Need CFS/Lupus/Lyme success stories

Hi all.

My desperate request: recovery stories from anyone like the person I’m about to describe:

My girlfriend, the absolute love of my life the past 3 years since I met her, is - I am convinced - afflicted by severe and years-long Mind Body Disorders:

• Lyme (cured now I think, but she had a bad, undiagnosed case for a while - kidney failure, lots of complications). This was the trigger
• Suicide thoughts + 1 attempt during the nadir of her Lyme ordeal
• Lupus
• Migraines
• Neurological symptoms (parkinsons-like stuff)
• Nausea
• And a dozen other possible “syndromes” she has quoted me in her attempt to find a medical reason for her misery

She is aware of “Sarno” from me, but calls his very name an “emotional hand grenade”. I’ve done a poor job of explaining MBD/TMS to her, failing my few chances to successfully plant the seed in her mind. It’s just too close to the Conversion Syndrome dismissive abuse she’s received from the medical establishment. She’s seen every imaginable fringe “guru” in the infectious disease scene, and then some. Completely “off the grid”, medically speaking.

It’s just tragic. We love each other so much.
She’s so sweet, funny, gorgeous. But she’s pushing 40, out of work from a high end NYC job going on 5 years now, unable to be see me more than once a week, unable to build a relationship with my teenage sons who would love her as well, I’m sure. It’s wearing on the relationship...

I won’t go deep into why she’s a clear MBD sufferer (completely type-A perfectionist, dark family history, awful past relationships, etc).

So in the next few months, when her latest rounds of medical pursuits inevitably fail, I want to gently re-introduce MBD to her. I’m reading Howard Schubiner’s book, which I like a lot better than Sarnos’. His emphasis on the brain and it’s applicability to conditions broader than muscle pain, and his compassionate tone, will be useful I think. It will be a tough task, since she is fully enmeshed and identified with the “chronic illness” scene. She is passionate about the suffering of others in her situation. But I intend to try

Would really love to hear success stories from people like her...

Thank you so much

 

Hi onetruedog,

Reading your post, I get that you are a loving person who cares for this woman very much. I get the care and empathy you have for her.

If you can't find the perfect way to get her on board, then I hope you can sense into your own loving nature, let yourself feel your care for her. Wanting so much for her to have a different experience, your attachment to her outcome may distract you from your own presence. That would be a shame!

I don't have a perfect case for you, but I send people to this one, since it is a physician and trained psychologist who suffered a myriad of symptoms for 10 years before discovering this mind-body approach, directly from with Dr. Schubiner, I believe.

http://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/a-physicians-tms-story-rsi-hyperacusis-and-much-more.7658/ (A Physician's TMS story - RSI, Hyperacusis and much more.....)

Here is an interview with the physician above, Dr. Alicia Batson, MD
https://www.curablehealth.com/podcast/stumped-a-double-boarded-physicians-quest-to-cure-her-chronic-pain (Stumped: A Double-Boarded Physician’s Quest to Cure Her Chronic Pain)

Andy B

 

If she calls Sarno an "emotional hand grenade," then I think she might actually be highly aware on some level that the symptoms are psychological. Obviously the preoccupation with symptoms can keep people from doing recreational activities, but maybe you can suggest a vacation or something fun when she's feeling better, without having to hard sell the mindbody thing?

 

Thank you both. I read that account and it’s of course inspiring. It may sound weird but I really need to find a success case or two that really looks like my girlfriend’s, to possibly use to speak to her about. Chronic Fatigue, neuron issues and/or autoimmune issues are what she has. I’ll keep looking - anyone else please post.

We’ve actually been on vacations but she gets stuck in her room all week, depressing her and constraining the activities w my sons. But then every date we manage to have, she ends up dancing her pants off for me (literally) with the most acrobatic moves. Clearest evidence that when she’s happy and able to forget her pain for a while, she’s fine

 

I have a friend with Lyme disease, she goes the purely medical way, spends thousands of dollars. In my book she has a mixture between the infection and TMS. But she doesn’t want to address the psychological part of it because in the beginning she had been diagnosed as a ‘nut case’ as she calls it.
If someone doesn’t want to see the psychological component you cannot do anything about it. You could read Caulfields success story (in the success story forum) I think there you will find similarities. Good luck and take care for yourself!

 

Thank you I bookmarked Caufields story. It’s the closest I’ve found so far