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mala
Hong Kong
774 Posts |
 Posted - 07/11/2004 : 18:22:25
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I've been trying to follow Sarno and ignore the pain in my lower back which is excruciating when I sit. For the last 2 months I've been walking about 1 1/2 hours a day without my belt, going out as much as possible, meeting friends etc. but the result is that I hurt even more and the pain in my back is worse and is now in my right hip as well. I feel twinges of warmth in my hip that I had never felt before. I am in constant pain and it is wearing me down in a big way. My jaws have started to hurt too and the left one clicks every time I open my mouth too wide.
Yesterday night I woke up at about 2.00am feeling cold, clammy and dizzy. I'm really scared that I am making myself worse . I know many of you will come back and say that this is the nature of tms etc. but honestly I'm very worried and I don't know whether I'm on the right track or just making myself worse. Most people here seem to say that their tests haven't shown anything to be significantly wrong but my MRI's show severe arthritis in my joints.
I can be very pigheaded, keep doing the anti tms work, keep ignoring the pain till I collapse but I really don't know if that is doing more damage than good.
Good Luck & Good Health
Mala |
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Susie
USA
319 Posts |
Posted - 07/11/2004 : 18:45:34
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| Mala, How could joint arthritis make you dizzy and clammy? What you are experiencing , I think, is a panic attack. Believe me, I have had them just like that in the middle of the night including hyperventilating. You are obsessing to the point that you are really scaring yourself. That is sure part of the syndrome and should be more proof to you. Speaking of proof, I feel like that is what you are looking for. Try to think logically that all your symptoms don't jell with arthritis. Actually, most of the people on this board have had very severe diagnosis. It's hard to get past them but to be successful, you have to. Also, I'm no physical therapist, but one and one half hours a day seems like alot of walking. You are constantly" feeling "for your pain and ,therefore, adding to it. I did it all the time. When I woke up in the morning,it's the first thing I looked for. Take a deep breath and try to think about what is really bothering you instead of thinking about your pain. You will eventually find your way through this and be ok. If your conscious mind is so questioning of tms, your unconscious mind is not going to accept it. |
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mala
Hong Kong
774 Posts |
Posted - 07/11/2004 : 20:13:26
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Susie,
Thanks for your post.
Mala, How could joint arthritis make you dizzy and clammy?
First of all, let me clarify, I didn't say that the arthritis is causing the dizziness. I don't know why it's happening. Sometiems I'm in so much pain that I feel sick in my stomach and I know that the pain is causing huge amounts of physical and mental stress as well.
'Try to think logically that all your symptoms don't jell with arthritis'
I don't quite understand what you mean. As far as I can see and feel, they do fit the criteria of arthritis and that's what is so scary.
You are constantly" feeling "for your pain and ,therefore, adding to it. I did it all the time
I don't think that I am constantly feeling for it. On the contrary, I'm trying to ignore it buy doing a whole bunch of other things in addition to my full time job but it's hard to when it is so 'in your face severe 24/7'
Also, are you suggesting that I walk less? I thought the whole tms idea was not to limit yourself and not to be afraid.
Good Luck & Good Health
Mala |
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Susie
USA
319 Posts |
Posted - 07/11/2004 : 20:49:55
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| Mala-It is terribly hard when the pain is in your face 24-7. I suggested that you are feeling for your pain because you are so descriptive of it's movement. Your symptoms brought on by tension i.e.dizziness ,clammyness,etc. are what I was refering to as not being symptomatic of arthritis. I guess if you walked that much before that is not unusual but I can walk 2 miles in thirty minutes so I figured yours at 6 miles. It seemed like alot to me but maybe it's normal for you. I just sense a fear and desperation in you that I had so much myself that I really identify with. I know if you can get past the fear, you will begin to get better. That was the most difficult thing for me. |
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mala
Hong Kong
774 Posts |
Posted - 07/11/2004 : 21:15:51
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Susie,
You are right about the fear. I am very scared by what's going on and it's been going on for so long that sometimes I can't see any light at the end of the tunnel. All I know is that since i've started Sarno, I have gotten worse re the pain and other symptoms. I can barely sit for 10 mins and I have to go to England next week -12 hours on the plane. I can't begin to think how I'm going to manage that. Life pretty much sucks at the moment in terms of what's happening to the body. Thank God for good friends and a great family and for this discussion board.
