| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| K2toK9 |
Posted - 06/17/2007 : 18:01:31
Hi Everyone,
I have had foot and leg pain for 3 years now and it is getting worse not better. The pain began (some of you know this story) after a complete hysterectomy! About one month after surgery, I went back to my daily walks and developed a neuropathy in BOTH feet. Add to that leg pain and now I think I have plantars facisitias in both feet; especially painful in my right foot. I am actually thinking of giving up my part-time Teaching position because it is too much standing. I cannot take walks and I cannot stand. I wake up in pain and go to bed at night in pain. I am very frustrated. I am thinking of seeing a new Neuromuscular Doctor and a Podiatrist. Can this really be TMS? ALL suggestions are welcomed. |
| 20 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| K2toK9 |
Posted - 11/27/2007 : 16:43:10
Truenorth,
Thank you so much for the information and your insight. I greatly appreciate it.
K2toK9 |
| truenorth |
Posted - 11/27/2007 : 13:22:16
Hi K2toK9,
I got Don's name from people on this site. I can't say enough good things about him. He's taken me further in two sessions than the other therapist (a NYC based Sarno therapist) did in 9 months. My latest session focused on my need to feel my emotions, really FEEL them, as opposed to feeling an intellectual response.
He's raised his rate to $150/session, still inexpensive compared to the metro NY area.
A word of advice to anyone seeking a therapist. Trust your gut and bail after, say six sessions, if you feel the therapist is not helping. I made that mistake with the Sarno person. I should have left after 3-4 months. |
| K2toK9 |
Posted - 11/27/2007 : 10:55:08
Truenorth,
I apologize for not having seen your previous posting on Don Dubin. To fill you in quickly, I was without computer service for awhile and then before that I was off the forum for a bit because a relative thought it was "amusing" to find me on this forum and read and print my postings.....anyway, I also work 6 days per week and one night, have kids, a house, a husband who works a lot of hours and this nearly constant burning foot neuropathy. How did you find Don Dubin ? I have tried a Sarno Doctor and it did not work for me either. No one seems to know how to help. My Family Physician now believes that something did happen during my surgery to cause this nerve pain. I was directed to a speicialist in Neuromuscular diseases next month......any help is appreciated.
K2toK9 |
| truenorth |
Posted - 11/26/2007 : 11:42:56
K2toKR,
I expressed how I felt in an earlier post about Don Dubin. |
| K2toK9 |
Posted - 11/26/2007 : 09:19:17
Truenorth and Goldengirl,
Please read the posting that I wrote for the two of you. Would love to hear from both of you.
Thanks,
K2toK9 |
| K2toK9 |
Posted - 11/23/2007 : 19:29:59
Dear Truenorth and Goldengirl,
I am so interested in what you both have said. Truenorth, please, tell me more about Don Dubin. I am very interested.
Goldengirl, I think that is fascinating what you said about the feet and legs. As for my surgery.....I had stage III endometriosis. The Doctor could not understand why I had not been complaining of great pain, but for those two years, my Mom was dying of ovaian cancer and I was raising two children and there was no room (I guess) for my own pain. I also had a lot of anxiety attacks for years and when my Mom got sick, the anxiety attacks stopped. My Mom was my world. She was the best. I knew I had to be there for her just like she had always been there for me. I got through my own surgery fairly well. It was tough though and I was afraid....very afraid. My kids were fearful too and they would look at me like they were waiting for me to implode or explode or something. My oldest (now almost 18) told me recently that the day I went in for surgery, she thought she would never she me again....that I too would have ovarian cancer and die. I think my Dad was thinking the same thing. Oddly enough, I never hear from my Dad anymore and he was so good to me throughout my recouperation. I feel like I have lost him as well.
Anyway, yesterday was Thanksgiving and it was a miserable day. My neuropathy is so flared up that I could barely walk today and I am so afraid that come Monday morning I will not be able to go to work.
K2toK9
|
| golden_girl |
Posted - 11/15/2007 : 17:22:02
K2toK9 -
It's very interesting that you said that expression re the surgery. Many different authors have written about what we say and the effect it has on us physically - I have 'Your Body Believes Every Word You Say by Barbara Hoberman Levine' which draws many parallels between language, emotions and physical sensations ("I can't stand this/I can't bear it/I don't have the guts to do that/You're driving me mad/My heart is broken/Keep your mouth shut/Put your foot in it/I'm so uptight" etc etc). It's quite amazing the amount of everyday expressions we use (usually in a negative context) that are to do with parts of the body - the list is endless. Maybe we don't realise the importance and impact our words could have on us physically.
