Can all my symptoms be due to TMS?

[danijel1998]

Hello everyone, i am trying to overcome the health issues that i have been having since 2021.

I was a super healthy person until age of 22. When i turned 22 i faced a period of enormous stress. Immediately after i dropped out of classes i started slowly having some health problems like not being able to breathe for two weeks (went away but that was my first health issue in life). Then i noticed occasionall acid reflux and stomachache every few months that would last for a week or two.

When i was 23 i had a stomachache for two weeks that went away but doctor said to take antibiotics because i tested positive for bacteria. After i took antibiotics I developed enormous stomach problems ( diarrhea, food sensitivities, stomach pain, ibs).

In 2023 i developed shoulder pain after an injury while working out. This persisted for a whole year.

After a 3 month period of a huge stress i developed GERD.

After a few months my ear started twitching and after a few additional months i found out about tinnitus and got scared because i was googling symptoms of my ear twitching. After a fee days a got tinnitus and sound sensitivity.


I couldn’t believe that i got all these problems in one year, i was desperate…

I stumbled upon one comment on reddit of a person who claimed that resolved many health issues by reading dr. Sarno’s book. I told myself i have nothing to lose and tried an audiobook.

Overnight my 1 year long shoulder/back pain that radiated to arm went away.

After two weeks my sound sensitivity is 95% gone and my tinnitus receding rapidly ( mostly i don’t have a ringing but only some fantom noise/feeling when in a quiet room. I think that my ear issues will completely resolve in a few weeks with this tempo.

I am wondering can my ibs heal as well?
I was certain that antibiotics caused my ibs but now after getting familiar with dr, Sarno’s book i am wondering if my brain could just use antibiotics as an excuse to start the symptoms.


Any suggestions, thoughts?

 

[Cactusflower]

"I was certain that antibiotics caused my ibs but now after getting familiar with dr, Sarno’s book i am wondering if my brain could just use antibiotics as an excuse to start the symptoms."

YES! THIS!

You have clearly had anxiety issues and TMS symptoms for a long time.

IBS can absolutely be healed with TMS work, and it is a very common complaint in the TMS world.

Keep on doing the things Dr. Sarno suggests!!

 

[danijel1998]

"I was certain that antibiotics caused my ibs but now after getting familiar with dr, Sarno’s book i am wondering if my brain could just use antibiotics as an excuse to start the symptoms."

YES! THIS!

You have clearly had anxiety issues and TMS symptoms for a long time.

IBS can absolutely be healed with TMS work, and it is a very common complaint in the TMS world.

Keep on doing the things Dr. Sarno suggests!!

Thank you for the reply. So IBS is not harder to get rid of than other TMS symptoms right?
I also found out that dr. Sarno himself had some digestive issues that he resolved, did he have IBS as well, are you familiar with that?

I have read a few IBS successes stories on this forum and few searching through Amazon reviews of the book, but it seems like most success stories orbiting around back, shoulder area and not that many in GI world. Like my shoulder pain disappearing over night was a shock after i tried a chiropractor, PT and exercises unsuccessfully.

 

[Mark11]

Hey man, we have some similarities.

My story



I'm a 26 years old guy, and I've had my first TMS symptom since elementary school due to traumas that still persists to this day (anxiety/panic attacks around people, so a more severe social anxiety)

Then in 2018, I get cold hands/feet and bad circulation, which still persists to this day

in 2019, I get seb dermatitis on scalp, eyebrows, around lip area, etc. Also insane itching on scalp due to seb derm and I my hair thinned a lot on places I was scratching. like coldness, this too persisted

in 2020, I got prostatitis/frequent urination, having an urge to pee every hour or so

in 2021 I got covid and since then I've had many symptoms, like POTS (30bp+ hr when standing), heavy heart beat, over 180+ pulse when doing intense activity and my heart beats so hard, digestive issues, weight loss, dry eyes, insomnia, etc

The thing is, during 2018 I was in a lot of stress, both self imposed and college stress,
and few months ago I found out about dr sarno and read his books multiple times. I had intense back pain in 4 different places (since 2023) that I got from gaming for a year and now it's 99% gone, but all these other symtoms remain

I have journaled about a lot of things I could be unconsciously angry about, about my parents, about college and self imposed pressure, childhood, but the symptoms are still there.

