| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| stefan |
Posted - 01/17/2008 : 18:21:25
I was just wondering what you think about taking medication to 'take the edge off'. In Mindbody medicine, Dr. Sarno says you need to give up pharmaceuticals before you can consider yourself 'cured'.
What about eating/not eating certain foods you are allergic to? I have read numerous success stories of individuals who now can eat foods they were allergic to. If I were to avoid them, wouldn't I be saying to my brain: I am letting you control my life?
Wouldn't that be the same as allowing pain to dictate whether you go to work today or stay home?
Ars Longa Vita Brevis |
| 20 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Plantweed |
Posted - 09/21/2009 : 07:07:05
If painkillers can get you back into physical activity quicker, and by lessening the pain, lessening the fear of the pain, than go for it, just keeping in mind that you'll ween yourself off them as you feel better. |
| Fox |
Posted - 09/21/2009 : 06:42:36
In Sarno's CD, I remember him saying to take a strong painkiller if necessary to recover from back spasms. So, he is definitely okay with painkillers for the short run. |
| stefan |
Posted - 09/20/2009 : 00:24:56
Wow! This thread has been dormant for nearly two years! I am happy to report I am 99% allergy free. No kidding.
Whereas for years, maybe 15 or better, I was suffering from seasonal allergies, get this YEAR ROUND, haha, I took claritin, flo-nase ($70 for a one ounce or something ridiculous like that, tiny spray bottle).
Interestingly, even before I heard of Sarno, I suspected it to be related to stress. For example, once I did an estimate for a big hospital, $15K, I was worried I wouldn't get it, I was nearly bed-ridden from sneezing and runny nose, I simply could not function. Except I would receive relief at mealtime or soaking in the bathtub. WHY? I asked myself.
Answer came in the form of 20/20 segment on Sarno years ago, but I still could not put an end to the "allergy" attacks. Finally I bought one of his books, Mindbody Prescription. Allergies were gone overnight. Relief lasted until I saw allergy medication ads on TV around March/April. I fought all summer long, on and off meds. Then Schubiner or not, I kept saying to myself: Increase blood flow to my sinuses, I need more oxygen there, etc, etc. It worked.
Now I see several of my friends sniffling, sneezing, looking miserable. I try to share the TMS knowledge, some accept, some don't. But I can hardly believe I am allergy free. I have other substitute TMS gremlins, over which at first I panicked. Then I did the mental battling and they were gone. Now they come and go, but I never panic. I just say oh well, this too shall pass. Generally I try to figure out what's going on inside, whose feelings am I afraid of hurting? Who am I trying to please in an unreasonable way? I do a lot of self assuring, befriending the child inside.
Does anyone watch the "Dog Whisperer"? Cesar Millan on national geographic. His dog psychology is so in tune with TMS theory/fact. For example, an unruly dog is easier to control if you immediately catch him focusing/zoning on something he is brewing to do. You have a split second to redirect the dog's mind and he is under your control. Believe me, my TMS gremlin is the same way. If you don't correct the dog immediately, e.g. he lunges at another animal, then you'll have a fight on your hands, you can subdue him but it will take some effort. It's better the first route, much better. You have to see him in action. He is never mean to animals and they are drawn to him. I treat my TMS in the same spirit and it works for me. Anyway, maybe a thread can be started on "TMS Whispering" another time. :)
And yes occasionally I do take meds. Is it a defeat? I don't think so. Temporary relief is OK with me, but I'm not into long term pill popping.
Yours truly,
"TMS Whisperer"
Ars Longa Vita Brevis |
| skizzik |
Posted - 09/12/2009 : 08:17:52
EDIT: long, lots of rambling, sorry
old thread, but what the heck, I used to battle this myself.
I think pk's are in the conventional treatment category, much like heat pads, ice, laying down when you just can't stand anymore.
In hindsight (I use that term alot now) I see that I fought hard, way hard. I used to get into my work van and as the pain became intolerable, I was sitting there with a bottle of ibuprofen, or tylenol, and debating wether to take it or not.
