-
Alan has completed the new Pain Recovery Program. To read or share it, use this updated link: https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/painrecovery/
Having trouble believing dry eye is tms
- Thread starter blackle22
- Start date
There is a story somewhere on this forum (video) of a gal who had the opposite ...she constantly teared up and it was getting to be a huge problem at work etc....turns out it was TMS. Maybe someone can help me find this video for you to watch.
Then that is the problem.. If you don't believe it then the symptoms will continue as Dr. Sarno has repeatedly said. Hope others chime in...send an email to Dr. Schubiner and ask him.
plum
Beloved Grand Eagle
I agree with @Click#7. This sounds like a fairly typical TMS symptom. One of the longest-standing but utterly irrelevant TMS things I had was a small, benign cyst on one eye. It disappeared completely recently.
It's probably worth mailing Dr. Schu for reassurance though. It's amazing how magical a word from the wise can be.
Thank you Plum...always enjoy your support to all. To find the power within and the light within us to figure out the disconnect ? Today is a good day so far. Time to go fishing...something I love to do.
plum
Beloved Grand Eagle
Celebrate the good days my dear. Stamp them fiercely upon your memory so that they may act as beacons on darker days. I hope you enjoy a wonderfully relaxing and peaceful day fishing.
plum
Beloved Grand Eagle
It's the tricky ones that snare us and make us doubt. I know how strong the illusion can be but you can see through it. Have faith my dear.
Tennis Tom
Beloved Grand Eagle
There's been plenty written on dry eye, suggest you do a search here and at TMS HELP for it, Dr. Sarno said if he wrote about every TMS symptom, he wouldn't have time for anything else. If Dr. Scubiner says it's TMS I'd accept it happily, if you haven't consulted him on this new symptom do so--when you lose one symptom and another pops up, it's called THE SYMPTOM IMPERATIVE--it is a sign you have the gremlin on the run.
Dorado
Beloved Grand Eagle
Dry eyes can 100% be TMS; this was one of my major symptoms. I even went to an eye doctor and several top neurologists believing I had nerve damage in my eyes because the dryness was so painful and led to extremely blurry vision. They all agreed I was simply suffering from an overactive sympathetic (autonomic) nervous system caused by high emotional stress. Dry eyes can be a classic sign of the body being stuck in fight-or-flight mode (note that some people may alternatively experience wet eyes, depending on how their own body individually responds to stress): https://allabouteyes.com/stressed-stress-affects-eyes/ (Stressed Out? How Stress Affects Your Eyes | All About Eyes) (Stressed Out? How Stress Affects Your Eyes | All About Eyes)
My eyes are no longer dry now that I've been engaging in meditation and relaxation techniques, as well as working on my attitude toward life in general. I also had a variety of other scary symptoms, as detailed here: https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/small-fiber-neuropathy.11221/page-2#post-91816 (Small Fiber Neuropathy) (Small Fiber Neuropathy)
It's funny because I recently remembered how I used to go to the student medical center VERY frequently in college. I would argue with them that I had pink eye because of how red and itchy they were; the doctors always insisted I didn't have an ocular infection, but I'd talk them into giving me eye drops anyway. Going further back, my parents took me to a highly respected pediatrician when I was about 12 because my eyes were incredibly itchy. He couldn't find anything wrong, so he assumed I was just suffering from allergies. WRONG. I started feeling depressed by the time I was 9, and my stress hit an all-time-high when I was 12 (I went through some traumatic events as a child), so I know my body was stuck in fight-or-flight mode all these years. I'm 27 now.
Trust me, I've been to some of the best doctors in the world. If structural medical conditions have been ruled out for you, you can rest assured that your dry eyes are nothing to worry about (and worrying about them will only make the problem worse!). I've been through it, too, and I'm better now. We're all here for you and rooting for you!
My eyes are no longer dry now that I've been engaging in meditation and relaxation techniques, as well as working on my attitude toward life in general. I also had a variety of other scary symptoms, as detailed here: https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/small-fiber-neuropathy.11221/page-2#post-91816 (Small Fiber Neuropathy) (Small Fiber Neuropathy)
It's funny because I recently remembered how I used to go to the student medical center VERY frequently in college. I would argue with them that I had pink eye because of how red and itchy they were; the doctors always insisted I didn't have an ocular infection, but I'd talk them into giving me eye drops anyway. Going further back, my parents took me to a highly respected pediatrician when I was about 12 because my eyes were incredibly itchy. He couldn't find anything wrong, so he assumed I was just suffering from allergies. WRONG. I started feeling depressed by the time I was 9, and my stress hit an all-time-high when I was 12 (I went through some traumatic events as a child), so I know my body was stuck in fight-or-flight mode all these years. I'm 27 now.
