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Webdan65
USA
182 Posts |
 Posted - 08/07/2007 : 13:49:57
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I've been a member for over a year but truthfully haven't participated much on here. Mostly because I've been pain free. Until recently.
I'm a firm believer in TMS. Sarno's books helped me rid myself of pain that would come and go every 2-3 months and stay for about 2 weeks each time. I've been pain free for about 8 years now. (Except for minor annoyances which I laugh off.) I have all of Sarno's books and most of the other books on the topic by Sopher, Fred Amir, Rostocki's eBook and also have Sarno's video tapes and his books on Audio. I guess I became fascinated by TMS - it's affect on my life and have passionately dug into the topic pretty deeply over the years. Just ordered the Dr. Brady book too.
But here's the thing: Despite my awareness and belief in the process, if you don't maintain the proper thinking - the pain can creep back into your life as it did with me.
Recently I had a moderate attack. Came on when I was at the driving range. It didn't happen with one swing, but the "tightness" progressively got worse as I worked through the bucket until it was pain. It quickly dawned on me driving home in pain that I had a ton of stress going on. Financial concerns regarding my business, personal finance concerns, we were going away on vacation in a week and spending more money that we didn't have...just finished a particularly stressful dinner with my wife and 13 year old son and then had to deal with major complaints from my 13 year old son about his drum lessons. The attack started up that same night about an hour later. It was easy to see why it came about.
I got through it - made it through vacation and was on the road to recovery. 2 weeks later BAM - acute attack. This time bending over to sit in my home office chair. Again, told myself it was nothing huge - got dressed and went to bed since it was about that time anyway. Having felt those acute spasms before, deep down I knew I was in for a rough ride. (can you say programming? LOL. I expected the worst and guess what? I got the worst of it.)
Middle of the night - woke up in writhing pain - worse than I'd EVER felt. By the time the spasms subsided a little, I was drenched in sweat. Having found a single comfortable position, I was petrified to move and get out of bed in the morning. But - knowing what I know - I tried to get up and "oh crap" - waves of pain - fell to my knees gripping the bed. LOL
I made it to a laying down position on the hardwood floor where I was stuck for 14 hours. All the while, my wife asking if I wanted an ambulance or doctor or whatever. I told her to set up my phone, laptop, a container to pee in and some assorted necessities and sent her off to work. It would have just made things worse for her to sit and look at me all day as I worked through this attack. LOL
Knowing what I know - I was confident it would pass - but a bit concerned about why the attack returned and this time with a vengeance.
I think the moderate attack was a warning about the intense emotions and Stress I was feeling. In my hurry to get over it through a typical TMS approach - I must have glazed over the emotions and gotten mostly better. But since I didn't dig deep and stopped my reading and journaling when I started to feel somewhat better - the symptoms really came back hard.
Now here's a testament to the diagnosis - I was back up on my feet within two days despite not being able to get off the floor previously. The waves of spasm didn't allow me to roll over, let along stand up.
A few days later, I resumed most of my "around the house" activities - albeit painfully. With a heavy focus on journaling, re-reading Sarno, some quiet reflection of what was going on. 9 days after the 14 hour day on the floor - I was back on the golf course. And this wasn't a small bucket visit. This was a carry my own bag and walk a hilly course for 4+ miles.
My wife thought I was absolutely nuts golfing so soon - but I knew I just had to do it to prove to myself that it was nothing mechanical or physical. It worked. Sure, I was sore after playing (more mental programming and expecting it to hurt. LOL.) While I'm not 100 better yet - 3 weeks later, I'm 98% and not losing focus on the emotional aspects this time around.
I have to admit - in this time of retraining my brain - I recently joined a few groups on yahoo to see if there was anything useful and frankly it seems like those groups are mostly pity parties and have nothing in them but talk about recommended medicines and physical procedures. The overall theme being "I hope my doctor will be able to fix the pain". "I cry all day long". I tried to shed some TMS light on a few in off line messages and basically got nowhere. I won't be participating in those groups since my suggestions fell on deaf ears.
One of the groups was even called "screwed up spines" and the welcome message said - "don't you hate it when someone says it's all in your head. You won't get that here!" I knew right away that the group was so closed minded that they would never embrace Sarno's diagnosis.
It's nice to read messages in this forum and be in a group that understands TMS. To all those who post, you are truly doing a public service by offering advice and encouragement. (and sometimes the necessary blunt truth) LOL
So why is it that this TMS concept is so hard to grasp for most people? Even friends and family who saw me go from severe spasms and being stuck on my hardwood floor for 14 hours - to golfing 9 days later still look at me like I'm nuts when I tell them I don't need a doctor and that I have TMS.
My sister has digestion and reflux issues, my brother and father - back pain, my mother pain syndroms all over - close to the phantom fibromyalgia. All have emotional issues and despite my encouragement and proof that Sarno worked for me - they STILL don't buy into the program. ???
And for anyone going through some pain - stick with the program. Don't set a time limit because it does take some time. It works if you stick with it.
Thanks for listening!
Dan |
Edited by - Webdan65 on 08/07/2007 13:55:46 |
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sensei adam rostocki
USA
167 Posts |
Posted - 08/07/2007 : 14:36:42
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Hey Dan, A great reminder to all that the TMS cure is not a permanent fix unless it is reinforced and kept "up to date" using regular maintenance. People on here always love to wonder why they have recurrences when they have been previously “cured”. The answer is always the same…
Life creates new challenges and emotional issues CONSTANTLY. Sure, at the time of your cure, you got to the bottom of your repressions and made great progress, BUT…you did not keep up with the additional stresses since then. You emptied the glass, but did not go back to check if it was ever filling back up again. This is SOOOO common, but still seems to go over most people’s heads.