"If I take it, and it gets better, is'nt that a sign it's real pain?"
"I cant take it, how will I ever know it's TMS if it does'nt go away on it's own?"
"I can't shift in my seat, or lay down, I must keep sending the message to my brain"
And on and on, I recall on beautiful sunny saturday mornings my family laughing and having fun, while I retreated to the bathroom (for privacy) sitting on the toilet and crying it all out, "how much longer am I supposed to go thru this, I know what it is, why why?"
I feel a break came when I had a conversation with "hellny" who still had crushing pain after having an artificial disc put in. He went to see Sarno himself. I knew little of "hellny" execpt he was f-d like I was until he came back on the board months later to say he was like 70% better just assuming it was tms, and not fighting it.
When he took my call, I was baffled that he said he was'nt pain free and was fine with that the rest of his life, and will still sit with a heat pad at times for relief and give it no more thought than that. And he's done hoping he ever becomes pain free, but has confidence in a mere hunch that he's going to be even better years from now.
It took me a long time to get to that point of letting go. But an example I could give was, I recall golfing and my back was burning and stabbing and twinging and I refused to let my partners know. I was so wrapped up in showing some "tms gremlin" whose boss that I suffered so much.
A year later I recall golfing, and this time when we were waiting to tee off, I decided to f-it and would take a seat and rest myself while I waited for my turn.
Now, I don't recall if that was earlier this year, or last and I don't care, but now I don't even have the urge to sit at all, and golf is a pleasure. Well, accept for my ego thats driving me to be an awesome golfer, but thats another story for another time..haha
From what I experienced, giving into the pain, relaxing to it, not panicking (how you don't panic is what you'll figure out for yourself at some point, or simply realize w/ conditioning you don't do it anymore), not fighting is the path to letting go.
I don't know if that helps with the meds question or not though, I recall some relief after tylenol, but I think it's because the action of taking it reduced the mental tension, as if I was doing something about it.
2 years ago, on a saturday again at my kids soccer games I was telling my wife how bad the knife in my back was and she finally exclaimed "take some ibuprofen, you have an injury, a herniated disc is an injury, look at (friends name) she had to take something all the time, but she has a life, and sometimes the pain goes away all together."
So between games we went to the store and grabbed some ib's and I downed 800mg and recall relief in less than 8 minutes. (I had a stop watch on, and it may have been sooner, it's just that I looked at my watch when I realized I had significant relief and it happened to hit 8min) How can that be? Ibuprofen can take 30-40 min to calm a fever, or other pain, it can only be that the act of doing something released tension.
I can only deduct that this is what back surgery does, the act of anticipating doing something significant about the pain relieves tension, for a while anyways. Until the "what ifs" start to pop up, "what if I'm in the unsuccessful category, what if the doc doe'snt/did'nt do a good job, and on and on. The tension then rebuilds and read hillbilly's posts if you want to know more..lol
Where am I? I only meant to write one paragraph...lol
Oh, yeah, the meds, I still don't know where to go with that, I used to hate the feeling that I gave in, worse than suffering with it. A lot of people here say give in and take them. Dr. Schubiner said take them. Monte says take them. Of course it's with the knowledge you know whats going on.
I asked Schubiner, what of the point that Sarno says theres no inflammation in Back pain, so don't take any, and Schubiner said Sarno's theory of oxygen deprivation is just that a theory, and know one really knows what causes the actual pains TMS docs or otherwise.
But again, I'm realizing for me that this is only half the battle, and that Sarno says the treatment is based on 2 pillars, repudiating the physical, and the other which is acknowledeging the mental.
(EDIT: I knew it was mental, it's just that for years I kept writing about a shi--y childhood life and getting know where)
For me, it appears to be my ego. When my pain goes down (thats right, i'm not pain free, but God did I used to suffer bad)
I look for what my thought patterns are, and they are always along the lines of me saying "I'm a normal, average, good father, worker, golfer (ha), husband, friend, and don't have to stick out and try to be better and impress anyone, no-one cares anyways" I feel relief.