Good Luck & Good Health
Mala |
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susan
4 Posts |
Posted - 07/12/2004 : 05:24:51
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mala,
maybe you could use the plane ride as therapy..start now and determine in your head that if any pain arises you will fight it...i did it last week with a long car ride...2 hours one way......whenever you get the pain kind of laugh and think quickly to yourself, what is bothering me now? or here it goes again...try to focus on the thought..or just ignore the pain..i know this sounds stupid but it does work over time and the more you are determined and aggressive the quicker it works...dont be passive...i had back pain a few years ago and it did work for me...i was using ice and advil constantly...if i had to go anywhere i immediately got the symptoms and sick to my stomach...i was using ice all the way to where i was going and taking 3 advil at a time..going to chiropractor and massage..the only thing that helped was dr sarnos principles.....i recently had other symptoms and susie and others were a great influence...the hardest part is getting over the hump of being more assertive i think...this is a great message board...i hope this helps a little bit |
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Susie
USA
319 Posts |
Posted - 07/12/2004 : 07:43:52
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| Mala, If you are like me, the looming plane flight is what is making you anxious and ill. The dredded "How am I going to make it ?" Something I read, I think it was on Rachaels homage to Dr Sarno, really helped me with traveling . She said that she was able to endure the pain up to now and nothing she had done had made it such that she couldn"t stand it. She worded it much better, check out her version. It made an impression on me because one way or another, I had stood it. It helped dispel some fear. If you could reduce your anxiety, you could reduce your pain. It is a very vicious cycle. |
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Dave
USA
1864 Posts |
Posted - 07/12/2004 : 08:33:55
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Mala, based on your posts on this forum I can't help but think that you have serious doubts about the TMS diagnosis and you are still obsessed with the physical symptoms. It's almost as if you are giving the TMS work a shot, but deep down you don't expect it to work.
For some TMS sufferers this ties in with a perfectionist personality. I know it was very hard for me at first. I couldn't accept that I was doing the work but my symptoms were not improving. I couldn't accept that there were people out there who miraculously got better within a few weeks of reading the book, and I was not one of those people. For perfectionists, it is difficult to commit to something when there is a lack of confidence, and it seems to me that maybe you are at that point.
Luckily I kept up the work. You have to accept that TMS is an unconscious process, and you have no direct control over it. You have to beat it into submission. You have to think long-term and not be discouraged by lack of results. Most of all, you must avoid doubt about the diagnosis. If you think to yourself that maybe it is not TMS, it is the arthritis after all, then you will not get anywhere. If you think to yourself that you are "doing more damage" to yourself (which is simply not true) then you are stunting your progress.
It seems you would benefit from "proof" of the TMS diagnosis. Unfortunately there is none. But you can find clues. For one thing, the inconsistency of the symptoms. You are feeling new sensations since beginning the TMS work. That is a good sign. Your unconscious mind is fighting you, you have it "on the run." You are having anxiety attacks. That is a TMS equivalent.
I wonder just how far down the path of psychological introspection you have traveled. Maybe it is not far enough. Or maybe there are such terrifying, unacceptable feelings beneath the surface that your unconscious mind is so desparate to protect you from. Some people need to access those emotions to get better. You may be one of them, and you may very well need to see a good Freudian psychoanalyst to get there. |
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electraglideman
USA
162 Posts |
Posted - 07/12/2004 : 09:41:48
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Mala,
I'm new to this board and I'm no expert but here is how I see it. Almost everyone who has experienced TMS can relate to what your going through. As a matter of fact your better off than many who have discovered that the pain they suffer from is caused by TMS. Think about it. How many people who experience a large amount of pain can walk daily for 1 1/2 hours? So calm down. Believe me I use to have the same fears as you. You can't seem to get the x-rays and MRIs the doctor showed you off your mind. They probably looked horrable to you but you know what there are people who's x-rays and MRIs look alot worse than yours who suffer very little or no pain. When I was shown my x-rays and MRIs a fear came over me and the pain worsened.
