Welcome to the Support Subforum

Hi Aterosin , thanks for your advice , I live in Loja is 4 hours away from Cuenca is a beatiful city too. If you come to Ecuador , Id like to talk with you , beacuse here nobody knows about this syndrome even the doctors. I found this on internet and only people like you can understand the pain and frustation . Please let me know if you come to Ecuador. If you have skype which is , drakke78 is mine . Thank you God bless you.

 

Hi Rojer1978,
Welcome to Wiki and Forum.
I would suggest you start the Structured Education Program for free at the Wiki. This you can do on your computer at home.

Also, if I may suggest that you copy and paste your introduction, and create a new thread in the Support Forum

Put this:

over here, and do this by starting a new Post on this Subforum Tab in the upper right
http://www.tmswiki.org/forum/forums/support-subforum.26/

and give it a title like New Here and Want Some Help

Then you will get more attention and response.

Meantime, there is a large list of people who do work via Skype at the Wiki. You can browse through this.
http://www.tmswiki.org/ppd/Find_a_TMS_Doctor_or_Therapist

Welcome to this wonderful community, and I hope you connect with someone who can help you. I will PM you with a doctor who might help via email. Check for messages there please, with a little red number on the upper right when you sign in.

Andy B.

 

Roger, we were in Loja during our last trip. A beautiful city. Gerry

 

Hi everyone

I am from the Netherlands, Europe, so English is not my language, try the best i can please bear with me..

stumbled on this website after 3 years of pain. Footpain for three years on a row, and also had backproblem.. buttockpain and si joint issue : that's going pretty good now.
The footproblem is something else.. has totally taken over my life the first 2,5 years.
Saw specialists, had mri of my back, of my foot, xray , ultrasound etc.
did at one point twisted my ankle but nothing heavy (no swelling, or blue skin etc)
there was a lot of stress before all this started No real dianogses: no plantar fasiicus according to doctors, at one point one said : mortons neuroma, then they thought i came from my back, then piriformis. then i was all due to length discrepancies, wich the next therapist told me was nosense. was leg difference but most people have this. Then : i was told there was something with my pelvis, some rotated hip.. the next : orthopic surgeon : told me this was nonsense. etc etc contradictions

In the beginning my footpain was excruciating : could not take a step without severe pain.. wich appeared to be nervepain. could not stand to wear a shoe..was also no need for : could not walk a step. pain was there when i sat still too , hurt all the time
Start the struggle with custom made othodics.then the pain changed slowly in the timframe of one year from all over my foot into a tendon in the bottom of my foot.. so much less pain but still its keeping me from normal life for + 3 years. Lost my job,, lost my social life, kept my marriage (luckily) but it robbed me of my life : still to this day cannot walk my dog wich was
something i loved to do. Had to step back and watch other live life and enyoing it , because of the staying at home doing nothing at all. got major depressed and almost gave up. Last year somehow made a change..was send to a rehabilitation specialist, who send me to a psychosomatic physiotherapist, i was pretty angry then : are they saying this is me creating this " they told me about chronicpain like as in " a alarm went of and now its in your mind" i was upset to be true. stuck with it anyway..hey i had nothing to loose and no other solutions. In the meanwhile my backproblem was improving : so now i could do more ;sit longer at a computer etc. but still that foot!
At the same time i decided that if this would be my future i had to do something else with my life : i started studying (at age 49) to become a graphic designer wich i already did, but this study was my wish for years. I started a year ago last januari. at the same time i decided not to go with the orthopedic shoes they adviced me but that i wanted to start wean myself of the orthodics i have then (and now still)that is still a goal but not making much progress there, overall so far : my life is better .. pain is little less ( not so much) still can't walk my dog. I am able to be on my feet throughout the day but not more than 10-15 minutes at a time then rest than do little things : a crazy life in little pieces . then pain is then fairly good manageable. but : where to go from here? This 10-15 minutes barrier seems also to be psychological. To end this long story : have had long and severe pain road in the last 3 years..still hoping to get better and looking for ways. This TMS path is kinda new : have to read a lot: i know. just ordered a book. Still grasping the idea that is possible to become completely disabled from a footproblem due to my own mind. It also makes me somewhat angry. sounds like a extreme cruelty from nature..
But since lately i also started having shoulder and neck pain: i know i have to consider every possibily , have read about this extension burst ?' maybe me have some improvement on my foot now the pain looks for another area ( scary thought too..)
, so will read all the footstories and others..still have a lot to learn perhaps..
i do have had a history of anxiety and fearproblems : but where always manageble
thanks for reading my story so far.. appreciate feedback !

