| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
Sean
34 Posts |
 Posted - 06/13/2007 : 11:01:29
|
In HBP Sarno mentions that allergies are somewhat of a TMS equivalent. I can't remember if he said it was totally a result of TMS or if there were just exaggerated. I find it odd that people (like me) develop allergies in their twenties after never having them. I'll have to check my HBP when I get home, but I can't remember if Sarno mentions if this only relates to constant or seasonal allergies.
Has anyone who has had success with TMS noticed their allergies have improved or gone away.
Just curious
|
|
|
mizlorinj
USA
490 Posts |
Posted - 06/13/2007 : 11:55:37
|
Now that you mention it, when it's "allergy season" I sneeze or get stuffy only when I feel I'm in an uncomfortable or unfamiliar situation. Or doing something I just don't want to do.
Hmmm. There is definitely an emotional equivalent for me. The book Mind/Body Health touches more on allergies, and how the body is finding whatever substance at the time disagreeable due to emotions.
-Lori |
 |
|
|
Gemma_Louise
United Kingdom
68 Posts |
Posted - 06/13/2007 : 12:23:51
|
| Yes, this is indeed interesting. Since I entered my twenties, I started sneezing in hay fever season. It mainly happens when I'm at work though...maybe there is some mindbody connection going on. Doesn't make sense that it would have anything to do with oxygen deprivation though. |
|
|
|
kilton
38 Posts |
Posted - 06/13/2007 : 14:25:58
|
First, there's no definitive list of which symptoms are TMS and which aren't. I believe that any health issue could theoretically be caused by the mind, one way or another.
Allergies occur when the immune system goes haywire by reacting to non-harmful particules such as dust & pollen as if they are bacterium or virii.
I strongly believe that immune system disorders such as allergies are TMS. To me the idea of allergies being TMS makes even more logical sense than pain being TMS -- pain can be caused by a physical problem, but I find it hard to believe that after millions of years of evolution our immune systems are so screwed up that 20-25% or more of the U.S. population's immune systems are busy fighting a 24/7 war against dust and pollen as if they are harmful invaders. It just doesn't make sense.
|
|
|
|
Lou
USA
41 Posts |
Posted - 06/13/2007 : 14:37:56
|
My original TMS symptons were allergy related... Constant Hives were the issue, and once they were under control from various medicines, the back and leg pain arrived.
Once I got the book, it became very clear me what was happening and when I meet with Sarno, he jumped all over the hives as a TMs equilavent...
Prior to seeing Sarno, I was taking daily meds for the hives for almost 4 years. I went cold turkey on the medicine and haven't had any hives or allergy issues since. It took longer to banish the back pain, but thats gone too! Had some distraction type pain along the way, but I've gotten better at dismissing it... |
|
|
|
altherunner
Canada
511 Posts |
Posted - 06/13/2007 : 19:36:47
|
| My allergies went away with my back pain. I had seasonal allergies since starting school. |
|
|
|
stanfr
USA
268 Posts |
Posted - 06/14/2007 : 02:39:08
|
| before my latest 'relapse' i was dealing with years of progressively worse sinus "infections" which actually behaved more like allergies: they started with sore throat and then transitioned to sinus congestion etc. This only got bad after i 'cured' myself of sciatica ten years ago, so im now convinced it was the symptom imperative and these sinus colds/allegies were tms equivalent. |
|
|
|
stefan
56 Posts |
Posted - 06/22/2007 : 23:06:39
|
For the last 14 years I've dealt with seasonal allergies on a daily basis, regardless of the time of year, 365 days, 24/7. I've lived on Claritin and Flo-Nase and a bunch of other nasal sprays and pills. There were times when I would easily go through a box of Kleenexes in a day. When I would find myself under extreme stress I would have to double up on meds. It would literally disable me to where all I could do is lay on my couch.
