My TMS Success Story (crippling foot pain - plantar fasciitis, wrist pain, eye pain)

[Ann s is]

Thanks for sharing your story. I think that it is important to share our stories because some are the same, but some have slight variations that may help others. I have had a lot of symptoms over my lifetime. I was "healed" immediately of miserable back pain on reading Sarno's book "Healing Back Pain."

Right now, my problem is wrist pain. But it helps me to remember the foot pain that I have endured--and healed from. At one time I had a "bad tendon" on the left side of my foot which was excruciatingly painful. After suffering for eight months, I finally yelled at it in a store one day, and kept walking and the pain went away, proof positive that it was TMS. It still surfaced from time to time, and I was even convinced that although I could walk in a store all day long, I could not walk for exercise. Devious little process, huh? But fianlly, I pushed through and kept walking for exercise and that pain does not even try to come upon me any more.

At the same time as my initial "bad tendon" I also experienced extremely painful soles of my feet. I could be up on my feet a while, but then I was convinced that my feet, due to aging, were lacking proper "fat pads." Of course all these foot problems were confirmed by podiatrists. (No insurance; cost $1200.)

Well, that was five years ago, and I don't have any "bad tendon" or lack of proper foot padding in the soles of my feet any more. Amazing, huh? Now I have very painful and swollen wrists. I understand about the lack of "inflammation" stories. Surely my wrist probelms are not TMS--not only are they painful, but inflammed as well! They swell up to an inch larger than normal, and great thickened "tendons?muscles? on the sides swell and hurt so badly, and have for 18 months.

Off and on, that is. Sometimes they are perfectly normal. I have been diagnosed by a hand spcialist as having OA of the wrists. He wanted to operate and said that they would never be any better, but would only get worse.

Funny thing is, I had no wrist pain or swelling when in the hospital recently for a small bowel obstruction. I also experienced no itchy scalp despite not being able to shampoo for ten days and no hot flashes (12 years suffering). HM...

I am wondering about the small bowel obstruction being TMS, and currently working on the wrists.

It seems that once I accept that chronic pain is TMS, my body ups the stakes with swelling, maybe even obstruction? Anybody have TMS small bowel obstruction (SBO)? Mine was diagnosed by initial CT scan, but then everything else--the films, procedures were "weird" accoding to my doctor. It resolved through the use of an NG tube. I do not want a recurrance.

I am determined once and for all to heal from TMS,not just get rid of one symptom; this SBO was the last straw! I am re-reading Steve Orzanich's book; if he and others have healed, so can I!

Keep those stories coming!

 

[IrishSceptic]

it's a pity there isn't some easy way to collate all Sarno success stories over the globe. Hopefully the film will encourage some of the many out there to share their stories online and further underline the reality of this phenomenon.

 

[Ann s is]

I wanted to report some success since yesterday (!) with my wrists. I almost took painkillers yesterday because they were so painful and swollen, but I read a lot in this forum and also read some of Steve O's book (I plan to keep something about TMS in front of my face for at least another six weeks or until I get TOTALLY AND DEFINITIVELY healed from TMS) and really decided that my wrist pain and swelling is TMS. It was diagnosed as OA (arthritis) and TMS says ARTHRITIS IS NOT PAINFUL. I kept repeating ARTHRITIS IS NOT PAINFUL as I went to bed, and even when I woke up during the night, and I expected my wrist pain to be gone or be less in the morning. It was less, much less! I really think that I have turned a corner here and expect the pain and swelling to go completely away. See it!

One thing about TMS symptoms that I have noticed: if you go to more than one doctor, they are not in agreement about what is wrong with you, and if you look up symptoms online (who, me?) they are not consistent with any known disease. THIS IS A BIG TIP OFF FOR ME THAT I AM DEALING WITH TMS.

Well, good luck to everybody!

 

[Andy Bayliss]

One thing about TMS symptoms that I have noticed: if you go to more than one doctor, they are not in agreement about what is wrong with you, and if you look up symptoms online (who, me?) they are not consistent with any known disease. THIS IS A BIG TIP OFF FOR ME THAT I AM DEALING WITH TMS.

Hi Ann,
Yes. For me there was a big "A-Hah!" when I had a consult with a surgeon, well respected who said: "Well we could do the nerve release surgery and if that doesn't work, then we can cut your fascia." How often does either of these procedures actually fix the problem? I asked. "About 50 percent of the time."

