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Michele
249 Posts |
 Posted - 08/19/2004 : 08:18:31
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I stumbled upon Sarno's book about 2 weeks ago and started reading, finishing it during vacation.
History: I am a runner, and have run 8 marathons with the last one last fall. I love running and what it does for me physically and emotionally. I expect aches and pains now and then, but starting right before my last marathon, my hips started to burn. My medical doctor said to take 3 Tylenol before the race and I'd be fine. In hindsight, I should not have run at all. By February, my left hip started to hurt and May 3rd, I had to quit running altogether. First of June, I had to stop walking. I was even contemplating purchasing a cane. I don't believe in popping pills, and I have treated with a chiropractor practically all my life. I had an MRI, x-rays and an orthopedic doctor very smugly said, "you have arthritis, get used to being old, you are no longer an athlete". He even told me to stop all weight bearing exercises! I'm only 45, and I'm not about to curl up and die just yet. Needless to say, I won't be going back to THAT doctor! What an arse.
So there is nothing structurally wrong with me and thank goodness, I came across this book. I am a child sexual abuse survivor. My almost 19-yr. marriage has always been difficult and in February, my husband insisted on starting counseling AGAIN. I have a high stress job. We have 2 great teen-age boys. I am active in my church, but my husband is not and doesn't quite understand why I want to be active.
So I have alot of things going on and alot of pent-up anger and rage. I am working on it, but I'm not sure I'm going about it the "correct" way. I decided to find a picture of me as a child and plant that picture in my brain and then let that little girl get angry, let her scream, get it all out. When she's done, I tell her that it's ok to be angry, but you can't be angry at ME anymore. Then I'll move on to another picture, a little older, and continue until now. Does that make any sense or does that sound completely flakey?
I have also started running again. As Dr. Sarno says, get out there and quit being afraid of the pain. I have always been an EARLY morning runner (4:30 a.m.) so Monday morning I set the alarm and was out the door. Yes, it hurt at first, but I ran 1 mile non-stop, then walked home. Tuesday and Wednesday I did it again, and today I ran 1.15 miles non-stop and am feeling alot less pain.
I read in one post to go ahead and take a painkiller if needed, but continue with the exercise. I have taken 1 Tylenol every morning this week, but other than that, nothing. I don't want to take anything, but I suppose that's another fear too.
Any thoughts? Suggestions? Considering that in July I felt as if I would have a complete breakdown, this is awesome.
Thank you, in advance.
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2scoops
USA
386 Posts |
Posted - 08/19/2004 : 08:48:36
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| Sorry to hear about what you have suffered in life, both emotional and physical. I could not imagine how much pain the sexual abuse has caused you. According to Sarno, that emotional pain probably caused the physical pain you are now experiencing. It's like the brain does not want to deal with the emotions anymore so it has give the physical as a distraction. I strongly agree with that point Sarno makes. One good thing that comes out of TMS is that if you believe what Sarno is saying than a person is more likely to evaluate and examine themselves. You may want to consider psychotherapy to deal with your repressed anger that you must have felt when you were younger. I believe in God, so TMS made me focu more on my relationship with Him. TMS is not bad, the pain maybe, but it forces to take a step back and look at our emotional health. The thing with the doctors is that they put fear into us and make the human body sound weak. But you seem to be doing a good job of ignoring the pain and getting back to life, that is an important step. I will keep you in my prayers. Hope that helps. |
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Michele
249 Posts |
Posted - 08/19/2004 : 09:07:01
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Thanks for your prayers. I also believe in the power of prayer. As for the sexual abuse, I wasn't even aware it WAS considered sexual abuse because I was not raped. It was years before I realized that yes, I did go through it. However, I was still violated, it continued for a few years, and it affected the rest of my life.
What is the difference between going to a therapist and psychoanalyst? My husband and I are currently seeing a therapist, and she is aware of the abuse. I have done alot of work on my own through the years too.
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Fox
USA
496 Posts |
Posted - 08/19/2004 : 09:34:46
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| Michele - a psychoanalyst is trained in the concepts of Freud. You can find any psychoanalysts in your area by searching the web site for the American Psychoanalytic Association. These professionals will explore your early childhood and see how that affects your current feelings and relationships. They focus on helping you to identify and release repressed anger. Sarno specifies that the therapist should be a psychoanalyst since repressed anger is a cornerstone of TMS theory. |
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tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 08/19/2004 : 12:00:31
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Michele,
It sounds like you ran into the right web-site. I used to run a lot, my sport now is Senior Tournament Tennis. I did 13 Marathons, hundreds, if not over over a thousand, 5 & 10 K races and ran at least 3 miles daily for well over 10 years. I never recall experienceing any hip pain in that period. I did get TMS/"artritis" in my right hip during a 10+ years, prolonged, psychologicaly traumatic, relationship breakup. I remember my beloved family doctor warning me about "be carefull, your gonna' have problems from all that running." Since then, he has had surgery and has never heard of Sarno. He probably implanted a small seed in my subconscious that took hold at the correct TMS moment.
I stumbled upon Sarno about ten years ago, after leaving a Yoga class in excruciating pain, and going to the bookstore "Back Health" shelf. The Good Doc, is now my primary doctor, although, I have never met him in person. I am playing tennis 4-6 hours daily, walking, swimming and can drive long distances in a single bound. My family doctor thought it was a "soft tissue injury", but sent me to an orthopedist, because I was "athletic". The x-rays showed "significant" arthritis in the right hip. This has been corroberated by numerous other white-coats.
With the help of Sarno, I have been able to laugh off all these "get a hip replacement" diagnoses. I am 98%. I have a limp but can make it go away by walking 20 minutes. I have been shying away from running, but have recently tried it and if I take baby strides-- slower than walking--can also make my limp go away. Rather than cross training, I am working on figuring out the techniques I need to make my limp go away on the tennis court and am slowly succeeding.
When I feel pain now, I shift my thought from the pain to the emotional and can make the pain go away within reason. You can't jump off the Golden Gate Bridge and expect no pain, but that will make the pain go away, 100% permanently, unless you have really good diving technique.
Welcome to TMS-land, Michele, and remember what Walt Stack, the founder of the DSE runners club said, "It's us turkeys at the back of the pack, that make you fast runners look good!"
TMS is much trickier than can be imagined. I have recently experienced several instances of pain movement. This has brought me off the fence more into the TMS coral. I had my hip pain shift to a dormant injury site im my neck and last week the pain shifted from my right to my left hip for an afternoon. These shifts help to give insight into the nature of the TMS pain beast.
Welcome to TMS-land, Michele, and remember what Walt Stack, the founder of the DSE running club said, "It's us turkeys at the back of the pack that make you fast guys look good."
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