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Ensoul
7 Posts |
 Posted - 09/24/2004 : 14:13:22
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Hello, I bought Dr. Sarno's book yesterday, and it was pretty interesting. I am not going to lie, his cures do seem far fetched.
My lower back has been bothering me for years, off and on. It would go years with out bothering me, then in an instant it would be back. I have to admint, I am a "worry wart." I worry about everything. Back then I was worried about getting a girlfried when it hurt. Every Friday I freak out because I am afraid I messed something up and on Monday when I get into work their will be hell to pay. Now since my wife has been pregnant it has been worse. The more I read the more I think I have TMS.
I need some advice. How do I start the cure? I read his book and I know what he says, but what are your stories? How did you stop worrying about what was bothering you? How long did it take to pain to go away ? What are some things you did etc?
I guess I need to "Motivation" to help me on my way. Thank you guys.
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pault
USA
169 Posts |
Posted - 09/25/2004 : 06:16:27
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| First everyone thinks that they are a special case and the system won't work for them.Not true,as it will work as well as you make it work.Second,I recommend you read the letter by :James Campobello(p150 of The Mind body Prescription)I think the letter is in Healing Back pain also.His advice is important,because it requires a change in thinking we are not use to,and reading/re-reading with full concentration of the contents.Third it sounds like you need to talk to someone that can answer why you over worry.Get well soon! |
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menvert
Australia
133 Posts |
Posted - 09/25/2004 : 08:29:23
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One thing I would say for reading the book is that don't take much notice of the statements like I was healed in a couple of days or a couple of weeks...
that may happen for you, but in most cases, I believe it will take you time to heal but dealing with TMS will give you far better relief that anything else. You will recover on your own timetable, don't be concerned about how long or how short, it takes.
Part of Sarno's ideas say that it is not necessarily important or even possible to stop your personality traits such as 'stopping worrying'. That is probably part of your personality and without considerable effort is unlikely to change. But what you can change is that you recognise it happens and you recognise that it can and will contribute to your pool of unconscious rage. And most importantly, when you feel pain, you should try not think about activities which may have caused it or increased it rather you should think about feelings, which increased or caused it. Such as the fact that your better half is now pregnant, and it is putting much more pressure on your life at the moment and as such it is reasonable to expect that your TMS symptoms would increase.
And an important aspect I find is developing any mechanism, you can, which prevents or reduces how much you dwell on the pain, if you can find something which distracts you from thinking about pain then that is a good step in recovery.
Thinking about your emotions serves as a good distraction, because it counteracts the reason the brain is instigating this pain.
Read the book, several times, at least, because it is quite important that you accept the concepts Sarno addresses(both at a conscious and subconscious/unconscious level). Unless you really believe it your brain is not going to readily give up this defence mechanism. Performing some sort of journaling is often helpful if only it keeps you focused on the emotional rather than the physical then it is useful :) and keep reading this forum I find it invaluable to keep my spirit up :) |
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n/a
374 Posts |
Posted - 09/25/2004 : 12:49:54
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Hi Ensoul
Your back pain and worrying is standing in the way of you looking forward with pleasure to the birth of your child - this may well be the time that you can begin to turn things around. You ask how to start the cure, but you have in fact taken the first step. You have made the link between your pain/anxiety and emotions. Most people never get as far as that, they just keep on looking for someone, some medicine or some physical procedure to heal them. To acknowledge that the root of the problem may well lie in one's emotions is a very big step forward.
From your short description, it sounds as though you have had problems that are quite similar to what I suffered - lower back pain/anxiety. Anything that caused stress for me would bring on the pain. Even the anticipation of something pleasant like a wedding was enough to start the awful pain.
May I ask what brought you to Dr Sarno's book? Did you just notice it in a bookstore or did you already suspect that emotions are playing a part in the problem? I had worked out for myself that my pain was linked to emotions and I began to research mind-body connections. This was after years of going through every test and scan available, seeing so many doctors and other health professionals, trying different medications and numerous treatments. Nothing worked - although nothing sinister was ever found to be wrong with my back, there was always someone else that would offer yet another physical explanation.
I found Dr Sarno's books as a result of my research. I first read 'The Mindbody Prescription' around a year and a half ago. At that time I was leading a life dominated by my pain. It was not much of a life, to be honest. I had given up work as a teacher and was very restricted in what I could do. I blame, at least in part, 'advice' given to me by all those professionals - 'Don't bend from the waist, don't carry anything heavy. no gardening, stand a certain way, only sit in a straight backed chair, only drive with my seat in a very upright position with a circular roll in the small of my back ........ on and on, ad nauseum.' No wonder I was getting worse and worse.
Now, I can do anything I want to. I planted lots of bulbs for spring flowering in my garden today - I never thought that I'd get back to living a normal life again, but I have.