(EDIT: I do know that it seems that I have to keep feeding this ego as for some reason, I think due to parental neglect, I have been trying to stand out and impress others to get that attention I did'nt get early on. From reading Tolle, the treatment is to simply recognize when your'e in these patterns and claim it's just the ego making you do this, and not you and your'e on the path to healing. I reccomend reading Kjarvis's book "personal underworld" for more as well) (one more thing, talking to baseball65 he said explained to me that I have to keep feeding this ego because it's my worry that unless I can impress others I worry that I will ultimately be "alone" someday. hmmmmmmm....And I notice that the more I try to impress others, the more alone I seem to get, then the harder I try to impress them, cycle over and over)
Ok, getting off track, later yall !
Ok last edit, I swear...haha
So, I realized instead of trying to unlock "repressed emotions" that I felt built up from childhood, It has more to do with dealing with the unsatiable ego right now, that has it's orgins in childhood neglect, but writing about your childhood, and life over and over will only cause depression in my view and hindsight. Simply get to a place where you see how your ego has taken you over, created a "painbody" (Tolle) and then begin the process of letting go.
clearly theres a thread in me, that when I get some more time I'll put it down. Sorry for the hijack! |
| hottm8oh |
Posted - 09/11/2009 : 20:29:10
I think that not taking pain killers if you feel you need them could be detrimental to recovery.
Sounds contradictory, but hear me out.
If you are in severe pain, you are going to react emotionally to it which is going to continue to produce more pain. If your pain is lessened, you will be in a better frame of mind to work on yourself emotionally to prevent future pain. KWIM? |
| shamrock62081 |
Posted - 09/11/2009 : 09:38:30
After reading this post I completely believe my egg "allergy" is attributed to TMS. About 5 years ago at the age of 22, I developed what I believed to be an allergy to eggs, which I loved! I asked my doctor about it and if it was common to develop a food allergy in your 20's. His response was pretty much "that sucks". The wierd thing was that I could eat things with egg in them, but foods that I perceive as having a lot of egg in them would upset my stomach. Still working on my TMS related pain issues that have developed over the past year but I am hopeful now that I will be eating eggs again one day soon. |
| elsfive |
Posted - 01/25/2008 : 17:35:43
Regarding the food allergy question, there are two different types of food allergies. There are the true food allergies that positive vibes speaks of and there are a much less severe form that are actually better referred to as food sensitivities. I think that the people on the board who talk about overcoming food allergies are referring to food sensitivities. Food sensitivities can cause headaches, gastrointestinal problems, etc. and exacerbate IBS, not anaphylactic shock. It is likely that food sensitivities are TMS related but not true food allergies. I personally only developed food sensitivities after I also started having other TMS symptoms. |
| qso |
Posted - 01/23/2008 : 15:42:57
Actually I have a nephew who, before the age of 1, nearly suffocated to death on several occassions due to his throat inflaming so much due to food allergies that he couldn't breathe. I saw it with my own eyes and it was very upsetting. I *do* undertsand what you are talking about. Of course nobody is suggesting to send a baby to TMS therapy. The point is to give you hope because the notion that something that is genetic is set in stone is scientifically out of date and plain wrong. You yourself, positivevibes used the phrase "grew out of (an allergy)". What does that mean exactly, within the old model of genetics?
The other thing that people need to understand to overcome their own TMS (not necessarily related to allergies) is the meaning of emotion in this context. It is a misconception that emotions are built from "living a life". Of course babies don't have to deal with office politics or meet deadlines or supress anger at the boss. Remember the last time you saw a baby handed over to a stranger? When was the last time you saw that level of fear and terror in an adult? Babies are *mainly* pure raw emotion. Emotions cause real biochemical changes in the body and in combination with genetics can produce complex effects that have not even yet been accessible to scientific investigation. And *every* baby (and that inlcudes you and me) had at least one traumatic experience: the birth, whether it was natural or c-section. Can you imagine what it must have been like for the newly developed brain to leave the cacoon and enter the world? Fortunately nature has protected us by sealing all that below our conscious level but it is there somewhere-otherwise we would be reliving it everyday and be complete wrecks (if we aren't already).
