Are there other forums for TMS? Why such lack of resources?

[JTinLA]

The LACK of discussion forums is sort of disappointing and mind boggling. I've looked around and I can't find much. I tried Reddit, and the "TMS" groups there is for "transcranial magnetic stimulation". There is only "Chronic Pain" forums...and truth be told, about 80% of the stories I saw on the subReddit literally sound like TMS....it's uncanny.

WHY is there hardly any help or resources in 2024. I come back after 17 years of being pain free, in pain again, and I find it's barely progressed. I don't get it. It's baffling. I see SO many people with symptoms like mine and THIS is the only discussion forum talking about the issue???

 

[Skylark7]

I'm so sorry I offended people. I understand how hard you work as I've done similar labors of love myself, so I'm deleting my comment and will be off the forum for a while.

 

[Diana-M]

There’s a lot going on. There are a bunch of leaders now. And a bunch of paths. No one path holds all the answers. There is no magic formula. You have to literally go on a quest. This wiki has countless suggestions for things to delve into if you just dig around. Read the success stories and see what people did. Every recovery is unique. The chronic pain world is the TMS world. There are answers there too.

 

[Skylark7]

Read the success stories and see what people did

THANK YOU!

 

[JanAtheCPA]

TMS" (not Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation but The Mindbody Syndrome, originally Tension Myositis Syndrome, then later Tension Myoneural Syndrome, but doesn't affect only muscles);

Please, just say "Dr Sarno's TMS".

the one online forum's UI is a throwback

You might be referring to the old TMSHelp.com site, the sad demise of which we discussed here a few months ago. Taken over by aggressive marketing of a TMS clinic, then by spam.

There are quite a number of paid membership groups which are run by various professionals, and the monthly cost is typically no more than 50 minutes with a licensed therapist. Nicole Sachs has one for $99, with no commitment beyond one month. I know there are others.

There is at least one TMS Facebook group, administered by a long-time member of this forum (and admin of our Saturday Chat) but I have no idea if the content is any different. The people are probably different, and also possibly less anonymous, but... well, it's Facebook.

@JTinLA and @Skylark7, I would like to think that in bringing up your frustrations, you have possibly spared a moment to appreciate the existence of this forum and how unique it is. Have you taken note of the fact that it is completely free, which includes free of any form of advertising or marketing or donation requests? If you do appreciate this fact, has it crossed your mind to wonder who is paying the bills?

This forum is a labor of love created in honor of Dr Sarno by @Forest, who continues to maintain the software and pay the bills. He's able to do that because there are so many of us volunteers willing to keep the discussion going, which includes paying attention to posts and reporting any problems, especially spam. Our forum is free of spam partly because of the software filters, and partly because people pay attention and report dubious posts.

You're not likely to find this combination of benefits repeated.

Just sayin'.

 

[JanAtheCPA]

This wiki has countless suggestions for things to delve into if you just dig around.

Yep. Thank you @Diana-M.

It takes time and it takes patience.

Diana's own story is a lesson in what it can take. Go to her profile, click on the Postings tab, and scroll to the bottom of the first page to click on "threads started by" so that you only get a list of her original threads. Go down to the earliest, and start reading. She may not consider herself a success story yet, but she is committed to doing what it takes. This community is here to support the journey of each member who is doing the work, in all of its ups and downs.

 

[Diana-M]

This forum is a labor of love created in honor of Dr Sarno by @Forest, who continues to maintain the software and pay the bills. He's able to do that because there are so many of us volunteers willing to keep the discussion going, which includes paying attention to posts and reporting any problems, especially spam

Thank you SO much to @Forest and to all the angels who work tirelessly on this site. I have said this before, but I’ve had 10+ years of therapy. I’ve read dozens of books on TMS. Nothing has compared to the help found on this wiki!

 

[JTinLA]

I would like to think that in bringing up your frustrations, you have possibly spared a moment to appreciate the existence of this forum and how unique it is. Have you taken note of the fact that it is completely free, which includes free of any form of advertising or marketing or donation requests? If you do appreciate this fact, has it crossed your mind to wonder who is paying the bills?

This forum is a labor of love created in honor of Dr Sarno by @Forest, who continues to maintain the software and pay the bills. He's able to do that because there are so many of us volunteers willing to keep the discussion going, which includes paying attention to posts and reporting any problems, especially spam. Our forum is free of spam partly because of the software filters, and partly because people pay attention and report dubious posts.

You're not likely to find this combination of benefits repeated.

Just sayin'.

Saying all of this is unnecessary. I never made one negative remark about this forum.
I was just wondering why there weren't others like it on bigger platforms, to assist more people.
And I was wondering what I could do to help it expand, since my expertise is online marketing and sales.

You projecting some sort of "unappreciative" intent on my part is odd. More groups the better. More people, the greater pool of knowledge.

If you feel unappreciated by what I said, that's you.

But it's okay. I'm gonna move on from here. I'm getting a "sense" that I should.