Did you manage to 'walk your way' through the surgery? Apart from your current pains? I mean, was everything fine in the respect of the hysterectomy and ovaries etc?
Also, have you heard of Louise Hay? She's a metaphysical author and in her book 'You Can Heal Your Life' she lists many physical symptoms and her opinion on the emotional causes for them. For 'feet' she writes:
'Represents our understanding - of ourselves, of life, of others.'
She also says (with reference to the elderly who have trouble walking) 'their understanding has been warped, and they often feel there is no place to go. Little children move on happy, dancing feet. Elderly people often shuffle as if they are reluctant to move.'
About legs, she writes 'Our legs carry us forward in life. Leg problems often indicate a fear of moving forward in a certain direction.' Lower leg problems suggest 'Fear of the future. Not wanting to move.'
Not sure if that's any help at all?!
I think (not that I'm any kind of expert!) but if you have many of the stresses on that list I posted, then according to Sarno, you would be a prime candidate for TMS. Perhaps the exact location of the pain is not fundamental, it could have come anywhere, even gastric/migraines/skin etc?
"F.E.A.R.
Forgive Everyone And Remember
For Everything A Reason"
Ian Brown |
| truenorth |
Posted - 11/15/2007 : 10:29:47
I had my first phone session with Don Dubin last night and came away very impressed. After spending nine months with a Sarno therapist in NYC who did not help me end the pain, Don (along with my insights gained from the previous therapy) was quickly able to identify the main issue that we both think is behind my pain (always feeling like I don't count, which generates a lot of day-to-day anger). He went on to sketch out for me what we might be able to do about it over the coming weeks.
I think I'm on my way.
|
| K2toK9 |
Posted - 11/14/2007 : 15:10:35
Golden Girl,
Thank You. I have more than 2 stresses on that list. Yes, I teach and therefore I stand, but I also thought of something I said to my cousin when I found out I had to have the total hyst done....I said, "I will do like my Mom and walk my way through the surgically induced menopause." WALK ? with my feet ?
K2toK9 |
| stanfr |
Posted - 11/14/2007 : 11:26:57
Truenorth:
it sounds like your psyche is conditioned to the cycling--it basically lets you 'get away' with it. Try running, and while you run recite every possible source of anger and stress over and over to let your mind know that the pain cant distract you. It may also be (it was in my case) that there are sources of stress that are going to continue to cause problems unless you make some commitment to make some changes in your lifestyle--either what you do or how you do it. Anything to break routine. From what ive heard Dubin knows what he is doing and i'm sure he'll be of help. Good luck! |
| truenorth |
Posted - 11/13/2007 : 20:55:57
Thanks everyone. I'll keep you posted. If I don't feel Don and I are on the same page after about six sessions, I'm moving on to the therapist Sarno recommended in Englewood, NJ. |
| electraglideman |
Posted - 11/13/2007 : 20:35:10
truenorth, I've never been to a therapist before but I would think you would have have to have confidence in him or her. Dubin may be your ticket to recovery.
Hang in there. |
| lidge |
Posted - 11/13/2007 : 19:26:42
TrueNorth-
I can imagine how maddening and frustrating this has been for you- but
you sound like you have the resolve to keep fighting. I know I need that extra help too- hoping for some relief for us all here! |
| truenorth |
Posted - 11/13/2007 : 18:39:06
lidge,
Sarno had no guidance to offer other than what I've already said. And yes, I went through his formal program twice, read all the books, wrote hundreds of pages of journal notes, made voice recordings, made lists, visited this site. I don't think I was obsessive about it-never more that 30-45 minutes a day.
The Sarno therapist I had was very wrong for me. She was too laid back. Based on what people have said, I hoping my phone session with Don Dubin will finally get me on the road to recovery. |
| lidge |
Posted - 11/13/2007 : 18:12:42
TrueNorth-
I'm glad you came back!
In his books, Sarno makes alot of generalizations based upon his years treating thousands of patients- does he have absolutely no guidance to offer? Did you go through the whole program he describes in his books? |
| truenorth |
Posted - 11/13/2007 : 17:22:34
Thank you lidge. You said it better than I could have and seem to have sensed my deep frustration with not getting better.
