debbi1955
Peer Supporter
I learned about TMS - yesterday. I ordered Dr. Sarno's book Healing Back Pain. It was the result of a desperate search after a morning spent in agonizing back pain which cut short an overnight getaway. I've done all the usual (except surgery), and got tired of going to doctors because it only lead to more doctors, and after 30 years nothing had changed. So I ordered the eBook, and while resting my back I read it in one sitting.
It made so much sense. I had wondered how I could have days when my back was only marginally achy, then others when it was so painful that I could not stand up without assistance, and could not find a comfortable position to lay in. Doctors blamed it on arthritis and scoliosis, but if those were the cause, why would it sometimes feel better? When the student is ready, the teacher will arrive. Even after 30 years of being told I had back problems that could only be helped by surgery, I found myself ready to believe that THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH MY BACK!!!
I fell asleep telling myself this - that my back pain is not due to any physical injury or abnormality. I even slept on my side - a position I had been told would make it worse. I ordered my brain to keep sending oxygen to my muscles. Today I woke up - no pain, no stiffness, stood up out of bed like I was 20. Today, I've been doing many of the things that I KNEW would irritate my back - arching, slouching in my chair, working with the computer in my lap - no pain, no stiffness.
Lucky me - I think I was really ready to hear this. Seven years ago, I woke up coughing and unable to draw air back into my lungs. Because I had a diagnosis of asthma, I was treated for asthma for 6 weeks, even though I told doctors that it did not feel like asthma. I was on steroids and a medicine that contained vicodin - I could have walked into a group of zombies and would have been accepted as one of their own! Finally, my doctor admitted defeat and sent me to a pulmonologist, who found that I had a viral infection. The six weeks of missing work and overmedication were for nothing.
I also had a blocked ear tube, annual bouts of bronchitis, and multiple sinus and ear infections every year. I'd been told that they were due to my asthma and allergies, and there was nothing that could be done. I was looking forward to retirement soon, but thinking that I would not enjoy it much if I was still suffering from all of the conditions that were making me miserable. I'd also be financially strapped without a regular income to pay all the doctors. So I set off on a quest to find solutions.
I changed doctors, going to a recommended doctor who listened and believed in getting the body to heal itself. This doctor referred me to an ENT, and he put an ear tube in my 57 year old ear (other ENTs had said that was only useful in infants)! This helped the ear clear its own blockage, and as a result the inflammation went down and the pain and pressure in my ear relaxed. After the tube fell out, the ENT said to wait a few months and see if the symptoms came back - and they did not! I was so relieved that I had found someone who believed the body could fix itself, and was not in a rush to put a tube back in or give me medication. My new doctor also removed the diagnosis of asthma from my charts, as she said she did not see any evidence that I had it. I realized that the misinformation I'd received over the years had kept me believing I was doomed to frequent infections and respiratory problems, and now that I had found help and rejected the false diagnoses, I was healing!
However, I didn't at the time think about this possibly applying to my back. So when I found Dr. Sarno's book yesterday, I was open to what it had to say. Right now, I am wiggling all over, doing everything I can to try and get a twinge of pain from my back - but it's not happening! Could I really have fixed this in 24 hours!!! THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH MY BACK!!!!
It made so much sense. I had wondered how I could have days when my back was only marginally achy, then others when it was so painful that I could not stand up without assistance, and could not find a comfortable position to lay in. Doctors blamed it on arthritis and scoliosis, but if those were the cause, why would it sometimes feel better? When the student is ready, the teacher will arrive. Even after 30 years of being told I had back problems that could only be helped by surgery, I found myself ready to believe that THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH MY BACK!!!
I fell asleep telling myself this - that my back pain is not due to any physical injury or abnormality. I even slept on my side - a position I had been told would make it worse. I ordered my brain to keep sending oxygen to my muscles. Today I woke up - no pain, no stiffness, stood up out of bed like I was 20. Today, I've been doing many of the things that I KNEW would irritate my back - arching, slouching in my chair, working with the computer in my lap - no pain, no stiffness.
Lucky me - I think I was really ready to hear this. Seven years ago, I woke up coughing and unable to draw air back into my lungs. Because I had a diagnosis of asthma, I was treated for asthma for 6 weeks, even though I told doctors that it did not feel like asthma. I was on steroids and a medicine that contained vicodin - I could have walked into a group of zombies and would have been accepted as one of their own! Finally, my doctor admitted defeat and sent me to a pulmonologist, who found that I had a viral infection. The six weeks of missing work and overmedication were for nothing.
I also had a blocked ear tube, annual bouts of bronchitis, and multiple sinus and ear infections every year. I'd been told that they were due to my asthma and allergies, and there was nothing that could be done. I was looking forward to retirement soon, but thinking that I would not enjoy it much if I was still suffering from all of the conditions that were making me miserable. I'd also be financially strapped without a regular income to pay all the doctors. So I set off on a quest to find solutions.
I changed doctors, going to a recommended doctor who listened and believed in getting the body to heal itself. This doctor referred me to an ENT, and he put an ear tube in my 57 year old ear (other ENTs had said that was only useful in infants)! This helped the ear clear its own blockage, and as a result the inflammation went down and the pain and pressure in my ear relaxed. After the tube fell out, the ENT said to wait a few months and see if the symptoms came back - and they did not! I was so relieved that I had found someone who believed the body could fix itself, and was not in a rush to put a tube back in or give me medication. My new doctor also removed the diagnosis of asthma from my charts, as she said she did not see any evidence that I had it. I realized that the misinformation I'd received over the years had kept me believing I was doomed to frequent infections and respiratory problems, and now that I had found help and rejected the false diagnoses, I was healing!
However, I didn't at the time think about this possibly applying to my back. So when I found Dr. Sarno's book yesterday, I was open to what it had to say. Right now, I am wiggling all over, doing everything I can to try and get a twinge of pain from my back - but it's not happening! Could I really have fixed this in 24 hours!!! THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH MY BACK!!!!
