Day 1 Hopeful

[mypathtorecovery]

It's been about 13 years of chronic back pain for me, but it wasn't until 5 years ago I had an MRI done, which showed two herniated discs. Much like everyone I've been reading about, I've tried pretty much everything and gotten little or no relief. When I have received some relief from various treatments, it's only been temporary.

A few weeks ago, someone recommended Dr. Sarno's book, "Healing Back Pain". After recently finishing it, and not receiving any sort of instant relief as some people talk about, I immediately thought...what am I supposed to do now? That's when I stumbled upon this site on Google, so this is my first day of the educational program.

I enter these daily readings and exercises the same way I did Dr. Sarno's book...open minded and hopeful. As I was reading the book, I remember something that happened to me a few years ago. Three days into my week long vacation in Hawaii, I all of a sudden noticed I had NO back pain. I couldn't believe it. So I think back then I knew there was a possibility stress, anxiety, fear, etc. had something to do with this. So based on that experience and my desire for a pain free life, I am willing to accept TMS as a diagnosis. I guess my only hesitancy is the fact that nothing else has worked for me. But I do know how powerful the mind can be, so I will continue to believe.

So with that, it's great to be here and I look forward to talking with you all about your experiences and what I can do to end my back pain.

 

[Forest]

I guess my only hesitancy is the fact that nothing else has worked for me.

This is where we all start. Nothing else worked for us, because we were not treating the cause of our symptoms. TMS works because it treats the true cause of your symptoms. It is okay not have immediate relief when you first read Sarno's book. I didn't, and I suspect a lot of other people did not as well. It takes time for the information to sink into your unconscious. As you go through the program, it would probably be a good idea to reread a little bit of Healing Back Pain every day. Every time I read it again, something new stands out to me. Stay positive. You will recover.

 

[mypathtorecovery]

Thanks for the support Forest. It boosts my confidence the more I hear stories from people who've gone through the same thing. I will definitely take your advice and keep rereading the book.

 

[Forest]

I'm glad it could help. It is really easy to put a lot of pressure on yourself to recover right away, and hey, why wouldn't you want to become pain free yesterday. The problem is that the more pressure you put on yourself the more emotional tension you generate. The one good thing about reading Sarno's books is that it will help you go along on a steady pace. As you continue to read the book, you will gain more and more confidence in the approach, which will reduce your symptoms, which will increase your confidence even more. The more joy and confidence you can bring into your approach, the more progress you will see in your recovery.

 

[mousemom]

It has been 10 years on chronic lower back pain for me. I read HBP by Dr. Sarno a year ago and started just feeding myself all the TMS info I could find. I that's where I left it until I had another bad lower back pain attack two weeks ago. Not being able to walk etc.... It was a reminder to me that I had to do more than just read some books. I found this site and started to do the SEP, read Nicole Sachs book "The Meaning of Truth", & made my first appt. to talk to a therapist next week. Please be patient as hard as it is. I know you are sick and tired of the pain and the worrying that is brings. I too struggle with it. But I wholeheartedly believe that it is TMS and this community of other TMSers are here to help each other. Blessings on your journey.