Right from the surgeon I had two things: "50%" efficacy, which is the placebo rate on surgery. And, "if one thing doesn't work, we try another" stated in such a way that it was obvious he had no idea of the root cause. Very few are this honest, on both questions!!

This was a very helpful consult, because it took me toward Sarno!!

 

[Ann s is]

Hi Ann,
Yes. For me there was a big "A-Hah!" when I had a consult with a surgeon, well respected who said: "Well we could do the nerve release surgery and if that doesn't work, then we can cut your fascia." How often does either of these procedures actually fix the problem? I asked. "About 50 percent of the time."

Right from the surgeon I had two things: "50%" efficacy, which is the placebo rate on surgery. And, "if one thing doesn't work, we try another" stated in such a way that it was obvious he had no idea of the root cause. Very few are this honest, on both questions!!

This was a very helpful consult, because it took me toward Sarno!!

It's appalling, isn't it? Doctors are just cutting people up when they don't even know what is wrong and what to do about it. And plying them with dangerous drugs. It's...so wrong. People think doctors know what they are doing and putting their very lives in their hands. It is just the grace of God and Dr. Sarno that I have not had unnecessary knee or wrist surgery so far.

 

[Boston Redsox]

Hello Ann

I also been threw the gamit of numerous dr and so called specialist, I have pain in feet and legs sometime hands been threw numerous exam nerve tests you name it....finally my pcp dug deeper and sat me down and ask me what was going on in my life...and I told him 6 years of bad marriage dealing with my fathers battle with cancer that he lost and sick child which is better know and a bunch of others issues...and he told me to see a Therpist and talk it out from there I got to Sarno books and others. I fully believe I have tms and I getting better on dealing with emotions as they come and tryingrd to respond to them and not reacting to them...
At the moment I am on anti depressants and pain meds, if I don't take them I can't get out of bed and goto work, I am in the construction business and can't afford to deal with pain when I am 40 feet in there I refuse to go on disability which in know tms wants me to so in the mean time I tell my self the meds are not a cure.

I started to mediate and do yoga and a lot of self care which I never did before, take your tms care as a journey don't rush your recovery, do things you enjoy and some of the best advice I got from Walt is laugh everyday even if you don't mean it.

 

[Ann s is]

Hi Anita,
Thank you for your post. About feet, I was also in a great search for foot success stories and they were much harder to find. And I also recall, regarding taking a little while, that Dr. Sarno says somewhere that "foot pain, for some unknown reason, takes longer to cure." So that was interesting.
Andy

Yikes! Sarno, the authority, planted the 'takes longer to cure' seed. Yeah, that is interesting! We are all human...

 

[AnitaV]

Two days ago I began having crippling foot pain in ball of my right foot. It has even swollen up.
This is one symptom that I've had since Sept 2013 that happened right after I completed a short run. I attributed the pain to wearing bad shoes and got an X-ray that showed nothing. From time to time it gets worse but never fully goes away. Interestingly I had been inactive and recovering from flu recently so there is no way it was caused by physical injury.
Convinced this is another manifestation but when that type of pain hits u it really makes you doubt this whole concept.

I had this pain in the ball of my foot too! I had it for a couple of months, during my recovery. It was really painful, and kept me from walking barefoot. Finally I just got fed up with it and decided to walk barefoot, pain or not. I had no doubt it was TMS. Sure enough, after about 2 painful weeks, it went away! It hasn't come back since.

 

[IrishSceptic]

thanks thats given me some hope. it seems to really flare up and then stay really bad for ages then subside but never really disappearing. had X-rays etc to no avail but interestingly it appeared after I had been back running in spite of chronic back neck pain. I pushed through and then boom. my foot goes, even swole up before Xmas

 

[AnitaV]

Thanks for sharing your story. I think that it is important to share our stories because some are the same, but some have slight variations that may help others. I have had a lot of symptoms over my lifetime. I was "healed" immediately of miserable back pain on reading Sarno's book "Healing Back Pain."

Right now, my problem is wrist pain. But it helps me to remember the foot pain that I have endured--and healed from. At one time I had a "bad tendon" on the left side of my foot which was excruciatingly painful. After suffering for eight months, I finally yelled at it in a store one day, and kept walking and the pain went away, proof positive that it was TMS. It still surfaced from time to time, and I was even convinced that although I could walk in a store all day long, I could not walk for exercise. Devious little process, huh? But fianlly, I pushed through and kept walking for exercise and that pain does not even try to come upon me any more.

