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Pain Conditioning, RSI, and TMS?

Discussion in 'Support Subforum' started by Crocodile, Jan 7, 2024.

  1. Crocodile

    Crocodile Newcomer

    Hi all, new to this forum. I've been lurking here and there but am finally facing my fear of making a post. I think I have TMS but I want to be certain. I've tried not worrying about it, but the moment an extinction burst comes about, I run the other direction. Here are some of the symptoms I've had that may be indicative of TMS. I will try not to go into full detail about it so I don't end up writing a full book, lol. Here's the gist of my story.

    I used to run cross country in high school, no pain. It all started as back pain when I started getting into lifting. As a result, I made sure to improve my form, and don't think I started at weights that were too high (no more than 45-65 lbs). Everyone I've had watch my form tells me that it looks amazing, better than most. Despite that, I feel like something is wrong with it. I started having neck pain from doing shoulder exercises as well. Eventually, I gave up. I tried getting back into running, but the back pain made it impossible. After my first semester of college, within a week, my wrists went from fine to really bad tendinitis. I do a lot of programming and typing so getting this was no surprise. (Knowing what I know now, I wonder if this was due to the "Stage 4 TMS" idea Steve O mentions in his book). I saw a physio, and after 6 weeks, the pain was much better, but far from perfect. He told me at that point that I don't need to worry about it anymore, and any pain is due to conditioning. So, over time, I started to use my PC and play video games more. I also started running a little bit more, and my ankles started hurting too much. I tried swimming, but that ended up being almost just as bad! Every doctor I asked about that told me they have no clue how that's happening. During the next semester, I had several really bad flare ups from writing, and it took a very long time to recover each time. At this point, I started doing voice dictation. After several months of consistent dictation, I started having pain in my jaw. I've since gotten back into lifting (starting as low as 25 lbs this time, listening to my pain instead of pushing through it), and avoided writing, and my problems have gotten better. However, when lifting, once I increase the weight or don't take extra rest time in between sets, pain flares up. When my squats go past 95 lbs, I start getting strains and pulled muscles. This has happened several times, each time putting me out of the gym for a month. It seems like everyone else who goes to the gym doesn't start having problems like these until they get to much higher weights.

    I've had a lot of testing for structural issues (which were all non-specific) and I have some of the TMS personality traits.

    I'm willing to bet that anyone reading this is going to think, without hesitation, "Yep. That's TMS." Of course, even acknowledging that, I'm not confident enough to just live my life without worry, and here's why: Any pain that shows up just "makes sense" for it to be structural, and in lifting, correcting any form issues usually causes the pain to go away. I've been able to identify almost none of my pain as being a result of more stress, though at times I think I've had more back issues when moving to different places. Though I've had pain show up in many different areas, they are generally consistent. Many of my issues with ankle pain went away when I switched to running shoes that are half a size bigger. Though, some of that pain has moved to my knees, but isn't that expected when using shoes with a bit more cushioning and also when already having knee pain from lifting/biking at the same time?

    I really need to work with the SEP more and actually read the books on TMS that I have more... I'm not just not fully confident that my issue is TMS, even though it's staring at me in the face. :arghh:

    Any advice, pointers, etc? Thanks :D
     
  2. JanAtheCPA

    JanAtheCPA Beloved Grand Eagle

    Hi there @Crocodile and welcome. Also, we do not have nearly enough animal usernames on this forum, so thank you for making me smile at yours :joyful:

    My advice for you is not surprising, which is to trust your instincts and follow your own advice.

    You are young, and as young people we have to learn to acknowledge the validity of our instincts, and then be willing to trust them. I can assure you, after 7+ decades of life experience, that whenever I have had the courage to follow my instincts, no matter what kind of situation it was, that it was the right thing to do. I credit my parents for this knowledge, which has served me extremely well all my life.

    Of course, my parents had a role to play in the development of my TMS, but that's simply the nature of human development, and overall they did very well by me.

    Do the SEP for sure. You really have to be willing to stick with it even though your brain will try to resist and come up with all kinds of reasons why you shouldn't. Doubt is just a synptom of this resistance, it's normal, and the way to get past doubt is to accept and do the work in spite of the doubt. Don't rush it. Just one "Day" every day. In addition, also just one per day, I would recommend Nicole Sach's podcast for you, which is like receiving individual therapy. Weekly since 2018, so getting all the way back to the first one might take a bit of work depending on your podcast app! Its called The Cure for Chronic Pain with Nicole Sachs LCSW.

    Let us know how it goes!
     

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