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LadyBug
USA
54 Posts |
 Posted - 05/29/2007 : 07:27:37
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OK, having read Mind Over Back Pain and HBP, I know no one can answer this question but I can't help but ask it. I realize that time will pass whether I have Sarno's knowledge or not. Almost 3 years of my life have been taken from me since this back pain started. And I figure the future would pass anyway, even if I were still in pain. But now that I know about TMS, it feels just out of my reach. I can honestly say that I do not remember what it feels like to not have pain. It has become such a deep part of my every thought and movement. It has worn away at who I really am, it has taken from me my humor, the basic-ness of who I am. I have the tools now to heal myself. I am going to give it all I have left. I first began reading on May 11th, so on June 1st it will be 3 weeks. That is nothing compared to 3 yrs of chronic back pain. I know in my heart it is TMS, I fit the profile. I feel like I was just about to drown and these books were thrown into the water. If you would write and tell me something of your experience, knowing it has nothing to do with mine, maybe I could at least hope for a time line. Has anyone suffered for years and recovered in weeks? Or can I expect it to take longer? I just want to live my life. Nothing fancy, no cartwheels. Just walking would be great. Several hours of each day are spent lying in my bed crying and it is getting so old. I have something to contribute to this world and I just want to live my life. I will do THE STEPS. I have the knowledge. When might it happen?
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished |
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armchairlinguist
USA
1397 Posts |
Posted - 05/29/2007 : 08:07:54
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quote:
If you would write and tell me something of your experience, knowing it has nothing to do with mine, maybe I could at least hope for a time line.
No one can tell you the time line. It is literally different for everybody. It can be instant and it can take years.
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Has anyone suffered for years and recovered in weeks?
Yes.
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Or can I expect it to take longer?
Yes.
You cannot assign a time line to this. Perfectionist TMSers always want to but it's not possible.
How long it takes will depend on your grasp of the concepts, on how you do the work, on whether you feel comfortable getting back to activity early on or want to start later with more confidence.
The important things are always the same. Read the 12-reminders thread for a refresher: it is TMS and there is nothing physically wrong. Journal and think psychological. What are the emotional factors that could be involved in your pain (childhood experience, personality characteristics, daily life pressures)? Believe in TMS and in yourself. You can be in charge and not your unconscious mind.
You may want to do more reading. MOBP and HBP are the oldest of Sarno's books and some people find the new material or other material more helpful. I think you might find Fred Amir's Rapid Recovery From Back and Neck Pain inspiring and helpful. He believes that many or most people can have a fast recovery (as do I, it's just that you really can't assign a timeline!), and his personal story goes from severe disability to full recovery over a few months using deconditioning techniques and goal-setting.
--
Wherever you go, there you are. |
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tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 05/29/2007 : 08:17:25
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Hi LB,
Good post! Walking is a very normal activity. Now that you have accepted that you have TMS, you will be doing it in no time, and no time is NOW!
Just get up out of bed, walk out your door, and and you will be walking. Before long you will be thinking about training for a marathon.
No one can answer your question accept YOU. You are asking about the CALENDAR EFFECT. To learn more about it do a SEARCH of those words.
Also SEARCH for "successstories" to see others experiences.
Read Dr. Sarno's latest book THE DIVIDED MIND to get the latest re-fomulation of "TMS knowledge penicilin" and then read Dr. Marc Sopher's book, which fleshes it out nicely, in words that resonate with me at least. But mainly, quit crying two hours a day, walk out your door, and walk around your block and you will be walking.
Good Luck! You can do this and do it NOW! Then have a choclate chip cookie.
Some of my favorite excerpts from " _THE DIVIDED MIND_ " :
http://www.tmshelp.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2605
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Edited by - tennis tom on 05/29/2007 10:11:02 |
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Dave
USA
1864 Posts |
Posted - 05/29/2007 : 09:00:51
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| IMO asking this question is detrimental to the treatment process. It is essential to take a long-term view. This is not like a diet where you have a goal of losing 10 pounds and expect to reach it in 3 months. It is a permanent change in your entire way of thinking. With a diet, you inevitably gain the weight back when you return to old habits. With TMS it is exactly the same. The only way to permanently lose weight is to change your attitude towards food and exercise. To permanently cure TMS you must change your attitude towards chronic pain. You must unlearn habits that have plagued you for many years. Trust the process and don't worry about how long it will take. |
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electraglideman
USA
162 Posts |
Posted - 05/29/2007 : 09:27:18
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Hello LadyBug, for goodness sake stop laying in bed 2 hours a day crying about your pain. REMEMBER, PAIN MAKES COWARDS OF US ALL! At one point in my life I had to crawl on my hands and knees from the bed to the bathroom because I was in so much pain. It was horrible.
