after 40 years in bed...I AM NOW MIGRAINE FREE!!!

[JaneSandyJane]

Hello, just seeing this now. Mid 60s is young
I don't think that's an expression in the States, ha. I think she meant that it's hard to have symptoms from the same spot (your head) where you see, speak, smell, eat and hear from. It makes sense to me and my pain was completely overwhelming for a really long time. I felt like a walking headache, but was always on the couch or in bed, horizontal. Walking would have been an improvement. But I am now walking quite a bit which is also helping me lose a little weight.

Yes, ABCDEs are from REBT by Dr. Albert Ellis and I know she trained at the Albert Ellis Institute and was the one who taught REBT at Columbia after Albert Ellis passed away. She told me about the beautiful townhouse it was in and the exciting experiences she had there with the patients. She also was a patient of Dr. Sarno -- and she actually gave me a typed letter from Dr. Sarno to patients that he gave to her, maybe before he wrote the books? Is that available on this website? These plus what she learned at John Hopkins were the golden ticket for me.

I'm not sure which part of the work was the most important part, or if all of it was, but what I do know for sure is that I was plagued by migraine for 40 years and then I began working with her and now I don't have migraine headaches anymore. I also handle hard situations totally differently and have a vastly different outlook on life that makes everything more special and fun.

are you remembering to stay hydrated?

I hope things get better for you!!

 

[JaneSandyJane]

@BloodMoon can you please put up her Ted Talk on your list? It's about a type of anxiety that feels and sounds like anger, but isn't, and comes with a technique that helped me a lot in dealing better with my daughter. Cheers!

 

[BloodMoon]

I don't think that's an expression in the States, ha. I think she meant that it's hard to have symptoms from the same spot (your head) where you see, speak, smell, eat and hear from. It makes sense to me and my pain was completely overwhelming for a really long time. I felt like a walking headache, but was always on the couch or in bed, horizontal. Walking would have been an improvement. But I am now walking quite a bit which is also helping me lose a little weight.

Ah, I see what she meant now. I was never diagnosed with having migraines, but I used to have a 4 day headache before my periods which I used to call my "eye-watering thumpers" that no pain killers would shift and it was hard to do anything at all as you just can't think straight, so I have some idea of what you went through (putting my forehead against a wall with a bag of peas on top of my head, like you described in another thread that you used to do, was no stranger to me) - horrendous!

she actually gave me a typed letter from Dr. Sarno to patients that he gave to her, maybe before he wrote the books? Is that available on this website?

It maybe on this website, but I've been a member for a number of years and have never seen it posted up anywhere on the Wiki or forums. If it has already been posted it could be posted up again as I think it doesn't hurt to remind people and bring it to the attention of new members.

I also handle hard situations totally differently and have a vastly different outlook on life that makes everything more special and fun.

"Special and fun"...I could do with some fun!

@BloodMoon can you please put up her Ted Talk on your list? It's about a type of anxiety that feels and sounds like anger, but isn't, and comes with a technique that helped me a lot in dealing better with my daughter. Cheers!

Yes, here it is, I believe:

These plus what she learned at John Hopkins were the golden ticket for me.

Perhaps there are too many things to mention but what of the gamut of techniques she uses were learned from John Hopkins that you found particularly helpful?

And is there any technique that you use on, say, a daily basis that you wouldn't be without?

Many thanks...and, oh, yes, I do keep well hydrated - I've always liked drinking water, but I know that many people don't.

 

[JaneSandyJane]

Hello and thank you! I have no idea where each technique or idea or story of hers came from but I know that she made a hairpin turn while she was a student there and began to climb out of it and continued to get better as she studied psychology and also studied meditation in Hong Kong and Thailand in the summers, and also later at Mohonk Mountain house with Nina Smiley, which is near my home. FYI Hopkins is impossible to get into; my son was the local valedictorian and couldn't get in. It must've been a pressure cooker so if she started to get better then, then something good must've happened there or at that time in life. Things for her were very bad -- so bad that she said she finalized a Last Will and Testament before the age of 20 believing that she didn't have much time left. I bet she was pinching herself when she was better shortly thereafter. I know I am.

