SEP Day 8

Just going to post about my TMS treatment so far. I started reading Dr. Sarno's book about 3 weeks ago and have been doing the SEP for 8 days now. I have to say that during the 3 weeks I've had better and more pain free days than I did prior to starting the program.

Specifically I had pain in both of my upper legs/thighs that was constant throughout the day. That pain is largely gone so that's a huge benefit.

I'm having pain in my upper back and have a huge muscle knot in my right shoulder. My hips continue to hurt (on some days while walking) and in its weird to me because I've been able to do short stints on the elliptical without any pain whatsoever but walking outside or in the mall causes me pain. Not sure what the difference is with experiencing pain with everyday walking vs not experiencing pain on an elliptical. Maybe there is more range of motion with normal walking?

I have a lot of pain and stiffness in the morning in my upper back. My right wrist is painful as well. I feel like everyday is a different adventure with regards to pain. When will it start or will it start? What will cause it? I get nervous knowing that I'll have to do any amount of walking either outside or inside. I continue to tell myself that this is psychological. Its hard to believe how old I feel and how crappy I feel a lot of the time. But I will keep going.

Could use some encouragement today.

 

Happy Xmas Hen.

I've been reading your post and you've come quite far in the last 8 days. So please don't be so hard on yourself.

With regards to your question...

'Maybe there is more range of motion with normal walking?"

I'd really encourage you to read this marvellous post by Alan Gordon regarding outcome independence.

http://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/a-word-about-outcome-independence.562/#post-4116

I'd also suggest that you keep an evidence sheet to help you enforce your belief it's TMS.

Please try not to be so hard on yourself Hen and count the successes, however minor they seem. Changing the way we look at our and pain brings us a step closer to overcoming our fear and preoccupation with it.

Wishing you a wonderful Xmas break.

 

Thank you. I will use this walk as an opportunity to measure success by just taking a walk and not assigning pain values etc to how it went or how far I got etc. I am feeling stressed today because I'll be spending time with family tomorrow and I believe that is amping up the pain.

Happy Holidays!

 

Christmas is a melting pot for TMS, try using some simple mindfulness or breathing techniques to keep you balanced and less anxious. God bless you.