Just joined the TMS adventure and have questions

Is there an age past which TMS is not effective? I had shoulder problems and neck issues a very long time ago and seemed to cope with them, even read a Sarno book way way back. But now, for the past 6 years I have had increasing pain in my right shoulder and resulting numbness and pain down my right arm. Doc said a few years ago that it was cervical spondylosis due to aging factor and sent me for physical therapy and then cortisone shots when that didn't work. The idea of being on cortisone for extended time did not thrill me but I had 9 shots over 2 years. They became less and less effective so I turned to a shiatsu practitioner very experienced in Chinese medicine. She gave me some herbal patches made in California which seemed to help a lot though they were not inexpensive. But even they are not as effective now and I depend on an NSaid to take the edge off. Which has led me to TMS. My pain comes out of the blue though it is exacerbated by being on the computer where I spend a lot of time. I can go for weeks without it and then, wham, I am hit hard. If I ignore it, it gets worse and then I end up having to lie down for an hour or two each day and curtail exercise, etc. and life is horrible. I have had therapy at different times during my life and don't think there is too much childhood unhappiness left to explore (there was!). I am really tired of this and hoping for relief through TMS.

Aside from this(!), I am 70, in good health, no prescriptions, do water aerobics three times a week no matter what, love to walk but am hampered while I am in pain. When I am pain free, I am able to do much more. I have always been in high pressure jobs but am working on my own projects right now. I just started the TMS Ed program and am on Day 3.

 

Hi Hilary - and congratulations for calling this an adventure - because our human brains are sure enough taking us for a ride!

For the age perspective, you can read about Walt's journey and his postings - Walt is 82 (or more, now) and I think he would definitely say that age has nothing to do with TMS "effectiveness". TMS is not a therapy - it is a condition, caused by a state of mind. Learning how to recover from TMS will help you in every single aspect of your life, including your mental as well as physical health. The older you get, the more important this will be.

Recently I used TMS knowledge/theory to mentally banish dental drilling pain, in lieu of my normal extra shot. In 2008, three years before I knew about TMS, I experienced instant, measurable, pain relief in the emergency room with a broken hip (bike crash) as soon as they told me that it would be pinned up and I'd be mobile and on crutches in two days - and even after the pinning surgery, I rejected all opioids and made do with ibuprofen for a few days. I look back on that now and realize that my mind had complete control over my pain - and that I can consciously use that control whenever I want to. These are just a couple of examples of how understanding the power of your mind can affect what you are feeling - both physically and emotionally.

Many people in our community recommend re-reading Dr. Sarno and/or their other favorite mind-body authors, over and over and over. And adding other techniques, such as meditation and mindfulness, which come in many different forms. You are doing the SEP, which is a great way to relearn Dr. Sarno's theories and apply them. At the same time, I recommend that you re-read Dr. Sarno himself - but this time, make it his 2006 book, The Divided Mind, where he reviews his theories in just four chapters, and then has six other medical professionals (actually, 5 MDs and a therapist) offering their perspectives. And keep visiting and posting here on the forum - this is a tremendous resource that simply wasn't available a few short years ago - and I know that I personally have the Internet to thank for discovering TMS, just two years ago.

I believe it was one of the authors in The Divided Mind who confirmed my suspicion that aging, in and of itself, is a totally valid source of suppressed fear and rage and therefore a cause of TMS symptoms. I mean, look at how we are barraged with all of this crap about "aging gracefully" and "life is better after menopause" and so on - ad nauseum . I think that kind of propaganda is pushed by people who themselves are too scared to face reality. Getting old and facing death and having awareness of our inevitable fate pretty much sucks. And menopause totally sucks - taking away my estrogen at 50 was a raw deal! On the other hand, these bodies were never meant to last much beyond 40 - so every day after that is a gift, right? Which is a fine way to look at it - except that those of us who are healthy and lucky enough to last this long are just postponing the inevitable - which is harder to face the closer it gets. (My mother, at 92, is really fighting this right now - the problem being that she's still too healthy to just keel over any time soon).

Authors like Peter Levine and Dr. Gabor Mate are pretty convincing that childhood issues stay with us for life and have a profound and permanent effect on our psyches (and thus on our physical well-being). Which is not to say that we can't do anything about it - but what they are saying is that the issues never really entirely go away - they just pop back up in different forms, and recognizing them is the key to staying healthy. Peter Levine says that new traumas add another layer as we go through life.

So I think there is a lot to learn out there - and that healing our psyches is a life-long journey - and, as you said - an adventure!

Keep us posted

Jan

 

All good info. And, yes, "raging against the dying of the light" is something we are all aware of as we move along life's cycle! I have relatives and friends who are in the midst of this. It is not easy and I am grateful for my own life at this juncture. But still it is challenging and one wants to come to peace with many things before the light goes out.

I have just ordered The Divided Mind and I have Sarno's Healing Back Pain on my bedside table. The readings on the TMSWiki site are also very helpful. I think rereading and rereading is good too. I am glad to have the time to do this now because I know that other times I would have just suffered and waited for the bout to be over for a while. I am going away for September and getting to the internet will be spotty but I hope to continue on through the program. Often I am hit when I take a trip - I have had two such incidents in the past eight months so I am hoping to make some progress before I depart!

Thanks, again,

Hilary

 

Hi, Hilary, you young pup. It's Walt and yes, Jan is right. I'm 83 now and working on TMS healing got me free of back pain. I healed after a few months but still had about 10 percent back pain left, and decided that was because I held on to believing that what was left was structural because of age. When I finally told my subconscious it was from repressed emotions, it went away. It comes back sometimes (not real bad) when I still think it may be from aging, but I just convince myself it's all TMS and anyway it isn't harmful by doing something like cleaning the bathroom (thoroughly) yesterday, and the kitchen today. I'm so busy cleaning, I forget the pain is there. You should see how clean my house is, without a maid. I also mow my lawns myself, front and back, and in winter use the snowblower on the driveway. I didn't take any pills or have cortisone shots. They don't solve the problem. TMS healing does.
Read the success stories on TMSWiki.org/forum.
And be happy. Enjoy yourself in September.

 

For the most part, I found travel to be stressful rather than relaxing. But my middle name is Anxiety - and travel IS stressful. However, being aware of this since discovering TMS has definitely helped, and I hope it helps you too.

Jan