Mala I walk every day for an hour and while I walk I say over and over to myself " My unconscious is in a blinding rage. It has been the cause of my pain and its not my fault." This has helped me to deal with TMS more than anything else.
Also remmember that when you start dealing with TMS sometimes the pain will get worse or you will start having other pains before you get better. I suffered from neck and back pain for years. There were days I didn't think I would make it through. When I learned about TMS and started to deal with it I begain to have bad headaches. I no long have the headaches and the pain in my neck and back is only about 20% of what it use to be. So remember your not alone, its not life threatening, its NOT your fault, its TMS. HANG IN THERE! |
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tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 07/12/2004 : 11:03:28
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Dear Mala,
I must agree with the others. You are experiencing TMS and not arthritis. I have been diagnosed with atthritis for nearly 10 years now. I have had an MRI and threee x-rays over the years that I've docter shopped and they all agree that it's arthritis. The big shocker for me recently was when I went to the only "TMS" doctor in my area thinking he would say it was TMS and lo' and behold, he also said it was arthritis--with the provisio that he specialized in backs and not hips, (I believe he didn't want to overrule the MRI report made by another doctor. He did not even look at the MRI itself). Everyday I am reminded of my arthritis?TMS by well meaning people noticing my limp, asking when I will get a hip replacement and how great they are. With all the evidence for arthritis, I still believe it's TMS. Yesterday I played tennis from 8:30 in the morning 'til 2:30 in the afternoon without a break, singles and doubles. I finally stopped because my shoulder was sore from serving so much. But it was a good sore, like you get in the gym, from doing reps. I did a few laps in the pool to stretch it out (oops, I mean to loosen it up). This morning it feels normal.
What confirms my TMS belief, besides years of knowledge therapy, thanks to Sarn's books, was my recent experience with my TMS moving from my butt to my neck within a few hours on a hundred mile drive home from the TMS doc, who said it was arhritis.
Mala, I noticed in your posts a preocupation with the phyical. I recall you mentioning something about your husband not wanting to argue with you being an emotional factor. You mention that you are in therapy. You never discuss anything in the emotional realm. I feel this is the source of your TMS pain. I can imagine right now that you might be feeling anger at me for even pointing this out- maybe I'm wrong. Honestly, I've quit replying to your posts because you reveal so little about the emotional side of your TMS and only dwell on your physical symptoms. But I have seen you giving TMS advice to others. I think you believe in it on an intellectual level but not on a viceral level. It reminds me of the Edna Melay quote, Sarno uses in his books, to the effect, the heart is slow to learn what the quick mind percieves at every turn. Yout mind believes in TMS but not your heart.
All your symptoms are common to the people on this board. I have had anxiety attacks where I thought I was having a heart attack and went to my doctor immediately to discover I was in perfect physical health. I know the symptoms now of an anxiety attack and hopefully will not be overcome by the fear next time. I was surprised you were so convinced by the x-rays, that you have facet syndrome or whatever it is-I won't waste my time looking it up. Sarno's whole point is that most x-rays that show arthriis are bu___ sh___.
You have mentioned going to therapy but never reveal what about. I get the feeling that you are very reserved about such "personal" matters. If that is the case, I think your are wasting your time at this board. TMS is about the interplay of the most personal matters, the emotions and their effects on the physical due to the build up of rage, anger and fear of their erruption to the surface.
I have noticed that the people on the board who seem to get better discuss their emotions. I feel I am 98% and have had momments at 100%. I admit to often discussing the physical because it is so much of my daily life, being a competitive athlete. I feel I put it in the context of TMS theory. I have often revealed the emotional situations that have caused my TMS: emotional breakups, workplace, politics, road-rage, etc.
Mala, I would recommend reading in _MBP_, the section, "THE WORLD AROUND US", p.25-28. It has the list of the 43 life events that can cause "disease" through the mechanism of internal rage.
