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art
1903 Posts |
 Posted - 07/29/2012 : 19:58:10
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...else who care to take a stab..
I'm more than halfway toward believing that swelling can be stress induced. SteveO calls it part of the TMS process, but what does that really mean? My understanding is that TMS refers to psychosomatic pain, and swelling since it involves a manifest physical reaction, is by definition not psychosomatic...
But if we settle on "stress induced", we open the gates to a vast spectrum of disorders and illnesses that once set in motion cannot be reversed quickly, if at all by relying on stress reduction alone. In the case of swelling, we ignore that at our peril it seems to me. I've been talking recently about a swollen knee I ignored for weeks on the hopeful assumption it was TMS, and was rewarded for my trouble with a torn quadricep tendon along with, as a kind of bonus prize, a blood clot.
Speaking of blood clots, Ace who's a physician believes they too are or can be stress induced. Most physicians are quite adamant they should be treated with blood thinners, though ace thinks they can be treated by mind/body techniques if I'm understanding him correctly. Though he does concede there's alway the risk of a piece of clot breaking off and taking a little trip up river where it can do real mischief...Of course, that can happen anyway.
Don't know what I'm getting at exactly. I guess it's this, that I'm looking for a better understanding of the difference between psychosomatic and "stress induced" or" stress related" and what those differences mean in a practical sense. I've had a few run-ins with bursitis recently, and while I now am much closer to accepting the role of stress in bursitis, I can't see the wisdom of ignoring an inflamed, leaking joint.
Anyway, thought it might make for a good discussion. Thanks to all for a great forum..
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Edited by - art on 07/29/2012 21:09:26 |
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MichaelB
USA
79 Posts |
Posted - 07/29/2012 : 20:38:36
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| Well put Art. I also have symptoms that seem strange. I take blood thinner because of clots close to the surface of the skin. Just the same, I am taking blood thinner. I wish I could use MindBody techniques to stop the clots. Right now I have what seem to be temperature, but w/o the an actual temp.. I also thank you to adding to the forum. Combined we may find a lot answers. |
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Joy_I_Am
United Kingdom
138 Posts |
Posted - 07/30/2012 : 05:49:04
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Crikey, Art, that must have been a shake-up. I guess this is a case where you go and get something checked out by a doctor, just to confirm you're okay (and if it doesn't turn out to be TMS, that's fine too, because the body can also be genuinely ill or injured!)
I was also wondering if it's a niggle that you read so much about the ailments of age, and think 'I don't have to buy into this alarmist propaganda' - then when you get one of those ailments, it knocks you back a bit? Like a nasty little voice saying 'You can be as Sarno as you want, but the ageing's gonna get ya, just like everyone else!' I get this. For example, I remember as a kid seeing the wrinkles on my mother's lip, and thinking 'I will never let myself go like that!', as if I could stave off ageing by sheer force of will! But now the wrinkles come, and I have to remind myself that it's not because I don't eat perfectly or exercise maniacally or I have a thyroid problem or I have a wasting skin illness, yadda yadda...
Maybe it's the difference between seeing normal ageing as a natural thing, not an illness to be conquered. Maybe sometimes your knee swells because the old tissue takes a battering, and doesn't heal as quickly as when you're younger. I don't even know if I've answered your question...
Hope you're well, Art!
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balto
839 Posts |
Posted - 07/30/2012 : 09:43:15
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Years ago I have severe arthritis in my fingers. Many of the finger's knuckles were swelled very big and painful. It went away when I started to "think" they are tms symptoms.
I got swellings in my groin and on my knees that went away when I "think" they are tms too. I'm not totally convince they are tms, but I think go away when I convinced myself that they are.
Maybe they were tms. Or maybe because I was able to stop my fear of it and that help with my "peace of mind" which boosted my immune system to a level strong enough to rid my body of swellings and infection. I don't know.
My thouhgt is just make sure we have our symptoms check out by a doctor then apply tms "wisdom" along with whatever precribed by your doctor. A positive attitude and peaceful mind does wonder for our health I think.
