2 weeks and it's looking good

Hi,

I am 24 years old and here is my story.

My pain started slowly at the lower back, when i get out of bed for example 2 years ago. It wasn't a big deal back then just slight annoyance. I couldnt care less and continued my life as usual. Then 2 weeks later i started to get some pain in my neck. Then 6 months after that i developed a wrist pain one morning in both arms after a swimming session the evening before (really? swimming can strain you wrists?!) then it became elbow pain and forearm. 6 months later, I developped sciatica. Very sharp intense disabling pain in the buttock and weakness on both legs.My pain has been changing location for the last year it's incredible! It is always in one place at a time.

How am i doing now?

Emotionally:
i'm able to say with confidence that I'm coping with life a lot better even in my bad days. I am getting rid of all the developed useless habits such as:
- not wearing a watch
- only sitting on ergonomic chairs
- not taking stairs
- not walking barefoot in the house (for the sciatica pain)
- not wearing certain shoes
- lying in bed whenever im home and so on

Physically:
I also feel better physically though i don't want to get my hopes up too much because my condition has been rollercoster and the degree of pain used to go up and down randomly. Having said that, so if week 0 is the week before i started TMS recovery was 100% pain (on average), i would say end of week 1 was a 65% and today end of week 2 is around 55%. I have seen my physioterapist only twice since i started and both times he was baffled by how much better i am (he doesn't know i'm undergoing this treatment yet).

Question:
- is it normal to get cardiac palpitations couple of evenings (i never had those ever before)? I think they were caused by my journaling. Could this be a good or bad sign?

 

I've had cardiac palpitations off and on for many years, and consider it a TMS equivalent. So yours may be a sign of the symptom imperative, and having symptoms move around is a good sign---we like to say "you have your TMS on the run".

However, we at the Forum always like to add the caveat that you should have any symptoms checked out by your doctor to be sure they are TMS and not anything serious.

 

Hi, af90. Ellen is right that you should have a physical so a doctor can determine if there is anything structurally wrong with you
that is causing pain. Even if something is found, the CAUSE may not be structural. It may be psychological, and that means the pain
is from repressed emotions and/or a perfectionist or "goodist" personality in which we want everyone to like and approve of us.

Have you begun the Sructured Education Program which is free in one of the subforums here?
It's a great way to learn about TMS and how to become pain-free.

It does sound like you're doing very well with just two weeks into TMS knowledge. Keep it up!

 

Thanks Walt and Ellen for your replies. To answer your questions, I have seen around 9 specialists from orthopedics, neurologist, neurosurgeon and rheumatologists. Done all kinds for blood tests, 5 different mri's, EMG and xray. None of the doctors was able to provide me with diagnosis. Some attributed the pain to the only abnormality in my spine which is mild scoliosis (which i had since i was young and never caused me pain). They all either gave me pain killers and/or referred me to physical therapy treatment. Most of them said the usual like too much computer, lack of exercise etc.. I have done physical terapy for 2 years with little to no success, so I wanted to try something new.

@walt
yes i am working with the Structured Education program Im on day 15

 

Like you, af90 I had lots of diagnoses, all of them wrong. Welcome to success. For me it only took a little improvement for the doors to begin to open, and it was incredible.

I too had doubts, and I tried to just observe them, without letting them grab me too much. Same with a little pain. I tried to focus on my success with the activities that I was doing that used to cause me pain, and the wonderful feeling of openness and hope that was emerging...and the realization that Dr. Sarno was right. These positives really caught my attention, and I allowed myself to feel this goodness.

All the things you are doing again are very significant. That is an impressive list of ideas and attachments you had about what caused pain, and you are challenging these beliefs. This is HUGE.

About heart palpitations: I sometimes get them based on my emotions, but see a Doctor if they are scary. Mine said "no problem," but I might have something different. Good luck in your journey.

 

Af90, I'm glad you are so far into the SEP and have strong belief in TMS.

Sometimes my heart races a bit but I do some deep breathing and tell myself to live in the present and the feeling goes away.
Or I drink a hot cup of milk and it calms me.