I personally can relate to #'s 5, 6, 11, 14, 15, 16, 18, 22, 29, 32, 34, 36, 38, 39. How many can you relate to? |
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April
USA
14 Posts |
Posted - 07/12/2004 : 12:15:41
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quote:
Originally posted by mala
You are right about the fear. I am very scared by what's going on and it's been going on for so long that sometimes I can't see any light at the end of the tunnel. All I know is that since i've started Sarno, I have gotten worse re the pain and other symptoms. I can barely sit for 10 mins and I have to go to England next week -12 hours on the plane. I can't begin to think how I'm going to manage that.
Hi Mala
I know how much fear works against healing TMS but it is something that we need to work on slowly with very small steps. I agree with Susie (?) that its likely that if you are experiencing increased pain after walking 1 1/2 hours its too much for you right now. That is a lot of walking for most people let alone someone in pain. To me, working through TMS pain isn't totally ignoring the pain and doing an activity anyways, it involves a gradual process with many steps backward, time waiting out the pain flare ups, as well as small steps forward.
If I remember, you had mentioned that you might try to come to the US and see Sarno or another TMS Dr this summer. Is that still a possibility? For me, it really helped to get a TMS diagnosis from a knowlegable Dr in order for me to trust the process. I had been told so many other reasons for my pain by other Drs etc that I needed the reassurance I wasn't going to hurt myself. Maybe this discussion board etc is enough for you, maybe it isn't.
My experience doesn't involve arthritis, but I thought osteoarthritis was TMS, yet you talk as if it isn't? But my experience does include mutliple occurences of TMS and slowly healing from them once I approached it as TMS. I'm back to the activities I had to give up during the long pain attack. For that I'm very thankful to Sarno's work.
If you're in therapy, are you able to identify areas in yourself that fit the TMS personality traits? Do you understand yourself under this light any better?
I'd make sure I had some recovery time in the schedule after a long flight to England even if I didn't have ongoing pain.
hang in there
April
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FarmerEd
USA
40 Posts |
Posted - 07/12/2004 : 21:02:44
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Hello Mala,
I agree with April. It sounds like you stertched too far too fast. I also found my recovery to be a gradual process. I wanted to totally believe Sarno's theory was correct but had doubts. I started with a small activity I had given up and chose one that did not scare me too much. If the pain began I would try to train my brain to use it as a trigger to think on what might be causing internal rage in my subconcious and tried not to focus on the physical symptoms. If the pain got too intense I would stop, but I would talk to myself and told my brain something to the effect,"OK, this is too much so I'm going to let you calm down now but as soon as you do we're going to do this again and we're going to keep doing this till you give up, I'm on to you now." Often I would try again the next day.
When this finally worked for the activity it gave me a boost of confidence and I would try more. As I became more convinced in my mind of the truth of Sarno's theory and methods I tried things that were more scarry to me. If I had tried those scarry activities first I believe I would not have had enough confidence and the failure would have set me back and I might have quit.
Hang in there. |
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Sarah Jacoba
USA
81 Posts |
Posted - 07/13/2004 : 00:40:53
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Hi
here's my two cents worth:
getting back to your first post in this topic: you are scared of what will happen physically if you ignore the pain and you have a real medical condition. This is actually a reasonable fear, based on your current (perhaps faulty) appraisal of the situation. but you have to face the risk. nothing comes without risk. we have to KNOW (as best we can) whether it's physical or not, and you have to call pain's bluff to find out. That's what I call paradoxical intention. What TMS wants you to do is live in the halfways...i.e. halfway between certainty that it's TMS and it's physical. At one point last year I was thinking on the "is it or isnt it" question literally every second I was awake. I would challenge myself not to think about it for 5 minutes and I couldnt. it was an obsession. But there's something ridiculously stupid about living in the halfways. You have to find out more info about whether it really is and you have to challenge the pain to get worse. You cant think your way to a solution. So I would purposefully try to make it worse, very scary but also very liberating. I would live each day as if my goal was to lay myself out flat for the rest of the week. That way I could be free of the obsession with "managing" the pain. Ironically, this usually led within a few days to less pain, but even if it doesnt just go for it. If you kill yourself, figuratively or literally, who cares? TMS is living death anyway. Stop holding on to the pathetic stalemate with TMS. We want LIFE, real LIFE, all or nothing.