I have a whole daily routine that I follow which begins with a lovely morning meeting and meditation with myself over a cup of Yogi Chai Rooibos herbal tea. I don't want to overthink it -- the whole thing just works and has for a long time. My whole relationship with me is different (better). I pray you recover! Sandy

 

[JaneSandyJane]

@BloodMoon I remembered something interesting that she said: that a lot of her ability to help hundreds of these patients recover came from 15 years of being taught by them. I liked that a lot, which reminded me to post in this group -- if you guys get better, it's because I helped a little.

We are off to the flea market. In years past the phrase 'we are off to' would turn my stomach. I can't wait to go!

 

[BloodMoon]

I have a whole daily routine that I follow which begins with a lovely morning meeting and meditation with myself over a cup of Yogi Chai Rooibos herbal tea. I don't want to overthink it -- the whole thing just works and has for a long time. My whole relationship with me is different (better). I pray you recover!

Thanks, Sandy. I can completely understand you not wanting to overthink it. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts as they say, and I guess if you pick off too many of the parts to try to explain to other people, the 'magic' (for want of a better word) might be affected. I'm long in the tooth on these forums and have noticed that for so many of those who publish their success stories on here it's the same situation. I guess we all have to find the best mixture of techniques/the right 'recipe' for us as individuals.

It also sounds like Dr Steinberg herself, her caring approach, personality, empathy, enthusiasm etc., and interest in her patients to include recognising and learning from them what tends to work and what doesn't work and her availability for questions between appointments, is a huge part of the 'recipe'/'magic' for her patients. I think it was @Duggit who was saying about this in a past thread (apologies if it wasn't you @Duggit) -- that is, the relationship with and belief in a therapist can play an enormous part to 'flip a switch' in us for a successful outcome. (I remember going to a therapist once who said during my session with her that I could phone in between sessions if there was something I wanted to ask and when I did just that it was immediately apparent that that had been an untruth and it upset and disheartened me; the only consolation was that she lost my custom at an early stage and I therefore hadn't forked out a fortune.)

Thanks so much for interrupting your trip to reply to me. I hope the rest of your weekend is good. You're at and enjoying the flea market and I'm now off to try out the feather meditation that you mentioned .

 

[JanAtheCPA]

Awesome discussion, thanks for getting this started, @BloodMoon, and for finding those resource links, and thank you @JaneSandyJane for taking the time to describe your process and the techniques you used so they can be shared with and accessed by others!

 

[JanAtheCPA]

I wasn't a 'book cure' and, although have made some profound progress, I haven't succeeded in becoming totally pain and other symptoms free,

@BloodMoon, I would like to believe that you've progressed much farther than you think, in all this time. Where are you these days in relation to the ever-present negative bias of our primitive brains? That's a constant battle that we have to face every day in normal times, and honestly, I don't think it's at all easy with the two realities of world dysfunction (causing an acknowledged world-wide mental health crisis) and of aging (for many of us here). Neither of which we have any control over, and both of which are rife with uncertainty. And if you list all of the things that give humanity grief, uncertainty and lack of control would be at or near the top.

I felt like I was on an upward path of success for a number of years "After Sarno" even though it was turning 60 which precipitated my TMS crisis in 2011, and it's not like I stopped having birthdays since then. It's been tougher since 2016 because I'm overly sensitive to current affairs, and then along came 2020, along with a big setback. And I tell you, it's been a little discouraging. Yet I can still look back and see how my life is many times better today than it was in 2011 even though I'm 12 years older. I still count that as success.

We can't solve aging or world dysfunction. All we can do is stop and acknowledge the emotions they produce, giving ourselves the opportunity to change our irrational unconscious responses to mindful rational ones. Easier said than done, I know, but I would like to think that remembering to do this will help us to maintain and increase our successes.