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No, I don't know everything. I'm just here to share my experience. |
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Ace1
USA
1040 Posts |
Posted - 07/30/2012 : 12:48:59
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| Dear Art if you read my replies to you when we discussed this before, I did not say not to take blood thinners. I just said the basic root is TMS. I also said that while MIs, CVA, have the same basic cause, that doesn't mean they can't kill you. So take what is prescribed as to prevent the bad things from happening until you can reverse your minds revved up state. You might say how do i know I reversed my minds state, well, I think when you feel like you did when you were a child (if you were healthy as a child). BTW, I didnt get that from SteveO, if you look at my posts from the very beginning, I had said the same thing (so he and I agree on this concept) Good luck |
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tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 07/30/2012 : 15:38:40
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quote:
Originally posted by balto
Maybe they were tms. Or maybe because I was able to stop my fear of it and that help with my "peace of mind" which boosted my immune system to a level strong enough to rid my body of swellings and infection.
Nice post Balto! That's a very advanced TMS way of thinking.
Cheers |
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tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 07/31/2012 : 00:35:04
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| Regarding swelling, Steve Ozanich in "GPD" describes what may have been in Yogic tradition a kundalini awakening experience, when his hands swelled up, while reading Dr. Sarno's first book, "MIND OVER BACK PAIN". |
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art
1903 Posts |
Posted - 07/31/2012 : 09:50:58
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Ace, sorry I misinterpreted, but if you read what you wrote closely, you do seem to be leaving it open, as to whether to be treated medically or not...although in fairness it does seem you're suggesting consideration of any non-medical treatment should be postponed until one feels mentally equipped.
You wrote:
"Ive even had some people who give me a history of ignoring a leg swelling, which was probably a blood clot and it went away on its own. Unfortunently, if you dont treat it medically, there is a risk it could travel to the lung and in rare cases can result in death, but thats the same as someone with heart disase etc, that Dr. Sarno clearly mentions in the divided mind as being a mind body disorder. So its a balance on what to do, maybe the right thing would be to treat yourself medically until you think your "there" and then you'd probably be fine. I think your a prime candidate for the use of mind power to calm or relax you unconscious mind as Ive mentioned on my previous poste. Good luck" |
Edited by - art on 07/31/2012 09:56:10 |
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jennypeanut
103 Posts |
Posted - 07/31/2012 : 11:05:41
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I have swelling in my fingers that mimics arthritis even though two Rhuems & my GP say it's not arthritis. I was reading about Fibromyalgia the other night (TMS I know) and lots of those sufferers report swelling, esp in fingers. I DO think it's part of TMS. My most recent experience with TMS was joint pain. Since finding Sarno, Steve O, this site, etc. the joint pain progressively got better till it was almost completely resolved. Recently I have started doing a work out video that is widely known as "hard on the knees" (though I only discovered this after getting awful knee pain afterward, then looking at reviews of the workout on amazon). Anyway, because I began to experience knee pain again, my joint pain has suddenly resumed (in other joints like the fingers which I wasn't using to exercise) and they feel stiff and swollen again with rings tight. So... that tells me that the fear of joint pain returned from actual physical-induced joint pain in the knees (lunges, jumping jacks) thus offering my old TMS symptoms the open door to return along with swelling in the fingers.  |
Edited by - jennypeanut on 07/31/2012 11:08:04 |
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Ace1
USA
1040 Posts |
Posted - 07/31/2012 : 17:39:24
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| Yes art, I don't know all the answers and I was posing it in that manner. I suggested that maybe wait till your there and then rely on your new found health. How someone would know for sure that their there is hard but I think when you feel completely healthy which does take mind power to accomplish. I am pretty sure however that it related to tms |
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andy64tms
USA
589 Posts |
Posted - 07/31/2012 : 19:44:55
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Hi Art,
I am interested in your knee problem. Were you not in severe pain when your quadriceps tendon got torn? An injury bad enough to cause swelling, MRIs and subsequent doctors visits would also have told you it’s not TMS in an instant. Was it during the “tough it out” period and your views on swelling that you started to lean towards TMS? My experience has been that the swelling is there to isolate and immobilize the injury and is considered normal, I haven’t read SteveO’s book yet for other views.
