What are some of your best exceptions?

So to those who aren't familiar with what I am asking, an exception is something we fill out in an evidence sheet to prove to ourselves that it can't be structural because...etc etc etc.

For example: A big piece of evidence for me was the fact that one day I had terrible nerve pain in my butt and legs and yet I began to have a headache which turned into a migraine, after awhile of being in this head pounding state I realized that I was laying in a position that I could not normally lay in without having tons of burning and numbness in my legs and hips. But there I was laying in this position and hadn't even noticed it for awhile. Nothing structurally changed, yet my nerve pain went down drastically. Later that day I went to force myself to eat something (was feeling nauseous too), and my migraine slowly started to ease up, BUT! my nerve pain started to amplify! Talk about a symptom shift! This provided me with more proof, or evidence, that there is nothing really structurally wrong with me. How could I really have nerve damage if my pain went down so dramatically and quickly when I was in a distracted state? If my legs had just been previously broken the pain would definitely still be in the legs regardless of having a migraine or not.

So, I thought I'd turn it into an "evidence potluck," share your best evidences if you feel comfortable sharing!

 

One of my favorites was my migrating "migraine" pain. I spent an intense week a couple of years ago trying to banish it. It fought back hard; I had it for 5 out of 7 days that week. Finally it shifted to the other side of my head, where I had NEVER had pain, and I knew I'd won.

On a side note, I had another severe bout of headaches and was convincing myself it was allergies. I finally asked my doctor about them. He said they sounded more like tension headaches than migraines. Light bulb! TMS! Now I've banished them again.

 

Gigi,

Can you elaborate regarding the 'intense week . . . trying to banish it." I'm constantly battling with how to battle. I could use some fighting advice.

Thanks as always,
Eskimo

 

Not an exception, but how my symptoms began. I got a job writing articles for a news site, which was a really big deal for me at the time. The very next day, before I even put a finger on the keyboard, pain started symmetrically in both hands, and hasn't left since.

 

Sure, Eskimo. I looked back in my journal, and I was reading several TMS items: Louise Hay's You Can Heal Your Life, Dr. Schubiner's article about TMS and women, and Peter Zafirides' work on existential therapy. I was also doing the punishment/reward system with my subC--when I couldn't banish the headaches I had to wash the car! Mostly I experimented with different ways of talking to my subC.

But initially my relief was temporary, since I still had a niggling doubt that they were allergy related. It wasn't until my trusted doctor voiced his opinion that they were tension headaches and not migraines that I accepted 100% that they were manifestations of TMS. Now I believe they're gone for good.

Incidentally, I found something bizarre that helped that I'll share. My headaches always started at the base of my skull on the right side. I tried using Biofreeze on that spot when the headache was just starting. It relaxed the muscles enough for me to talk my subC down!

Blessings to you.

 

Thanks for your reply, Gigi. I have to say, looking up the book "You Can Heal Your Life" worried me. It's the sort of thing that throws a lot of red flags for me. "For example, the probable cause of multiple sclerosis is "mental hardness, hard-heartedness, iron will, and inflexibility." The fact that it has nearly 2,000 reviews, mostly 5 stars, reinvigorates my fear that I've been duped into believing the TMS theory. You can find tons of people that say they've cured their cancer with lemon juice and positive thinking, and you can find people who say they've cured their chronic pain by addressing repressed anger. Somebody please convince me this isn't all BS. - E

 

The way TMS is approached now is sort of an interpretation of current pain theory. Or at least, it evolved that way. The "repressed anger" approach isn't the only one. There's also many TMS physicians who see the problem as conditioning in a hypersensitive nervous system. It's an immense field, so you should most likely start with educating yourself on chronic pain in general. Here's a few articles:

Pain Catastrophizing and Kinesiophobia: Predictors of Chronic Low Back Pain - http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/156/11/1028.short
Behavioral and Cognitive–Behavioral Treatment for Chronic Pain: Outcome, Predictors of Outcome, and Treatment Process - http://journals.lww.com/spinejourna...nd_Cognitive_Behavioral_Treatment_for.33.aspx
Fear-avoidance and its consequences in chronic musculoskeletal pain: a state of the art - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304395999002420

There's an insane amount of literature concerning the links between psychological factors and chronification of pain. I just went on google scholar and typed in "Predictors of chronic pain", and I got those in the first few pages.

 

I agree that some of what I read in TMS literature seems questionable. I'm a classically trained scientist, so I like hard data. But there's also something to the saying "Take what helps and leave the rest." I continue to be amazed that I can control unbearable pain by talking to my subC!

 

This cheered me right up. I guess I'm revealing my own bias by responding so instantly to 'classically trained scientist.' Thanks Gigi

 

Thanks Ftaghn, I need to keep reminding myself of this. - E

 

Back to giantsfan, an exception for me is that the pain tends to go away if I'm in the middle of a 'successful' social encounter. If I'm feeling smart and charismatic, the neck pain fades, or I forget about it, or both.