Well last November I read "The Mindbody Prescription" and went cold turkey on the meds. The allergies went away. I did well for 4 months. I considered that a success since for the last 14 years it was a yearlong battle. But come March all the TV and radio commercials started advertising their seasonal allergy pills, nasal sprays, etc. and then people I knew started complaining about their allergies getting worse, I did fine until my very manipulative brother in law asked me to help him with a house project. I had to make a long weekend of it and he wanted me to stay extra days, etc. etc. I like to help him but our personalities just don't jibe. I had the worst outbreak of allergies I can remember in a long time, it turned into a sinus infection, a course of antibiotics later, I was back to my normal pill popping, nasal spray self again. Then I got Dr. Sarno's Divided Mind latest book. Gave it another go at it. And this time I am off the meds for good. But I have to always nip it in the bud. As soon as I feel a twinge of allergies coming on I stop them right away with a dialogue inside my head, telling myself I can handle any bad emotion whatsoever, etc. And guess what? Even though others around me are blowing their noses, I am doing just fine. I'm sure it's not over but hey this is the first time in a long time I don't need to take pharmaeuticals to feel good. Thank you Dr. Sarno. If anyone else has some encouraging stories I am interested in hearing them. Thank you.
Ars Longa Vita Brevis |
|
|
|
kilton
38 Posts |
Posted - 06/30/2007 : 09:36:06
|
| Thanks Stefan. A great SuccessStory. |
|
|
|
carbar
USA
227 Posts |
Posted - 07/01/2007 : 21:28:26
|
Wow, Stefan.
Awesome story. My best friend in high school was very much like me with her perfectionist/TMS personality. She had bad allergy symptoms pretty much year round. She was always carrying a double wad of tissues with her at all times.
I started getting seasonal allergies in college, on top of my main TMS chronic pain symptom. For the past two years since reading Sarno I've had practically NOTHING even on the days when the pollen is coating the car windshields.
How freaking dangerous is it that allergies are so prevelant these days? Nature is one of the things that connections human beings to one another and stirs the soul (and maybe the inner child). If we are so busy vacuuming our hermetically sealed houses with HEPA filters, isn't the result going to be more cosmic loneliness and despair?
Scary. Scary.
|
|
|
|
ndb
209 Posts |
Posted - 07/01/2007 : 21:50:37
|
Yup, I can confirm as well that my allergies which started at 16 during a time of great stress are completely gone. I was on inhalers, Advair, Singulair and Claritin and other crap for years. I would get asthma attacks, and have difficulty breathing and the medicines seemed to alleviate it. I knew stress was involved, but I didn't know how to use that knowledge. But after understanding Sarno's theories, I was sure I could overcome the allergies and asthma on my own. I went cold turkey on the medicines a year ago, and haven't looked back. I no longer exhibit allergy symptoms.
Anyone can do it! |
|
|
|
stefan
56 Posts |
Posted - 07/03/2007 : 22:30:01
|
I just wanted to add that since I was a little kid I've had sinus congestion, etc. to where I couldn't breathe through my nose, so the only breathing I could do is through my mouth. That may not sound like a big deal to some, but let me tell you it's very annoying, frustrating, sometimes scary. Last few years I've been short of breath, the kind that you can't finish your sentence without sounding like a balloon losing air. All I can tell you is Oh how good it feels to be off the allergy meds, to be able to breath through my nose normally (after 35 yrs or so), not to be short of breath!
Dr. Sarno's first books seemed to concentrate mostly on back pain. The last couple show there are many TMS equivalents, including allergies and other breathing symptoms. I can testify that not only my sciatica back and leg pain, but things like arthritis and other mysterious body symptoms are no longer troubling me.
Also, to all you who have taken the time to write your stories I appreciate the support of all your contributed comments on this discussion. It is very encouraging to know I'm not the only one. Keep up the good work, despite the nay-sayers.
