New Program Day 5: Changing Your Brain

I totally agree with that.

I took early retirement and have waaaaay too much time to obsess over pain symptoms. I now realize it is this obessive thinking and rumination that has caused the pain to become entrenched. At least I now know what I need to be working on. Thanks Alan and everyone else involved - including commenters, as I find reading these are, on the whole, very useful and inspiring.

 

If the focus of this discussion is neural pathways, which are developed through years of repetitive fears, then I'm not sure how hypnosis would help. I obviously only have my Google degree in TMS therapy, haha, so it's just a thought. It may help with where the suppressed rage/initial pain came from if you can't identify it though.

One other classic case of TMS out there in the public eye in my opinion is Tiger Woods. I've said that for years...

 

After 4 surgeries... even if he believed he has TMS...could he still heal ?

 

That's a great question and one I've often wondered myself! I always try and educate people I come across, especially with back issues, that TMS is a very real possibility for them. Actually an exact certainty for me, even though getting a medical diagnosis was first on the list according to Dr. Sarno. The problem is that a medical diagnosis will rarely come up negative which will only serve to validate what the mind wants, for you to believe that something is structurally wrong. Pain is a very strong motivator towards the negative side which makes it difficult to turn someone into a believer of TMS. We can only pass on the information. It's up to them to do the research. If Tiger Woods had ever decided to get real and go on the Howard Stern Show at any point, I'm sure Howard would have filled his ear with some info. It's too bad...

Also on the subject of surgeries, I had emergency surgery about 20 years ago for thoracic outlet syndrome. Basically, this is when the vein that lets the blood flow out of your arm gets pinched between the collar bone and the first rib. The solution was to remove the first rib, which I had done. When they did this they damaged the long thoracic nerve which left the interior of my left arm in a state of perpetual partial numbness. I was both shocked and irritated when years later I read in one of Sarno's books that thoracic outlet syndrome is possibly a product of TMS!

 

Yes I wonder too whether learning about 'pacing' cemented my pattern of associating activity with pain. I became scared to go over my time limit, as I had learned in the pain management programme that if I ventured too much into the 'pain zone' that my nerves would become even more sensitised and the pain would get worse. I too, find that I don't know until later or the next day if I have overdone things, and sometime the 'flare-ups' can last weeks. Hence the great fear of overdoing things and having even more pain. When my pain gets worse with these flare-ups, I find I can't handle it at all, and spend a lot of time crying. I can just barely handle the normal pain, but if it's any worse than that, then I can't cope. So my main fear is of making the pain worse (not damaging myself structurally - I wouldn't even care about that, to be honest, I just care about the pain!) I would also like any suggestions as to how to react to this type of fear, when I know from experience that if I go over my time limits (sitting, standing or walking) then I will feel even more pain than I currently do. For me this is always consistent, and it's not worse when I am stressed or feeling particular emotions – it's purely based on what I do physically (which is why I wonder whether I do have TMS, or maybe I have it as well as physical issues?) It would be great to achieve outcome independence, but realistically, I know what I'm like if the pain gets over a tolerable level, and not sure I could cope with this!

 

I actually cut a nerve in my thumb (my mistake) who chopping veggies. It hurt for a couple days after the suturing. I actually severed the nerve. There is no pain just numbness and it's partially healed. NO PAIN. I don't think the body is set up for chronic pain.

 

Have you and your wife tried yoga , the stretching type or any?
I was reading a blog on pain issues by a Dr and he says the treatment paradigm is changing. First they suggest yoga swimming walks any type of physical activity with effects also on mood and feelings.

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15325387 (Cerebral activation during hypnotically induced and imagined pain. - PubMed - NCBI)

I'll be addressing this very thing over the next week.

 

Hi
My problem is I wake with savage head pain/migraine every single day. And yes I'm anxious. Depressed. Scared to wake up. Head pain clouds everything. Is there anything I can do before I sleep ?

 

My wife won't do yoga. She's not physically fit. I keep trying to talk myself into trying yoga. But the fear always creeps up scaring me off. I keep telling myself I will try yoga or some other form of exercise next week, then next week turns out to be a month, then 2 and so on. So I am trying to focus on not caring how I feel and not allowing my fear of getting worse/making it worse to take over.

 

Someone posted a quote from Winnie the Pooh.

I would like to add these Pooh quotes on fear:

Winnie the Pooh quotes on fear:

“Never fear the shadows, they simply mean there's a light shining somewhere nearby.”

“Promise me you'll always remember: you're braver than you believe and stronger than you seem,
and smarter than you think.”

“Let your faith be bigger than your fear.”

 

Had an observation of thoughts today. I forgot my sunglasses and thought

"Damn, the suns to bright"
"I'm going to be squinting my eyes all day"
"No doubt a headache later"

Ended up having a glorious walk in the sunshine and did not miss my sunglasses and feel good.

 

I am in agreement with this. I do not try to overcome fear. Rather, I guide my thoughts to warmer, gentler places, and repeating litanies of Love words. When the mind is occupied in this other place of magic, the fear simply withers away from lack of attention.

My mantra is : Be Love. From this place of Love, anything is possible.

<3

 

You (and your wife) may find Yin Yoga more appealing. It is sometimes called Serenity Yoga because it induces such calm and peace and is so gentle and passive you can practice some poses in bed. There's no need to do routines, one pose is enough as it works very deeply. My hubby has Parkinson's and is not as fit or flexible as he would like to be yet he does his own version during the night when his body is at its most recalcitrant.

The most beautiful aspect of Yin is the way it profoundly calms the nervous system. I find Shavasana and meditation a breeze after a Yin session. My body naturally wants to assimate the goodness and my mind is serene.

Here is a link to the YouTube channel of the gorgeous soul I follow:



I've been doing her courses and following her YouTube channel for a couple of years now and I credit it with a large measure of my healing.

Plum x

Edit: Here's the link to the Yin Yoga part of Kassandra's channel:

Yin Yoga Classes - All levels:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLW0v0k7UCVrmK5WvoJMCAof0LJxuQXqxk (Yin Yoga Classes - All levels - YouTube)

 

AWESOME. Thank you sooo much! I was actually going to ask for a recommendation. You read my mind! (and yes I googled Shavasana) lol

 

Bless You.
And remember to make it your own. My hubby is a Master of this .

Watch her demonstrate and then adapt as necessary. I use bolsters and cushions rather than blocks (too uncomfortable for me) but I do follow her timings.

I really hope it helps both of you as much as it helps both of us.

 

Great Sonic! Remembering to pay attention can be one of the hardest parts of recovery. Good job observing.

 

This^^^^makes a lot of sense to me. Sometimes I can have pain, but my mood/confidence is really strong, and I can just let it pass with no issues. For example, I have fallen down our stairs (12 steps) where my feet have literally came out from under me, and I tumbled down in all directions 3 times in the past 2 years. Once I was carrying glass objects that broke cutting me up pretty good. Each time, I made myself get up and immediately do some heavy yard work, housework, or workout, just to prove to myself I wasn't injured. My family and neighbors thought I was crazy. I have a 12 inch incision from the middle of my head to my upper back from surgery after breaking my neck in 4 places in a Football injury over 20 years ago. What puzzles me is why I seem to be able to overcome traumatic things like this, but other times simply waking up hurting (for no real reasons) can cause me to fear the pain much more. If it is expectations (which is possible), it seems it would the the other way around. This is what can be confusing to me. I do understand it is what I am processing in my mind, but I cannot figure it out.

 

I can relate to this.