 

[JaneSandyJane]

Thanks, Sandy. I can completely understand you not wanting to overthink it. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts as they say, and I guess if you pick off too many of the parts to try to explain to other people, the 'magic' (for want of a better word) might be affected. I'm long in the tooth on these forums and have noticed that for so many of those who publish their success stories on here it's the same situation. I guess we all have to find the best mixture of techniques/the right 'recipe' for us as individuals.

It also sounds like Dr Steinberg herself, her caring approach, personality, empathy, enthusiasm etc., and interest in her patients to include recognising and learning from them what tends to work and what doesn't work and her availability for questions between appointments, is a huge part of the 'recipe'/'magic' for her patients. I think it was @Duggit who was saying about this in a past thread (apologies if it wasn't you @Duggit) -- that is, the relationship with and belief in a therapist can play an enormous part to 'flip a switch' in us for a successful outcome. (I remember going to a therapist once who said during my session with her that I could phone in between sessions if there was something I wanted to ask and when I did just that it was immediately apparent that that had been an untruth and it upset and disheartened me; the only consolation was that she lost my custom at an early stage and I therefore hadn't forked out a fortune.)

Thanks so much for interrupting your trip to reply to me. I hope the rest of your weekend is good. You're at and enjoying the flea market and I'm now off to try out the feather meditation that you mentioned .

@BloodMoon Your words are so, so perfect here. I remember my first symptom-free day about 7 or 8 weeks in: I called my kids and my sister and told them to buy lottery tickets, for something magical was happening. While none of us won money in the lottery, I won something much, much more valuable. My close friend always says "Health is Wealth" and now on the right side of the that, I feel like the richest lady in the land. Thanks for chatting w/ me and helping me to further process my experience, which has been more emotional that I realized. Please do not ever give up and try everything to get well!!! Please! Sending you magic and blessings.

 

[DannyAndDana]

Perhaps an exercise program will help you build up your tolerance to physical sensations (the body pains) and make them go away. I once had a physical therapist teach me about this and I understood what he meant thinking about how I used to feel fine in slim suits and high heels and then after wearing cozier clothes for a while after having kids, I couldn’t imagine making it through the day in those outfits. Good thing so many of us work remotely now.

I read what Sandy wrote about her success and one thing she didn’t mention that I do w our doc (we both are patients and success stories of Laurel)is to find my assertive voice in all of my dealings with difficult people. Passive leads to problems w me and aggressive leads to problems with others. Assertive let’s me show up in a way I’m proud of.

I hope you have someone to speak with about all you’re going through. Did you see the practitioner list online? I hope you have a wonderful person to speak with who can give you the confidence you need to live your best life
Dana Siegel

 

[BloodMoon]

Hi Dana,

Perhaps an exercise program will help you build up your tolerance to physical sensations (the body pains) and make them go away.

Yes, that's a very good suggestion. I believe they call it 'graded exercise' and I have been doing it. Every hour I get up from my day bed to do some form of movement for 5 minutes or so and in the evenings I have a session where I stand in front of the TV gently marching on the spot, moving my arms and legs about and doing a bit of 'bad' dancing (for want of a better description!) and I've progressed from only being able to do 5 minutes of that when I started, up to around 35 minutes. I've reached a level time-wise at which I can't seem to go over though, not without causing undue fatigue or muscle spasming. However, now that you've mentioned this, I'm going to endeavour to increase my daily 'exercises'/movements very gradually by just a further minute and then another minute and so on, and see how I do.

I once had a physical therapist teach me about this and I understood what he meant thinking about how I used to feel fine in slim suits and high heels and then after wearing cozier clothes for a while after having kids, I couldn’t imagine making it through the day in those outfits.

Goodness, yes - what I used to have to wear to work would torture me now!

I read what Sandy wrote about her success and one thing she didn’t mention that I do w our doc (we both are patients and success stories of Laurel)is to find my assertive voice in all of my dealings with difficult people. Passive leads to problems w me and aggressive leads to problems with others. Assertive let’s me show up in a way I’m proud of.

