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8 weeks no relief, seeing TMS doctor

S

ScottyB

New Member
Hi -- It has been roughly 8 weeks since diving into TMS. I've learned a TON about myself, my personality, current and past stresses, and how I've been repressing anger over the years. I've listened to Healing Back Pain twice, The Divided Mind, and also The Mind-Body Prescription. I'm on day 39 of the Structured Education Program. This has been an awesome time of learning, understanding, and growth. And my outlook on life is a lot better. But unfortunately I don't have any relief for the neck/shoulder pain that I've had for 2.5 years. Needless to say I'm shocked, and certainly disappointed.

I'm certain that this is TMS, and to prove it I'm seeing Dr. Sklar later this week. I'll write an updated post afterward.

Have a blessed day!
 
Hi ScottyB,
Good to hear how positive you are about what you have learned since studying TMS and working on the SEP. But don't give up or be discouraged! Eight weeks is a relatively short time to be working on TMS healing. Some of us just take longer, and while we all wish we could have the instantaneous 'book cure', most people take around 6-18 months. I'm coming up to the 12 month mark, and am not completely pain free yet, but I'm getting close. And most importantly my quality of life has improved substantially.

Good luck with your Dr. visit. Let us know how it goes and how you are doing.

And welcome to the Forum. Please feel free to ask questions any time. We are all here to provide support.

All the best...
 
Take your time Scotty, I am approx. at 12 months and still have some issues left. I am feeling much much better than a year ago, with ups and downs of course. The road to recovery may be fast for some, for most of us here it takes more time.
Take care!
 
Scotty, I can only agree with Ellen and Gigalos here. We all want a quick cure and alleviation of symptoms,and that happens for some, but it doesn't happen that way for everyone. In fact, when I started out on my healing journey about a year ago now, I think I slowed my progress down by expecting to feel better in a few months and when that didn't happen it sowed the seeds of doubt and fear in my mind ,which made things worse and made me feel I was failing.

I can see why people don't want to say that healing can be lengthy-they want you to approach TMS as positively and optimistically as possible and it's hard to argue with that. However, I think I might actually have progressed more quickly if I'd thought it could take a longer time to heal (hope that makes sense!) as I would have put a lot less pressure on myself to improve quickly.

Don't be discouraged. Slow progress is still progress.
 
I agree with everyone else. It doesn't always, but TMS healing can take time. I started working on my TMS last April I think and life is so different for me now. The first 3-6 months I was still very focused on and distracted by the pain and anxiety. Its so tough not to monitor and gage our success based on the pain levels. Even now just thinking about it I feel angry about the notion that its not about getting out of pain. Of course it is, but unfortunately the way to do it is to focus on your life and forget the pain as much as possible. Its a process and we all have slightly different ways in which we achieved that. I tried a lot of things, including TMS therapy, but working with a somatic experiencing therapist was key for me. I am still working with this therapist and each time I see her I recognize more progress. I am pretty much pain free but still dealing with some anxiety and temporary pain syndroms. I also had intense neck/shoulder/right sided head issues. I had numbness in my hands and a really intense shoulder/neck spasm that lasted without any relief for well over a year. I wish you the best, have patience, keep trying different things(as long as they get you to focus on your emotions and to think psychological) and work at finding joy even with the pain.
 
I'm glad you feel progress from the TMS therapist sessions. Dr. Sarno says some of us need that.
I think talking things over with someone else like a therapist can help us to reach the main repressed
emotions causing our pain.

In an hour or so, I'll be posting a short review of a 15 minute video, Dr. Sarno and his Work,
that reinforces his belief in TMS repressed emotions causing our pain. We've read it, but seeing and
hearing him talk about it is powerful.

The video is at:

 
Hey Walt -- Thanks for posting the great video.

So it's official: I have TMS. I'm thankful that I live in a major metro area that has a TMS-knowledgeable doctor (Dr. Sklar, Texas). The office visit yesterday was great, and I really appreciated his perspective. I particularly appreciated that he is a deeply spiritual person as well, and addressed TMS from that perspective. In essence, he approaches TMS from a mind-body-spirit perspective.

I'm going to slowly start stretching my limits physically, and also continue moving forward with journaling, meditation, and prayer. After almost 2.5 years I feel like I'm finally on a good path.

Have a blessed day!
 
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