I hurt my knee windsurfing four weeks ago. The pain was excruciating, but lessoned after 5 minutes or so enough to continue windsurfing. Having so much fun I repeated the injury twice since then, getting quite angry at myself at times. I even started musing the pain was aggravated by my TMS anger, as I missed out on prime windsurfing sessions.
Your post prompted me to go to Dr, Google where I found excellent images and a perfect explanation for my problem: a minor tear of the medial collateral ligament on the inside of the knee, similar to a clipping injury in football. Having the same injury three times I definitely know it is not TMS and the suggested heal time is two to six weeks. So I hope I’ve firmly planted these thoughts in my sub-conscious by writing this post, and I have appeased my anger by kayaking and swimming for a few weeks.
Andy
Past TMS Experience in 2000, with success.
Taking a break from Wiki Edu. due to windsurfing priorities
Charlie horse on neck for 20 years. (to be evicted soon.)
Books: Healing Back Pain
& Unlearn your Pain |
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balto
839 Posts |
Posted - 08/01/2012 : 21:15:56
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Hi Art, read the paragraph in bold face font below. (I copied this from CBS)
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(CBS News) Even mild cases of anxiety or depression might take years off a person's life, new research suggests. The British researchers behind the new study say these mental health woes, collective called psychological distress, may lead to premature deaths from major causes such as heart disease or even seemingly unrelated ones like fatal car crashes.
The study, published July 31 online in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), looked at death risk in 68,000 adults over 35 who were involved in previous studies from 1994 to 2004. Reviewing mental health surveys given to the study participants along with mortality data, the researchers and found those with mental health issues were more likely to die than their stress-free counterparts.
Video: Higher risk of heart problems for women with stressful jobs
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The greater the level of psychological distress, the more likely a person was to die of heart disease, cancer or even external causes of death like accidents and injuries.
Specifically, those with the highest levels of psychological distress were 41 percent more likely to die a cancer-related death, the researchers found.
However even people displaying minor symptoms of psychological distress were found to have a 20 percent increased risk of dying over the 10-year study period, compared to those who were free of anxiety or depression.
"Currently these people - a quarter of the adult population - are unlikely to come to the attention of mental health services due to these symptoms and may not be receiving treatment," study author Dr. Tom Russ, an Alzheimer's researcher at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, said in a journal press release.
People with subclinical symptoms of distress were 29 percent more likely to die of heart disease and 29 percent more likely to die from an external cause than those without distress.
Study author Dr. David Batty, a research fellow in the department of epidemiology and public health at University College London, said in a written statement that the researchers' analysis factored in unhealthy behaviors such as obesity, lack of exercise, smoking and alcohol consumption, and the death risks remained.
"Therefore this increased mortality is not simply due to people with higher levels of psychological distress having poorer health behaviors," Batty said.
The researchers theorize that mental health problems may cause biological changes in the body that increase a person's risk for diabetes and heart disease.
Dr. Christopher Cove, a cardiologist and associate professor of medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center in N.Y., told Health.com that increases in adrenaline and other stress-related body chemicals can cause the fatty plaques in narrowed arteries to rupture, causing blood clots, heart attacks and strokes. Cove, who was not involved in the new study, also said psychological distress can distract someone, potentially leading to fatal accidents.
According to WebMD, finding a proper balance between your work and personal life, getting enough sleep, adopting a healthy diet with exercise, and getting support from your family, peers or a professional may help people reduce their stress.
Or try forcing a smile. New research found people who held their face in a smiling position had a lower heart rate following a stressful situation.
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No, I don't know everything. I'm just here to share my experience. |
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Wavy Soul
USA
779 Posts |
Posted - 08/02/2012 : 22:32:53
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Balto: This is a great line:
"Maybe they were tms. Or maybe because I was able to stop my fear of it and that help with my "peace of mind" which boosted my immune system to a level strong enough to rid my body of swellings and infection. I don't know."
