My TMS success story

This is my first time posting here. I figured since I’m bored at work I can spare a few minutes to hopefully give others some confidence.

First off my name is Dan. I am 33 years old and have suffered from various weird pains for most of my childhood into my 20’s. My personality traits growing up were extremely fear prone to even some of the more mundane activities, overly self conscious about my appearance, and quite the people pleaser. I recall getting stiff necks to the point I couldn’t even turn my head, as well as stomach/digestive problems, and many kinds of allergies at the young age of 12.

Fast forward to 2008 when all hell broke loose. I was 23 I believe at the time and working out at the gym at college. I was curling Weights and felt a major pull/tear in my right glute / piriformis area. Nothing crazy happened until the second day. I started experiencing leg nerve pain that never really went away completely. It came and gone for a couple days, then just pretty much stayed there. I figured it was time to see someone for this.

My first stop was the campuses physical therapy department. Without mris they could only assume a bulged disc. They told me it wasn’t a big deal and it’ll heal with time and the right exercises. I did the exercises religiously and got about 90% better.

Fast forward a few months. I came home from break and somehow developed excruciating back and leg pain to the point my whole back was shifted and my shoulders were noticeably uneven.i blamed this on the 5 hour drive from school to home. My dad suggested a chiropractor. I went and he fixed me to the point I could walk again, although he said it would be “many visits” until major progress could be seen. So I got adjusted by him a few times until I had to go back to school. I found a chiropractor down there and got massaged and adjusted a few times a week. It worked , but I never was 100%

My mri’s revealed bulging discs in my lower back along with disc degeneration. I was devastated. I moved on from chiropractics to massage therapy, as this seemed to work better.

Fast forward 2 1/2 years and all the physical treatments that I’ve done never got me to the point where I could say they did the trick. I remember I was at work one day and was Sitting down eating my lunch with nagging butt/leg pain. I was so angry due to the fact I was so young and feeling so “banged” up that I started feeling electric shocks going down the back of my leg. This never happened before. I got so pissed off that I left work. I remember coming across a website “cure back pain forever” and decided to post my MRI’s to see what responses I could get for a last ditch effort. The author suggested nothing was physically wrong and that I may have programmed myself to feel the pain. In a state of desperation I read his book, which is basically a summary and credit of Sarnos work. Everything made sense and literally my pain was gone within that same day. I was astonished. I was pain free for two weeks then it came back. This time in other areas.

I knew it was tms at this point I have read healing back pain , the mind body prescription, and divided mind. My pain jumped from my original area, to my shoulders, and my traps. All causing a miserable amount of pain. Occasionally, my pain would disappear when I was doing something I loved, such as fishing. Then it would come back.

In 2010-2011 I believe I got the diagonosis from dr stracks in Chicago. At this point the pain was all the way gone in my body except the first spot it started, which was my right hip.

I decided maybe I’m missing something. I decided to try monte hueftles approach to Sarno. Basically he states that it isn’t necessarily the repressed energy/emotions, but HOW we generate those in the first place. He gives a step by step guide on how to be more open and mindful and I believe this is what has gotten me over the hump completely.

It’s now 2019 and the only time I remember suffering from any sciatica was when I was testing with the Illinois State Police 5 years ago. Hint hint ( a lot of stress going on there).

I will sometimes get a headache or maybe a sore muscle here and there, but nothing that makes me stop or slow down my day. I can generally relate it to what’s going on in my life, and it’ll eventually go away. If anyone needs help, I’d love to give a hand.

In summary-I was in excruciating pain mainly sciatica and muscle pain for many years until discovering DR Sarno and his approach. My personality traits were, and are still kind of fear prone, overly self conscientious, and people pleasing. I’ve tried almost everything except surgery to feel better. Only this method worked. Please be patient. I also believe that one tms approach may not work for everyone. I’ve journaled and did workbooks, but didn’t notice any more relief. I think Monte Hueftles program fit my needs a little better, but that is just me.

 

Hi Dan8011,

Thanks for posting your great story. I appreciate hearing your response to Monte Hueftles approach. I also used his program in getting better. Hearing you talk about it, it helps me remember the aspect of not going down a dark road, to work cognitively. Or at least to see the negative thinking and let it go. This aspect came up in a different thread recently: http://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/a-desperate-update-opinions-appreciated.20723/ (A desperate update, opinions appreciated)

The whole process is fascinating, this working with TMS as best we can, and finding what works. There are all kinds of subtle overlaps and common threads. I think part of the process is a sort of "individuation" from the conditioning, and this partly plays out in the way we each find our specific recipe. We're walking away from familiar constraints into something fresh which becomes our own.

Thank you!!

Andy B

 

Can you shed some light into monte hueftles program. Did you pay the $99.00 he charges on the website. I feel like I am so close to this, but I need the one thing to put me over the top also.

Thanks!

 

Honestly I don’t recall much of his program. It’s been over 6 years and I misplaced his book. I believe I paid through his website somehow. You get his book, as well as some meditative mp3’s That you can use to help. I never really used the meditative stuff. I believe he discusses why people that know and understand tms get better, then over time fall back into pain and can never get better. I know he goes into discussing tms, how to think clean and how to think Psychological. He will probably shed some light on some things that you think you should be doing to recover, but give you reasons why they are not helping. I believe it’s worth it because he talks with you for an hour to help as well. I definitely would get in touch with him. I don’t even know if he is still offering his services. Take care,

Dan