Tests to rule out serious illnesses

Hi all,

Many of you will know me as I was very active on this forum last year as I had pain in my buttocks and used TMS methods to get rid of my pain. I even got to the stage where I was helping people I knew with back pain by giving them lectures over a cup of coffee and helping them. I was totally liberated, my pain was gone and had I found my calling in life?

Anyway, fast forward a year and I am back on this forum ask for advice. My pain in the buttocks has now completely subsided, but I now have pain in my hips, which I believe could be arthritis, which Dr. Sarno says is Type 2 TMS (the causation is repressed emotions on top of extrinsic factors).

The pain comes and goes and moves all over the place. Even writing this I know that it's TMS haha I feel so stupid coming on here and asking you guys questions.

Anyway, I believe that for me to be able to apply TMS methods again and 100% believe that the pain in my hips are part of the symptom imperative then I have to rule out serious illnesses.

Therefore, what tests would you recommend?

Here is what I am thinking: MRI to check for any structural damage i.e. laberal tears, ESR/anti-CCP tests, EMG to check for nerve damage, HLA-B27 test, and maybe even test for STI's.

Anything that I have missed would be appreciated. I think ultimately I want to check for cancer, as I do have many lumps around the hips/groin.

P.S. I live in Thailand and when I go talk to the doctors I get an x-ray and get told there is no bone damage and giving some muscle relaxants.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Scott

 

Hi Scott,

That's a great idea, definitely go ahead and carry out all the respective tests for your own peace of mind. If you do have doubts.

Once you have ruled out any serious illness, I would create an evidence sheet for your own peace of mind. It will give you a means of tracking your symptoms and confirming it is TMS.

I understand it's not by any means easy, but the unconconcious mind is a beast and it will forever throw new symptom to keep you in doubt.

Try and stay positive, focussed and be gentle to yourself. Fear will only cause your symptoms to perpetuate.

Good luck

 

Hi, Scott. You healed before by believing your pain was TMS, so you will heal again by the same belief.
Maybe you just need a new boost of confidence in that. One of the other TMSers, Kevin, posted recently about his healing success from TMS.
I hope it rebuilds your confidence. Try not to worry that you have cancer or other maladies. Even if an MRI shows something structural, it does not necessarily cause pain.

I also suggest you take the Structured Educational Program again. Maybe some new stress has triggered an earlier one that causes you new pain.

Kevin healed 95 % from SEP


Welcome to the SEP and to the path of recovery. I am on my final two days of the program and I can say with complete confidence that I am a changed man. I started after 6 months of nasty low-back/butt/leg pain, could hardly walk, stand, etc. was in physical therapy, chiropractor, acupuncture, pain medications, etc.. the usual. My MRI showed 3 disk bulges/herniations touching nerves, so that is what I believe it to be....that is until I read Dr. Sarno and found this site.

I encourage you to really get involved, follow the instructions, do the journaling, take time to read all the suggested readings, and watch the videos. I'd say I'm 95% cured. There is still some very light lingering "annoyance", but I still have some work to do. I've been walking miles with hardly any pain these last few weeks. But even more, if the pain comes on now, it just doesn't bother me like it used to, I sorta just see it, acknowledge it, and go about my business. It took working the program to get to that point, but 6 weeks compared to 6 months is nothing! I made more progress in the first week than I did from two months of PT!!! It's going to challenge you and your "beliefs" in medicine, but you have nothing to lose. We generally wind up here when all else fails.

So give it a shot, especially before considering anything invasive like surgery. If you put the work in, you will get better. Have you read Dr. Sarno yet? I assume you have since you're here, but in case you haven't, definitely readHealing Back Pain. Again, it will challenge everything you've believed about your pain, and backs in general. You'll be encouraged to resume life as normal, i.e. stop ALL "therapies" (PT, chiro, etc.), stop taking medications, and most importantly, stop thinking STRUCTURAL problems are the cause of your pain and shift to psychological as the reason.....again, this can be difficult and takes some time to sink in, so be patient and kind to yourself.

It was a process for me. A few of the bigger moves in my case were: I ripped up and threw out my MRI test results (I found myself obsessively reading over them and comparing them to other results I could find on the web and even here on the TMSwiki site...); I got back to the gym and stopped using a weight belt; and I even cancelled an appointment I had made with aTMS doctorbecause it was more than a month away and it was hindering my recovery (that is, my 100% belief in TMS was lagging because I had this pending appointment, but as soon as I cancelled it, my recovery sped up significantly). Everyone's journey is unique to their situation, but I've found that really committing to the program and brining what I learn from it into my daily life has had profound results. Also, sharing along the way here in these forums has been extremely helpful - there's something about knowing that you're not alone in your TMS recovery that really helps. I encourage you to look through my past posts for some insight into my experience with SEP. Like I said, I'm just now finishing, tomorrow is my final day, and I feel like a changed person. It's amazing. And I feel as though it is something that one carries on with, not just like a one time 6 week thing and that's that...it has helped me to get to know myself and taught me tools to "deal" with my emotions. Learning and accepting TMS is a life changer for sure.