Art: As you know, I sympathize, since I have an abundant gamut of difficult symptoms ranging from the big C to frequent P-ing...
When I didn't know my C diagnosis, and was bleeding heavily, I went to someone (not from this board or anyone well-known in TMS) who advised me to just ignore it in a kind of "yell at the pain and go on as if nothing is happening" approach. Fortunately I sensed it was bull****, although the person was quite persuasive. I'm REALLY glad I went and got extensive testing and caught my problem and had surgery.
I suppose if I had gone the other way, there is a chance that my condition would have reversed - I do know people who have beat cancer by ignoring it.
But since I'm not so great at resolving some quite petty TMS problems, there is no way I'm going to take risks with the big stuff, and I think that's what you're feeling Art.
Sending love x
Love is the answer, whatever the question |
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Cath
116 Posts |
Posted - 08/03/2012 : 08:06:04
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Hi Art
Sorry you're going through such a bad time. In my humble opinion, a blood clot is definitely something I would seek medical intervention on. And if I had swelling with heat and pain, I would also seek help from a Doc too before attributing it to TMS. I really buy into the whole TMS theory, and am convinced that my 3-4 years of ongoing pain were stress-induced. But until recently I didn't connect my skin cancer with TMS at all, and frankly, if I had, and not had it removed surgically I'm positive things would have been a whole lot worse, because even though I have marginally improved pain-wise, I still have a long way to go before I can say I have recovered.
I know how you must be feeling, because as you may remember, my Doc had referred me yet again to a specialist dermatologist about another patch of skin he thought was almost certainly another BCC. I'm still only 3 weeks into recovery from the removal of the last one. Last night, I saw the specialist, and he disagreed with my Doc. He said it was sun damage, and he could treat it with cream. Until that moment, there had been a dark cloud hanging over me, and my relief was palpable. I punched the air, with a big 'YES" as I walked out of his office. For the last two days, I have been reciting affirmations to myself, that my skin is clear and healthy, as I had started to read the book Ace1 recommended to me by John Kehoe. I know it probably didn't work that quickly, and that this was luck on my part, but feeling positive, and trying to be in the best physical condition you can be, must play a big part in staying healthy.
I think what I'm trying to say, is both the medical profession, and the mind-body techniques need to work alongside one another. The mind-body techniques can help to keep us disease-free, and make us feel better about ourselves and help to stay positive, but it's not nailed on that we're never going to need the medics, because sometimes, the damage is already done. It's when the medics have done all their tests, and say to you, all they can offer are drugs, because basically they don't have an answer for your pain/swelling/sweating etc. etc. that we can definitely say that ongoing symptoms can be attributed to the record that's stuck somewhere inside our heads, and keeps on replaying.
By the way, thanks Ace1 for the recommendation of the book if you're reading these posts - it's really helping to make me feel more positive.
Art - do whatever you have to do to get yourself better. I'm sure this bad time will pass. |
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art
1903 Posts |
Posted - 08/03/2012 : 18:10:07
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"But since I'm not so great at resolving some quite petty TMS problems, there is no way I'm going to take risks with the big stuff, and I think that's what you're feeling Art. "
Right wavy. Just so. And yet there's always that hard to pin down middle ground stuff. And even more confounding, even small stuff can get big, given enough hopeful neglect.
This stuff is humbling. I really had things under control, or so I thought for years. But the aging factor has really been confounding. Stuff I ignored with barely a second thought is now not so easy.
The only way I can deal with all this is to change the classic, is it real or TMS question to an affirmative statement along the lines of "Real or not real, I will accept either eventuality with serenity and strength."
Cath..
I'm really very happy for you on the skin cancer. It's a good lesson, in the importance of seeking out a specialist when the stakes are high. I also like your balanced approach. Been here for 7 years, and still learning.