Anyway, the point is that the thing behind your eyes and between your ears has enourmous power, much of which has yet to be revealed. The people that you are referring to as "they" as in "hope they find a cure" have to look into all of these possibilities -they don't care what the potential recipients believe or don't believe, they will carry on with their work. Most will meet with failure but success will come when someone tries something that nobody else did because their preconceptions prevented them from designing the right experiment. History is littered with these examples, but still human nature remains the same. |
| mizlorinj |
Posted - 01/23/2008 : 15:17:45
No one in this thread has questioned the fact that food (and other) allergies do indeed exist and can be very dangerous.
There are those of us who have done a lot of mind/body research (yes, there is a lot of material available out there), not to mention having our own personal experiences. We have reasons for our beliefs, and in my case, conviction in what I believe.
This comes with the realization that there are other ways to view things. To which we are all entitled. As is clear in this thread.
-L
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| la_kevin |
Posted - 01/23/2008 : 15:01:41
quadruple post and a "hacking attempt" warning? |
| la_kevin |
Posted - 01/23/2008 : 15:00:32
triple post?
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| la_kevin |
Posted - 01/23/2008 : 14:59:07
double post |
| la_kevin |
Posted - 01/23/2008 : 14:57:23
oh god i kept quoting myself LOL
sorry folks
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| la_kevin |
Posted - 01/23/2008 : 14:55:56
this is funny |
| la_kevin |
Posted - 01/23/2008 : 14:54:49
If you allergic to something like say SHELLFISH (Iodine content,etc.) and you proceed to eat shellfish....and you notice that the histamines in your body are surging to protect you against this "invader"....and you start to swell so much that you can't breath....and at the same time thinking "It's just a reaction to inner rage in my subconscious"....you are...a 100%...total...and illogical...complete...JACKASS. And maybe..just maybe..you deserve to die so that others with more sensible minds can take up the void in the gene pool.
But thats just my opinion.
----------------------------
"It's not 100% belief that's required, but 100% commitment." Armchairlinguist(?) |
| positivevibes |
Posted - 01/23/2008 : 13:15:25
I'm sorry, but I have to respectfully disagree that food allergies can be cleared up with TMS therapy. A little itchy throat that may possibly be psychosomatic is one thing. But if a person has had a life-threatening anaphalyactic reaction to a food, they cannot wish it away or make it go away with psychotherapy. If a person has had severe life-threatening reactions to certain foods and they want to do a food challenge, it should be done at a doctor's office or a hospital. Otherwise, the person could die.
Babies can develop allergies because of emotions? Is that how you would explain my daugther throwing up and breaking out in a severe rash and having to be rushed to the hospital -- for no apparant reason when she was a toddler? Sorry, but I do not agree with your uninformed statement. She had several episodes of mystery vomiting and rashes -- seemingly totally out of the blue -- until I realized that the common link was green peas and peanuts (which are both legumes). Then we had her tested by an allergiest and there it was -- severe peanut allergy -- it was off the charts.
As I stated earlier, both of my daugthers are allergic to nuts and legumes. My older daughter began having symptoms as soon as we fed her these foods, around 18 months old. That IS genetics, pure and simple. At the time, I had never even heard of legume or nut allergies -- I was totally clueless about it. I had no idea what "being allergic to peanuts" meant. And her younger sister has exactly the same allergies, despite being bottle fed instead of breast fed (so there goes the theory that breast milk protects you from allergies, eh?!)
We figured out my older daughter's peanut/legume allergy shortly after my younger daugther was born. So naturally we didn't feed her any of those foods and she tested negative for the allergy at two years old. But then she accidently bit into a peanut butter cookie at a friend's house at age 5(she hated it and spit it out), but some of it got into her system. The next time she was tested, she was as allergic as her sister -- off the charts. The way food allergy works is: first your body has to get exposed to the allergen. You usually don't have a reaction the first time. The reaction happens AFTER the first exposure and may get worse with each subsequent exposure.
