| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| ssjs |
Posted - 03/24/2005 : 20:36:16
About 25 years ago I had terrible back pain. I had to lay on the floor for 3 weeks at a time and was afraid to even drink any water since I would have to get up and go to the bathroom.
I hurt walking up and down curbs to cross the street, I hurt sitting, and I hurt standing, and I hurt lying down...and all of this pain was when my back wasn't "out".
My aunt used to work at Rusk, and she knew Sarno. She showed me the book, and I read it. I thought it was the most ridiculous thing I had ever seen! I had wonderful parents, a wonderful childhood, and my marriage and kids were just perfect!
Maybe a year or two passed. I faithfully did my back exercises...cause if I didn't, my back was as stiff and painful as could be all day, and i saw a chiropractor, and I had my handy perscription for valium. I bent down to pick up things with my knees, and I made sure to not sit too long...and I could often be heard saying..."Oh, I can't do THAT! You know, I have a bad back!"
FINALLY, I couldn't take it anymore...I just couldn't live like that. So I actually went to see Dr. Sarno. He has an interesting way about him...took a little getting used to.! So I went to his lectures, yet still had pain.
But something clicked in my head, and I had him reccomend a psycho- therapist...at the time he used to say that therapy wasn't usually nessessary...but my life was so perfect...so where was all of this anger coming from?
Of course I am not going to go into every detail, But I guess my life wasn't so perfect, and as soon as I learned that...everything changed for me.
I have now been about 20 years (almost totally) pain free. It seems about once a year, I get the evil twinge. Always centered around something I can put my finger on. I will allow myself to wallow in everything that Is bothering me...my kids, my husband, those lousy parents I had! Then I do my dance...hopefully no one is watching. I shake my body as crazy as I can to once again prove that everything is ok. This all takes a matter of minutes. Maybe I even take a motrin...at one of the lectures when someone asked about painkillers, he said "you'd take an asprin for a headache wouldn't you? Don't make a big deal out of all of this!")...but I usually do not take anything.
Then I am OK!
I sit as long as I want, in any position I want, I bend in ANY position I want, and aside from exercise to look good, I NEVER do back exercices...and funny, I am never stiff.
Between Sarno and therapy, I changed from an angry seething college drop out, working as a beautician...to a happy...sometimes angry (but rarely seething)owner of a BA in art, and a 3 year old hair salon that is not yet making money, but on its way.
I could not have done it without him...and I tend to get all evangelical(about Sarno)...and opioninated and have lots to say about the whole subject. I was happy to find you all, and I hope to be able to contribute to the disscussions....
But after all of this intro...I do have a question...Do you think compulsive eating can be a Sarno thing? After all, this hair salon is driving me crazy...and I wish I never opened it...on the other hand...
Life is so confusing!
Good to meet you all, and excuse my rambling!
Sandy |
| 2 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Baseball65 |
Posted - 03/25/2005 : 09:31:33
Hi Sandy,and Hello Rob!
First of all,congratulations to Sandy for being the longest term TMS success story I have ever heard about.That was most fortuitous having an Aunt working at Rusk...otherwise you might have ended up in the great back pain desert wandering for 40 years!
I had my first full blown TMS when I was 6(neck in corset for the summer) chronic migraines til I was 10...and than around age 11 I discovered drugs......and had very few other 'conversion' symptoms until I was 25 and started getting: Married,children,responsible,worker,perfectionist,world conqueror,BACK PAIN
In the meantime(age 12 to 25) I had started upon an endeavor into drug addiction and crime...and had plenty of distraction.More than enough external 'scary' things were going on in my life to keep my mind from focusing on emotional problems.Thinking about your next score or your next trial are plenty scary to keep your mind busy.
In fact...drug addiction is like self inflicted OCD or TMS....there is this ONE thing and all you can do is think about IT,everything you do is done with IT in mind,and IT consumes your every waking moment....a lot like back pain.
I learned this all in retrospect.When I first found Sarno at age 33 I was looking for some sense as far as consistency.Why had I been pain free for a decade and a half? Ohhhh....I was good and distracted.
Overeating COULD manifest the same sort of distraction IF it kept you distracted(fixation on your weight,obsessing about the food itself) but it is also ,like alcohol,generally a 'respite' from reality....I don't know your individual situation,at what level it is problematic for you.
ANYthing that can occupy your mind consistently and frequently,keeps you focused on the 3-dimensional world and distracts you from your emotional nature could fall into the TMS equivalents column.In fact,the more I read about TheMindBodySyndrome,the more I see its manifestations in peoples activities all around me(drugs,alcohol,Television,gambling,food,sex problems)...if these things were removed,about half of the western worlds population would immediately come down with back pain,RSI,eczema digestive problems,fibromyalgia or epstein-Barr...
Thank GOD for Sarno and Doctors in related fields....otherwise we'd ALL still be out there wandering.
Great to read your story!!
PEACE
Baseball65 |
| robbokop |
Posted - 03/25/2005 : 03:44:11
'Do you think compulsive eating can be a Sarno thing?'
I think anything that distracts is the same principle as TMS. My Sister had anorexia for 5 years - she now manages to live healthily but she suffers from various TMS type symptoms, dizziness, headaches, and various compulsive facial habits. Baseball 65 would probably agree with me given that his TMS problems started after he finished using drugs, which were previously his big distraction. I would say things like worrying about your weight, having affairs, and being a TV addict are also similar in that they become obsessive and become the sole focus in your life. It all boils down to the same thing in my opinion - distracting yourself from unpleasant emotions.
I know that at work when I have something really stressful to deal with, whereas before I would get bad RSI symptoms, now I tend to go and surf the net for a bit, which I think is equally as bad - I am trying to find distractions from the fears, anger etc in my job and not facing them.
Thoughts anyone else? Baseball dear boy?
I'm best man for a wedding tomorrow, aaaaaagh!
Robbokop  |
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