Of course, I've always been a slow learner :-) |
Edited by - art on 08/03/2012 18:11:25 |
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Wavy Soul
USA
779 Posts |
Posted - 08/04/2012 : 21:57:39
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Yeah, this stuff is humbling. There are moments when I feel like a "guru" in this field. Then something sneaks up on me and I feel like a beginner again.
I have been musing on the "either/or-ness" of the questions in this thread.
Personally, I do what I can for my health, and I experiment a lot with diet, nutrients, various kinds of exercise, and so on. I could hardly live without coffee enemas. And I go every so often to my doc to get my bloodwork done and check in on the basics. If there is a clear problem that some non-noxious remedy can help, I take it. I am practically bionic woman as regards bioidentical hormones, for every gland in my body. Have been doing this for years on and off - feel better when I do and my levels go up. Btw, I'm not asking anyone's opinion on this.
Why I'm saying this is so many times I see that people are asking whether they should be doing physical things for problems they are having. It becomes a stressful conflict, and sometimes TMS fundamentalists weigh in with ponderous comments like "you are thinking physical, so your symptoms will never go away."
But life isn't black and white. As I said above, I was very close to ignoring my cancer. And I have found that my sensitive body responds quite differently to different kinds of nutrition and it's totally absurd to me if someone thinks that's a placebo. With the current state of the world food, which is about a quarter as nutritious as 50 years ago, according to very serious scientists, I want to give myself the best shot I can at health - i.e. organic, and so on.
This isn't a cult like Christian Science where we approve or disapprove of people taking physical pathways to resolve problems. Really, it's when those don't work that we become more convinced it's TMS, if it is. And even if we fix it physically, and it was TMS, it will just move somewhere else. There isn't some great virtue in defeating TMS without trying to resolve the symptoms. As someone said somewhere, if you were growing grass and you put a big rock on it, it would wilt and go yellow under the rock. The first step to fixing the grass would obviously be to roll away the rock (sounds Christian!), and then to feed and water the grass and "gentle" it.
I have had to do the same with my symptoms. I treat myself gently. Although I am still recovering from a level of prolonged trauma and resulting ongoing PTSD that is almost scary to think of, and therefore still have some TMS, I HAVE overcome many, many TMS symptoms - fatigue and dry eyes are the main ones left. But a lifetime of back problems is down from 90% to 10% bothersome. I had suicidally painful TMJ and affirmed my way out of it (this is TMS this is TMS).
So I'm advocating a gentle, both/and approach. Most of us are not able to do the heroics that a few "success stories" imply are necessary and possible. In my profession, it's pretty widely known that everyone has a success story early on in a new modality. It's then how well the changes integrate over your whole life that is the real transformation. Yeah, from reading the books, you could have a "cure..." And then some of us go back to having to navigate a complicated, nuanced path, doing the best we can to apply the principles imperfectly.
Nighty night
Love is the answer, whatever the question |
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Cath
116 Posts |
Posted - 08/05/2012 : 07:03:55
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Wow! Well said Wavy, and so beautifully put. I was introduced to Dr Sarno's books only a year ago by a physiotherapist and clinical nutritionist, and I am still struggling to become a virtuous follower of his ethics. I have also recently read SteveO's book, and was truly inspired and awed by his personal struggle with his own TMS symptoms. I think when you read these books, you're looking for a manual to follow, which will miraculously cure your particular problem. And I know SteveO did try to cover all the bases with a very comprehensive set of instructions. But we're all invividuals, and we've all had so many varied life experiences that have culminated in our own set of problems and symptoms - one size definitely doesn't fit all.
I too have experimented with a lot of different exercises, therapy and nutrition. I now stick to a very healthy diet, which has stabilised my weight, and gives me the energy to deal with my own struggle with TMS. I also know what my sensitive body can tolerate in the way of food, and what it can't, by way of elimination, trial and error. I did try SteveO's method of "toughing it out" by pounding the pavements in my running shoes for a short while, but this really wasn't for me. It may have worked when I was a good deal younger, but the ageing process has advanced a little too far, and a gentler approach definitely suits me more now.
