thinking about the pain) relating to other symptoms such as back, throat and tendinitis, these other symptoms ALL reduced.
I am not yet at the stage to totally banish pain but I can control it somewhat. My next goal is to gain this control even in high pressure situation at work or preparing for live shows with my band. I am predicting that it is going to be very challenging for me to totally banish the pain for a while to come... considering the emotions and the high pressure situations I have put myself through over the years.. but I know if I change my thought patterns for long enough.. I will be successful.
I want to thank everyone in this forum for making a contribution and sharing knowledge about TMS it has helped so much.
Thanks,
Spiro
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weatherman
USA
184 Posts |
Posted - 02/13/2008 : 12:59:27
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What kind of tendonitis? I experience my first TMS equivalent (chondromalacia) when I was 22 and a bad run of back pain at about 37. Neither bother me at all now at age 51, so some of these things truly do resolve in the long term. I was totally unaware of the TMS concept during those times, though I think my awareness of it has probably prevented either from recurring.
Weatherman
"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement." |
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igotnosmoke
Australia
6 Posts |
Posted - 02/13/2008 : 15:28:14
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it was achilles tendonitis
How old were your when you found out about TMS weatherman?
I forget to mention in the lengthy email that i was 19 when the symptoms started. I only found out about TMS at 25, 3 months after i developed RSI and my career was on the line. |
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weatherman
USA
184 Posts |
Posted - 02/13/2008 : 16:19:19
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Interesting, achilles tendonitis is currently the bane of my existence. I've been struggling with the dilemma of taking it seriously and resting it (which I did for awhile), or saying screw it and doing what I want. I'm leaning toward the latter, given the lack of any indications of serious injury (thickening, swelling etc.). The doc who looked at it a month ago didn't see anything physically abnormal. You can probably appreciate that it's about the biggest pain in the ass ever invented as far as nagging, persistent discomforts go. I do lots of hiking, backcountry skiing and mountain biking, so if I were picking a symptom to have a sore back would be way preferable. Apparently you just pushed through your achilles and got the pain to move. If I woke up some morning with a painful back and a normal-feeling achilles I'd feel like I won the lottery.
I first found out about TMS around the year 2000 or so. At the time I had no particular injury going on, though I was still pretty careful with my back (I had a bad round of back trouble in 1995). I pretty much treat my back fearlessly now - bending wrong, slouching, you name it. A back doctor would have a heart attack if he saw me at home watching TV. I have to laugh when I see all the commandments about "taking care of your back", 98% of it is hogwash. My back history was amusing, the worst I ever threw it out was putting on a pair of pants. Totally ludicrous!
I'm very suspicious that since I have no concern about my back now, TMS has decided to visit my achilles. (Come to think of it, maybe I would have been happier remaining ignorant of TMS and dealing with a touchy back?). My achilles episodes always start with a physical trigger - which probably reinforces the notion of "injury".
I never have dealt with any kind of RSI, probably because it's not on my radar. That's another thing they hammer people with in the workplace now - ergonomics etc. Makes you wonder why everybody didn't become disabled many years ago.
What part of Australia are you located in? I hope to do a bit of traveling someday, it's on my list of places to go. Tasmania sounds interesting.
Weatherman
"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement." |
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my TMS story - RSI, Back Pain, Tendonitis, Reflux
