Day 1 I believe, help my unbelief

I am a few weeks into my TMS / Sarno journey, but 20+ years into my journey with sciatica. For most of my life, sciatica has been a minor, manageable annoyance. If I stand around for a while, or walk a long distance, I start to get a little discomfort, but would just need to take it easy and I’d be fine.

For the last 5 months, since Dec 2025, the sciatica has been so bad that it has seriously affected my day-to-day life. Even a little bit of standing is painful, and walking often is as well. Sitting down is excruciating until my back settles in. It takes me a while to get to sleep at night, and I dread rolling out of bed because of the pain that inevitably hits on that first weight-bearing step.

The only other time I had pain like this was 5 years ago, when my dad was in hospice-care and eventually passed away. I wondered at the time if there was some kind of mind-body connection with the increase in pain and my dad’s passing. At the time, I started seeing a Chiropractor, and dropped about 25 lbs through intermittent fasting. About a month or so after my dad’s passing, the pain resolved. I kept seeing the Chiropractor until early 2025, and felt great with respect to the sciatica. When I stopped seeing the Chiropractor, the sciatica slowly came back, until in Dec 2025 it became pretty unbearable.

Now, none of the previous stuff really works. I don’t have nearly the weight to lose, and after seeing the Chiro again for 3 months, it’s not doing much. I’ve tried some Physical Therapy, am seeing an Orthopaedist, and had an MRI that showed a significant disc herniation at L4-L5. I have a follow up appointment with the Ortho this week. I don’t expect him to recommend surgery, which is fine, because I don’t think it will fix the problem, and I’m worried about how it could hurt more than help.

So that pretty much leaves me with TMS / Sarno. I would describe my perspective on the Sarno theory as something like the Christian saying:

Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.

I think Sarno is right about me. I match the personality traits. I carry a lot of unresolved emotional tension in my life. The fact that it last flared up when my dad passed away connects with this idea, because I always felt like my dad and I never really said goodbye as a father and a son should. I’ve never felt particularly broken up about that, at least not consciously, but I guess that’s where the unconscious mind comes in.

Regardless, my experience of these first two weeks with a Sarno approach seems to be right, but the ups and downs are still there. It can be frustrating to read about people who are instantly fixed by reading a Sarno book. But again, to paraphrase a Christian saying:

Where else will I go? Sarno knows how to heal back pain.

Learning about “neural pathways” from Gordon also makes sense as to why underlying emotional pain can manifest in a physical way. And I’m done pouring money and time into ineffective treatments.

So I’m committed to be on this journey, despite my underlying skepticism and fears that it might not work for me, and worse, that this might be a permanent way of life for me.

Because what else is there for me to try?

 

I think you are right that belief is the key to recovery from TMS. But what really is belief? It's very hard to pin down. It's not knowledge or cognitive understanding. We need that as a base, but it isn't enough. I've been exploring this for over 10 years and still don't really understand it. I know what belief feels like. For me it arrives with an A-HA moment or like a light bulb going off in a cartoon. I suspect it occurs when the mind is no longer divided; when the conscious mind and the unconscious mind are on the same wavelength. There's a unification. It's the closest thing to a miracle I've ever experienced.

But it's an unstable state in my experience. And this is where continued practice of certain techniques and new ways of thinking and being come in. So this is where I advise people to pick a TMS recovery program. Commit to daily practice of about an hour a day. Then go about your life as best you can. And let the new techniques and teachings percolate in your conscious mind and trickle into your unconscious so they become part of a new way of living, being, and moving through life. This is how lasting change occurs. There will be bumps in the road and setbacks, but just keep at it. It takes faith.

And we're all here to support one another along the way.

 

For me, it's the same. I have to constantly make an effort. Most of the time I'm doing well, but sometimes it's difficult. Quite difficult. God knows I'm doing my best here.

I appreciate the support offered here.

(I lost my dad recently too, I'm still mourning...)

 

I'm sorry, Sita. Sending my condolences.

 

Thank you.

 

Whilst the books may get you to think otherwise, this is very very rare. This doesn't happen for 99% of people (myself included).

That's how I came across it and most people are the same - it's a last resort - but it was my answer and it likely is for you to (it would make sense as to why nothing else has worked)

 

Thank you everyone for your encouraging words on my first post. It's good to hear from so many folks who are further along on this journey!

 

Haha - that's good to hear, in a way. I mean, I'd rather it was an instant EUREKA fix of course, but few things ever are. It's good to know I'm in the vast majority of experiences!