I have journalled prolifically, seen a TMS therapist, and been through a programme, and while my pain has lessened, it's still not gone, despite my best efforts to think psychologically, and I feel as though I have wrestled with every demon in my head that I can possibly think of. Either there is a demon buried deep inside of me, or I just haven't reached that perfect state of peace that my body needs to truly heal.
Whatever it is, I will keep trying, and looking for the size that fits me. |
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tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 08/05/2012 : 08:39:13
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quote:
Originally posted by Cath
...or I just haven't reached that perfect state of peace that my body needs to truly heal.
...Whatever it is, I will keep trying, and looking for the size that fits me.
Nice posts ladies! Cath, not to judge a post or life by a word, but it may be a Freudian slip that you wrote of searching for a "perfect state of peace" before allowing your TMS cure. Perfectionism is a TMS'er personality trait. Even if you are living in the wilderness or at an ashram, it will still be hard to find a "perfect state" of most anything. Life will find ways of intruding. Perhaps, in your case, you need to stop searching and accept what is. I'm learning to stop tryingto do everything perfectly--who cares? The things that are important to me, I try to do well, but all the routine stuff, I don't care about so much anymore. In the end no one will give a hoot if my chopsticks are all the same length.
I believe SteveO mentions there may never be an end to pain. When it fades into the background, of what you are doing and is no longer serving the purpose of distracting from the emotional--that is the cure. There may be pain, but it is not preventing you from doing what you want to do. For example, after 20 minutes of walking, my hip pain fades away. Now, I need to have that occur in the stop/start of tennis. When the pain is no longer the focus, that is the cure.
Was there any conclusion with your TMS therapist as to why you were not "cured"?
G'luck |
Edited by - tennis tom on 08/05/2012 14:47:54 |
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SteveO
USA
272 Posts |
Posted - 08/05/2012 : 14:36:48
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Thanks for your post Cath, twas needed
This is important and deserves a response. I've been thinking about this for a couple months and have been too busy to get back here, but your post pushed me to finally sit down and try to explain what I see happening. I get about 60-70 emails per month now, on TMS, asking about healing. About 10% come from this group. Of those who seem to be struggling more than others I can now make a fair generalization.
This week I had two more people email me saying my book had completely taken their pain away--pain they had for many years, and tried everything to vanquish. Another person emailed me to say he was really close but didn't want to jinx it by prematurely partying. The distinction between what they did and others are doing becomes clearer. Did vs. doing. One acts, one gathers. People who seem to be "stuck" (for want of a better word and bringing in neurotransmitters) are doing similar things.
Here is a composite statement: "I read all of Sarno's books in a week, then I read Schubiner's one night, then I read Fred's the next day, then I read SteveO's this month (because the damn thing is so long), and I'm not healed yet."
I can visualize them sitting frustrated on the floor with this pile of TMS books next to them in a pyramid--dazed and confused. It's a classic Type T response--the seeking of the grail through perfection. They seem to feel that by reading all the books that something they may run across will suddenly begin to heal them. This is not what knowledge therapy means. Knowledge therapy means healing through awareness through information. Piling up volumes of the same information doesn't seem to work for the majority. It's far greater to keep integrating more deeply the same information from one source. I wore out HBP as the pages fell out and I had to buy new copies, and listened to the tapes of it well over 500 hundred times.
All I needed was HBP. Many have healed from devastating pain with only MOBP, and even more with just MBP. That is proof that you may only need one "set" of information. Less is often more. In my repetition chapter my intent was to get people to reread, not necessarily to serial read.
When I wrote my book I had already helped quite a few people heal; they were the ones that talked me into writing it all down--so I knew it worked. Dr. Sarno read my book and said he was "happy to endorse it," so did Drs. Sopher, Miller, Northrup, Travis and Pelletier. I didn't just write down my opinions, I wrote down everything I used to heal, and what others used to heal. Everything needed is in there, unless...