 

I suggest you Read Louise Hay's book "You Can Heal Your Life". Especially look in the back of the book and note anything related to the feet. Then check out Dr. sarno's book on Back Pain. He covers more than Just back pain. I bet you will find what you need to know in these books and within yourself. All my best, Gerry in Oregon

 

thanks Gerry
i will look into that absutely
thanks for your reply
all the best
karina

 

Hey guys feel really silly buy how to a post a new post thanx

 

Welcome to the Forum, Norrie. Click on the below link...

http://www.tmswiki.org/forum/

Then select the third header in the list, "Support Forum", at the top of this page you will see a dialogue box titled "post a new thread in this subforum ". Click on this and a form will be created. Enter the required information, then click the "create thread' icon at the bottom of the page.

Happy posting

 

I hope I'm in the right area for a first post and some help. I live in Tasmania, Australia and as far as I know there are NO TMS doctors anywhere. My General Practitioner only loosely mentioned another form of mind/body syndrome which led me online to this one, but with no one available to see, I am very grateful for the help (only been on a week or so) found on this forum. I've read one book of Dr. Sarno's but am absolutely committed to doing this alone, so I am writing like mad and learning the 12 steps to helping myself. The pain after 13 months in knee, right leg, buttocks and ankles eased a little bit last month when I began to explore TMS but I had a massage on Friday last because I felt like it rather than felt a need for it, and something has stirred the pain again badly. Today I am beginning again on my journey and I am so very grateful to have found this wonderful forum, even all the way down under. Thank you all.

 

Welcome aboard the good ship TMS forum T.D. You've got it all right. Your knowledge and commitment level of TMS is spot-on. There have been numerous Aussies here at the TMS Wiki, so you are not alone down-under. There aren't any TMS physicians listed at this site's practitioner's page, but there are a number of therapists if you need to consult one and they might know of a TMS informed physician if you ever need an objective medical opinion:

******************************************************************​

Australia

James Alexander, PhD (Therapist)
115 Keen St
Lismore NSW 2480
Australia
Phone: 0410836690
Fax: (02) 66224234
Website / Survey Response / Forum Posts / About The Hidden Psychology of Pain


Mary Bayles, MSW (Therapist)
Mary Bayles has 25 years experience in the field of psychology. She earned a Bachelor's degree from the University of New South Wales and a master's in social work from New York University in 1988. She also earned a Certificate of Specialization in Psychoanalysis from the National Institute for the Psychotherapies. Mary Bayles was introduced to TMS from Frances Sommer Anderson in 1999 and studied under Dr. Anderson.

Recent Change of Address
2/102 Crown St
Woolloomooloo NSW 2011
Australia
Phone: (02) 0409001387
mbayles@icloud.com
Survey Response


Additional Australia Practitioner
Hal Greenham, BSc


Therese Mortlock (Therapist)
Therese has over 20 years of experience as a psychotherapist in Australia. She writes that her special interest is "trauma and complex trauma with workplace bullying and chronic pain as other areas of interest very much related to distressing and traumatic life events." Therese is an EMDR Accredited Practitioner, and writes that she finds the therapy helpful in TMS treatment. (Source)

Available via Phone and Skype
46 Young Street
Carrington NSW 2294
Australia
Phone: (02) 49614989
contact@innervisionpsychology.com.au
Survey Response / Website

*******************************************************************
​

It doesn't sound like you have need for one, but the best time to talk with one is when you don't need to--but who does that?