Trust me, I've been to some of the best doctors in the world. If structural medical conditions have been ruled out for you, you can rest assured that your dry eyes are nothing to worry about (and worrying about them will only make the problem worse!). I've been through it, too, and I'm better now. We're all here for you and rooting for you!
Last edited by a moderator:
blackle22
Peer Supporter
Caulfield,
Thank you so much for your reassurance and support! I too have had a variety of ailments through the years going to tons of doctors. Since I'm now dealing with dry eye currently I went to an optometrist and she didn't find anything significant. She just said there was some inflammation due to allergies or stress and gave me some steroids. I fit the tms personality and actually saw Dr. Schubiner which confirmed I had it. At that time i was dealing with acid reflux/throat pain. I began to dilligently apply tms techniques and my symptoms were replaced by dry eye. I had stopped the techniques because I felt better. It tricked me. Now I've had dry eye in the past and it always went away with fish oil but not the case this time. I recently consulted him and he said to treat it as such since nothing significant was found. I am also 27! How did they know your symptoms were due to an overactive autonomic nervous system? I've definitely had an absorbinent amount of stress beyond the stress of grad school which is extremely stressful in itself. Again thank you for taking the time to tell your story and send your support. It means a lot to me!
Leah
Thank you so much for your reassurance and support! I too have had a variety of ailments through the years going to tons of doctors. Since I'm now dealing with dry eye currently I went to an optometrist and she didn't find anything significant. She just said there was some inflammation due to allergies or stress and gave me some steroids. I fit the tms personality and actually saw Dr. Schubiner which confirmed I had it. At that time i was dealing with acid reflux/throat pain. I began to dilligently apply tms techniques and my symptoms were replaced by dry eye. I had stopped the techniques because I felt better. It tricked me. Now I've had dry eye in the past and it always went away with fish oil but not the case this time. I recently consulted him and he said to treat it as such since nothing significant was found. I am also 27! How did they know your symptoms were due to an overactive autonomic nervous system? I've definitely had an absorbinent amount of stress beyond the stress of grad school which is extremely stressful in itself. Again thank you for taking the time to tell your story and send your support. It means a lot to me!
Leah
Tennis Tom
Beloved Grand Eagle
"There are so many things little and big that are tms, I wouldn't have time to write about all of them" Dr. Sarno
When you were a patient of the Good Doctor's, you were his patient for life--as proven by his practicing into his nineties. Patients would call him and he knew them well enough from having treated them in the past that he would give them the TMS dx over the phone.
You've been seen by numerous specialists and they all tell you the same thing--NOTHING SERIOUS--they even tell you the telltale TMS giveaway--STRESS RELATED. It sounds like the TMS gremlin is doing it's job--wanting to give you new symptoms as a PROTECTOR, until you take yourself away from the stressful situations you are exposing yourself to, accept them or deal with them consciously head-on, proving to the TMS unconscious gremlin that you can deal with things without his meddling.
If you don't believe what the eye specialists, and a very well respected TMS doctor tells you, why would you believe us here at a message board, who haven't even seen your eye?
Caulfield wrote you an excellent account of his TMS experiences with eye symptoms--do you believe they are TMS now? What more would it take to convince you.
Have you looked at the RAHE-HOLMES LIST of stressors that cause TMS?
Last edited:
blackle22
Peer Supporter
Let me just say that the stress came from me either being able to stay in a program to receive my masters or not. That was very stressful after putting in 10 years of school to almost have it be taken away. Luckily I am still in the program and am almost done. I had a supervisor that verbally attacked me and made up false allegations.
Hi there, I came across Sarno's work specifically because of my dry eye. I was utterly desperate for a cure, having tried everything from doctors and specialists to acupuncture and kinesiology. Someone on a Dry Eye forum recommended reading "Healing Back Pain". I ordered the book immediately, and after reading it my dry eye vanished almost overnight (I had a couple of flare ups over the next two weeks, but it has completely gone now). I had been going through a very emotional time when I had the dry eye, I was incredibly angry and I believe I was "seeing red". I am now so thankful for the experience, because it led me to an entirely different way of looking at my health. I hope this helps.