I think I came across as being assertive, for instance, in my dealings with my late father's doctors, but underneath it all I was suppressing my seething anger. (My husband said that the latter didn't show, but maybe he was biased and they could sense it.) I did what I could for my father while he was alive and I wanted to do it for him, but at the same time I didn't want to be going through it - I just wanted to crawl under a stone as I felt so bad - so there was a lot of good old bad old TMS 'rage' going on. So, as you suggest, this does need some (or perhaps a lot of) working on.

I hope you have someone to speak with about all you’re going through. Did you see the practitioner list online? I hope you have a wonderful person to speak with who can give you the confidence you need to live your best life

Thank you so much, Dana. I appreciate your kindness and input / suggestions. I am thinking about contacting Dr Steinberg as I see she does sessions with people living overseas (I'm in England, UK). I'm a bit of technophobe though - the thought of messing about with Zoom, with connections failing etc., puts me off, but I guess I can force myself to tackle such stuff!

 

[DannyAndDana]

Hi Dana,

Yes, that's a very good suggestion. I believe they call it 'graded exercise' and I have been doing it. Every hour I get up from my day bed to do some form of movement for 5 minutes or so and in the evenings I have a session where I stand in front of the TV gently marching on the spot, moving my arms and legs about and doing a bit of 'bad' dancing (for want of a better description!) and I've progressed from only being able to do 5 minutes of that when I started, up to around 35 minutes. I've reached a level time-wise at which I can't seem to go over though, not without causing undue fatigue or muscle spasming. However, now that you've mentioned this, I'm going to endeavour to increase my daily 'exercises'/movements very gradually by just a further minute and then another minute and so on, and see how I do.

Goodness, yes - what I used to have to wear to work would torture me now!

I think I came across as being assertive, for instance, in my dealings with my late father's doctors, but underneath it all I was suppressing my seething anger. (My husband said that the latter didn't show, but maybe he was biased and they could sense it.) I did what I could for my father while he was alive and I wanted to do it for him, but at the same time I didn't want to be going through it - I just wanted to crawl under a stone as I felt so bad - so there was a lot of good old bad old TMS 'rage' going on. So, as you suggest, this does need some (or perhaps a lot of) working on.

Thank you so much, Dana. I appreciate your kindness and input / suggestions. I am thinking about contacting Dr Steinberg as I see she does sessions with people living overseas (I'm in England, UK). I'm a bit of technophobe though - the thought of messing about with Zoom, with connections failing etc., puts me off, but I guess I can force myself to tackle such stuff!

Wonderful w the exercise- I do bad dancing as well!! I’m sure there are plenty of people near to you to see with whom the time change would be easier to work with. Definitely check the provider list and pick someone who is a former sufferer. I’m sure they are all helpful— just make sure the one you work with is also kind. You need that. Good luck!! Dana Siegel

 

[BloodMoon]

@BloodMoon Your words are so, so perfect here. I remember my first symptom-free day about 7 or 8 weeks in: I called my kids and my sister and told them to buy lottery tickets, for something magical was happening. While none of us won money in the lottery, I won something much, much more valuable. My close friend always says "Health is Wealth" and now on the right side of the that, I feel like the richest lady in the land. Thanks for chatting w/ me and helping me to further process my experience, which has been more emotional that I realized. Please do not ever give up and try everything to get well!!! Please! Sending you magic and blessings.

I’m so pleased that my assessment of the situation rang so true for you and that it in some way helped you further process your experience. Thank you for your encouragement and good wishes. It means a lot.

 

[TheJoker3131]

Hello, JaneSandyJane. I was looking into Dr. Stienberg and was wanting to do her program but was just concerned since it was so expensive. This would be off of switching from a TMS therapist after four months and not seeing a lot of progress. Of course, the millions of other treatments my neurologist did that did not help. Do you have time to phone call or just talk about your experience to give me a little more confidence in this commitment? I loved how you said "health is wealth", that is true! I'd pay anything to be healed! I also sent you a private message if you want to give your phone number there so its not on a public forum.
Thanks!