Good luck.

 

[Skylark7]

Please, just say "Dr Sarno's TMS".

OK, though TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation therapy) is massively popular right now, so anyone Googling "TMS" will find thousands of hits for that before they ever find this ... and the description of Tension Myositis Syndrome as muscular pain initially made me think I was in the wrong place as my symptom (as with Tinnitus and others) is NOT a muscular pain. No biggie, as I've found it already ... but others may not. That's my only point.

You might be referring to the old TMSHelp.com site

I didn't know about any other/old site. I got "Unlearn Your Pain" and found this site a few days ago.

I would like to think that in bringing up your frustrations, you have possibly spared a moment to appreciate the existence of this forum and how unique it is. Have you taken note of the fact that it is completely free, which includes free of any form of advertising or marketing or donation requests? If you do appreciate this fact, has it crossed your mind to wonder who is paying the bills?

...

You know, I REALLY understand this. I spent over a decade leading support groups and doing marketing and PR for Recovery Inc, all for free .... as well as lots of other labors of love I could name. I've also created websites, voluntarily and professionally, and I'm aware that it's not easy. I meant absolutely no offense, and I'm sorry. I wasn't "frustrated," merely making a comment. Like @JTinLA, I have a professional background in marketing.

That said, though ... when I wrote that, I worried I might upset someone, but then thought No, I worry far too much about such things. Now I see that I was right: I've already made a mistake and upset people... people who are way, way ahead of me in the healing process.

I should not have said anything.

 

[TG957]

I'm brand new to this and notice the same thing. The subreddits that exist are barely active, and the one online forum's UI is a throwback to the late 1990s! There's nothing wrong with that, but it makes me wonder where everyone IS.

One thing I've found confusing is the connections between Pain Reprocessing Therapy, "TMS" (not Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation but The Mindbody Syndrome, originally Tension Myositis Syndrome, then later Tension Myoneural Syndrome, but doesn't affect only muscles); Alan Gordon's Pain Recovery Forum; the TMS Experience, Curable, etc etc. When one already feels overwhelmed, it seems there is no clear path to go from A to B to C.

Yes, it might look confusing unless you recognize the history behind the terms. Dr. Sarno coined term TMS based on the knowledge available at the time, and only applying it to back pain which was his narrow specialization then. Neuroscience as we know it today didn't exist then. In 60 years that passed, it became obvious that original TMS terminology wasn't right, even though Dr. Sarno's method was still 100% valid and could be applied to many chronic pain conditions and even autoimmune diseases. Additional methods were also developed, based on the same general idea that chronic pain has psychosomatic origins. Hence variability of terms and platforms like Curable, PRT, Nicole Sacks, TMSRoundtable, and other therapist-led forums, some free, others behind the paywall. Despite differences in terminology, all their origins are in Dr. Sarno's work.
This forum, however, is the only high quality patients-led forum that i know, thanks to the volunteers like @Forest, @JanAtheCPA and others.
I hope it helps.

 

[Skylark7]

Dr. Sarno coined term TMS based on the knowledge available at the time, and only applying it to back pain which was his narrow specialization then. Neuroscience as we know it today didn't exist then

Oh yes, I understood that. I'd read recently that the name had been changed in recent years (because of new research and to avoid confusion with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation therapy), but apparently that was wrong.

This forum, however, is the only high quality patients-led forum that i know, thanks to the volunteers like @Forest, @JanAtheCPA and others

Yes, I understand the folks here do an enormous amount of work to keep this up, and that my comment came off as an insult which I absolutely didn't intend. I fear I've worn out my welcome already.

 

[TG957]

Oh yes, I understood that. I'd read recently that the name had been changed in recent years (because of new research and to avoid confusion with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation therapy), but apparently that was wrong.



Yes, I understand the folks here do an enormous amount of work to keep this up, and that my comment came off as an insult which I absolutely didn't intend. I fear I've worn out my welcome already.

Your fear is unfounded. This is the most open-minded, kind and generous group of people. If you feel that some of your posts went a bit overboard, just delete them. Otherwise, stay, learn, succeed!

 

[Cactusflower]

Back on topic..
Facebook is littered with TMS groups.
Dan Buglio has one, Dani Fagan has one.. there are many others. I follow Dani Fagan and Phil De la Hay on FB because their posts are so right on point. Several TMS practitioners such as Dr. Tovah at TMS Roundtable broadcast live on Facebook and ask for real time participation (it’s taped and then posted on her YouTube channel) .. lots of folks who post free help on YouTube have comment sections with discussions…
These kind of message boards are now old fashioned on the internet. People tend to join live group chats and meetings which require small monthly fees (to pay for the hosts time).

 

[Booble]

I think the lack of discussion places is a plus. When things get too broad on giant sites you end up with all kinds of misinformation.
We are lucky that things are centered around here.

I do understand the want for more, more, more and places liked Reddit and various other forums give you endless conversation.
We often crave that (myself included) as its further distraction from "doing the work."

