Posted by badhaircut on June 29, 2005, at 10:51:11
In reply to Can body memories be constant? MT, posted by kerria on June 28, 2005, at 23:40:33
kerria,
Your post hit me. Someone close to me lived with constant, intense pain that was seemingly untreatable. We were able to find better (though not perfect) treatment for it and discovered that part of the problem was her first doctor's treatment! So, I can sympathize. I know what oxy side-effects are like. And I'm very sorry – angry, more like – that your pain specialist is simply accusing you of drug-seeking! That's outrageous, but I guess it's an easy, face-saving fallback for him. Argh!
On the body memory question: other people may disagree from their personal experience on this issue, but I think it's impossible to disagree about the scientific evidence behind claims about body memories. There is *NONE*. Absolutely zero. There isn't even any physiological THEORY by which memories could survive outside the nervous system. (For other readers, we should note that "body memories" are memories of childhood physical abuse stored in muscle and skin cells and otherwise in the body, not the brain.)
I am sorry that your therapist is foisting this body-memory thing on you, even using an accusatorial tone. I am sorry that he appears to be experimenting with you, playing around with such a dangerous, destructive idea just "as a hypothesis to find out." Do you trust him and benefit from contact with him otherwise?
I don't know what your medical options are where you live or if you've tried this, but you may want to go to a pain clinic at a teaching hospital in a large university, if there is one you can get to. Also, there are a few large pain-specialty clinics around the U.S. that have many doctors doing a wide variety of techniques AND they have pain-management psychotherapists. A big clinic may be able to help you more than the jerk-sounding pain doc you described.
"You may want to keep looking for a better doc." That sounds like weasely advice, but if it's possible, it sometimes can be the key.
If you say the pain is physical, that should be it, no matter who your doctor is.
-bhc
poster:badhaircut
thread:520895
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20050628/msgs/521053.html