| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| aran451 |
Posted - 11/03/2011 : 11:34:55
I have been doing the Sarno work for about 4 months now and have seen a lot of progress. At about 3 months I would say I was 90-95% better but than had kind of a relapse and went back to about 50-60% better. I am frustrated that I am not "healed" in the 6-8 weeks that the books talk about. I am curious what other people have experienced. I guess I am looking for some confirmation that I am kind of in the "normal" range for getting better. How long did it take you to get better? |
| 20 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| aran451 |
Posted - 11/15/2011 : 21:44:38
Wow, this has become a very interesting thread! I had never heard of Dr Weekes and just Googled her. Have folks here read her books, listened to CDs?
I can definitely agree with the Ace1 in that I immediately believed that my symptoms were caused by my emotions and right away began doing all the things that I previously believed had caused pain (typing, playing guitar, driving.) My symptoms got better right away but then came back which put me in a negative cycle of having symptoms which made me depressed/anxious which gave me symptoms which made me more depressed. It was hard to break this cycle but I did it with a lot of self talk and really I think a big turning point for me was that I got intensely angry at my unconscious mind. I yelled and raged at my mind. This was cathartic and ironic - to turn all the repressed rage back onto my unconscious. It may sound negative in some ways but it worked for me. |
| Ace1 |
Posted - 11/10/2011 : 08:01:42
God Bless you Balto, thanks for your encourgement. I will also keep you updated |
| balto |
Posted - 11/10/2011 : 07:30:24
I agreed with Hillbilly there. "if you don't care", your symptoms won't bother you and will eventually go away.
About your job (or whatever you do in life), just do your best, whatever the outcome is so be it. What else can you do beside doing your best? Plan ahead but be mindful at the present moment then the future will take care of itself.
Life is stressful. Many thing you do in life will create stress so be willing to accept them when they come. Be prepare and tell your mind that stress will come if I don't get this and that, if I don't achieve this and that... But that's OK. Life is not perfect. I will get stress symptoms. But that's OK, it will pass and life will goes on. Dr Weekes told listeners to "accept it and float". Life is like a river. It don't always goes in a straight line. It turned. It went over rocks, bolders, and waterfalls... So float and Go with the flow Ace1.
I'm an atheist but I follow the teaching of many great teachers like Jesus and Buddha. The Buddha said life is suffering and the main cause of suffering is 'desire'. We want this and that and when we don't get this and that we're unhappy, we're suffering. So be willing to accept life as it happened. No NFL team ever win every superbowl. Tiger Wood don't win every tournaments he played in. Fame and fortune don't guarantee happiness. Look at Charlie Sheen, Michael Jackson, Tiger Wood, Kurt Cobain....
Contentment and peace of mind is what you should aim for. Plan for your future, do your best, but be content with life. |
| Ace1 |
Posted - 11/10/2011 : 06:50:40
Dear Hillbilly,
Thank you so much for your continued input on this forum. I noticed something yesterday and today, that I do try to stop my feelings of anxiousness, by tensing up. I never really have the secondary fear response, but I always try to prevent or stop the first one to some degree. I will continue to work on this by just letting the anxiouness just happen and I will let you know how it turns out. You are an invaluable asset to this forum, and thanks for not getting tired of explaining the same thing over and over. Many people once they are cured are out and never come back to help others bc they dont care |
| Bugbear |
Posted - 11/09/2011 : 14:54:03
Just as a digression, Hillbilly, I had never heard of Stuart Smalley although do know of Al Franken. I looked him up on Wikipedia and You Tube. What a riot! It brought a smile to my face after an otherwise dreary, tiring day. Sorry, digression over. |
| Hillbilly |
Posted - 11/09/2011 : 14:46:10
Yes, but you should also try to realize that what you are experiencing is a panic response to an unattainable standard not being met, and the imagined consequences you must try to avoid. This all takes a split second due to your mental conditioning. Drop the expectation and the symptoms stop. If you don't care, you won't panic. If you don't care if you get symptoms, there is no panic (symptoms), and if you don't respond to the symptoms with more panic or concern, they will die away slowly. This is the genius of the Weekes approach. You don't control the first fear response, but you control your response to the symptoms. That control must be cultivated by exposing yourself to situations in which you get symptoms so that you can practice. Don't avoid them. Go to them.
