| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| DirtyHarry214 |
Posted - 12/21/2006 : 19:28:12
Hello, I need all the advice i can get here.
I am in week 8 of accepting the diagnosis of TMS for my symptoms.
I have TRULY accepted the diagnosis. I know EXACTLY why my brain creates these horrible pain symptoms.
My problem is that the pain hasn't subsided at all. It has gotten worse.
For the first few weeks of the TMS program, the pain would die down if I psyched myself up into knowing that it's the brain doing it. That doesn't work anymore now that I'm in week 8. I'm starting to get frustrated, and I need a new strategy because the pain is getting worse.
If you could please answer the following for me:
1) How long did it take your symptoms to go away?
2) What strategies did you use to combat TMS and talk to your sunconscious?
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR HELP AND ADVICE!! |
| 7 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| tennis tom |
Posted - 12/22/2006 : 23:39:17
 HO HO HO |
| tennis tom |
Posted - 12/22/2006 : 22:47:15
Alexis, and next I bet you're gonna' say you don't believe in Santa Claus. |
| Redsandro |
Posted - 12/22/2006 : 20:17:13
For me it took 5 days. Instant 80% cure. 5 days later it was back. Since then, it goes on and off for months now.
I am trying journaling and deconditioning to get the pain away permanently, of no avail yet, but I'm definitely doing so much better than before!
I think you're focussed on it too much.
What is really important is the fact that you don't have to fully accept the diagnosis. When I got the first cure, I was still doubting. The cure is actually what made me accept the diagnosis. Then why did I get a cure? I think it's because even though there was TMS doubt, I fully repudiated the physical diagnosis because after 6 years of western and eastern medicine, nothing helped.
____________
Do not base your joy upon the deeds of others, for what is given can be taken away. |
| shawnsmith |
Posted - 12/22/2006 : 06:22:25
DirtyHarry214,
Don't think about the time it takes to recover as it will impede progress. This is what Dr. Sopher calls the calendar phenomena. I hate to be the messanger of bad news but sometimes recovery can take much longer than just a few months. It depends on the intensity of the problem on the inside.
Please read over and over and over and over and over and over again Dr. Sarno's psychology and sections in his books in order to get the message deeply ingrained into your unconscious that what you have is TMS. Read from these sections every single day without fail. Possibly 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes at night.
Here is what Dr. Marc Sopher, a TMS doctor trained under Dr. Sarno, says in his book, which I quote at length:
For reasons that are not entirely clear to both Dr. Sarno and
myself, there is great variability in the time required for symptom
resolution. This gets back to the notion of doubt. If someone states
they truly believe that TMS is the problem, that they have been doing
the mental homework and yet are distressed that their symptoms
persist, they may question whether they have TMS. This has the
elements of a catch-22. If you begin to doubt there is a psychological
cause, that there could be a physical cause, then the work is undone
and the brain’s strategy of creating a physical distraction will triumph.
This is part of what I refer to as The Calendar Phenomenon. By this
time, everyone may know of someone whose symptoms vanished
immediately after reading the book or shortly after seeing a physician
trained in TMS treatment. So, an expectation is created in their mind
that their symptoms should recede soon after incorporating this
philosophy. They look at the calendar and become upset as days and
weeks go by. This is where I tell people to look back at their
personalities. The calendar phenomenon is another manifestation of perfectionist tendencies – it is self-imposed pressure to succeed and
succeed quickly. If they can recognize this aspect of their personality and add it to their “list” of sources of stress, relief will be on the way.
Fear, doubt, the calendar phenomenon and the failure to think
accurately are examples of some of the internal obstacles to healing.
Several external obstacles bear mention.
#1 You have read this book and become convinced that this
approach makes sense. When you mention it to your physician,
he/she either dismisses it out of hand or nods indulgently, and advises a traditional regimen including medication, physical therapy, etc.
#2 You have read this book and become convinced that this
approach makes sense. When you mention it to your friends, family
and/or co-workers, they look at you as if you have lost your mind.
They, too, may nod indulgently and then recommend a physician,
practitioner, medication, herb, etc.