I threw the kitchen sink into an encyclopedia of TMS healing, knowing that there is something in there for everyone. My purpose was to show how I healed, and to pull all of Dr. Sarno's work together, (and the other TMS info out there) to explain how he was correct in everything he proclaimed and how it intertwined with my life. And it's working, the increasing successes are proof. If someone can't find a pathway out from what I laid down the resistance is within the sufferer. The material is sound. A small few, as I described in great detail in my book, are too arrogant to accept the message because they complain about everything, it's their personality to be agitators, and no one will ever tell them what to do, They will find my book "greatly under-impressive." Many people have TMS because they have bosses and spouses like these people. That's why I spent so much time and effort on ego, and criticism, and personality.
I held my breath for 4 months as Dr. Sopher went over my manuscript line by line checking it for both TMS accuracy and medical accuracy. I still have his handwritten note to me from his review that stated with, "Excellent!" Dr. Sarno found my book impressive, so it's important to look at the source of all complaints and rejections, and to understand how the shadow aspect drives people to both good, and bad.
Everything needed is there and has a purpose for being in there, it just isn't magical. Andrew Weil, MD, said that he was well aware that his patients projected all their hopes of healing onto him. But that as a physician he could do very little for them because all healing comes from within. Only the sufferer can pull herself out of the fire, the knowledge gives her the lifeline though. The entire concept of healing is to locate the placebo. This is important to understand.
Some people read my book, then email me and say, "Hey man, I read your book, it was excellent but it didn't work." That sends up red flags everywhere. I reply, "Did you read it again and again for at least 6 months, did you do the twice daily meditation for at least a year, daily progressive relaxation for at least a year, become more physical, use music therapy, forgive anyone, stick to your goals, CBT, laugh more, daily transparent routines, nighttime appreciation, program dreams, etc etc etc??"
Did you really do all those things I wrote about in a 377 page book, that have been proven to work, and it still didn't work for you? The response is always, "well, no." ..or "I started to but...." They read it thinking it would heal them--but they need to incorporate what I wrote into their lives. The stories of people who healed instantly has done a great disservice to the rest of us by setting the bar too high--expecting suddenness.
It's not about getting rid of pain. It's about life. It's about letting go, deeper awareness, and becoming happy. That's why Dr. Sarno said he had no method for dealing with pain, only a method for dealing with stress.
If you take anything from my story it's that there are often many setbacks and that healing aint easy. And I think I was in much more pain than most. I only say that by the horrified emails I'm getting. I hadn't thought I was any different from everyone else until all the feedback.
It's the full belief and persistence that lead to eventual alteration and change. I know there are some who will say "hey I didn't do all that." Well good for you. That's why I said "generalizations" at the beginning of this post. There are no absolutes. But that statement alone is as dangerous as hearing stories of people who have healed instantly after sleeping on one of Dr. Sarno's books. The statement of "there are no absolutes" is now being misused. It now gives them freedom to opt out of the dreaded work, by saying, "well that worked for THEM, but not me because there are no absolutes"---allowing them to jump from method to method without owning responsibility for their healing. So beware of the extreme "ends" of the yin and yang, everything comes full circle.
I've seen healing occur hundreds of times over the past 11 years. Those who stop gathering information and stick to the basics heal nicely.
What did ole doc Sarno say was the most important thing to do? Become active--the more rigorous the better. That's why I stuck to the pounding it out method. I stopped gathering details and stuck to the basics with relentless hope. But you need to understand that you don't have to reach the physicality that I did, nor will most be able to. But you should keep moving according to what you feel is rigorous movement. I've seen people in their 70s heal. A walk around the block for some is as rigorous as a 5 mile run for others. It's all relative.
As I wrote, the idea is not to solve all of life's problems but to rise above them. Some have healed by finding inner peace; so did I, by pounding pain out.
Janette Barber brought up the good point in our interview that you don't need to discover the "thing" within your unconscious that is perpetuating symptoms. This is true, depending on level of emotional disability, and the relentless search is driving some crazy with un-needed frustration. It's more important to understand that you ARE repressing something, or everything, and to understand WHY you feel the need to. What happened in your life that makes you a strong repressor of your anger? Why do you get so angry? Hint: It's relationship based. And it began as soon as your persona began to form around 5 yos old so (the earlier the more severe the emotional scarring, 2 1/2 yos old is a danger point.)