I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.
Ralph Waldo Emerson |
| Ace1 |
Posted - 11/09/2011 : 11:05:15
Hillbilly, your response is really helpful. So just to be sure that i fully understand our post. SO if for example I have a conflict where I am concerned about doing my job perfectly, I shouldn't try to change my need to do it perfectly, but more so recognize that I am concerned, and that is part of who I am and accept it with out changing it, just observe it and continue what i was doing. Did I get what you were saying correctly? |
| Hillbilly |
Posted - 11/09/2011 : 10:21:12
Ace,
I was more talking about the affirmations nonsense like, "I am strong. I am a lion. I can do anything I set my mind to, and doggone it, people like me." That was what I was talking about. If you know something isn't true, just reject it. I understand what you are saying about the conflict, but it still boils down to accepting it rather than fighting it or overcoming or dominating. It is coming from inside you, so accept it as a normal occurrence under the circumstances, let go of results, expectations, and judgments and just keep doing what you want to. Keep it as simple as possible.
I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.
Ralph Waldo Emerson |
| Ace1 |
Posted - 11/09/2011 : 09:36:26
Now hilbily and Balto, believe it or not Once I read dr sarnos book two years ago, I never feared what would happen to me or what danger I could be in. I fully accepted that it was realted to my nerves and harmless. I was always in a rush and more concerned on how well something would turn out which directly correlated with pain symptoms. I had a hard time changing this feeling of always having to rush and being concerned on how things would turn out which I found stopped my recovery to about 90-95%. So I'm not sure if both of you had a different underlying conflict from me (you guys were for afraid of what could happen to you, were I was not). Sometime however it is frustrating if pain is there, and that may be part of the problem, which I am addressing. I found the self talk, by countering my automatic reactions, saying I let go of my concerns, or I am strong and healthy and patient are helping me to stop those drives that are automatic. (I remember distinctly before my symtptoms arose, I would constantly tell myself I need to hurry, just to be fast, which I believe set my mind at that time into that automatic reaction) Any thoughts on this? |
| Hillbilly |
Posted - 11/08/2011 : 20:23:24
I agree with Balto, that self-talk can be important so long as it makes sense and isn't just some phrase you don't believe that is supposed to make something happen if said enough.
The self-talk that is necessary is factually based. It exhorts the recovering person to keep going because they are in no danger, even when their every cell says sit down, get out of here, don't go in there, etc. You have to take your courage with you wherever and whenever you go and learn to rely on yourself. It is a fact that your symptoms are harmless. It is a fact that the panic you feel is unfounded because what you feel can't happen as a result of nerves.
Don't do the Stuart Smalley stuff. That's my advice.
I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.
Ralph Waldo Emerson |
| balto |
Posted - 11/08/2011 : 03:34:52
quote:
Originally posted by Ace1
Thanks balto for your encouraging words. I do believe the self talk/affirmations are the most important part of this process. When i wasnt doing it, no matter how i tried to get to normal and not fear the symptoms, i would make little or no headway. Work is my hardest scenario too, but the self talk is helping me make progress. Also everyone I know who has gotten better with this method uses self talk
I think selftalk is good but it has to be realistic for it to help. If we just went to a funeral for a love one and get a tms attack, it doesn't make sense to keep telling ourself "i'm happy, I feel great".