At the same time as my initial "bad tendon" I also experienced extremely painful soles of my feet. I could be up on my feet a while, but then I was convinced that my feet, due to aging, were lacking proper "fat pads." Of course all these foot problems were confirmed by podiatrists. (No insurance; cost $1200.)

Well, that was five years ago, and I don't have any "bad tendon" or lack of proper foot padding in the soles of my feet any more. Amazing, huh? Now I have very painful and swollen wrists. I understand about the lack of "inflammation" stories. Surely my wrist probelms are not TMS--not only are they painful, but inflammed as well! They swell up to an inch larger than normal, and great thickened "tendons?muscles? on the sides swell and hurt so badly, and have for 18 months.

Off and on, that is. Sometimes they are perfectly normal. I have been diagnosed by a hand spcialist as having OA of the wrists. He wanted to operate and said that they would never be any better, but would only get worse.

Funny thing is, I had no wrist pain or swelling when in the hospital recently for a small bowel obstruction. I also experienced no itchy scalp despite not being able to shampoo for ten days and no hot flashes (12 years suffering). HM...

I am wondering about the small bowel obstruction being TMS, and currently working on the wrists.

It seems that once I accept that chronic pain is TMS, my body ups the stakes with swelling, maybe even obstruction? Anybody have TMS small bowel obstruction (SBO)? Mine was diagnosed by initial CT scan, but then everything else--the films, procedures were "weird" accoding to my doctor. It resolved through the use of an NG tube. I do not want a recurrance.

I am determined once and for all to heal from TMS,not just get rid of one symptom; this SBO was the last straw! I am re-reading Steve Orzanich's book; if he and others have healed, so can I!

Keep those stories coming!

Hi Ann,

I'm so sorry to hear about the pain you are experiencing now. As for your wrist pain - TMS can definitely cause inflammation! It did for me, in my feet and achilles tendon, it was picked up on MRI and ultrasound. I've also had some weird pain and swelling under my chin, which were also TMS. So, don't let the inflammation make you rule out TMS. During my recovery from my foot pain, I had a lot of inflammation in my foot and ankle. I don't know if it was TMS, or due to using atrophied muscles, but it was inflammation nevertheless.

~Anita

 

[Ann s is]

Hi Ann,

I'm so sorry to hear about the pain you are experiencing now. As for your wrist pain - TMS can definitely cause inflammation! It did for me, in my feet and achilles tendon, it was picked up on MRI and ultrasound. I've also had some weird pain and swelling under my chin, which were also TMS. So, don't let the inflammation make you rule out TMS. During my recovery from my foot pain, I had a lot of inflammation in my foot and ankle. I don't know if it was TMS, or due to using atrophied muscles, but it was inflammation nevertheless.

~Anita

Thanks, Anita, i am working on this, trying to ignore the symptoms and not make plans and provision for more doctor visits, and am using the wrists as well as i am able. Today has been difficult as they are so swollen and today the veins in my arms are so visible--this is new. I took two naproxen and they feel better but still look pretty bad. thanks for sharing that you had inflammation, too. it HAS to be TMS! I have a ten point checklist of why it is TMS and is not OA, as the doctors say. It will heal, evntualy! Thanks for responding and stay well!

 

[Boston Redsox]

I have been battling foot pain for 5 years along with other pains threw out my body burning skin nerve pain u name it .....I do believe its tms but had not much succes with pain reduction but it has helped me deal with the pain better. I have terrible anxiety along with my pains I am on meds without them I can not perform my construction job and without my antidepressant I can't get out of bed . I am going threw a amicable divorce of 19 years she wants is I don't . She was unfaithful and I forgave her but she was never sorry well I could go on bla bla bla. Anyway I want to get off meds I tried with dr approval but I could not function .