--Sarah
"When dream and day unite" |
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mala
Hong Kong
774 Posts |
Posted - 07/13/2004 : 02:59:31
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Thank you all for your posts and for writing about your own experiences re the tms battle.
Most of you seem to think that walking for an hour and a half is too much. Now this strikes me as being odd since all of you come across as being pretty firm in your belief in tms. Now if I remember correctly Sarno actually recommends that people go out an do things without fear. In fact in his video he says the more strenuous the better and gives many examples. There are many of his patients who say they went out and did things that they had'nt done in ages and didn't suffer any worse for it. However most of you are saying 'Mala, that' too much, you are hurting yourself. I thought the whole idea is that you couldn't.
Sarah, what I am doing is exactly what you are saying. I'm challenging the pain because I'm so fed up of being neither here nor there. I'd rather be lying in bed totally incapacitated than going on like this and so, I'm grabbing the bull by its horns. Result is that the pain has gotten worse and this is a fact. So I'm scared. That's only natural.
There are many people who read Sarno and think that they believe in sarno 100%. Then they take anti inflammatories in a big way although it is supposed to be a big No No. Sarno claims there is no inflammation. So why take them if your belief is so strong and then proceed to tell me that my belief isn't strong enough. I admit that my belief isn't 100%. It may be only 80% but that's because there are many things in his book that need more explaining. He says there is no inflammation. Well, I had a full body bone scan done which showed severe inflammation in my joints very clearly.
Also re osteoarthritis in his books and videos. He doesn't really go into much detail. I wonder why as it is a big problem especially in America where I've heard that 1 in 3 people have it. I need him to tell me much more before I can believe 100% and he needs to present more studies in this area.
Whether you read Sarno, Scehecter, Amir or Sopher you will notice that the same few studies are mentioned again and again. There's nothing new.
Tennis Tom you think that I'm being reserved about personal matters. I didn't really think so. I've been going to a psychotherapist to try and understand if and which emotions are causing pain and how to focus on them to try to get rid of the pain. After many sessions, she didn't think anything could be or should be causing so much pain.
Sure we all have something but i think I've been pretty lucky. I was born in Hong Kong to Indian parents who were both very good to me although they could have been better to each other. I have a younger sister who is my best friend. When I was 11, I went to India on a holiday to visit my grandparents and decided that I would stay there and study much to the surprise of my parents. I had 12 great years and was practically raised by my grandfather and spoiled silly by my parents whom I saw twice a year. My dad passed away when I was 18. Money was never an issue and I had tons of boyfriends growing up because well, I'm very attractive ( I've been told that too many times ) much to my mom's annoyance who wanted to see me settled down to a nice Indian boy. Well, that wasn't going to happen coz I've got no time for Indian men who treat threir women like furniture.
Anyway, came back to HK after finishing my Masters and got a job teaching in a British Army school. I would spend most holidays travelling and that way I got to see most of the world . I was in no hurry to get married and finally did at the ripe old age of 36 to a wonderful ex army Brit. We both decided we wouldn't have kids and we both travel a lot or so we did until my back started acting up. We have been married nine years and have been very lucky. We have good jobs, bought 3 homes, one here in HK, one in the UK and one in Australia where we hope to immigrate to when we retire and I have my mom and sister living in HK too. The place where I work is great. The girls I teach are fantastic and I have a graet time with my colleagues.The school wouldn't let me resign and gave me a year's paid leave to sort my back out. I am 46 now. I also speak 4 languages very fluently and 2 not so fluently.
I was never sick , never been to a hospital till 5 years ago when I suddenly started having back pain and since then it's been downhill for me in terms of my health. I wish I could say that I had tension related illnesses and other big emotional problems plaging me throughout my life but I didn't and I can't start inventing things. Like I said there are some small things here and there but nothing major. I do and have always had a violent temper and don't suffer fools easily but that has always been my personality and funnily enough a lot of my friends say that they like the way I lose it sometimes.
I know this doesn't tell you everything but it may help you to know a bit more about me. That's all for now.
