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Colleen
USA
138 Posts |
 Posted - 04/16/2005 : 17:56:54
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I am begining to think that there are quite a number of us from MA. I have heard from a few people, but I am interested in hearing from anyone else from MA who has been to see one of our TMS Doctors. Who did you see and how did the appt. go for you?
Thanks,
Colleen |
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marytabby
USA
545 Posts |
Posted - 04/17/2005 : 15:52:21
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| I am going to Doc Martinez 4/29. I will let you know. |
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Colleen
USA
138 Posts |
Posted - 04/17/2005 : 19:41:51
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That is who I saw. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts!
Colleen |
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pault
USA
169 Posts |
Posted - 04/18/2005 : 05:01:29
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| I saw Dr.Sopher,when He was in N.H.(now in VT.)I would recommend him anytime.He is very athletic(he also had tms) and in tune to what's happening.I found it gave me much confidence to have him diagnose me with tms and to know my pain was harmless.He saved me a great deal of time and doubt,because there was too much of the mainstream medical stuff in my brain.This way it was confirmed and I was quickly off to a normal life again. Paul. |
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Colleen
USA
138 Posts |
Posted - 04/18/2005 : 09:55:35
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Pault,
I heard that Dr. Sopher may be moving back to N.H.
I saw Dr. Martinez and I did like him. He seems to have alot of energy about his work. I did well for the first two weeks, but this last week, the pain in my feet has increased A LOT and I cannot seem to figure it out.....so I am back to questioning "Is it TMS or a bilateral neuropathy as originally diagnosed?" I am looking forward to seeing that tape of 20/20 as you said there is a woman in it who had a similar diagnosis to mine and now runs!! I haven't taken a good long walk in one year and I do miss it. I have tried, but too much burning pain.
Colleen |
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Allan
USA
226 Posts |
Posted - 04/18/2005 : 10:21:30
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I am from Weymouth, Massachusetts.
I saw Dr. Jay Rosenfeld in Sandwich, MA.
Prior to my visit, an orthopedic surgeon put my MRI on the wall and said that I needed a portion of two vertebrae (S-4 and S-5) removed to relieve the friction of the vertebrae on my spinal cord (spinal stenosis). Of course the friction was causing all the pain. Wrong.
Dr. Rosenfeld put the same MRI up on his wall and said that I did not need any back surgery.
I consider my visit to a TMS physician a major part of my recovery. One can recover without seeing a TMS physician, but I believe that it can be a big help, particularly if one is struggling with the concept that the pain is emotionally induced and not structurally induced.
Allan |
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Colleen
USA
138 Posts |
Posted - 04/19/2005 : 08:16:34
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Dear Allan,
Would you consider yourself 100% "cured" at this point? How long did the process take for you?
Thanks,
Colleen |
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MikeC
USA
43 Posts |
Posted - 04/19/2005 : 09:43:23
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Colleen,
As one who has seen both Martinez and Rosenfeld, I hope that I can help you go forward. I can tell you that Rosenfeld sat with me and diagrammed how TMS works. He seems to be more of a devout Sarnoist than Martinez is although Rosenfeld will use aggressive physcial therapy if he feels that the TMS work isn't working. Neither one of them does a lecture but will tell you to read at least The Mind Body Prescription if not Healing Back Pain as well. I think that since these guys are physiatrists, they mostly see spinal/back issues.
You may want to try to contact Dr. Sopher via e-mail. He recently relocated to Vermont but I don't think he is working for the University of Vermont anymore. Since he is a GP, he might see more general cases and I think he has the closest relationship to Sarno than the other two doctors. A book that you might want to pick up is the Nancy Selfridge book which tackles fibromyalgia from a TMS point of view. I know you don't have that but getting a perstpective from a non-spinal point of view may help you.
When you get a chance, send me an e-mail and we can talk/type through it. I also want to take a moment to say hello to all my fellow MA TMS suffers (Allan, Molomaf, DiverLarry, FredArm 57, MaryAlma). If there are others MA suffers out there, let's here fron you so we can compare notes.