 

[Ann s is]

Boston: the divorce scenario as you describe it certainly pinpoints you as a "goodist," doesn't it? We cope rather "too well." I know that I have a tendancy to "take care of" another person's feelings while not considering my own feelings important. That is how I got married many years ago at the tender age of 17. I tried to dump him, and we argued about it for hours with him trying to use logic on me, but I remained determined that I wanted to break up. Then...he cried. Well, that did it. I could not take him crying, knowing i had caused him to feel so bad; I felt so guilty! Today I would have stuck to my guns, honored how I really felt, and trusted him to take care of his own feelings. I always have a tendancy to stack the deck AGAINST myself, as if I do not matter, only the other person. It feels so right, so selfless. It is dysfunctional and unhealthy, though. I am sure I learned this in my family or origin and I am working on honoring what I want--I matter, too! and also how I feel. It feels so selfish, but it is not selfish. It is a dysfunctional way to live. CODA meetings and literature and a lot of paying attention to how I think, especially by journaling, has helped me. Well, I hope you feel a lot better soon! Good luck! (T. D. jakes once said, "If somebody wants to leave you, let 'em!")

 

[Boston Redsox]

Ann

Thx for response...love the analogy stack the deck against us makes so much sense ...I am busy worrying about Everbody else but myself kids included..I am starting to put my self first no matter what. If somebody wants to leave you let them....that's going to be my new affirmation. Lol

 

[Ann s is]

I am working very hard on honoring what I want. I deserve to have what I want, and that is not selfish, it just feels so selfish. It is also not good for me to fail to honor myself, although it can feel like I am being so much better than they, selfishly, are being. I also deserve to be treated well and expect others to honor what i want as well. And when they don't, I need to confront them about their behavior and not excuse it and let them off the hook. It is hard for me to confront others about how they treat me, and hold them accountable. Oh, God, it is so hard to do that, but I am working on it. It is so important for me to just stand up and say, "I don't like that." Just that! It is so hard for me to do that. Sometimes i am so overwhelmed with my feelings, I don't confront. But then, when I am more in control, i go back and say,"I don't like what you did (or said)" That is very important for me to do, to know that I CAN COUNT ON MYSELF TO STAND UP FOR ME! It is great when peole just naturally treat me well, but when they don't, I need to advocate for myself; otherwise, I am not honoring myself.

Good luck and take care! We are not alone!

 

[LynnCarol1]

Since discovering the work of Dr. John Sarno 8 months ago, my life has undergone a transformation that I had never dreamed was possible.

My journey of chronic pain began when I was 15 years old. I developed chronic, crippling pain in my left foot that was diagnosed as plantar fasciitis. After many different treatments it finally went away after a year, but returned when I was 18 years old. The pain continued, and after a year, I was completely unable to walk, and took a year off of college and had a surgery to straighten my left heel bone, which had become crooked because I walked incorrectly for so long due to the pain. After the surgery, I was able to walk without pain wearing shoes with orthotics, but I was unable to take a single step barefoot without terrible pain in my left foot that would then take days of rest to resolve. I had thought that I would never walk again prior to the surgery, so I was just grateful that I could walk without pain at all.

At the age of 22, I had my first attack of severe eye pain. After seeing many doctors, it was diagnosed as severe eye strain due to convergence insufficiency. The pain gradually went away over several months, but smaller attacks would occasionally recur.

At the age of 27, during a particularly stressful time in my life, the eye pain returned in full force. I was in constant, severe pain, and had to take disability leave from work (I am a software developer). I went to one doctor after another, but no one gave me any answers, and the pain only got worse. Several months later, terrible pain suddenly started in my right foot. I was completely unable to walk and unable to use my eyes, and I fell into a deep depression. I tried one treatment after another, but absolutely nothing helped.

Several months later, my eye pain had improved to the point where I was able to return to work, but I still could not walk, and was in a wheelchair. I continued trying one treatment after another for my foot, but nothing helped. My left foot started hurting as well. A year later, I suddenly developed severe pain in my wrists. The pain went up and down, but 6 months later, my wrists hurt so much that I was unable to eat without pain, and I started preparing to take disability leave from work. I also started having back pain, and pain in my right achilles tendon. I was unable to do anything, and I was in pain from head to toe.

I will never forget the day I discovered the work of Dr. Sarno. In November of 2013, I was searching desperately for solutions for my wrist pain on the internet, using voice recognition software, when I came across the Harvard RSI website (http://www.rsi.deas.harvard.edu/). I read all sorts of depressing advice about using plastic utensils and an electric toothbrush and voice recogition, when I came across a page describing a mind-body approach to RSI (http://www.rsi.deas.harvard.edu/mb_what_is.html). This page contains a link to a handout describing Dr. Sarno's theories in several pages. I downloaded it, and by the time I finished reading it, tears were streaming down my face. I knew that this was the first day of the rest of my life. I knew that this was the answer I had so desperately been searching for for years. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that my wrist pain was caused entirely by TMS, and I understood deep down that all of the chronic foot pain and eye pain that had plagued my for years was also caused by TMS, as well as all the new pain symptoms I had developed recently (back, achilles tendon).