People who claim no anger or anxiety is involved don't understand TMS. It's there. They don't fully understand the TMS process as defined by Dr. Sarno and so dismiss understanding anger's very important role in healing, I can't remember exactly when, but awhile back I saw someone say they weren't angry and had no anxiety. Then someone named Dave came in and said the right thing, paraphrasing him, "I think you're getting unconscious anger mixed up with conscious anger." That's right! People who don't feel anger think they don't possess it. But the anger causing the unpleasant symptoms is never felt. I was stuck at the anger point until I suddenly realized it was there but that I didn't realize it: and my final healing took place.
The ones who are "healed" found something to focus on away from pain and they didn't stop until they altered the way their brains reacted to pain. As TTom said here quoting me quoting him quoting me, we will always have something. The idea is to get to a quality of life where we are finally happy and give no credence to symptoms after we have been medically cleared. Happiness is a choice though; encompassing the love of self as much as the love for the other.
Steve
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Cath
116 Posts |
Posted - 08/06/2012 : 09:14:23
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SteveO - thank you so much for your in-depth post. I hold my hands up! Everything you said rang true. I have been bombarding myself with information, and not getting down to the basics and sticking to them. I am now going to put aside all the other books recommended to me and re-read yours, after wiping away the tears that you again provoked, the first being after reading the first few pages of your book.
After I read your book, you inspired me to put my running shoes on, which I did for a very short while, but the fall-out after every run became too much. Or the fear of the fall-out became too much. My pain increased to unbearable levels, and it felt like a backward step. Physically, I do just about anything I need or want to, but I know from experience, that there is nothing better than the powerful feeling of being physically fit. I'm just not sure that this is what I want to concentrate on now. Also, I have the added worry of more skin cancer from too much exposure to the outdoors. I do walk my dog for a couple of hours a day, with the aid of sun-block, hat and glasses, which doesn't give me the same buzz as a good run used to, but I'm happy with this for now.
I know there are areas of my life that I would probably benefit from changing, and while I have been mulling over just how I'm going to go about it, because frankly, there just doesn't seem to be any way out of it, I have been doing my utmost to reconcile myself to it and keep myself occupied relatively happily until there comes a time when it will change again. Because life does keep on changing, sometimes only very subtley, but it will change eventually.
I do know that I am repressing a lot of emotion. It feels like sorrow, rather than anger, but maybe it is anger, because when I was a child, if something made me angry, I always ended up in tears. I still don't know the WHY. My Mum was fairly strict with my brother and I when we were kids, and didn't tolerate any back-chat, but I had a fairly happy childhood. We did move around quite a lot back then, and I was always having to make a new set of friends, which I have attributed to the fact that I have always been a bit of a loner as an adult, apart from my husbands (failed first marriage) and immediate family. My mum passed away suddenly with pancreatic cancer 8 months before my pain began.
I have been considering some psychotherapy sessions, because I think some of what's boiling away inside of me needs to be heard.
I know my peace will come when the pain ends - I just haven't had a moment's respite (apart from sleep), for almost 4 years now. I don't say this to gain sympathy - I know a lot of people have had it far worse than me - it's just a fact, and if I could find a way to stop it for just a few moments on waking up in the morning, then I'd have something to work with.
Here's to going back to basics and thank you again Steve for listening. I think it's the fact that you listened and cared enough to write such a great response that brought on the tears again.
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Cath
116 Posts |
Posted - 08/06/2012 : 10:08:38
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TT
Thanks for your comments also. You're right about the freudian slip there - ooops! Showing some of my OCD tendencies.
In answer to your question, my TMS therapist didn't give me any indication of why she thought I hadn't recovered after the six week programme as I maybe should have. She seemed happy with the small amount of progress I had made.
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swelling question for docs and anyone...