Good Luck & Good Health
Mala |
Edited by - mala on 07/13/2004 08:13:45 |
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Fox
USA
496 Posts |
Posted - 07/13/2004 : 08:40:28
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| Mala -- I agree with you and think that you should keep walking the hour and a half. As long as the walking is not giving you extra, severe pain right when you are doing it, you should keep walking this distance. Apparently, it's an important component of your life. In my opinion, for you to back off on the walking distance would be giving into your brain and you might have a tough time ever building your confidence back up to return to the original hour and a half. You might even want to start running part of the way to prove to yourself further that your body is healthy. |
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Dave
USA
1864 Posts |
Posted - 07/13/2004 : 09:05:54
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quote:
However most of you are saying 'Mala, that' too much, you are hurting yourself. I thought the whole idea is that you couldn't.
The problem with doing too much is not that you will hurt yourself physically, but that you will hurt your confidence in the diagnosis. If you perform an activity that produces more pain, unconsciously it causes fear and undermines your belief in the TMS diagnosis. That is one reason why Dr. Sarno recommends a gradual increase in physical activity. However, if you're at the point where you can walk that distance, then good for you! I certainly would not recommend backing off.
quote:
It may be only 80% but that's because there are many things in his book that need more explaining. He says there is no inflammation. Well, I had a full body bone scan done which showed severe inflammation in my joints very clearly.
Your intelligence can be a barrier to getting better. The more you analyze, look for answers, demand proof ... the less you feel. Intelligence can be an escape hatch, a psychological defense.
You shouldn't need a bulletproof explanation to accept the TMS diagnosis, because you will never find one. The details of the theory are irrelevant. Personally, I believe that inflammation is a part of TMS. It is a logical extension of the theory: inflammation is controlled by the immune system, and Sarno believes the immune system is a common target of TMS, so why can't the brain induce inflammation? In my view, it's as reasonable an explanation as "reduced blood flow." The fact is, we just don't know how TMS really works. But we don't have to. We just have to trust the process. Treat TMS symptoms like a bad habit that you need to break. Think of worsening pain as a withdrawal symptom. Grin and bear it as best you can, and focus on the reconditioning process.
quote:
Also re osteoarthritis in his books and videos. ... I wonder why as it is a big problem especially in America where I've heard that 1 in 3 people have it. I need him to tell me much more before I can believe 100% and he needs to present more studies in this area.
Again, if you need that to believe, then you will never believe. The main point about osteoarthritis is that it does not necessarily cause pain. This cannot be disputed, because many people who show severe arthritis on MRIs and bone scans have no pain whatsoever. Arthritis is not necessarily pathological, it is just natural part of wear and tear on our bodies.
You can only be sure of one thing regarding Dr. Sarno. His technique works. It has worked on thousands of people. He is not a nobel prize winner, his theory has lots of holes, he may well be completely wrong in certain respects when it come to the science of TMS. Forget the science and focus on the plan. Treating TMS is an exercise for the mind. It's all about reconditioning. That takes focus, and most importantly, time. Months, maybe years. Patience is key. |
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Burton
USA
18 Posts |
Posted - 07/13/2004 : 10:09:19
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Mala,
Your life sounds great. I'm sure it is great but that doesn't mean that you don't have sufficient sources of anger/sadness to cause TMS. I don't recall exactly what page in the MBP, but I do remember Sarno states that even wonderful, happy life events (marriage, promotion, buying a house etc.) can cause internal anxiety and generate unconscious rage. This makes sense especially if one is a perfectionist or a goodist, because these new responsibilities put new pressures on us to be both perfect and good.
I have been "pain free" now for over a year. What I mean by that is that I have my life back. I am normal. I don't even think about my neck unless I'm putting sunscreen on it. I went on a two week trip with my husband last month and slept in a number of "strange" beds on various pillows with nary a thought, except how great it was that I could do just that. Two years ago, I'd have brought my special pillow and a bottle of muscle relaxers and been petrified the whole time that my neck would "go out." I'm no longer living in that limbo world you wrote of, not quite bed ridden but wracked by so much pain that it throbbed in my mind constantly, robbing me of my life.
I started out reading Sarno's books and also bought the tapes which helped as well. Therapy was a key step in the right direction but not in the way I assumed it might be. Like you and like many of us, I went to the psychologist thinking there was one or two major events that I was repressing and that once those were unearthed I would experience a sort of miracle. What I found out was, no, there was no such major trauma, no big things to be dealt with once and for all.
