Hi....might need help?

[sbpiano10]

Not sure where else to put this so I thought I'd try here.
My name is Sally. A year ago I started getting these pains in my head and ears. They'd range from sharp to dull and would go from one side to the other. I went to the ER twice and got little relief from the pain. At the beginning of this year I started getting pain all over the body, and as time went on the pain itself would be random and appear sporadically all over the body (sharp pain in the right ear one minute, same pain in my left foot middle toe the next). I had to drop the one class I felt I could take and I literally lived the first half of the year in my bedroom - if I did go somewhere I was driven by someone else, and if we went to church it wasn't our home parish because my ears were too sensitive. We spent a lot of time and money on different chiropractors, doctors, etc...and about two months ago my mother found the miracle of Dr. Sarno. I listened to Howard Sterns interview with Dr. Sarno and I thought I'd try it out. As of right now I am still taking pills daily but the pain all over my body is almost gone. I am still getting sometimes sharp pain in the head/ears - I found the program given on this wiki and I want to try it to see if that can help get rid of that pain. I am also still getting tension headaches, and I'll be using a CPAP machine soon every night to help that. My question is this - is there a method somewhere I'm missing that will help get rid of tension headaches?

 

[JanAtheCPA]

Hi Sally, and welcome! I've moved this to the Support subforum since you're asking a support question.

It sounds like you've made a great start just by learning about TMS. You've been seen by docs, so it sounds like you have nothing to lose by doing the SEP (Structured Educational Program) and a lot to gain. Nothing to lose but your pain, right?

You've already had success, but as you're experiencing, many people have some initial success, but find it hard to get rid of certain symptoms. After four years, I can still have quite a bit of brain-fog (sort of a dizziness/imbalance thing without the vertigo) whenever I get stressed out and am not being mindful, but mostly I feel like I'm at about 90% recovery, which works for me.

There is no single technique that is just for your headaches. Recovery from TMS requires thinking differently, listening to what is really going on inside your head, and being willing to stop the shallow negative self-talk that we all have. Once you do that, you will be more able to acknowledge and experience the dangerous negative emotions that your brain has been trying to repress since you were a child. It's the repression that results in pain, because pain is one of the things that your brain uses to distract you, along with the negative chatter.

The SEP will guide you step-by-step with daily activities, designed to gradually build your knowledge and self-awareness. In addition to doing the SEP, one day at a time (don't get burned out!) you can look into various techniques to calm your mind and your body, and to recognize the distracting self-talk.

This is mindfulness, and we talk about it a lot on the forum. The goal is to be mindful of and present in your thoughts, instead of letting your thoughts whirl around and drag you down into negativity. The techniques for achieving mindfulness include various types of meditation. Do a forum search on mindfulness and start checking out the links, either on the whole wiki or on "our forum only".

Best to you, and keep posting!

 

[Walt Oleksy (RIP 2021)]

Hi, Sppiano. I agree with Jan that you should start the Structured Educational Program.
Here is a recent reply from another TMSer about how great TMS belief is in healing.


nowtimecoach Well known member


Oh its been so long since I've visited all of you wonderful people - the healed and the healing folks. My life is forever changed as a result of this forum, the books that were suggested, read and discussed and the opportunities to receive support from so many people on the TMS recovery path.

Am I 100% recovered? Not quite but when I have a flare up, its usually been a situation or circumstance that is extremely stressful. Usually a feeling of being trapped and out of control. It depends upon my acceptance of what is and a surrender to self-care that predicates how long the flare up will last. I've had a few instances in the last 2 months as my partner and I decided to sell her house and move to Tucson.

So many changes, deadlines, pressure and lots of "I don't know!" brought up a few bouts. But they rarely last more than a day or two. And because I practiced what everyone suggests on this forum, I always knew what to do and I didn't ruminate or worry that it was going to last long.

I am so eternally grateful to all of you. I am grateful to everyone who has written a book that gives us the solution, the hope and hammers in the fact that we have control over TMS. To all of you in pain today, I promise that you will get better if you keep accepting the psychological component to all of this. I remind myself if I have a flare up that I'm vulnerable to old habits. That vulnerability leaves me open for my brain to pop up its old directive to send pain to my back. Its just an old outdated mechanism of protection that still does not serve me very well.

I hope you read this as a message of hope. Never stop believing that you are going get better! Stay close to the wonderful people on this forum. Read the books. Do the work and you'll be rewarded with a pain free life. For me, I got the bigger bonus of a greater self-awareness, of patterns that I was blind to and a sense of empowerment. All this because of TMS. So it ended up being a gift. Of course, I would NOT be able to say this so cavalierly if I was still in pain 24/7!!!