I have an Aussie car, a Moke Californian, I'm still sorting it, just got some mirrors from a South Australian Mini specialist. Hoping to commute in it over the Golden Gate Bridge. The Porsches and Mercs are going to be wondering what's that golf cart doing on my tail in the fast lane?

If you want another good TMS book to fill out your TMS KNOWLEDGE PENICILLIN, Steve Ozanich's THE GREAT PAIN DECEPTION is a great textbook of TMS and applied psychology and has a good appendix of all the TMS symptoms.

Cheers,
tt

 

Hi Tom, and thank you very much for the names etc of therapists in Oz. Tasmania is a little island state south of New South Wales and Victoria and requires a plane journey or an 8 hour boat trip "over the strait", so I will make do with the wonderful site here. As you responded I was reading and listening to Alan speaking to people as was suggested when we first join the forum. I am sitting here crying, raging, feeling so much wonderful healthy emotion and talking to myself. I have made a note of the 12 daily reminders and have my LARGE pad and pen ready for bringing it all to the fore, and I can tell you one of the emotions I am feeling right now is quiet excitement. Not large expectations or over the top stuff, but a simple realisation that for the first time in my adult life I am going to address ME and work with ME about me while at the same time accepting the pain is ALL that is showing right now. It's taken a while but! I'm 73 this year, but as the pain has only been with me for 13 months or so, I consider myself already beginning a great journey. NOT like the journeys you'll be taking in your Moke of course - they will be wonderful ALL the time hopefully. I will mentally see you heading across the Golden Gate Bridge showing those fancy nancy cars what a FUN car you have.
Thank you again Tom. It was a wonderful day when I gave myself the time to investigate this site. Everyone here is a winner.
Regards,
Tassie Devil

 

Day one, again. I have been a student of mindbody medicine for over 25 years. Have had interstitial cystitis, migraines, stomach and back pain. And I have let traditional medicine try its hand and rarely, if ever, got relief, except for a medication called baclofen for the IC.
In reading day one in the structured program, I got a sickening aura... And now am typing with a fullblown migraine.
I am astounded and a little scared to dive further. I have been doing somatic meditation, involving the pelvic floor and breathing, for the past two years to good results along with Schubiner's workbook and The Stanford doctors' Paradoxical Relaxation meditations. I don't get laid out by back pain any more!
Still, this undertow, this vast unconscious of mine, seems frightening. Malevolent, shadowy, threatening. I would have imagined after over 25 years in seeking a path without somatization that I would have a more zen approach and sense of humor.

I am in awe of this mind of mine. A little disheartened.

I am struck by the infantile rage that seems to reside in my fascia, especially right psoas/hip region. There are moments when it feels my pelvic floor is the launching pad for a ballistic missile of grief and rage. Some days, I sit to meditate and cry for twenty minutes. It is cleansing.

I think, as I write this, that I am suffering from Therapist Entitlement! "I have done the work, thus I should arrive and be done." Such arrogance, naïveté. Again, as always, I am humbled by what I still don't know and cannot master.

For those truly new to mindbody, TMS and somatic therapies, there is hope... My IC hasn't flared in a horrible way in years! Just a little migraine here and there, when I shake the hornet's nest. What a trade off though, to have to hear the rage and grit my ego dishes. I try to just say, "yes, I know, I know. That, too." In response to whatever it says. That's the dialectic. The way to the middle. I think I nailed it with T.E. - Therapist Entitlement. Jeez.

 

.....

Hi Bodhigirl,
I was just talking to a friend of mine the other day, who I will be teaching a "Self-Compassion Training" with soon. She reminded me that in the human experience, it does not matter how skilled we are: we still get completely laid out by our own structures. If we're going to help others train in self-compassion, it has to be a training. Not an end result. One of Neff's pillars to train in self-compassion is developing a deeper understanding that our pain is "part of the human condition." Not avoidable.

