What else is there - Seriously

I've said that I will give you update and here it is
- it's sadly quite expensive for me, as USD dollar is not the currency in my country. It's more expensive than curable actually.
- to be honest most knowledge there is something I knew before. Nothing new really.
I would advise to invest maybe in some books about TMS or similiar topics. At least for me it's a much cheaper solution. I'm also trying this approach:

I have pain 24/7 but I'm better at not thinking about it. When I started to think something like 'oh my, life was so good before pain' or 'I will never be pain free again' or 'this pain is so horrible' I just visualise that pain is shrinking in my brain for a few moments and this gives me relief to start doing something different. When the pain thought is 'attacking' me again then I visualise again. Just because I can't stop the pain doesn't mean I can't stop pain thoughts. It's hard as hell, but it builds up mental resilience

 

Thanks for that update Kozas. Yes I too am having some success with visualising the “pain shrinking in the brain”. The Michael Moskowitz website has very good info on it and BloodMoon posted the great idea of reading the first chapter (free) of Norman Doidge’s book which explained the process too. Thanks, marls

 

If you tried everything else - try @miffybunny 's recommendation.

I can only add this to her points: you need to find your own inner strength and start believing in yourself, your own ability to squeeze the fear out of your system. Unless you are looking up to the method, or doctor, or clinic, or anything external to you to save you, you will not succeed.

Once you start seeing yourself as a warrior who leads the fight, who recruits professionals, friends, strangers to help, but remains in charge of your own destiny, your pain will start going away. When it leaves you for just 3 minutes - give yourself full credit, take it as a great success, don't be disappointed that it is only 3 minutes. Next time it will be 5 minutes, then an hour, then entire full day. Don't despair when pain returns. As long as you know that you were able to beat it for just one day, another pain-free day will come - you will eventually win the fight.

As I went through my journey, my resolve only got stronger, to prove wrong the doctors who misdiagnosed me and who told me that my pain was forever. I think that it was my stubbornness that saved me. I just wanted to prove them all wrong. And I did.

Another, very important one: you need to have something to live for, besides your pain. Live for your family, be example for others, be something. That takes the power from pain and gives it back to you.

I wish you all give it another try. The winners are the ones who try again, after yet another failure.

 

Hi Marls. Dorado also found and recently posted on another thread this article re Michael Moskowitz https://www.healthrising.org/blog/2019/08/03/rewiring-the-brain-to-get-out-of-pain-the-moskowitz-approach/ (Rewiring the Brain to Get Out of Pain: the Moskowitz Approach - Health Rising)

 

I've read first chapter of that book and one thing was surprising or me: "Relentlessness" - idea that mere disctraction(with work for example) is not enough and that you should visualize everytime you feel pain.
Well, what about people who feel pain 24/7... I can't visualize 24/7, it wouldn't be smart to visualize while driving car Or working, or watching movie, reading book... I'm visualizing few times a day but that book states that it's not enough, that 'casual disctraction'(but I have to work! Or have some life other than dealing with pain) is not enough - 'every time pain is detected push back with full focus' like I said I have 24/7 pain so that would essentialy means abandoning my life... something I wonder is 'medicine' better than 'illness'. Maybe I should let TMS roam free? But I did that for years and that only brought me despair that I will be always in pain. What works best for me(not for pain - for me) is living my life, and doing some TMS works in hope that someday it's gonna pays off. It's like with gym - I'm not strong but I work out because I'm hoping that with time I'm gonna be stronger

 

I too have pain 24/7 and what I'm going to do is perform the visualizations every time the pain spikes significantly and/or shifts to another part of my body (if I'm not having to do something else at that particular time) plus a further 7 times a day. In the article that I posted above, Moskowitz advised his patient, Jan, to do the visualizations 7 times a day (but she was in a position that she could visualize most of the day, so she did that and became pain free relatively quickly). I therefore infer that Moskowitz (at least at that time; I don't know if he's changed his opinion since) believed that visualizing just 7 times a day would/might work. As you will have gathered, the idea is to bring back into proper use the areas of the brain that normally mainly do other things, e.g. are involved in processing visual stuff, that have been hi-jacked to mainly deal with pain instead. On his website, Moskowitz says that some people don't respond to solely doing the visualizations and with those people he suggests other ways to assist in altering/rewiring the brain, e.g. using the sense of smell and touch, which are processed by other areas of the brain http://www.neuroplastix.com/styled-2/page71/soothing.html (Section 5: Soothing | Neuroplastix). (For me, I feel it's got to be worth a try in combination with other things I'm doing, e.g. affirmations.)