 

[Baseball65]

I see SO many people with symptoms like mine and THIS is the only discussion forum talking about the issue???

Back on the old forum there was a sort of running gag....there was this Giant forum called 'Healthboards' and we would post about TMS and Sarno in response to people who were clearly having TMS...and then we'd count how many minutes it took them to delete our posts (LOL) If you discuss more than a few times? they'd ban you!

I think it's because of the nature of what causes TMS and it's cure VS. all of the fancy , push button stuff we want and use in other area's of our life.
Society has gotten used to specialists and results and it works for a lot of stuff...but this is about going into that place that No one wants to go until they have to... Sarno himself only had a very few Pro athletes ever. The way our society is wired, anything remotely 'psychological' gets a stigma associated with it....which is funny, because collectively we're about as crazy as we have even been.

I see TMS everywhere...particularly in Pro Baseball.. It bums me out to watch my favorite players going on the IL over and over for things that are clearly TMS...

But my answer to your question would be , it's in the nature of what the real problem is..only a desperate minority would try this. It is drowned out by all of the other 'solutions'

On my local 'Nextdoor' someone asked for the name of a Back surgeon....I posted a short blurb about Sarno. Of course it wasn't responded to...then about two months later I got a message from a woman I have never met Thanking me...she saw the comment and bought HBP and got better!!!!

but there were 50+ Chiro's and Ortho's recommended...and I imagine most people would try half of those before they tried something as easy as reading a book and looking at themselves...Human nature?

Never been so grateful in my life to be in the minuscule minority.

 

[Diana-M]

Never been so grateful in my life to be in the minuscule minority.

I think Dr. Sarno said that sadly only 5% (I forget the exact number) of the patients he told they had TMS believed him. I have told so many people about it, and they never want to hear about it. And some do believe, but when it comes down to it, they don’t want to do the work.

I was cured of TMS when I first read Sarno’s Healing Back Pain in 2017, and later I lurked on this site on and off. But it wasn’t until my latest very heavy round of symptoms that I became “desperate” enough to just get vulnerable and talk to the people on this site who are healed and sharing their wisdom. The collective knowledge and human compassion on here is what is keeping me going. It helps me believe that as long as I stick with all the advice here, I’ll get better.

And: there’s a touch of tough love also. These same healing gurus can see when you are just avoiding the work and they’ll tell you (and each other) so. I like that!

I’m a journalist, and I’m used to covering a beat. If TMS were my beat (which it is, now, for my life’s sake), this is all the resource I’d need because it’s a warehouse of 12 years of hard-earned knowledge in healing. I do searches in various topics, like personality traits of TMS, and find pages and pages of insight and reflections on how people have overcome what has driven their TMS. I also like the steady flow of current trends and videos,
Books and podcasts that are suggested. As they say, two heads are better than one. Everyone on here is working the beat. Contributing valuable info. to this unfolding story.

This site also seems to attract a lot of people who just want to confirm their symptoms are TMS. When they find out they have TMS from what they learn
on this site, they run, because they don’t want to do
the introspective and other work it will take to heal. And they are disappointed it will take time.

I see this TMS as a life sentence. I’m in it for life. I’ll have to learn how to heal and then keep it off for good. It has crept back on and off for 30 years. But this is my chance to fight it off permanently. And I’m glad to know I will be doing it in the company of others who are doing the same.

 

[Cactusflower]

I don’t see TMS as a “life sentence” that in itself would be enraging: a curse for which there is no cure, a hopelessness and desperation.

The mind body connection is a normal, natural human function. Some people simply develop the skills to connect with it, others simply need to learn the connection and not fear it. That difference is purely mindset.

 

[Diana-M]

I don’t see TMS as a “life sentence” that in itself would be enraging: a curse for which there is no cure, a hopelessness and desperation.

Busted, @Cactusflower! I still definitely have a bad attitude.

 

[TG957]

Busted, @Cactusflower! I still definitely have a bad attitude.

I used to roll my eyes when hearing from cancer survivors how cancer changed their life and mindset to the better. I do believe the same thing about TMS now. It was a desperate call my body sent to me in order to stop my self-destruction. In a way, it was a blessing in disguise.

 

[miffybunny]

I don't recommend the Facebook tms groups. They are extremely problematic for people who are confused and/or in the throes of symptoms. I'm actually considering leaving one of them for my own sanity ( I think I'm in 3). Facebook can't compare to the Wiki on any level. FB is replete with trolls and naysayers, scammers, and advertising. Also the groups tend to be either completely unmoderated to the point of the Wild West or overly moderated to the point of censorship that disallows members to actually help. There is also a lot of enabling and victim clubs within these groups. Let's just say I've seen enough and I'm grateful I was not on FB when I was going through it!! Of course there are helpful posts with great articles and links as well, BUT it's a minefield and if you're not able to have a filter of steel, it can really derail a person.