Stefan
Ars Longa Vita Brevis |
|
|
|
miehnesor
USA
430 Posts |
Posted - 07/04/2007 : 17:25:17
|
quote:
Originally posted by stefan
I just wanted to add that since I was a little kid I've had sinus congestion, etc. to where I couldn't breathe through my nose, so the only breathing I could do is through my mouth. That may not sound like a big deal to some, but let me tell you it's very annoying, frustrating, sometimes scary. Last few years I've been short of breath, the kind that you can't finish your sentence without sounding like a balloon losing air. All I can tell you is Oh how good it feels to be off the allergy meds, to be able to breath through my nose normally (after 35 yrs or so), not to be short of breath!
Stefan
I had double turbinate reduction surgery about 15 years ago because I couldn't breath through my nose. I've had awful allergy problems my whole life with asthma as a kid and allergy shots. Food allergies had also been a big problem but surprisingly the food allergies are almost nonexistant now. I still have seasonal allergy problems but even those seem to be getting better. I have a friend who was having bad hay fever allergies and trying to convince me to try raw apple cider vinegar. I told him that my allergies are getting better but there was an opportunity to check out allergy treatments recently because there are these trees that really put out the pollen that I have previously been reactive to. Well the pollen has come and gone and guess what. No allergic reaction! Guess I don't need to check out raw apple cider vinegar.
I do have one reaction that doesn't seem to change over time and that is that I often have difficulty swallowing food and have to drink a lot of water. It's very bizarre and I wonder if it is also perhaps a form of food allergy response. If anyone has any experience with that I would like to hear from you.
|
|
|
|
shawnsmith
Czech Republic
2048 Posts |
Posted - 07/04/2007 : 19:00:52
|
FROM DR SARNO'S "HEALING BACK PAIN" (the only back pain book I know that discusses allergies)
THE OVERACTIVE IMMUNE SYSTEM—ALLERGY
Though the idea is controversial, it is my view, based on experience with patients who have had both TMS and allergic rhinitis (hay fever), that some of the common allergies of adult life are equivalents of TMS, that is, they are brought on by emotional factors. People invariably say when this is discussed, “Oh, but hay fever is caused by things like pollens, dust and molds; how can you say it’s due to tension?” If ten people are standing in a field of grass pollen, not all of them will begin to sneeze, only the allergic ones. What is the difference between the nonallergic and the allergic people? The immune systems of the latter have become overactive under the influence of tension, the repressed feelings we have been talking about. This has been demonstrated, not occasionally, but repeatedly in TMS patients who have been told in the the course of their learning experience that hay fever is a TMS equivalent and can be eliminated in the same way that TMS can. And they do it.
Mr. G. reported at one of the small group meetings that he has suffered from fall hay fever for seventeen years—but not this year! He took to heart what he had heard and, miracle, experienced no hay fever that season.
For years I have been allergic to whatever it is that cats exude (we used to call it dander but now we’re told it may be something in their saliva which dries on their meticulously licked fur and then floats into the air). If I walk into a house and and don’t know that a cat lives there, my eyes begin to itch. I usually start rubbing them without thinking. Then kitty walks into the room and I say, “Ah—now I know the reason for the itchy eyes,” and they stop itching. That happens because I know that allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis are two of my mind’s tension repertoire, and as stated in chapter 4 on treatment, to recognize these conditions for what they are is to invalidate them—and symptoms then cease.
Most of the medical community rejects the idea that emotions have anything to do with allergy. These two examples can’t be explained in any other way. They show that something is at work besides an autonomous immune system reacting to inhaled substances; how could one get the symptoms to stop simply by thinking? Clearly, the same mental-emotional dynamics are at work here as those described in the treatment chapter. I do not have evidence that this “knowledge therapy” will work with any of the other common allergies and so I will say nothing about them, except if I had one of them I would certainly zero in on emotional factors in my life.
Incidentally, acknowledging the role of emotions does not preclude the use of conventional medical treatment.
*******
Sarno-ize it!
Read chapter 4 of Dr. Sarno's "The Divided Mind." It's all you need to know in order to recover. |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
Allergies