To everyone: I appreciate your help. Just know I have tried for years, believing all the way, doing the work big time, see a Sarno therapist. I challenge the pain all the time and even did 500 miles on my bicycle this year (not counting the 1000 miles I do commuting). My pain only gets worse.
Only in the last six months have doubts crept in. Even my therapist suggested revisiting the physical arena. After struggling with this months, I'm back 90% believing it's TMS, (sorry can't do 100% yet), which I why I'm going the psychotherapy route again.
When I last spoke to Sarno in June, he said my defenses were very strong and that he was 100% convinced I had TMS. He was supportive but had no clear answers on my lack of progress. |
| lidge |
Posted - 11/13/2007 : 16:52:21
[quote]Originally posted by art
[quote]
I've belonged to lots of forums along the way in an attempt to rid myself of various health problems...I don't still hang around the food allergy forum say, or the hypoglycemia forum, accusing those who espouse the respective party lines and the resident treatments of zealotry because they didn't work for me....I simply moved on...
-------------------------------------------------------------------
He's not you, Art. - I think you have to read between the lines. I don't think he believes it cannot work for him- he's just frustrated that after so long (and seeing Sarno to boot) he is still in pain. When it comes down to it, only he, Sarno and his therapists can really know the reason he is not getting better. I've had the back and leg pain for over six months and I'm ready to crack. I can imagine the place TrueNorth is in. Sometimes you have to meet people where they are- look past the words- pain can make you really pissy. And imagine how you might feel (as a believer) if you had seen Sarno himself and still were in pain after YEARS.
I'd love to know what Sarno said beyond "your defenses are strong"- but I can't blame TrueNorth if he chooses not to share it.
Good luck to you TrueNorth!
|
| art |
Posted - 11/13/2007 : 16:13:51
quote:
He knows TMS works but is frustrated that he can't make it work for himsel
I merely posed the question. He's stated, angrily, that in his opinion this works for only "a select few." If that's his opinion why hang around accusing people of zealotry for their perfectly reasonable belief in something that's worked for them, and thousands like them. This is, after all, a TMS forum. Guess what you're likely to run into around here....Perhaps people who believe in the efficacy of the TMS approach?
Again, I merely posed the question....
I've belonged to lots of forums along the way in an attempt to rid myself of various health problems...I don't still hang around the food allergy forum say, or the hypoglycemia forum, accusing those who espouse the respective party lines and the resident treatments of zealotry because they didn't work for me....I simply moved on...
|
| lidge |
Posted - 11/13/2007 : 13:53:06
Sarno states he carefully screens his patients via telephone before making an appt. He states:
"After years of experience it is not difficult to determine whether someone is a good candidate for the program, and for those who are not, it is a kindness to them and to me to discourage them from making an appointment."
Apparently TrueNorth was accepted into the program. Am I wrong about that? If so,he must have fulfilled the criteria set forth by Sarno. What did Sarno have to say beyond "your defenses are too good"? Does he see that as insurmountable? Is there anything in his program that helps you overcome these defenses or does he just tell you to go to a psychotherapist?
I see no reason for TrueNorth to "move on" - he is in pain and trying to get help. 40 or so posts over the course of years is not exactly whining. He knows TMS works but is frustrated that he can't make it work for himself. If Sarno didn't tell him to "move on" why should anyone here?
I was watching Valerie Bertinelli (former pesky, er perky teenage actress) slam Britney Spears on TV - haughtily preaching how her parents kept her on an even keel during her teenage moneymaking years. Essentially she was blasting Britney Spears for not being her. For not having had the same emotional foundation that she apparently had.
My point (and I do have one) is that we all come to things from vastly different places as far as emotions, life experiences etc. Its arrogant and pointless to try to get someone else to experience anything the same way we do.
Sarno himself says some need a more nurturing atmosphere. I can't imagine why he would continue to see a patient if he didn't feel he could help him- am I missing something here? Does Sarno generally keep people as patients if they are not getting better?
|
| art |
Posted - 11/13/2007 : 12:32:18
quote:
Truenorth: nazis? zealots? kudos to ACL for restraint in not responding in kind
.
TN"s anger is palpable, even understandable...But what I don't get is why he continues to hang around when he believes the TMS approach works only for a lucky few...Why not just move on?
Agreed re: ACL...She's a model of restraint and I respect her for it...I could no doubt learn a few things... |
