Cannot find TMS Doctor to give me a TMS Evaluation

I live in Northern California in the East Bay in Pleasant Hill. I read a few of Dr Sarno's books and then proceeded to try to find a doctor that could tell me if I had TMS or not. The only doctor I could find in the Bay Area near me was Parvez Fatteh, MD. I called his office a few months ago and made an appointment for December. A week before the appointment a woman called me from his office and said the doctor had told her he would be out of town that week and to cancel his appointments. I asked her about rescheduling and she said she did not know his schedule in January and would call me when she did. I called his office a week later after not hearing anything and I was told they were not sure he would continue to see patients the next year. I am waiting to call back in January of 2016 and hope I can get an appointment but it looks like Dr Fatteh might not be available to me. Does anyone know of a doctor I can make an appointment with to assess whether or not I have TMS? I am not comfortable with doing it over a phone call or video chat, especially at the prices I have seen for these assessments.

Don't get me wrong, I would pay anything if I found a practitioner that could help guide me to better health and less pain. But I have already paid a fair sum seeing multiple chiropractors, massage therapists, acupuncturists and personal trainers. I am open to continuing that but not sure I am on the right path to healing.

I have always had bouts with back-pain since grade school, but I have always been able to get better. Over the last few years I have had longer and longer periods of what I would now call chronic pain in lower back and both shoulders (xrays and MRI only see what the doctors have said is arthritis, not beyond what might be expected of a 61 year old male who has been very active. Of course the last 5 years I have had some injuries. I took up cycling (road bikes) when I was 51 and began amateur racing. Now as most cyclist will tell you, they have periodic spills and mild accidents falling off the bike (skin rash, contusions on the hips, knees, limbs, etc) and I have had my share. But, when I was 56 I had a bad cycling accident where I ended up being helicoptered to a trauma center (I always like throwing in the helicopter for effect (-; ....) with a concussion, lots of cuts, a clean break of the right clavicle and shattered femoral crown on the right leg/hip. I recovered from that and tried the next year to race again only to crash in a race (peloton pile up) going airborne and falling on my back and neck breaking my left clavicle in the same spot as my right just next to the shoulder. I tried once again to recover and this time only race in what was called time trials but when the next year ended I just couldn't keep up the training needed to compete. In the years that followed the bones have healed but the tissue around my injuries continue to cause me pain. My hips, lower back and both shoulders and pectoral areas take turns over which body part will cause the most pain. A lot of what Dr Sarno talks about makes sense to me and at times has helped me a great deal. Six months ago it was at its worst and after reading Dr Sarno's books I decided to get back on the bike (I had stopped all exercise) and ride recreationaly with a group of cyclists. I try to keep up the exercising as it makes sense what Dr Sarno says, but the pain although manageable is still sometimes unbearable not in its intensity but in the fact that it is always there to greet me in either both shoulders and or back/hips. I am not the case studies I read about in TMS books that sound so grave where someone is crawling in pain (although I have had a few bouts close to that, it is no where near the norm for me) but it drives me to a very depressed and angry place at times.

I hear so much about people who once they accepted that the pain was caused by the unconscious avoidance of emotional issues or stress, the pain went away, but...... and I am sure many of us have our buts! I have a hard time believing that tightness and soreness in the various muscles in my shoulders, neck, hips etc are not partially the cause of injuries in those areas....and why haven't they healed? Can there be a hybrid of injuries and lack of blood flow to those areas. Is it only an all or nothing scenario where symptoms go away and healing takes place...?

Most importantly I want to find someone who can assess my physical issues and give me and educated assessment of whether or not I have TMS. If you know of anyone in the bar area, let me know. Thanks for listening.

 

Maco, I don't know any TMS doctors or therapists but healed from severe back pain by believing 100 percent that it was not structural but from TMS repressed emotions which went back to my boyhood when my parents divorced when I was seven. Journaling in the SEProgram led me to forgiving them and any guilt I may have had, and my pain went away. If you haven't yet, I urge you to start the Structured Educational Program, free in the subforum of this web site. It has helped a lot of people.

A Happy New Year and healthy 2016 to you.

 

Hi maco,
I'd jump on a plane to LA and see David Schechter, MD (Physician) Why not blow a few more bucks and get some clarity?
If you have a "hybrid" issue, he is known to address that as well. Good luck in getting settled on your TMS diagnosis.
Andy B.

 

I agree with Andy, if you need to drive a while or take a plane ride it'll prob be worth it, do not let distance limit your recovery!

 

dont waste your time or money.... get cleared by your dr and move on with tms healing... maybe a tms therpist for a few session but thats it..