#3 You have read this book and become convinced that this
approach makes sense. When you pick up a magazine and read an
article discussing symptoms like yours, there is no mention of TMS as
a possible cause. Or maybe, just maybe, there is a brief mention of
Dr. Sarno’s work with TMS, but other quoted sources dismiss it out
of hand. As you trust the members of the media to do their homework
and provide accurate, complete information, you begin to wonder
whether TMS is for real.
These scenarios occur every day. They may contribute to the
conditioning that allows the pain to persist. Even in my own office,
when I am introducing one of my established patients to TMS
concepts, they may get angry or look at me as if I have two heads.
You see, they have come in unsuspecting. They have come in to see
me for evaluation of some physical symptom and did not expect to
hear that it may have a psychological cause. Some are delighted,
enthusiastic and quite willing to think outside of the box. To the
others I explain that I can only expose them to this different way of
thinking, that I cannot make them believe it. I will certainly try to
make my case and be convincing, but it is ultimately up to them to
decide.
Perhaps when TMS theory and treatment becomes embraced by
the medical mainstream, more people will be open to this way of
thinking about themselves. For those that do, it is extremely
gratifying to see them succeed at getting rid of their pain and
improving their quality of life. Trite as it sounds, I became a
physician to help others, to help them when they are ill and keep them
well. I am saddened when people refuse to accept the possibility of a
psychological cause and so continue to suffer. |
| HilaryN |
Posted - 12/22/2006 : 03:00:33
Welcome, Joe. I can understand your frustration. I didnt see any noticeable difference for 2 months, and it took me 6 months to get back to 100% in the activity which was supposedly causing the pain.
The fact that your pain is getting worse is actually a good sign, believe it or not. Your acceptance of TMS is a threat to your brains strategy of stopping your repressed feelings coming to the surface, so it may be increasing the pain in an effort to distract you. Tell it you know what its up to, and youre not going to tolerate it.
When you read The Mindbody Prescrption you get the impression that the pain should go away straight away, but thats often not the case. It takes a different amount of time for everyone. In the book, Dr Sarno advises psychotherapy if its taking a long time to improve (I cant remember how long I think a couple of months). Thats not possible for everyone, because of location or finances.
Theres lots of advice on this forum about methods for getting in touch with ones feelings and useful books to read, so have a good browse. Also, if you go to the Search page and type in Success Story, but without a space between the 2 words (I left the space in here because I dont want this post to come up in the search), youll be able to read about other peoples successes. (This is a recent tagging convention, but there are lots of earlier success stories, too.)
Hilary N |
| Wavy Soul |
Posted - 12/21/2006 : 22:53:29
Yes to what Darko said!
A big piece of my pain (like most of fibromyalgia and CFS and chronic back pain with x-rays) pretty much dissolved overnight after reading TDM, or in the first week or so. Part of why I think it was so quick for me was that I had been smelling a rat about my so-called symptoms for quite a while - not just the standard "it's in your head" rap, but a realization that something was up. Because I had been feeling such intense emotion from a divorce, yet my health had gotten better. I thought and thought about this, then realized that somehow my directly feeling the stuff had made the illness unnecessary. So when I read the book it was like Da Dah!
Then I had some recurrence after the initial breakthrough, which I like to call "ecstasy backlash." Doesn't matter. Now it's slow and steady and as Darko says, don't focus on the pain or your progress as a problem.
I believe I am inevitably getting better. In fact, I might become Wonder Woman and I might live forever.
Just kidding... sort of! Since I just watched the Sarno video I am feeling incredible energy despite still having dental pain, and I can see how this stuff has to gradually penetrate the unconscious, as Sarno says at the end of the video.
xxx
Love is the answer, whatever the question |
| Darko |
Posted - 12/21/2006 : 22:10:55
DH,
it took me about 4-5 weeks the first time. Few things you should remember
1- don't focus on the result, if you do then you're still actually focusing on the pain right? Focus on what's happening emotionally!
2- Frustration is normal and ok, make sure you allow yourself to FEEL it, don't surpress it.
Look up my success story post, they are a number of things that could help you. If the pain doesn't leave don't get down about it, you just have a few more things to learn. The pain WILL leave, it may or may not take more time, but it will go. So relax and focus on the tools not the result. Good luck |
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