My husband hates nuts and is revolted by peanut butter. Until my daughter's diagnosis, we both thought it was just a preference ("he hates nuts"). Now we realize that he had a mild peanut allergy when growing up because he remembers having mystery vomiting when he was a child (good thing it wasn't severe, because his parents were clueless). He can eat peanuts now if they accidently get into his food and they only make his stomach feel a little queasy but nothing else. So he "grew out" of his allergies and I hope our daughters will follow in his footsteps and also grow out of theirs.
You have NO IDEA what it's like to have severe food allergies unless you have "walked the walk." Go to the supermarket and see how many products have "traces of peanuts" or are made with soy flour. It makes things extremely difficult. And, I want to add, there is no cure for it yet.
There are many stories about childern dying because of accidental exposure to foods. One that comes to mind is a boy who was severely allergic to milk and milk products. He ate french fries that contained a milk product (he had no idea they contained a milk product when he at them). He did not have his Epi-pen with him. He died. This is not urban mythology, it is truth.
So please people, be careful if you're dealing with food allergies, especially if you have ever had a life-threatening reaction in the past. I'm not talking about a little itchy throat. I'm talking about something much more serious. It is nothing to play around with. Maybe one day they'll develop a cure for it.
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| qso |
Posted - 01/22/2008 : 15:55:20
I'd also like to amplify on Lori's point about genetics.
Since most of us on this forum left school there have been significant advances in genetics and a resulting misconception that genetics is black and white (as we were taught).
Notably, it is now accepted by mainstream science (because their own experiments show it), that the degree of manifestation of some genetic traits is affected by the gene's biochemical environment. The fact that drugs can modify some genetic effects is proof of that. We also know that some animals lay eggs for which the sex of the offspring is determined by something as simple as temperature.
This should not be that surprising because genes after all, are chemicals and nothing else. Their expression can be modified by the local biochemical environment in the body.
Now, we know that people who have recovered from TMS have made real biochemical changes in their body by using their brain.
The brain is in master control of the biochemistry of your entire body. The parameter boundaries for which this can happen is unknown-nobody on the planet yet understands the brain well enough to say for sure.
It therefore follows that *some* genetic expression can be modified by the brain via the biochemical environment, which we know is affected by all kinds of things including emotions.
I am not saying that that you can change your blue eyes to green simply by thinking - some gene expression is more robust than others.
Another misconception is that babies cannot be affected by this "mindbody" stuff. How can a baby have emotional baggage? The error is in the assumption that only adult emotions affect the biochemistry (the brain can alter biochemistry in many other ways including traumatic experiences). Also, as Lori pointed out, parents can pass-on biochemistry (which can in turn alter gene behavior)- we all now that children of drug addicts are already addicted at birth. |
| stefan |
Posted - 01/22/2008 : 15:29:39
That is very insightful Lori. Makes a lot of sense. Thank you for your reply.
Ars Longa Vita Brevis |
| mizlorinj |
Posted - 01/22/2008 : 14:12:40
I was in such horrible back/butt pain that Dr. Sarno did give me a prescrip painkiller. After a few days I realized I no longer needed it. Do what YOU feel you need to do to get you through.
Allergies. There are many books (see ones I've noted in Success Stories) that talk about allergies having emotional ties. But these things take time to work through so if I knew I had say, a cheese allergy, I wouldn't go eat cheese right away. I would work on clearing out some emotional trash I've carried for years and then give cheese a try some time later. Also key is the belief you can overcome it . Louise Hay says we get what we focus on.
It is likely we pick up our parents emotions before we are born (see books again), so babies can have allergies caused by emotions.
And perhaps things that are blamed on genetics are more our own conditioning? (books again) e.g. "my family has asthma so I will too." Actually some in my family do and I do not. Again, what are we focusing on?
The info is out there waiting to be read, and much of it is not new information! Need to keep an open mind though.
-Lori
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| Big Rob |
Posted - 01/20/2008 : 01:39:12
With OCD I take anti-depressants.
The behavioural therapy helped even more.
Things are never black and white (as any good CBT therapist will tell you)  |
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