I immediately ordered The Mindbody Prescription (audiobook and Kindle edition), after spending hours reading the book's reviews on Amazon. I started with the audiobook, because my eye pain prevented me from reading, but halfway through I switched to the Kindle edition and finished it without any eye problems. I read every day and followed Dr. Sarno's directions in the book to a tee. I did not take disability leave, but continued to work, and my wrist pain started improving rapidly. One week after first discovering Dr. Sarno, I trimmed green beans for Thanksgiving dinner. A week earlier, this would have been unthinkable with my level of pain and fear.

I continued reading The Mindbody Prescription every day. I also started reading The Divided Mind, and Dr. Marc Sopher's To Be or Not To Be... Pain-Free. I worked hard to understand TMS, and to discover my own repressed feelings. I also contacted Dr. Frank Padrone, a psychologist who worked with Dr. Sarno at NYU for 30 years. He has a private practice in Long Island, where I lived at the time, and I started seeing him every week for psychotherapy.

My wrist pain continued to improve rapidly, as did my eye pain, back pain, and achilles tendon pain. My foot pain, which had consumed so much of my life for the past 14 years, was much harder to tackle. It was very difficult for me to fully accept that this pain was TMS, and to let go of my paralyzing fear of walking. This was in part due to MRI and ultrasound imaging that showed significant inflammation in the plantar fascia of my right foot. Dr. Sarno never discusses TMS causing inflammation in his books, so it was difficult for me to fit this into his theories. However, I read about other people whose TMS caused inflammation as part of their pain symptoms, and this gave me more confidence.

Gradually, I became more and more confident that my foot pain was due to TMS, and finally, I had enough confidence to let go of my fear and begin to increase my walking. Once I fully accepted the TMS diagnosis and let go of my fear, my foot pain started improving rapidly.

Without about 3 months of discovering Dr. Sarno's work (and while continuing to read and reflect every day), my wrist pain, eye pain, back pain, and achilles tendon pain were gone almost entirely. I was using my hands normally, and rarely experiencing any pain. My foot pain took longer, in part because I had terrible muscle atrophy after 2 years of not walking or barely walking, and experienced all sorts of awful pains once I started using my foot again. With many ups and downs, my foot pain continued to improve, and I continued to grow stronger and increase my activity level.

I had been unable to stand or take a single step barefoot or without orthotics since I was 19 years old. I will never forget the day I took a shower barefoot, in January of 2014, just two months after first discovering Dr. Sarno. My foot was still in a great deal of pain, but I knew that I would not hurt it my standing on it barefoot. I knew that I was strong and resilient, not broken and fragile. I let go of the fear of my body that had controlled so much of my life since I was 15 years old, and I understood that my future held endless possibilites.

With ups and down, my pain continued to improve, and I continued to increase my walking more and more. In March, I started taking yoga classes. In May, I started taking adult beginner ballet classes, something I had dreamed of doing, but had never thought was possible. In June, I started walking around my house barefoot, something I had not been able to do since I was a teenager. I also started seeing a personal trainer, to get strong, and to discover what my body is capable of.

During all this time, I continued seeing Dr. Frank Padrone for psychotherapy. I discovered how and why and when I repress emotions. I discovered how important our inner emotional life is, and how often we ignore it and repress it. Dr. Padrone has changed the way I experience my life, and I continue to learn something new every time I see him.

It is now July of 2014, and I am pain-free from head to toe, and stronger than I have ever been. I still experience pangs of pain, especially in my feet, but when I do, I shift my focus to my emotions, and the pain eventually goes away. I owe an eternal debt of gratitude to Dr. Sarno and to his colleagues for giving me back my life, and giving me a new life that I had not dreamed was possible.

If anyone would like me to share more details about any part of my story, especially my recovery, please let me know. I could go into great detail about my recovery, and I would like to do anything possible to help anyone else with their own recovery. Reading success stories on the internet was an enormous part of my recovery, and I hope that my story helps other people as well. Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions you may have.

Sincerely,
Anita

 

[LynnCarol1]

Since discovering the work of Dr. John Sarno 8 months ago, my life has undergone a transformation that I had never dreamed was possible.