 

[JaneSandyJane]

Hello, JaneSandyJane. I was looking into Dr. Stienberg and was wanting to do her program but was just concerned since it was so expensive. This would be off of switching from a TMS therapist after four months and not seeing a lot of progress. Of course, the millions of other treatments my neurologist did that did not help. Do you have time to phone call or just talk about your experience to give me a little more confidence in this commitment? I loved how you said "health is wealth", that is true! I'd pay anything to be healed! I also sent you a private message if you want to give your phone number there so its not on a public forum.
Thanks!

Benjsteger, her hourly fee is middle of the road for New York, at least that's what I found. I wrote back to your email. Thanks.

 

[katylivesfree]

Thanks so much for this thread and to those who are sharing their experience with Dr. Steinberg. @JaneSandyJane , May I ask how long you had to meet weekly with her?

 

[JaneSandyJane]

Thanks so much for this thread and to those who are sharing their experience with Dr. Steinberg. @JaneSandyJane , May I ask how long you had to meet weekly with her?

Hi katielivesfree, even though I'm symptom free for a long time now, I still meet with her because I really value her support on a number of areas of my life (with family, back in graduate school, friendships, and getting back out there to be able to live a full life after spending so much time at home, sick before) and I hope to always have her in my life (I am quite a bit older than she is). The program took a few months (3ish) to work for me to learn everything but I began to feel better much sooner than that and knew I was headed for success.
I didn't put my story on this page for many months because I was so afraid that I would "jinx it" -- I'm really confident these days and migraine (with symptoms that varied by the day - ugh!!) never came back. But if they do, I know know exactly what to do -- just tighten up what I'm doing with The Headache Prevention Lifestyle!!!

If you'd like, give her a call and she can answer any questions you have and tell her about your story to see if you are a fit - there is no charge for the call. She's a very nice person who helped me in more ways than I can describe.

We are off to a concert tonight with my grandson! I never could go to something like that before. Cheers and good luck to you and everyone on this website.

 

[danielle]

Hi @JaneSandyJane , great to hear about your success. Did you ever take the medication that Dr. Steinberg recommends to some clients? It seems she feels it's necessary for some folks at least for a time.

 

[JaneSandyJane]

Hi @JaneSandyJane , great to hear about your success. Did you ever take the medication that Dr. Steinberg recommends to some clients? It seems she feels it's necessary for some folks at least for a time.

Hey Danielle thank you for your email -- me, no - no medication. She got me OFF of the medication infusion that were making me sick that I got at my neurologists office. I know someone else who worked with her who is also symptom free and I know she was able to cut her medication in half after working with Laurel. I think Laurel told me at the beginning that some people benefit from adding meds and some didn't and that we'd know after a month or two of the program? I just got better and better until fully symptom free!!! If you have any concerns, speak with her about it. I don't know too much about this topic, but she sure does. Good luck!!!

 

[mindbody]

Hi- After reading this post and several others on the TMS forum about working with Dr. Steinberg, I am exploring the possibility of working with her. After years of learning about the TMS approach to migraine, I am a bit surprised to learn that an elimination diet is a significant part of her program. For those on this thread that have worked with Dr. Steinberg, how long did you have to follow this diet? Or do you still? Dr. Steinberg shared that she still follows it after 25 some years. Most TMS approaches to migraine do not subscribe to diet or other triggers (of which Dr. Steinberg believes there are many) being a contributing factor in migraine. Instead, most TMS approaches seek to un-train the brain to respond to supposed "triggers".

That being said, I have not been able to get to the root of my migraine after a couple of years of doing this work and seeing various TMS therapists and doctors. I'm open to the possibility that migraine is indeed different from other TMS disorders and requires a lifestyle approach. I'm pretty desperate and willing to try her program after reading so many great reviews, I'm just curious about others' experience with this if you're willing to comment. Also, she is recommending a medication for me. Thanks.