Physiological Treatment (Drugs etc.)

Okay okay okay, I know I am doing it wrong, but what treatment do you think would be most suitable for TMS?
I know Sarno doesn't believe that this helps cure the problem, but if it can provide temporary relief on bad days then maybe we should be looking at drugs? I don't mean "take a painkiller" when the pain is bad as Dr. Sarno recommends.

Here is what I am thinking:

Diazepam or some other muscle relaxant to help reduce the tension in the muscles.
Infrared heat lamp to help promote blood flow to the effected area.
Intramuscular oxygen-ozone injections.
Codeine or some other opioid to relieve the pain.
Deep Tissue Massage.

Am I completely wrong in doing this as this will only delay a full rehabilitation or do you think that doing these treatments while fully believing in TMS (no structural damage, only oxygen deprived tissues) can be beneficial to TMS sufferers?

Interested to see what other people think, and sorry if I have offended anyone as I know this is not what is recommended.

Thanks,
Scott

 

I understand what you're asking and I have struggled with the same questions. In as much as I know it is best to work only with the mind sometimes I need the extra help of working with the body as well. I cannot advise on medications, certainly, but I have had some unfortunate experiences with them that may be a cautionary tale for you.

Specifically, I discovered that any of the Benzodiazepine drugs gave me a lot of relief, probably because they are a muscle relaxer but also because they work directly on the brain. I was on Ambien for sleep and klonopin during the day. Gave me great relief and then it was hell to pay tapering off of them. Really. Took a long long long time. And the side effects were not pleasant. They effected my ability to think clearly. Here's a wonderful resource that discusses the issues with this class of drug: http://www.benzo.org.uk/. You will see the problem.

I also ended up on opiods for a long time at high doses. If you read up on them, you'll realize the danger of using them for chronic pain. Please research how they tamper with the brain chemistry, actually suppressing the brain's production of natural pain killers, requiring you to increase the dose of the opiod just to get the same level of relief. Plus my experience of them was that they did not actually kill my pain, they killed my caring that I was in pain. Then of course, withdrawal coming off them was very very difficult.

Now as far as other interventions, I personally use a TENS device when necessary. I remind myself that this is simply distracting my brain from the pain signals. I exercise. I stretch. I have used massage. I have used heat and I have used ice. Perhaps my example is not a good one to follow because I also am not symptom free, but I have had times in the past when my pain was virtually gone.

For me, I think the key is that no matter what I have to do to manage the pain today, I remind myself that there is no structural cause for my pain that I will stay on the right path. I remind myself that the physical interventions are like taking a placebo. Sometimes I just really need it in the moment but that soon my experience can change and that my pain can begin to go away.

 

You didn't ask about non-physical treatments but I will add that I have a wide variety of mental tools that I apply as well, such as mindfulness meditation and self-hypnosis and cognitive behavioral. Those are my go-to-first tools.

 

The question that I ask myself often, is what came first, the pain and then the anxiety worrying about it, or did the anxiety come first and then the pain? At first glance it appears the pain came first, then we spent time worrying about it and creating anxiety. But, over time I think the later is true. We have deep unresolved problems and feelings. Over time these feelings sit around and fester. One day we have an overlap of current problems (relationship, moving, job) with old problems, parents etc. Then we get pain. So, the anxiety came first. It's sort of like the Russell Crowe movie A Beautiful Mind, we have to use our intellect (conscious mind) to our benefit and that is to convince ourselves the stress came first and is the cause of the pain.

I don't know too much about drugs, but I have tried a lot of alternative therapy. This area interested me so much, I ended up taking courses in energetic healing. Still got a sore back/hip for a couple of years. One thing I did learn in my training was that you can take oxygen in your water (if you think you need oxygen), or you can drink a lot of water if you are dehydrated, but if your body isn't absorbing water or oxygen, it's not going to help. You have to get to the source of why your body isn't absorbing the water (so to speak), why your body is creating the pain, or treatments won't help much at all.

Now my energetic healing is TMS healing, self talk, journaling, meditating and letting time pass.

 

I'm not a doctor and do not prescribe medication or natural supplements, but when back pain comes back on
and I feel I need some immediate relief, I take one Advil. The pain goes away. I haven't even tried two.

And there are lots of other natural supplements that help with pain.

I still prefer Peggy's healing: Think TMS as the cause, journal, meditate, deep breathing, and find distractions
to let today pass, and have faith and hope that tomorrow will be better.

 

Scott,

You pose an interesting question. I think that what you are proposing (conventional medical treatment + mindbody healing) is what is called Integrative Medicine. Many of us on this wiki, including me, tried that approach for many years and spent lots of money on it. It didn't work for me, and I don't think there are good outcomes with the approach described in any research I've seen. The problem is that the treatments you describe only treat the symptoms and not the cause. And as @Dahlia says above, the drugs work on the brain, and I believe will interfere with the changes that need to be made in the brain for TMS healing to occur. I, too, suffered from withdrawal symptoms when stopping medications used to "treat" my chronic pain and prevent my migraines. I'm now in the process of weaning myself off of Trazodone (prescribed for sleep, pain, and mild depression), and it has caused me to have severe insomnia, as my brain adjusts to the changes.

TMS healing techniques work and there is no downside. They treat the true cause of the symptoms. There is no need to use any other method. If you can get by without medication I caution against using it. It is very hard to withdraw from it, and I feel in my case it delayed my recovery.

 

I agree that meds are counter productive, but in some cases necessary. I can't speak for everybody but I need to take them if I don't I can't get out of bed and work….I am in the construction business and can't afford to be in a lot of pain and try mediation and all the other tms protocols when on job site. ( I practice these at home). So its been a struggle to get off them completely.

I say you need to do what you need to do to take care of yourself ( #1 priority) and realize that the meds are not a cure but a placebo I keep telling myself that.

I try laughing more take it min by min…mediate journal and see a therpist once a week,I found it to be better than a message once a week. A unbiassed opinion is a great tool to use, to reach places journaling can't get to.

 

See dr. Sarno's book, The Mindbody prescription. Pg 39, especially last paragragh. " Mindbody symptoms exist to serve a purpose. If you thwart that purpose by taking away the symptom without dealing with its cause, the brain will simply find a substitute symptom or disorder."
Having said that, sometimes we need help to get through a day or a task. Compassion for ourselves.

 

I think Ellen's point about the medicines being hard to get off of is a good one. And my experience has been that you don't end up being on just one medicine, you end up being on multiple medications, they usually cause side effects and then they give you extra medication to help with side effects! So, Scott, if you haven't gone on any yet, and you can at least somewhat function throughout the day, I vote for waiting. But I definitely understand, Marco, about needing the meds to make it through the day, and also agree with Lizzy said about self compassion.

 

Thank you all for your opinions guys, they are very much appreciated. It's good to see that there are so many people in this forum against the use of drugs. I think you are all correct, because as soon as I even start to think physiologically then my pain seems to return. It's only a slight niggle, but it becomes present when I think about it, and when am on this forum etc. I think once I complete my SEP and am 100% better (fingers crossed) then I will take a sabbatical from this forum. Have a nice weekend every body!