Day 10 - Anxiety & Doubting TMS

Life is so damn funny – I was just reading through the Day 10 structured activities, and Alan Gordon kept going on about CHRONIC pain. I have been having TMS doubts as I wouldn’t say my pain is “chronic” – I have almost always had a pain in some form (growing pains, GI issues, migraines, body aches, tension, anxiety, etc) but the pain is inconsistent - it moves, it comes and goes, it’s rarely been a centralized spot that just persisted forever and ever. This is the real reason I have been doubting my TMS diagnosis even though *I KNOW* my pain and symptoms flare with stressors and I am a classic case of it - personality wise, and physical manifestations wise.

Within seconds of contemplating this idea and going back and forth about the extent of my belief in TMS again, I get an e-mail from Dr. Schubiner in response to an inquiry I sent him a few weeks ago where I was asking about his “unlearn your pain” text and he opened with:

Yes, I am certain your pelvic pain is TMS. That is easy to know, even from here.
If your tests for some kind of tumor or infection are negative, then it’s clearly TMS.
I see this all the time – I have no doubt, and you should neither!!

Okay.
That’s it.
I surrender.

I am going all in and taking this is the final sign from the universe to get out of the way and accept this as this was way too much synchronicity in one moment.

As for my TMS recovery progress, I have been using Nicole Sach’s “JournalSpeak” method for when I am experiencing acute distress, and have found her podcast on the anxiety/pain exchange and symptom imperative super interesting. Good resources here for others – I think she is a wonderful speaker!

https://www.instagram.com/tv/B_NDIPDhRi2/?hl=en (Login • Instagram)

https://podbay.fm/p/the-cure-for-chronic-pain-with-nicole-sachs-lcsw/e/1601614800 (101: Episode 101 - Anxiety and Our Lack of Control from The Cure for Chronic Pain with Nicole Sachs, LCSW | Podcast Episode on Podbay)

Sending love to you all out there who continue to get up and keep fighting every day, even when the fear and anxiety and desperation and doubt tries to consume you. <3

 

Your symptoms sound similar to what I used to experience. I worried about the same thing with the wiki here, wondering if there were people like me whose primary symptoms were not back/neck/knee pain etc. Stereotypical muscoskeletal pain is the first TMS symptom found by Dr. Sarno, but certainly not the only one, as Dr. Schubiner said. Keep up the good work!

 

The brain is so tricky, it will try to make you believe that you aren't dealing with TMS at any cost...
I have hands pain, IBS, some weird chest/back pain, tendonitis in my right foot, rotatory cuff's problems.... so no really much in my back, but it all makes more and more sense to me! Keep it up, we can get through this!