Thanks,
Mike C |
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Allan
USA
226 Posts |
Posted - 04/19/2005 : 17:58:06
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Hello Colleen.
"Do I consider myself 100% cured at this point?" "How long..."
I had a severe case of TMS back in the summer of 2000. I read HBP in July, had an immediate 80% recovery in two days, then the other 20% took about three or four months.
I was 100% pain free 100% of the time for almost five years. Then in January, 2005 I hurt my knee skiing. Not badly, just a sprain. I have been in pain since then. It is finally going away proving that it was TMS pain again.
TMS pain evidently affects people differently. That is the recovery is a different journey for each of us. My first episode was so easy, my second one was endless. I think that it might be related to the underlying cause. My first case was cleary stress, I still don't have any idea what caused the second episode.
Hello Mike C.
Good to hear from you again.
Could you give us a little more detail about Martinez and Rosenfeld?
The examination, the diagnosis. the prognosis, getting back to physical efforts, etc. It seems that visits to TMS physicians are so rare that we all would like to hear all the details and reactions.
What say all the MA TMS'rs get together this summer for a cookout at my place.
Allan.
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pault
USA
169 Posts |
Posted - 04/19/2005 : 18:55:06
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| If you guys want a copy of the Channel 5 show Cronicle that my shop was on for tms,let me know.I am from Longmeadow,Ma. Paul. |
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Colleen
USA
138 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2005 : 09:35:46
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Paul,
I DO want a copy, but my e mails to you keep bouncing back to me and No, I have not received your e mails.
Thanks,
Colleen |
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Colleen
USA
138 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2005 : 09:45:32
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Hi MikeC,
Good to hear from you. We are a growing group here in the Bay state!!
I think I told you that I did start reading Nancy Selfridge awhile back and that is just what I liked about it, that it was coming from another pain point besides the back as my pain is in both feet. Only problem, and I have to laugh at myself for this, I started to think I had fibromyalgia the more I read. I am just about done the book.
As I recently told Holly, who has foot pain issues as well, I am now in a place where I am quetioning the TMS diagnosis as the burning pain has really flared up again. Holly said that she too has gone through this and so, maybe we just get use to the pain over time and learn to live with it?? But then is it really TMS ?? According to the Doctor, I should be doing better pain wise, at this point, but I am not.
Colleen |
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MikeC
USA
43 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2005 : 09:49:46
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Allan,
Both examinations are the typical examinations that you would see in the doctor's office for checking the spine. At the end, they press on the parts of the back that Sarno suggests. Mine were pretty much all painful. Rosenfeld explained to me what TMS was. The best comparison he made for me was when he asked me if I had children. When I told him that I had an 8, 7, and 3 year old. He then used them to relate the inner child to me. He asked me that when the three year old does things (Example: plays with toys), she is not concerned with sharing with other, cleaning her toys up after she is done, etc. She does her thing while it is fun and then moves on to the next thing that will entertain her. Eventually, parents (where have we seen that word before) will teach her that she has to share and clean up. There is the TMS conflict that we all demonstrate along with external stress and childhood issues. We used to be kids but then we have been innundated with rules and the "right" thing to do. Rosenfeld basically instructed me to do the strict Sarno method and get back to him in six weeks. Because he was down the Cape, I decided to go with Martinez who was closer to me.
Martinez explained to me about Sarno and thinks the man is a genius but will tell you that not everything he says is correct. He will let you choose how to proceed. YOu can go with Sarno, Siegel, or aggresive physical therapy (known as the Rainville Method). We chose a combination of Rainville and Siegel because I had been working with Sarno and was getting frustrated (looking back at it, I think I was trying way too hard on the Sarno approach which eventually made things worse). The best thing about Martinez is his passion and his compassion. When things weren't working, I felt that at least I had him to bounce things off of.