Don't set yourself any time limits or expect the pain to disappear right away. I know that Dr Sarno says that it often disappears very quickly, and, I'm sure that for some people that happens, but you will find that most of us who post here have had to work hard at recovery and that is a gradual process. I took little baby steps and my recovery has taken time, but I have recovered to the point that any twinges of pain in the lower back I get are mild, easy to disregard and short lived.
You ask how to stop worrying. Everybody is different and will probably have to tailor their own recovery programme, but I found treating the anxiety as well as the pain was what worked for me. I used to believe that I had two health problems, a 'bad' back and an anxiety condition, but it became obvious that they were one and the same problem. However, I treated them separately, but in tandem. I worked on the TMS by taking Dr Sarno's advice, resuming all activities, as I said, slowly, one-by-one. It took a few months, but the fear of the pain disappeared. I can't tell you how great that feels. Getting rid of the fear is amazing!
The anxiety I treated by widespread reading on anxiety conditions. My favourite authors are Dr Claire Weekes, Jon Kabut-Zinn and Rick Carson, but there are lots of other good writers. I picked up some very helpful techniques that I still practise now if I feel the anxiety rising. As with the pain - the fear has gone. I don't live my life worrying about the future or fretting over the past anymore. Again, this was a slow, gradual process - no overnight dramatic changes.
I also had weekly sessions with a very good psychotherapist for around four months (no TMS practitioners in Britain, so I had to find one who believed that emotions can play a significant part in physical conditions). She helped me a lot, by exploring with me why I was so anxious. I don't think that everyone would need to do this, but I needed to look at why I was the way I was.
You have made the first, and arguably, the most important step; you have identified the link between your emotions and your physical pain. It will get better if you can let that knowledge work for you.
Take care and best wishes
Anne
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Ensoul
7 Posts |
Posted - 09/25/2004 : 13:32:16
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Couple of reasons why I bough this book. The first is that I know there is nothing wrong with my back. ((It's ALWAYS in my lower back also) It acts up once and a while. It's never a constant pain all the time. It will hurt for 2 weeks, then goes away for months or maybe years. Everytime my back hurts I can relate it to something stressful going on in my life. The last time it acted up was in March, which was two days before my birthday, which looking back was probabaly stress from thinking about turning 30. In fact I no longer like my birthdays. All the means to me at this point is that I am getting older.
I actually heard of this book Through Howard Stern (Probabaly the biggest radio personality of all time. Not sure if you have heard of him Anne becasue you are from the UK ) He swears up and down on this book and says it saved his life. Long story short his back was bothering him and his says that the reason why is because he has OCD (Obsessive compulsive disorder) and he wasen't accepting it so it made his back hurt. He did Dr. Sarno's program and swears his life on on it.
One good thing is that I am NOT afraid to doing things. I still play basketball every week, and I still lift weights at the gym. It's not really stopping me from doing things, it's just really frustrating dealing with the pain. (that is another reason why I don't think I have something physically wrong with my back. I mean it it was physical it probabaly wouldn't go away for months and years only to return would it?)
The pain is REALLY bad when I get off the couch or my chair at work. It stays for 15 second that it goes away. I can stand up or run with no problem, but getting up off the chair actually makes me "scared"
I know I will work through this. I have to keep tellingh myself that I am ignore the pain.
Between reading the book and the forms I should be well in my way. Thanks for the responses guys and gals. |
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Dave
USA
1864 Posts |
Posted - 09/25/2004 : 16:53:40
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quote:
The pain is REALLY bad when I get off the couch or my chair at work.
This is all about conditioning and it is one of the most important concepts in TMS. (Dr. Sarno wishes he highlighted it more in his book.)
We are creatures of habit. If you're accustomed to getting pain under certain circumstances, then it has a strong tendency to continue. There is no magic bullet to breaking the conditioning; you just need to learn to ignore the pain, recognize that it is a product of conditioning, and do precisely those things that "cause" pain, without fear. |
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Kajsa
Denmark
144 Posts |
Posted - 09/26/2004 : 08:22:19
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AnneG
I love your post.
You write so well about the process. You are moderate and radical on the same time!
I wish I could write about my process like that but my english isnīt that good.
But itīs nice that you -so well -can express a lot of my own experiences!
Kajsa
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tdk
15 Posts |
Posted - 09/26/2004 : 09:35:28
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AnneG,
I am inspired by your awareness, persistence, and courage. Might I ask your age? I just turned 50 and am doing the "am I too old to get better" dance. Destructive behaviors are a long engrained pattern that is proving a bit difficult to change.
I just ordered a book for anxiety called "Been There, Done That, Do This." I will let everyone know if the techniques are helpful.
TDK |
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Suz
559 Posts |
Posted - 09/26/2004 : 15:14:46
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I would like to echo everyone's sentiments on how helpful Anne G is. Anne, you write so succinctly and thoughtfully. It has been tremendously helpful to me and I am very grateful
Cheers!
Suz |
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I am new here and could use some advice