Use those 2 hours by journaling and reading Sarno. When you get through with that do as TT says and go for a walk. The next day walk a little farther. For many of us it is a slow process. If it were easy we wouldn't need this forum.
YOU CAN DO IT! |
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LadyBug
USA
54 Posts |
Posted - 05/29/2007 : 10:30:38
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TT - What is the name of Dr. Marc Sopher's book? Have been looking for The Divided Mind and I will find it. Just haven't as yet.
Guys - I do walk. I go to the store. I went to a Memorial Day cook out yesterday. I do what I have to do, it hurts like hell. So when I say "walk", I guess I just mean how most folks do it, without pain. It's when the day is late and I am tired and in so much pain... that is when the crying begins. I haven't laid down and given up. Yet.
Thank you for all of your posts. Please keep them coming. I need to hear all of it.
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished |
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tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 05/29/2007 : 10:49:16
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To Be or Not TO Be...Pain-Free (The Mindbody Syndrome)
Marc D. Sopher, M.D.
Thanks for the clarification on what you meant by your "walking". Good timing, LB, I'm about to go out for a little stroll in a moment. I've gotten complacent and lazy about it lately, saving my energies for the tennis courts, where I limp.
If I walk for about 20 minutes, my limp evaporates and disappears. The muscles causing the limp, perhaps, in an unnecessay unconscious attempt to protect the joint, will release and let-go. I'm trying to replicate this on the courts but it is diffiult due to the emotional pressures of competition (or lack there-of).
When I do my walk, I do it alone so I can pay attention to the release. If somone else is along, I can't concentrate on my work and it doesn't happen.
Stay at it, your pain is real but it is NOT due to a structural injury at the limb but in the gray-matter. Yoke the two sites--mind over mind over matter.
Some of my favorite excerpts from " _THE DIVIDED MIND_ " :
http://www.tmshelp.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2605
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Jeff
USA
68 Posts |
Posted - 05/29/2007 : 12:42:38
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| For what it's worth, my experience is that each of us takes a different amount of time to truly accept -- in our heart, soul and being -- that the pain is caused by TMS. So long as there is some doubt nibbling away at your belief, the TMS will be resistant to going away. It is not enough to believe it intellectually, or to believe it most of the time, or to want to believe it -- you have to completely believe in the deepest part of your being that what is occurring does not have a physical cause. For some people, that happens quickly and the pain goes away quickly. For others (including me), it is a longer process. I agree with those who say ignore the calendar. I would recommend that you just focus on the psychological. |
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LadyBug
USA
54 Posts |
Posted - 05/29/2007 : 19:16:17
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Thanks for all of your replies. Believe me, there is no doubt in my mind. I have accepted this. TT : I am already in possesion and reading TDM. You are correct, it is more recent and I am devouring it. In the first few pages I was ENRAGED to read that laminectomy in no way relieves lower back pain. I endured that surgery last November and he is so right. I am glad that I have found this dx, is it ok if I wish I had found it sooner?
Is it "normal" (that is, does it sound familiar?) that as I am learning about all this and mentally (and journaling) making my way thru the recesses of my mind.....I am so pi**** off. I am ready to go off on anyone in my way today.
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished |
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skizzik
USA
783 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2007 : 17:06:41
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quote:
Originally posted by Dave
IMO asking this question is detrimental to the treatment process. It is essential to take a long-term view. This is not like a diet where you have a goal of losing 10 pounds and expect to reach it in 3 months. It is a permanent change in your entire way of thinking. With a diet, you inevitably gain the weight back when you return to old habits. With TMS it is exactly the same. The only way to permanently lose weight is to change your attitude towards food and exercise. To permanently cure TMS you must change your attitude towards chronic pain. You must unlearn habits that have plagued you for many years. Trust the process and don't worry about how long it will take.
perhaps this is my weakness, as a former Sarno recoverer I get frustrated anxious that I can't get rid of the pain. Maybe I need to start over fresh. The first go around, I was significantly better after the first few chapters. Then 100% pain free in 3-4mos.
But perhaps it was just a crash diet and I should've continued exploring my unconcious over the next few unbelievable changing years. Perhaps the gremlin was just re-charging and pounced at the perfect opprotunity. |
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How Long Might This Take?
