1. Alan has completed the new Pain Recovery Program. To read or share it, use this updated link: https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/painrecovery/
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A lot better...still some work to do

Discussion in 'Success Stories Subforum' started by Toronto82, Sep 28, 2017.

  1. Toronto82

    Toronto82 New Member

    Hi all. I wanted to share my success and ongoing work with TMS because it has been incredibly helpful and kind of given me my life back. It’s pushed me to address not just physical symptoms but a lot of other things in my life that I needed to address. I am sort of a work-in-progress but I've had enough success to share my story.

    I first discovered Dr. Sarno in the Spring after a rather sudden and intense flare-up of shoulder and neck tension/pain. It was like nothing I had experienced before and I was missing a lot of work. The pain was intense and unrelenting, often including these throbbing headaches at the base of my neck that could not be relieved by any position or pill. Basically I was a miserable mess from March-June, until I discovered “Healing Back Pain” on the recommendation of a friend.

    Unlike some people I bought into it immediately. I think because I was already somewhat convinced my pain was the result of anxiety and stress (it had been a stressful few months personally – my dad is very sick among other problems). Also, the doctors I saw were basically shrugging their shoulders and saying it was bad posture and that I was spending too much time seated at work. They weren’t offering me much beyond pain killers and muscle relaxants, which did nothing. Neither did the acupuncture, stretching, dietary changes, physio etc. Reading Sarno helped me right away and doing the SEP cleared up 95% of my neck/shoulder pain in a couple of weeks. Dealing with repressed anger towards my family was a big one, but there was lots bubbling underneath the surface.

    As I got my life back I was thankful. I was especially thankful that I found this early on and wasn’t suffering for years like some people, though I believe I’ve had mild-moderate TMS symptoms for a decade or more. I also pieced together that my pain came about soon after addressing Chronic Pelvic Floor Pain/Prostatitis with phsyio. This physio did help the prostate issues but as it did my pain migrated to my neck and shoulders. In the months since my initial “cure” I’ve had mini-flare ups of other symptoms I’ve had over the years: prostatitis, tingling/pain in feet (Neurologists have just shrugged this off), neck tension/pain, headaches, heartburn, bad gas, anxiety etc. Now I realize that these are all probably related and stem back to TMS. It’s a bit daunting to see how much TMS has manifested in me over the years, but exciting to have a road map forward with how to tackle all this crap. In the Spring I just read a couple of Sarno’s books but now I am delving more into the TMS literature to see what else I can learn.

    Today, I am almost completely pain free but I still have some symptoms bouncing around most days (they are mostly just a nuisance). I've now restarted working with TMS journaling and reading, as well as doing daily meditation and seeing a therapist (He’s not TMS-focused but he’s on board and helping me with repressed emotions). I think I have a lot of personal and emotional issues that I’ve bottled up and I need more serious work on myself and I am okay with that. At first I thought I was basically a “book cure” but as I’ve connected my deeper emotional issues with all kinds of different physical symptoms I’ve had over the years, I realize now that that was just the beginning and I am excited to see how much more I can progress.
     
    hoolie likes this.

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