 

It's worth a good try then I quess!
When it comes to smell I had an idea, I wonder if for example smell of fresh coffee(so something almost everybody likes, including me) WHILE visualizing reducing pain areas in brain could help. It's worth a try like I said... and well good coffee is never harmful

 

Hey Kozas, I’m a 24/7er as well and I’m doing the brain map shrink when i just feel like it. Sometimes extended, sometimes at the traffic lights, drifting of to sleep or in the shower. I don’t know how to describe it really, sorry, but I’m not doing it in a fight TMS way, just that I feel it’s right for me to sooth myself. I’m very into a self-sooth foundation which is decorated with visualisation, breathing, smelling etc. BloodMoon reminded me about affirmations and I’ve loved doing them today. (Oddly, I did have a good day today Hmmm). And now you remind me about how delicious is the smell of coffee. We are all working on our own jigsaw but I love it when someone leans over my shoulder to point out a piece I’ve missed. cheers marls

 

Thanks for input. I wanted to ask BloodMoon how long should take one session of visualisation but I see I'm doing it like you - when I think too much about pain(because I have 24/7 like I said I can't do it all the time) I'm doing visualisation even for 10-30 seconds. I close my eyes and images in my mind are so fast - I imagine pain areas and then I'm shrinking them(sometimes I'm using ice or fire extinguisher to change that area from red and hot to calm and safe) and I just open my eyes and get on with dealing with life. It's usually even kinda reducing my physical pain for a while, but what's more important it takes my thought from pain('oh I will never be pain free, life was so good before pain, I'm different and my pain is uncurable') to something like 'ok I dealt with it how I could, now I can think about something different'

 

Yes, yes, yes Kozas, I reckon you are right. Pain 24/7 is one thing but thinking about it negatively 24/7 was even more distressing. I think Claire Weekes used the word “glimpse” and Ive started feeling glimpses of ordinary-brain. You know, thinking about yummy coffee instead of a blasted pain negative. And just quietly affirming positives is negating the pain loop. We’re on it! marls

 

On Morowitz's website it recommends peppermint, lemon and lavender - see the penultimate information box on this webpage for more information http://www.neuroplastix.com/styled-2/page71/soothing.html (Section 5: Soothing | Neuroplastix) (I too love the smell of coffee though and will think about and actually physically smell that too!)

I'm no expert on this, but what you're doing sounds good to me. I think we just need to do what we can, when we can - to the extent that we can manage; if we give ourselves too big of a commitment/target it can cause us pressure/stress and make us want to just give up .

 

Thanks BloodMoon, many good advices. I think I'm gonna leave from this forum for a 3 months and then report back in if it helped me. Sometimes I feel that when you gather information you should stop at certain moment and just turn that information into action. Gathering information and not doing anything is what maybe was holding me up.

 

Or if not pain, 24/7 anxiety, tension, and weird sensations

 

Sometimes it helps, because your brain gets it in that moment. Other times it misses the connection and the fear is greater.

 

Maybe not the wrong street at night but something fun

 

Same outcome independence about pain always pushes my buttons and makes me pissed off it's the one thing I can't do without feeling upset.

 

For leg stuff supported walking or walking with a companion really helps. When it hurts your legs are crying for circulation it's really scary but at least try to change positions more.

 

Walking is the best. You can walk for fun and for fitness.

 

Walking is the best.

All my doctors are luckily understand it's mind-body but it's me who's the stubborn TMSer. *sigh*

 

Walking is the best.