I'm not giving my symptoms concern or care, as I know there is nothing wrong with me, just my body trying to protect me

I don't know what more there is to uncover as I am sure I explored everything a 5yo in me thinks is making it angry/sad/shameful

Right now I'm watching many Dan Buglio's (on yt) testimonials of people healing all sorts of symptoms like GI, insomnia etc with just being indifferent to symptoms and returning to activity


So I'm still trying to figure it out

 

[Cactusflower]

@danijel1998
There really are no “harder” TMS symptoms in my opinion. It all depends on your nervous system, mindset, and if the approach you take is right for you. Dr. Sarno had digestive symptoms and migraines, and that they came and went depending on the state of his internal anger, and if he was able to get in touch with it. I have seen comments by his wife that suggest she also had to encourage him to take time to relax, and chill out (which would be the nervous system calming).
Dr David Clarke is the head of the PPDA ( another term for TMS ) and is a retired gastroenterologist. He is interviewed frequently on YouTube and speaks about many successes with patients.
I had IBS but not any more, and @JanAtheCPA had digestive issues. My old TMS coach Rebecca Tolin also recovered from digestive and many other concerns.


here is an IBS and other success story:

 

[JanAtheCPA]

I stumbled upon one comment on reddit of a person who claimed that resolved many health issues by reading dr. Sarno’s book. I told myself i have nothing to lose and tried an audiobook.

This is exactly how I came into this work back in 2011! A physical therapist wanted me to go on the migraine diet, which I wanted to research, so I found a forum where people were discussing their migraines and their diets. None of the food discussions made any sense (they were ridiculous in fact) but there was one guy who suggested reading The Divided Mind by Dr Sarno. He was severely abused by the other forum members, but I downloaded the ebook that night and, like you, experienced significant immediate relief in shoulder and back pain. I went on to do the Structured Educational Program which is on the main TMSwiki.org site, and overcame many of my other symptoms. It's all on my profile story if you're interested. My digestive problems might have been diagnosed as IBS at that time, but I didn't go to my traditional doctor. Digestive discomfort, mostly a little bit of reflux, is often what comes back when I'm experiencing current stress, but I'm able to control it pretty easily with self calming. Being old doesn't help, LOL. I was 60 when I discovered Dr Sarno - how lucky are you to have found this work so young!?!

it seems like most success stories orbiting around back, shoulder area and not that many in GI world.

Not true, as @Cactusflower said. GI issues are well-known to be stress-related, but they often take a backseat to muscle pain, which is more disabling in terms of getting on with life.

Don't overthink it. Just proceed to do the work. Reading one book is not enough!

 

[danijel1998]

@danijel1998
There really are no “harder” TMS symptoms in my opinion. It all depends on your nervous system, mindset, and if the approach you take is right for you. Dr. Sarno had digestive symptoms and migraines, and that they came and went depending on the state of his internal anger, and if he was able to get in touch with it. I have seen comments by his wife that suggest she also had to encourage him to take time to relax, and chill out (which would be the nervous system calming).
Dr David Clarke is the head of the PPDA ( another term for TMS ) and is a retired gastroenterologist. He is interviewed frequently on YouTube and speaks about many successes with patients.
I had IBS but not any more, and @JanAtheCPA had digestive issues. My old TMS coach Rebecca Tolin also recovered from digestive and many other concerns.


here is an IBS and other success story:

How long have you had IBS and what were your symptoms of IBS if i may ask?

Also how long did it take you to cure IBS after starting the protocol for TMS?

 

[danijel1998]

Hey man, we have some similarities.

My story



I'm a 26 years old guy, and I've had my first TMS symptom since elementary school due to traumas that still persists to this day (anxiety/panic attacks around people, so a more severe social anxiety)

Then in 2018, I get cold hands/feet and bad circulation, which still persists to this day

in 2019, I get seb dermatitis on scalp, eyebrows, around lip area, etc. Also insane itching on scalp due to seb derm and I my hair thinned a lot on places I was scratching. like coldness, this too persisted

in 2020, I got prostatitis/frequent urination, having an urge to pee every hour or so

in 2021 I got covid and since then I've had many symptoms, like POTS (30bp+ hr when standing), heavy heart beat, over 180+ pulse when doing intense activity and my heart beats so hard, digestive issues, weight loss, dry eyes, insomnia, etc

The thing is, during 2018 I was in a lot of stress, both self imposed and college stress,
and few months ago I found out about dr sarno and read his books multiple times. I had intense back pain in 4 different places (since 2023) that I got from gaming for a year and now it's 99% gone, but all these other symtoms remain

I have journaled about a lot of things I could be unconsciously angry about, about my parents, about college and self imposed pressure, childhood, but the symptoms are still there.