My journey of chronic pain began when I was 15 years old. I developed chronic, crippling pain in my left foot that was diagnosed as plantar fasciitis. After many different treatments it finally went away after a year, but returned when I was 18 years old. The pain continued, and after a year, I was completely unable to walk, and took a year off of college and had a surgery to straighten my left heel bone, which had become crooked because I walked incorrectly for so long due to the pain. After the surgery, I was able to walk without pain wearing shoes with orthotics, but I was unable to take a single step barefoot without terrible pain in my left foot that would then take days of rest to resolve. I had thought that I would never walk again prior to the surgery, so I was just grateful that I could walk without pain at all.

At the age of 22, I had my first attack of severe eye pain. After seeing many doctors, it was diagnosed as severe eye strain due to convergence insufficiency. The pain gradually went away over several months, but smaller attacks would occasionally recur.

At the age of 27, during a particularly stressful time in my life, the eye pain returned in full force. I was in constant, severe pain, and had to take disability leave from work (I am a software developer). I went to one doctor after another, but no one gave me any answers, and the pain only got worse. Several months later, terrible pain suddenly started in my right foot. I was completely unable to walk and unable to use my eyes, and I fell into a deep depression. I tried one treatment after another, but absolutely nothing helped.

Several months later, my eye pain had improved to the point where I was able to return to work, but I still could not walk, and was in a wheelchair. I continued trying one treatment after another for my foot, but nothing helped. My left foot started hurting as well. A year later, I suddenly developed severe pain in my wrists. The pain went up and down, but 6 months later, my wrists hurt so much that I was unable to eat without pain, and I started preparing to take disability leave from work. I also started having back pain, and pain in my right achilles tendon. I was unable to do anything, and I was in pain from head to toe.

I will never forget the day I discovered the work of Dr. Sarno. In November of 2013, I was searching desperately for solutions for my wrist pain on the internet, using voice recognition software, when I came across the Harvard RSI website (http://www.rsi.deas.harvard.edu/). I read all sorts of depressing advice about using plastic utensils and an electric toothbrush and voice recogition, when I came across a page describing a mind-body approach to RSI (http://www.rsi.deas.harvard.edu/mb_what_is.html). This page contains a link to a handout describing Dr. Sarno's theories in several pages. I downloaded it, and by the time I finished reading it, tears were streaming down my face. I knew that this was the first day of the rest of my life. I knew that this was the answer I had so desperately been searching for for years. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that my wrist pain was caused entirely by TMS, and I understood deep down that all of the chronic foot pain and eye pain that had plagued my for years was also caused by TMS, as well as all the new pain symptoms I had developed recently (back, achilles tendon).

I immediately ordered The Mindbody Prescription (audiobook and Kindle edition), after spending hours reading the book's reviews on Amazon. I started with the audiobook, because my eye pain prevented me from reading, but halfway through I switched to the Kindle edition and finished it without any eye problems. I read every day and followed Dr. Sarno's directions in the book to a tee. I did not take disability leave, but continued to work, and my wrist pain started improving rapidly. One week after first discovering Dr. Sarno, I trimmed green beans for Thanksgiving dinner. A week earlier, this would have been unthinkable with my level of pain and fear.

I continued reading The Mindbody Prescription every day. I also started reading The Divided Mind, and Dr. Marc Sopher's To Be or Not To Be... Pain-Free. I worked hard to understand TMS, and to discover my own repressed feelings. I also contacted Dr. Frank Padrone, a psychologist who worked with Dr. Sarno at NYU for 30 years. He has a private practice in Long Island, where I lived at the time, and I started seeing him every week for psychotherapy.

My wrist pain continued to improve rapidly, as did my eye pain, back pain, and achilles tendon pain. My foot pain, which had consumed so much of my life for the past 14 years, was much harder to tackle. It was very difficult for me to fully accept that this pain was TMS, and to let go of my paralyzing fear of walking. This was in part due to MRI and ultrasound imaging that showed significant inflammation in the plantar fascia of my right foot. Dr. Sarno never discusses TMS causing inflammation in his books, so it was difficult for me to fit this into his theories. However, I read about other people whose TMS caused inflammation as part of their pain symptoms, and this gave me more confidence.

Gradually, I became more and more confident that my foot pain was due to TMS, and finally, I had enough confidence to let go of my fear and begin to increase my walking. Once I fully accepted the TMS diagnosis and let go of my fear, my foot pain started improving rapidly.