What I think turned things around for me was going to see a behavioral psychologist and letting out A LOT of frustration over 20 years. I am by no means out of the woods, but I am going to try working on all these psychological tools that have been provided to me.
Sorry for the wordiness. Please feel free to send me an e-mail offline if you wish to chat further.
Thanks,
Mike C |
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Colleen
USA
138 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2005 : 09:49:46
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Allan,
I appreciate your insight. My pain is one year now and going strong. I had some relief in mid-January while in Florida at a competition with my family (Why??) and then again for a week or so just after my first visit to the TMS Doctor.
Colleen |
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MikeC
USA
43 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2005 : 09:54:34
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Colleen,
After I left Martinez's office for the first time, I felt a lot better leaving than when I showed up. He gave me a lot of confidence that we would work together to ease the pain that I was having. I think that should tell us that emotions have a lot to do with our pain levels. Also, maybe the fact that you were in Florida in mid-January as opposed to artic Massachusetts helped.
Mike C |
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MikeC
USA
43 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2005 : 10:02:04
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Colleen,
Regarding the fact that you aren't better after two weeks, I know there are many cases of people taking much longer to get over it BUT they are much better. I know that's a frustrating thing to hear but Dr. Rosenfeld told me that he had patients have to wait nearly a year before they got relief. I think it becomes frustrating because when your only recourse is to read, journalize, etc., you automatically feel like you should be doing more which then stresses you out causing more pain (the pain/stress/pain cycle).
I think that is why Sarno will prescribe painkillers because no one should have to suffer while doing the process. People take painkillers all the time while they are healing from an injury. If you can take them, then you should.
Mike C |
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Colleen
USA
138 Posts |
Posted - 04/21/2005 : 09:23:30
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Mike,
The "pain killers" given for nerve pain are a wide variety of anti-depressants....mostly the old, out dated variety. I am trying to save that as a last resort.
I had a huge emotional issue with my Dad last night regarding his will and his retirement and a bunch of very emotional stuff. Anyway, I could feel the pain in my feet and a new one, numbness in my arms. It was really strange. I could actully feel the TMS as it happened!! Then the strangest thing happened.....the more vocal I got about these very upsetting issues, the pain in my feet lessened and the numbness in my arms increased!!
I got little sleep last night and feel pretty lousy today and yes, my feet hurt, but what a strange situation last night. At about that same time, my Dr. Sarno lecture videos arrived by FEDEX....Go figure!!
Colleen |
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Colleen
USA
138 Posts |
Posted - 04/24/2005 : 11:33:52
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Pault,
How do I go about getting that video from you??
Thanks,
Colleen |
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Fredarm57
USA
72 Posts |
Posted - 04/25/2005 : 08:40:07
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Colleen: The first time through recovery can be long. In my case it was almost two years (1991-93). Two steps forward, one step back, but if I took the long view I could see gradual progress over time. The second time, it was a few months (spring of 2000). This past time, a few weeks (late Feb. to early April 2005). It varies with the individual, since TMS is an emotionally generated disorder and we all vary in our emotional make-up. Keep working on it (but not too hard, since my experience is that obsessing about the pain or trying to make it go away is counterproductive) and try to return to normal life as much as possible.
Mike: Glad to hear you're making progress!
Allan: The cookout sounds like a great idea! Let me know what I can bring.
Fred |
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MikeC
USA
43 Posts |
Posted - 04/25/2005 : 09:00:43
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Fred,
Maybe you explain how Dr. Siegel goes about treating patients? Is it very similar to Sarno? Does he recommend journaling, meditation, etc. Both Colleen and I are on a waiting list to see him and I was just curious as to how he goes about it.
Thanks,
Mike C |
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Colleen
USA
138 Posts |
Posted - 04/25/2005 : 13:02:49
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I would really like to know how Dr. Siegal works on pain issues.
Thanks,
Colleen |
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Topic |
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TMS in MA