I think for me, the superego really gets activated when I am in emotional pain. The attack is that I am wrong or unlovable for even experiencing this, that I should be beyond this by now. I can hate myself for hating myself! The same was true for me when I first rejected Dr. Sarno's work. "I should be beyond this." When I saw my self-images around being "above this" clearly, rather than being identified with them, my acceptance and pain relief began.

"T.E" I get it. Great expression. It is delusional thinking, to think I am beyond this human condition. And the human condition is a "bitch." No doubt.

And in our self-compassion training (I mean all of ours, yours too), we know (?), the only way to hold onto our reality is to make space for it, and feel it, as best we can. It is in our pain that the love grows, miraculously, and in fits and starts. And its still the hardest thing to engage in, these painful structures and fixations. To take it all "straight up." Or "without anesthesia" as Trungpa said. Yes, its a "bitch." Yet the inner love is so close to the inner pain. I really hope you feel this on occasion!

I send you the best wishes in this regard. And, in writing this, I give myself support for inner love too. I hope you have some good human support for your journey. You don't post here very often.

Andy B

 

Thanks ever so much for your reply.
I am well supported. Vastly supported, even. Only my own tendencies to isolate a bit the past ten years have brought me to undertake the daily work here again.

I have grown more introverted in middle life which is only natural after a life of extroversion. Yet this may lead me to more anxiety in the long run; thus reaching out here.

I was seeking beginner's mind when I returned to this site -- this time. I want to learn anew. Each day. With a smile and the curiosity I possessed in graduate school, the excitement to know the psyche up close.

You are right-- With psychodynamics we are never done yet I crave mastery. I know it's absurd - usually - and yet it is my deepest hunger - to be whole and done. Awful, yet natural, to crave the impossible.

Yet in this craving lies a sort of addiction to suffering. I call it strugglism. Likely getting some yummy endorphins by generating all this pain -endogenous opiate addiction.

Hit the nail on the head there. Whew. Off to meditate. In my body. And grateful for it.

 

Hi everyone, this is my first post on this forum as well. I have been suffering from neck pain this entire year. It started amid several stressful things going on in my life, in particular working an extremely stressful and busy physical therapy job, studying for the GRE, and taking two courses at my local community college. I have since been studying the whole year and applying to physician assistant (PA) schools. Now that I am finished with this semester, I am still suffering with moderate neck pain and I do not understand why.

My pain feels like someone tore a knife through the sides of my neck. It aches most of the time, in particular in the mid afternoon (I have no idea why). It seems to get better in the morning and evening. Interestingly it almost completely goes away when I take a walk around my neighborhood, and when I am in very high spirits. I have been locked indoors for a long time, nor have I travelled much in the last year.

I have read Dr. Sarno's book, as well as a book called "Back in control" by Dr. Hanscom. My neck pain has gotten a little better after confirming that I do in fact have TMS, as my pain always gets better when I am truly relaxed and at peace with myself. However, finding this state has been elusive. I want to find a strategy that will allow me to remain to be painfree for good. Does anyone here have experience with this kind of neck pain? I live in the DC area in MoCo Maryland, so if anyone knows a TMS doctor near me I would greatly appreciate it. I would love to have support during this tough time.

I look forward to getting to know everybody!

Michael

 

http://www.tmswiki.org/ppd/Find_a_TMS_Doctor_or_Therapist (Find a TMS Doctor or Therapist)​

District of Columbia

Harold Goodman, DO (Physician)
Listed in Maryland


Andrea Leonard-Segal, MD (Physician)
Dr. Leonard-Segal graduated with honors from the George Washington University Medical School and is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology. She has practiced medicine since 1982 and has devoted the past twenty years to helping patients overcome back and neck pain, fibromyalgia, chronic tendon complaints and similar conditions. She emphasizes the mind-body connection and is one of a handful of physicians nationally who uses an approach that closely parallels the pioneering work of John E. Sarno, MD at the New York University Medical Center and the Rusk Institute. She brings her interest and expertise in mind-body medicine to the Center for Integrative Medicine. (Source1, Source2)

