Day 8 Too Soon?

I'm on day 8 and I'm enjoying the program. I like the journaling as it helps me get things out that I may have held in before. I really like reading the success stories and seeing how people have recovered after feeling so helpless for so long. Which I guess bring me to my question.

I have been in pain for 5.5 months. I read stories about people in pain for years, some over 20 years. Some how this makes me feel bad and question whether I'm here too soon. It also makes me wonder if my pain could still possibly be structural because I'm only 5.5 months out of my injury.

I have no intention of stopping this program even if it was 100% proven tomorrow that I do have a broken bone (which is not possible after all of the MRI's I've had) or some other anomaly which could cause pain. I think this program is healthy for my mental well being even if it never helps my pain.

The Day 8 questions to ponder ask if you feel a connection to emotions that may cause your pain. I'm still having a problem overthinking my pain. I do notice that my pain gets more intense when I feel stressed, however at times when I'm not feeling stressed and the pain jumps at me, my first thought is still, "what's wrong? Did I rip the muscle? Is my tendon torn? Am I going to fall to the floor screaming in pain next?" I find this to be a hard cycle to break and as I've said from the start of this, once I can get a TMS professional to tell me YES YOU HAVE TMS I will feel much better and believe I'll do so much better with all of this.

 

Everything you describe is a normal part of the process and it's never too late or too soon. The sooner you find Sarno, the luckier you are imo! The best thing to do is throw timelines out the window and just focus on the present moment. Everyone's journey is as unique as their life is. Dr. Sarno said that any pain lasting beyond 3 months is chronic and therefore stemming from the brain. If you have ruled out all structural issues, then you know it's TMS. You are still early in the process so doubts are prone to crop up. You are still amassing knowledge, absorbing concepts and slowly gaining confidence in the TMS diagnosis. There are MD's who are TMS trained who could give you that golden stamp of reassurance, but it's not technically necessary. You will start to notice things yourself that will give you "proof" so to speak. You will notice the times when you are pain free and just enjoying life. When the pain pops up out of nowhere, you will know that it's just an old habit/mechanism of your brain and there is nothing to fear. Shift from the physical to the psychological and most importantly your life. If you keep practicing this technique, slowly but surely the TMS symptoms will fade out. You won't be intimidated by them anymore because you are the one in control. Hope that helps!