I'm not giving my symptoms concern or care, as I know there is nothing wrong with me, just my body trying to protect me

I don't know what more there is to uncover as I am sure I explored everything a 5yo in me thinks is making it angry/sad/shameful

Right now I'm watching many Dan Buglio's (on yt) testimonials of people healing all sorts of symptoms like GI, insomnia etc with just being indifferent to symptoms and returning to activity


So I'm still trying to figure it out

Thanks for sharing your story, i hope you fix your other health problems as well. Per dr.Sarno it can take some time..

 

[danijel1998]

This is exactly how I came into this work back in 2011! A physical therapist wanted me to go on the migraine diet, which I wanted to research, so I found a forum where people were discussing their migraines and their diets. None of the food discussions made any sense (they were ridiculous in fact) but there was one guy who suggested reading The Divided Mind by Dr Sarno. He was severely abused by the other forum members, but I downloaded the ebook that night and, like you, experienced significant immediate relief in shoulder and back pain. I went on to do the Structured Educational Program which is on the main TMSwiki.org site, and overcame many of my other symptoms. It's all on my profile story if you're interested. My digestive problems might have been diagnosed as IBS at that time, but I didn't go to my traditional doctor. Digestive discomfort, mostly a little bit of reflux, is often what comes back when I'm experiencing current stress, but I'm able to control it pretty easily with self calming. Being old doesn't help, LOL. I was 60 when I discovered Dr Sarno - how lucky are you to have found this work so young!?!


Not true, as @Cactusflower said. GI issues are well-known to be stress-related, but they often take a backseat to muscle pain, which is more disabling in terms of getting on with life.

Don't overthink it. Just proceed to do the work. Reading one book is not enough!

Thank you for your reply, may i ask you what were the symptoms of IBS that you had before you found out about dr. Sarno and how long after starting the treatment for TMS did your IBS go away?

 

[Cactusflower]

It really doesn't matter what my symptoms were nor how long it took for them to go away.
They went away BEFORE I knew about Dr. Sarno, because I recognized that they (and as they progressed to other symptoms) were anxiety, and having major stress and changes in my life. They didn't totally go away, but that helped a lot.
As symptoms can go without really understanding the underlaying issue, they became other symptoms eventually, because I wasn't addressing ALL of the true reasons for my symptoms (all of which Dr. Sarno lays out in his books).
Your symptoms are tied to the internal stress you generate, and the state of your nervous system. "How Long" can be days for some people, years for others. It doesn't really matter all that much once you begin to stop giving your personal power and attention over to the symptoms. They become less important in your life as you begin to turn your mind towards the true genesis of your internal stress.
Although I personally had less IBS symptoms upon recognizing that I had a lot of stress, what I didn't recognize was that I was so focused on my external world and what people thought of me and what people expected that symptoms kept occurring. It's only since I've recognized that until I got a better grasp on my internal world, that external stress effects me much less...and I have fewer symptoms.
The SIRPA youtube channel has quite a few IBS success stories. This past week they posted an interview with a therapist who specializes in IBS

 

[JanAtheCPA]

what were the symptoms of IBS that you had before you found out about dr. Sarno and how long after starting the treatment for TMS did your IBS go away?

You can ask, but my answer is that IBS is just a group of words that the medical community put together in order to come up with a so-called diagnosis for a condition that they can't explain and for which they have no real treatment. Ask yourself, what TF does "irritable bowel syndrome" really mean? It means a whole bunch of different symptoms that people get because their bowels seem to be irritated.

The common joke on this form is that if the word Syndrome appears after words that simply describe the symptoms, it's TMS. End of story.

On this forum, we know that bowels are irritated as a result of emotional distress and repression. Therefore - and I cannot emphasize this strongly enough - the details of your symptoms absolutely DO NOT MATTER.

Focusing on your details, asking people for their details, and attempting to compare details, is a trick conceived by your TMS brain, fooling you into thinking you're accomplishing something. It's a waste of time, and you are accomplishing nothing. It will only get in the way of your recovery.

This is tough love, baby. Do the work. That is all!