The lesson to be learned is to understand TMS and prevent future occurrences by reacting differently EVERYDAY to EVERYDAY stress. Training your mind and body must be a permanent process. Part of your program maintenance should be to search for any issues which might be bothering you on a regular basis. If you find something, think about it in great detail to work it all out and feel the pain, embarrassment, insecurity or fear your subconscious is trying to hide from you. If you do this, you WILL be well and STAY well… Best, Sensei
CURE-BACK-PAIN(dot)ORG |
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skizzik
USA
783 Posts |
Posted - 08/07/2007 : 14:50:10
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| nice post Dan, thanx for that. You too Sensei |
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justme
63 Posts |
Posted - 08/07/2007 : 16:52:06
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Thanks for the great post. Your comment about your sister and her reflux issues got me thinking about my own reflux issues. I HAVE to get started journalling. Anybody have any good ideas for journalling that allow for confidentiality? That is, I dont want people around my house finding my journal entries. Is there an easy way in Word to password a document? If so, what version of Word would you need to do this? Maybe a locked box with a journal inside it? - Seems like that would be hard to carry around.
Cant get past the logistics of it. |
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Webdan65
USA
182 Posts |
Posted - 08/07/2007 : 18:04:55
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Justme: My sister is a very interesting case. Her reflux issues started very soon after hearing that her son was diagnosed with autism a year ago. And it's only gotten worse as the stress of dealing with this new diagnosis and care required for her 3 year old builds. Despite a long conversation, evidence of my quick recovery and me offering her my copy of Sarno's Mind Body Prescription, she hasn't even started reading it. I know she has her hands full, but she'll be better capable of handling her son's challenges if she takes care of herself. I'll keep at her.
As for the journaling, you can get a free membership to what is typically considered a project management tool. Multiple to-do lists can be set up - but more importantly is the ability to write messages that will be saved in date order. It's an online service - password protected. And even though it's not designed as a personal journaling tool, it could be used as such.
This is not an advertisement and I have nothing to do with the site. I use it for myself and my business. But here it is. basecamphq.com. That is the company site and NOT an affiliate link. Again, it's project management based, but for someone looking for an online - password protected place to safely deposit their thoughts, this could work.
Me, I just write on page 1. of my paper based journal. "Charlotte - if you find this, DON'T READ IT!!! Read at your own risk." Charlotte is my wife. LOL I use a notebook that looks like 10 of my other work related books, so it's unlikely that she'll stumble on it unless she's on a quest to search for it.
Hope this helps!
Dan |
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skizzik
USA
783 Posts |
Posted - 11/26/2007 : 19:25:49
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I just had to bump up Webdan's story, as well as Sensei's response because it's just too inspirational to let drift off into the archives. A pot to piss in? Are you kiddin me
Plus theres a few newbies that can surely benefit besides the inspiration to my own recovery.
Why isn't this in Success stories? |
Edited by - skizzik on 11/26/2007 19:27:22 |
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mk6283
USA
272 Posts |
Posted - 11/26/2007 : 20:51:11
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Thanks so much for bumping this topic up as I am really glad that I had a chance to read it. I find TMS case-studies absolutely fascinating, especially the ones that so "neatly" correlate symptoms with emotions.
I think a very important point was also brought up by SAR, i.e., that the TMS cure is NOT permanent if one doesn't do the work to maintain it. I think this is where lifestyle modifications like exercise, meditation, and journaling can play a major "preventative" role in TMS therapy. After all, prevention is always the best medicine.
As far as journaling strategies/methods are concerned, I think using an old-fashioned pen and paper can actually be more therapeutic than typing into some fancy journaling software (at least in my personal experience that seems to ring true). As a matter of fact, Dr. James Pennebaker, who has done the most work in validating the role of therapeutic writing, seems to agree: "Writing with pen and paper is probably better than typing because it slows the process down," Pennebaker says. "You're forced to think more." I like to use a fountain pen when I journal; makes it more fun for me (plus I have a thing for fancy pens). Try it out. I think you'll enjoy it.
Best,
MK |
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fup
10 Posts |
Posted - 11/27/2007 : 01:54:47
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| mk6283: I journal using pencil and paper. Then I burn it, thereby symbolically ridding myself of those emotions. |
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skizzik
USA
783 Posts |
Posted - 11/27/2007 : 03:57:11
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quote:
Originally posted by mk6283
I think a very important point was also brought up by SAR, i.e., that the TMS cure is NOT permanent if one doesn't do the work to maintain it. I think this is where lifestyle modifications like exercise, meditation, and journaling can play a major "preventative" role in TMS therapy. After all, prevention is always the best medicine.
agree. Even Sarno says "there's nothing to cure, one simply applies the treatment, and gets better." |
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Scottydog
United Kingdom
330 Posts |
Posted - 11/27/2007 : 06:53:48
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I had always disliked my erratic handwriting then came across Your Handwriting Can Change Your Life by Vimala Rodgers (after I had started on my TMS journey).
Well, my life has definitely changed for the better and I now use neat handwritten script for my journalling. It may or may not have changed my life but if you believe it could be helping then it probably is.
Anne |
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armchairlinguist
USA
1397 Posts |
Posted - 11/27/2007 : 08:49:42
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FWIW, I journal mostly on the computer, and find it works really well for me, but that's how I've always done it. And I do enjoy writing in large letters angrily in my own handwriting sometimes.
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It's not 100% belief that's required, but 100% commitment. |
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