Should I start with the Structured Program or Gordon Recovery Program?

[Stormshadow]

Hi everyone, I haven't been on these boards for quite some time. I started having TMS pain about two years ago and have had it pretty consistently. Alot of my symptoms have simmered down at different points over the past two years and have definitely moved around. I have seen a TMS practitioner and therapist and my practitioner wants me to make a list of things that could be causing my inner rage and thinking about them a few times a day. I have tried this for the past week or so and it hasn't helped much. I feel like my hand and wrist and jaw pains and ringing in the ears are really flaring up and part of me is starting to lose hope of ever beating this thing. I had gone away from these boards for a while because I didn't want to talk about my symptoms as much. However, I'm starting to feel that if I do what my TMS practitioner suggest and that doesn't work then I'm running out of options. I am grateful because two years ago I was seeing hundreds of doctors and living in physical therapy. I'm working out and doing things now which I was afraid to do then. So there has been progress in what I'm doing physically. I think I just get scared when some pains resurface (particularly my hands). The pain is in my wrists, back of the hand and in the webbing in my fingers.

So I might be back here a bit sharing. But I was wondering which of the programs were best to try first? I see that the Structured one mentions that it is under construction and incorporating the Gordon Recovery one.

Also, I'm reading the Divided Mind right now. Had previously read Mindbody Prescription and Great Pain Deception which helped.

 

[Tennis Tom]

Reading the good books until the KNOWLEDGE PENICILLIN sinks into your sub-c is probably the best thing you can do. To discover the sources of your TMS symptoms, the H-R list of life events is a good source:


THE HOLMES-RAHE STRESS SCALE:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holmes_and_Rahe_stress_scale

 

[Walt Oleksy (RIP 2021)]

Hi, Stormshadow. Both programs are excellent but I suggest starting with the Structured Educational Program. You know you are repressing inner anger (Dr. Sarno says that can build up into rage, a primary cause of TMS pain.)

By the way, I love dogs and your Golden Retriever looks like a darling. They have a perpetual smile on their face. I have a black Lab and adore her.

Here is a recent post from Kevin who said he is 95 percent pain free after doing the SEP. He posted again a few days later upping that to 100 percent.

Kevin healed 95 % from SEP

Welcome to the SEP and to the path of recovery. I am on my final two days of the program and I can say with complete confidence that I am a changed man. I started after 6 months of nasty low-back/butt/leg pain, could hardly walk, stand, etc. was in physical therapy, chiropractor, acupuncture, pain medications, etc.. the usual. My MRI showed 3 disk bulges/herniations touching nerves, so that is what I believe it to be....that is until I read Dr. Sarno and found this site.

I encourage you to really get involved, follow the instructions, do the journaling, take time to read all the suggested readings, and watch the videos. I'd say I'm 95% cured. There is still some very light lingering "annoyance", but I still have some work to do. I've been walking miles with hardly any pain these last few weeks. But even more, if the pain comes on now, it just doesn't bother me like it used to, I sorta just see it, acknowledge it, and go about my business. It took working the program to get to that point, but 6 weeks compared to 6 months is nothing! I made more progress in the first week than I did from two months of PT!!! It's going to challenge you and your "beliefs" in medicine, but you have nothing to lose. We generally wind up here when all else fails.

So give it a shot, especially before considering anything invasive like surgery. If you put the work in, you will get better. Have you read Dr. Sarno yet? I assume you have since you're here, but in case you haven't, definitely readHealing Back Pain. Again, it will challenge everything you've believed about your pain, and backs in general. You'll be encouraged to resume life as normal, i.e. stop ALL "therapies" (PT, chiro, etc.), stop taking medications, and most importantly, stop thinking STRUCTURAL problems are the cause of your pain and shift to psychological as the reason.....again, this can be difficult and takes some time to sink in, so be patient and kind to yourself.

It was a process for me. A few of the bigger moves in my case were: I ripped up and threw out my MRI test results (I found myself obsessively reading over them and comparing them to other results I could find on the web and even here on the TMSwiki site...); I got back to the gym and stopped using a weight belt; and I even cancelled an appointment I had made with aTMS doctorbecause it was more than a month away and it was hindering my recovery (that is, my 100% belief in TMS was lagging because I had this pending appointment, but as soon as I cancelled it, my recovery sped up significantly). Everyone's journey is unique to their situation, but I've found that really committing to the program and brining what I learn from it into my daily life has had profound results. Also, sharing along the way here in these forums has been extremely helpful - there's something about knowing that you're not alone in your TMS recovery that really helps. I encourage you to look through my past posts for some insight into my experience with SEP. Like I said, I'm just now finishing, tomorrow is my final day, and I feel like a changed person. It's amazing. And I feel as though it is something that one carries on with, not just like a one time 6 week thing and that's that...it has helped me to get to know myself and taught me tools to "deal" with my emotions. Learning and accepting TMS is a life changer for sure.

 

[Stormshadow]

Thank you guys! I'll give the SEP a shot. And thank you Walt. My dog is my baby. He is adorable and is probably one of the sources of my inner anger, since this year I found out he has cancer and he is only 7 years old. I don't have kids and he is my kid. And I will review that list of sources of stress to see if I'm missing anything obvious.

 

[Boston Redsox]

I am so sorry to hear about your dog... My dog is my biggest source of inner happiness and sometimes my biggest aggravtion . Again so sorry