 

[Diana-M]

It really is easy to focus on symptoms! You just want some proof so you can hope. But I guess we newbies need to believe you healed ones. Do the work; it works, you say. I’m in deeper than ever before. Some days I am tempted to believe I won’t make it out of this. BUT— I’m going to keep on. I’m going to finish the SEP course. I can’t wait to report some victories.

 

[Diana-M]

How long have you had IBS and what were your symptoms of IBS if i may ask?

Also how long did it take you to cure IBS after starting the protocol for TMS?

I had IBS for 4 years in college before Sarno. It went away after I graduated and was replaced by many more symptoms over the years. So it doesn’t matter the symptoms—it’s all about your brain.

 

[danijel1998]

Your symptoms are tied to the internal stress you generate, and the state of your nervous system. "How Long" can be days for some people, years for others. It doesn't really matter all that much once you begin to stop giving your personal power and attention over to the symptoms. They become less important in your life as you begin to turn your mind towards the true genesis of your internal stress.

Thanks a lot for clarifying this, i am really trying to not focus on symptoms and instead always think about repressed anger instead and what was it in my life that could cause all of this.
I will do my best for sure especially now after the 1 year long shoulder pain went away literally overnight giving me a huge boost of confidence that other symptoms can go away as well

what people thought of me and what people expected

That is exactly what was i struggling with for my whole life and still i do. So living like that can actually give you TMS symptoms when you care so much of what others think of you? That’s huge.

 

[danijel1998]

Focusing on your details, asking people for their details, and attempting to compare details, is a trick conceived by your TMS brain, fooling you into thinking you're accomplishing something. It's a waste of time, and you are accomplishing nothing. It will only get in the way of your recovery.

Thanks a lot for this! I started seriously implementing what dr.Sarno says in his book, now i only have to be patient enough…

 

[danijel1998]

I had IBS for 4 years in college before Sarno. It went away after I graduated and was replaced by many more symptoms over the years

It went away after you found out about dr.Sarno? For me the old symptoms didn’t go away but rather i was getting the new ones instead. Now i fixed one problem completely and making a huge progress on the second problem which leaves me only with IBS and occasionally GERD (not sure if i got rid of GERD because i avoid too greasy foods but i don’t have symptoms of GERD maybe once in a while so i think that is going away as well). Yesterday i started eating a dark chocolate and my IBS is under control, so i think i am making progress there as well.

 

[Diana-M]

My IBS went away on it’s own after I was away from all the stress of college. I didn’t know about Sarno at that time. It turns out for me that a lot of times when I get away from a really stressful situation, the symptoms go away. But now life has so many stressful situations built in, there’s no way to get away. I think that’s why I’m the position I’m in. But the good thing about it is I’m actually doing so much good TMS healing work now, which is all great knowledge for living a better life from here on out. That’s great you are feeling better!

 

[JanAtheCPA]

I had digestive disturbances in the spring of 1969, my senior year of high school - 42 years "Before Sarno". My family doctor asked me questions about my symptoms and then asked about graduation and uni plans. Then he said that he didn't think there was anything wrong with me except for anxiety. My symptoms disappeared shortly thereafter.

It's all about your mindset. I was thrilled to know that there was nothing wrong with me except for stress, and that's all my brain needed in that moment. In fact, this would become a pattern for the next several decades, because I'm the person who does not want something to be wrong, I want to heal myself. My biggest issue is that I never seriously addressed the anxiety and everything built up as I approached that magic age of 60. That was the trigger for a cascade of TMS symptoms that almost disabled me until I discovered Dr Sarno and this work. Again, it's all about your mindset and my mindset has always been that I can heal myself. I believe that's why this work came easily to me. Which is not to say that I don't still need to do the work regularly, because our brains are wired to be negative and fearful, and getting old really does not help. Neither does the current state of the world!

Symptoms really don't freak me out anymore, because I know what I need to do and I turn things around pretty quickly with my tools.

 

[Diana-M]

I'm the person who does not want something to be wrong, I want to heal myself. .

This is me too! The minute I heard about TMS and Sarno, I believed it was true. I’m seeing now, that it hasn’t always helped to heal me because I have lacked a full toolkit for healing, which thankfully this wiki is helping to provide and is a total Godsend! I also have doubted that TMS could really cause numbing and weakness in my legs. But it can!

I am filled with hope today!