Day 6 Doubts about TMS

One of the Day 6 exercises suggested posting if I have any doubts about a TMS diagnosis. My doubts are really small, but I thought I'd just put them out there.

I can still picture the photocopy of my MRI the neurosurgeon showed me a couple of years ago. It showed that my lumbar spinal canal is extremely narrow in 2 or 3 places. Yes, I do know that many people have stenosis without pain. So I'm mostly convinced that the pain I get in my low back, rear and legs, that comes and goes is TMS. There's just a small niggle of doubt because certain activities make it worse and I don't have good core strength, etc. that PT's want me to strive for.

I think I have slightly bigger doubts regarding the tingling and numbness I get in my hands most of the time, and pain when I write very much. The testing I had last week showed nerve damage and the doctor, of course, said I should have surgery so I won't lose the use of my hands. This is such a new diagnosis that I'm still processing it while I wait for my doctor to call when she gets the report, so the TMS doubt is stronger.

What I'm thinking is that for now I will just act "as if" I believe 100% that both of these are TMS and follow through on the structured educational program. It certainly won't hurt me, and it will help other definite TMS symptoms I get. Does that sound reasonable?

 

I don't think the core strength issue has much to do with anything. Many of us don't do core strength exercises and our back pain is gone.

Tingliness and numbness I had very badly too. It was a bit scary, I'll admit. Surgery was out of the question so I forged ahead with TMS as the issue. All was resolved when I "did the work" on TMS.

I notice that when I have anxiety about something, my hands go numb and get tingly during the night. I can usually quickly figure out where the anxiety is from. This worried me at first until I made a connection with unresolved things going on. So when i go to sleep peacefully with no thoughts of things, I do not get tingling! Pretty incredible.

Keep in mind that we heal according to our belief in TMS. Those who believe 50% may be healed 50%. That's just not enough for me!

Best wishes.

 

Lilibet, I've been on the forum since January and I am 100% sure of TMS, and yet there are still days when my mind starts taking me down the "what if" physical path. The mind is a tricky thing, and TMS is very sneaky. What I do is remind myself that no other treatment worked before I tried TMS treatment. I'm much, much better than I was in January, and I expect to keep getting better. As you improve your belief will increase. Don't let the moments of doubt get you down.

 

Thank you Lori and Gail for your reassuring experiences. Very encouraging. It helps so much to have feedback.