Without about 3 months of discovering Dr. Sarno's work (and while continuing to read and reflect every day), my wrist pain, eye pain, back pain, and achilles tendon pain were gone almost entirely. I was using my hands normally, and rarely experiencing any pain. My foot pain took longer, in part because I had terrible muscle atrophy after 2 years of not walking or barely walking, and experienced all sorts of awful pains once I started using my foot again. With many ups and downs, my foot pain continued to improve, and I continued to grow stronger and increase my activity level.

I had been unable to stand or take a single step barefoot or without orthotics since I was 19 years old. I will never forget the day I took a shower barefoot, in January of 2014, just two months after first discovering Dr. Sarno. My foot was still in a great deal of pain, but I knew that I would not hurt it my standing on it barefoot. I knew that I was strong and resilient, not broken and fragile. I let go of the fear of my body that had controlled so much of my life since I was 15 years old, and I understood that my future held endless possibilites.

With ups and down, my pain continued to improve, and I continued to increase my walking more and more. In March, I started taking yoga classes. In May, I started taking adult beginner ballet classes, something I had dreamed of doing, but had never thought was possible. In June, I started walking around my house barefoot, something I had not been able to do since I was a teenager. I also started seeing a personal trainer, to get strong, and to discover what my body is capable of.

During all this time, I continued seeing Dr. Frank Padrone for psychotherapy. I discovered how and why and when I repress emotions. I discovered how important our inner emotional life is, and how often we ignore it and repress it. Dr. Padrone has changed the way I experience my life, and I continue to learn something new every time I see him.

It is now July of 2014, and I am pain-free from head to toe, and stronger than I have ever been. I still experience pangs of pain, especially in my feet, but when I do, I shift my focus to my emotions, and the pain eventually goes away. I owe an eternal debt of gratitude to Dr. Sarno and to his colleagues for giving me back my life, and giving me a new life that I had not dreamed was possible.

If anyone would like me to share more details about any part of my story, especially my recovery, please let me know. I could go into great detail about my recovery, and I would like to do anything possible to help anyone else with their own recovery. Reading success stories on the internet was an enormous part of my recovery, and I hope that my story helps other people as well. Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions you may have.

Sincerely,
Anita

 

[LynnCarol1]

Hi Anita,
I am a foot sufferer too. It is really impacting on my normally active life. I was glad to see that you mentioned Dr. Padrone. I live on Long Island and was considering making an appointment with Dr. Padrone. I thought I would spend a few more weeks with Dr, Schubiner's program (I just finished week 1) before I call for an appointment. Your story is very encouraging!!

 

[Boston Redsox]

Hi Anita,
I am a foot sufferer too. It is really impacting on my normally active life. I was glad to see that you mentioned Dr. Padrone. I live on Long Island and was considering making an appointment with Dr. Padrone. I thought I would spend a few more weeks with Dr, Schubiner's program (I just finished week 1) before I call for an appointment. Your story is very encouraging!!

Lynn

like Anita and yourself I suffer foot pain/well lets call it a annoying on and off pain, Dr S program was pretty good it brought my attention to feeling that I thought that where handled…regarding doctors tms or not…I feel and this is my experience with them …first of all let me say once you are cleared from a MD of any issues move on to tms healing. Maybe a tms doctor will make you feel better but you already have your answer. I found speaking to bought a tms therapist ( and I had a good one) and a regular therapist they bought have different roads to get there but they all end up in the same place.

I found the most help here on this site sharing my thoughts offering my experiences ( right or wrong), mediating and just living life. I hope this gave you some insight or direction remember don't watch the calendar, don't spend every waking moment trying to get better.

 

[LynnCarol1]

Lynn

like Anita and yourself I suffer foot pain/well lets call it a annoying on and off pain, Dr S program was pretty good it brought my attention to feeling that I thought that where handled…regarding doctors tms or not…I feel and this is my experience with them …first of all let me say once you are cleared from a MD of any issues move on to tms healing. Maybe a tms doctor will make you feel better but you already have your answer. I found speaking to bought a tms therapist ( and I had a good one) and a regular therapist they bought have different roads to get there but they all end up in the same place.

I found the most help here on this site sharing my thoughts offering my experiences ( right or wrong), mediating and just living life. I hope this gave you some insight or direction remember don't watch the calendar, don't spend every waking moment trying to get better.