Yes Ace1, it took me around 3, 4 weeks to elliminated all my symptoms once I really took control of my thoughts. It took another 3, 4 months to completely stop all my conditioning symptoms. |
| wrldtrv |
Posted - 11/07/2011 : 21:16:23
I think that learning about and adopting the radical perspective that many physical symptoms are potentially psychosomatic, was the most significant step for me. Learning that, was both liberating and stressful, because suddenly, I was more responsible for my own health. When things are going well, I can congratulate myself; unfortunatley, when not going well, there is the tendency to "blame the victim (me)." In fact, I would go so far as to say (for me, anyway) that sometimes it is best to put the TMS ideas aside, step back, relax, calm myself, not worry about whether I am thinking correctly, confronting TMS vigorously enough, thinking psychologically enough, repudiating the pysical enough, believing hard enough... |
| Ace1 |
Posted - 11/07/2011 : 16:45:44
Balto you say 15 years to get better, but only 4 weeks after you got the hang of it by not fearing and self talk, right? |
| Ace1 |
Posted - 11/07/2011 : 16:39:42
Thanks balto for your encouraging words. I do believe the self talk/affirmations are the most important part of this process. When i wasnt doing it, no matter how i tried to get to normal and not fear the symptoms, i would make little or no headway. Work is my hardest scenario too, but the self talk is helping me make progress. Also everyone I know who has gotten better with this method uses self talk |
| aran451 |
Posted - 11/07/2011 : 13:22:02
Thanks to all for your feedback. Now I am back to 90% better! I realize that I may slide backwards but It's OK, I just need to keep living my life and stop worrying! This is easier said than done but I have been reading Shad Helmstetter's book on Self-Talk and have been practicing giving myself positive, affirming messages. I believe it works. |
| balto |
Posted - 11/05/2011 : 11:15:05
quote:
Originally posted by Wodg
Cheers for the info once again Balto.
Can you tell me a little more about how you went about handling your work life. I can easily relax when I don't have to work but work is the one thing that makes me the most ill.
You movement to a healthy life is very similiar to what this Japanese man did to become healthy from anxiety/TMS.
http://mui-therapy.org/english/index.htm
Thanks
I don't think work is making you ill. I think you have conditioned yourself to associate work as one of the causes of your illness. It is all in your thought process. Try to view your work as something positive and approach it energeticly everyday and do it long enough you will erase that conditioning effect. Do lot of selftalk like: I am fortunate to have a job while millions are unemployed and hungry. My job helped put food on my table, paid my bill. I like this and that about my job. It kept me busy, active. I feel I'm contributing.... And remember don't fear your symptoms.
I happened to know about the Saito therapy method. I personally think his method is a type of Zen mindfulness. He preached living at the moment, live in the present. He advised against searching for cure, for treatments, for therapy... He told patients to keep on moving, keep busy... the healthy brain will reappear after awhile.
If you follow his method eventually you will get well too. But it will take longer, and it will not be a total cure, not a complete cure if you don't somehow stop your fear of what the symptoms would do. He got well but he does have what he called "flashback", which is symptoms recurrence.
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| eautmb |
Posted - 11/04/2011 : 10:17:03
I healed my itching in a couple of days. My knee pain and weakness/instability, which stopped me from running for 2 years, went away in about 2 or 3 months. I'm still struggling with GI symptoms that come and go depending on how stressed or unhappy I am. You shouldn't set yourself a deadline. Everyone is different. Just accept your problem is TMS and get on with your life. Easier said than done, I know. |
| kesh2 |
Posted - 11/04/2011 : 07:02:24
i got 80% in my shoulder once i'd actually learned to "think psychologically", took about 4 weeks to get it. my hip hasn't improved, but i'm kind of working on my shoulder only for now.
i think sarno is a bit weak on what thinking psychologically actually means (though i've not read all his books). it actually means a hell of a lot |
| Wodg |
Posted - 11/03/2011 : 18:43:51
Cheers for the info once again Balto.
Can you tell me a little more about how you went about handling your work life. I can easily relax when I don't have to work but work is the one thing that makes me the most ill.
You movement to a healthy life is very similiar to what this Japanese man did to become healthy from anxiety/TMS.
http://mui-therapy.org/english/index.htm
Thanks
|
| balto |
Posted - 11/03/2011 : 15:32:58
I got to 90% in about 3 weeks. Then back to 10%, up to 50%, down to 20%,....
took a little more than 15 years to get to 100% healed.
Goodluck to you. |
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