There are thousands of little things however. Being a perfectionist and a goodist, being the oldest daughter, the responsible big sister and a "gifted" student and a "valued" employee and a great wife and a human being who is rapidly approaching middle age - every day there are things that make me angry or scared or sad.
Prior to doing the emotional work I've done this past year (therapy, journaling, physical anger release exercises - see the book Facing the Fire by John Lee), I would not have recognized these feelings. When I started really paying attention to my emotions in the present moment, every fleeting one that pulsed through me, I was astounded at the number and intensity of them and realized how I'd been repressing/supressing most of what I felt since I was a child. We learn to do this by watching the grownups around us, the ones who adore us and the ones we adore, we're rewarded for being "good girls" in western civilization but it's killing us. Some of us suffer with chronic pain, some of us get TMS and some of us like my dear grandmother who as my people put it "wouldn't say **** if she had a mouthful"get cancer but it's not doing any of us any good.
Don't mean to get all lectur-y on you, what I mean to say is - don't give up. You're on the verge of kicking this pain in its arse and the answer may be simpler (but more ongoing) than you think it is. I highly recommend John Lee's Facing the Fire, as most of the posters here will. It was difficult for me at first to do the seemingly silly exercises but they wre instrumental in my recovery and I think they will help you find out that you've got quite a bit to be cheesed off about.
Logan
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JayP
USA
54 Posts |
Posted - 07/13/2004 : 11:30:35
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Burton,
"Facing the Fire" sounds like a great book. I just checked it out on Amazon.com and ordered it.
JayP |
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Mobius
USA
32 Posts |
Posted - 07/13/2004 : 18:03:25
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I think that what Dave says makes a lot of sense. I feel that challenging Sarno's concept and requiring more evidence to support his claims is futile, time-consuming and is just another deadend in this analiytical maze that you are putting yourself through. Sometimes intelligence and a critical mind are disadvantages. As for the walking for 1 1/2 hours: As I recall, Sarno says that one should resume all normal activities once the pain is reduced. According to you, your pain has gotten worse. He also recommends pain killing medication for severe pain. Since you seem to have terrible pain 24/7 then maybe you fit into that category.
IMO anger and anxiety are the real culprits in TMS. Since you say that you let your anger get out of hands then it seems that maybe this anger is also fueling your pain. Anxiety can be a real block to recovery. It is the one thing that may represent your worst enemy in this process. How you deal with problems should not include anxiety. It doesn't matter what kind of problem you have, whether it be a broken finger nail or cancer, you can be assured that anxiety will only exacerbate the existing problem and make matters even worse. If I was a betting man I would bet that if your 12 hour trip to England was suddently called off that your pain would be immediately reduced.
People should probably spend more time in the right side of their brain instead of the left side. All of your education has trained you to be curious, ask questions and analyze things. These are all good things ordinarily but I would try to set them to one side if you want to work with the TMS concept because they are leaving you with a lot of doubts about the concept and that is holding back your recovery. Thousands of people have grasped this Sarno concept, have applied it, and achieved relief from their pain. That is all I really need to know. I have spotted a few vague areas that are questionable or might be further explained in Sarno's work but there doesn't seem to be anyone in the medical community right now that has the perception to aquire that knowledge. Maybe it will all be understood and sorted out in a few years, but I don't intend to wait for all the answers, it's just not that important. Take care and good luck Mala.
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mala
Hong Kong
774 Posts |
Posted - 07/13/2004 : 18:08:51
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If I was a betting man I would bet that if your 12 hour trip to England was suddently called off that your pain would be immediately reduced
That's very observant and I think there may be a lot of truth to your statement Mobius. I've started taking celebrex for the pain.
Good Luck & Good Health
Mala |
Edited by - mala on 07/13/2004 18:10:12 |
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tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 07/14/2004 : 02:38:59
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Mala,
Did you read pgs. 25-28 in MBP? If not I once again recommend that you do. Which of the list of 43 life events that can cause "disease" do you see applying to you? |
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On the right track?