George Washington University Center for Integrative Medicine
908 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W.
Suite 200
Washington, D.C. 20037
(202) 833-5055
(202) 833-5755 fax
Website
Contributed the article, "A Rheumatologist's Experience with Psychosomatic Disorders," in The Divided Mind, by Dr. John Sarno. 2006.
Insurance Accepted: none


Jon Frederickson, MSW (ISTDP Therapist)
3000 Conn. Ave. N.W. #400
Washington, D.C. 20008
202-986-4575
Survey Response

Maryland


Barbara KlineBarbara A. Kline, LCSW-C (Therapist)
Barbara Kline is a licensed, certified, clinical social worker (LCSW-C) in the state of Maryland. She has a keen interest in mind/body medicine and specializes in working with clients suffering from chronic (non-cancerous) pain syndromes including back, neck, & shoulder pain; fibromyalgia, and other musculoskeletal disorders. She says "Having had a severe case of TMS myself, I'm pretty much an expert as I researched everything possible on the subject and was cured using Dr. Sarno's method. I also have had extensive coursework in the psychology of TMS. One course was with Dan Siegle at a Psychotherapy Networker Symposium in Washington D.C. I refer clients to Dr. Andrea Leonard-Segal for a diagnosis since I am not a medical doctor. She is located in Washington D.C. and can refer clients to me for psychotherapy." (Source)

Available via Phone
Independent Practices at Prospect Cottage
Psychotherapist
113 S Prospect Street
Hagerstown, MD 21740
(301) 745-1900
(301) 745-4110
Barbara@prospectcottagetherapies.com
Survey Response / Q&A Answers / TMS Wiki Profile / Website / When Stress Hurts / Article about Barbara Kline

Insurance Accepted: Carefirst BC/BS, Aetna, InforMed, Tricare, Johns Hopkins, APS, CorpHealth, MHN, MHNet, PMHM, Quest, ComPsych, Medicare.


Harold Goodman, DO (Physician)
Dr. Goodman's office is ten minutes from Washington, DC. The red line metro stops seven minutes from his office.

8609 Second Ave., Suite 405-B
Silver Spring, Maryland 20910
301-565-2494
hrpharold@gmail.com
Survey Response / Website
Dr. Goodman's TMS Story

 

Thanks Tennis Tom, I think I will give some of these people a call. I have never seen anyone about TMS, and it would be nice to confirm that I do in fact have TMS. I have moments of little pain, but it's not consistent, and I would like to talk to someone to develop skills to get rid of the pain.

 

You're welcome Michael D, the best thing you can do to give you confidence in TMS is to get an objective evaluation from a TMS savvy physician. You are fortunate that you have some in your area, as they are few and far between on the planet. Please let us know how it goes. Good luck and happy holidays.

 

Welcome, Michael.
You are a caregiver.
Those of us who are caregivers are usually giving what we wish someone would give us. As a psychotherapist, I have treated a large number of TMS people who are nurses, doctors, teachers, therapists, massage therapists, teachers, givers of every kind. The more we give, the angrier the body gets because the mind is so busy BEING NICE to everyone.
I have found it easier in recent years to just tell my symptoms to stop. Just stop. This is not a magical trick to avoid my feelings. It just short circuits the brain/ego/somatisizing system and brings me into the moment where I can ask myself "What's going on that you don't want to feel?"
It's usually fear, anger, sadness, anxiety or a bundle of them.
They are feelings.
It took me years to trust they pass like waves, rising and falling. My job is to not get hooked by them, not build a disastrous story around them, not encourage them but observe, with curiosity, patience, compassion, as I would listen to a frightened child.
Best wishes on the journey to self awareness and self care, Michael. You are in fine company with most of the world. We're the lucky ones because we understand the underlying cause/effect.
Both hands together,
Bg

 

Thank you for your kind words Bodhigirl. I understand in theory at least, that I can detach myself from my thoughts and not let them bother me, letting them enter my consciousness and watching them leave. But it is difficult to consistently do this subconsciously, which I suspect is necessary to truly feel at peace with yourself. When I do manage to just sit back and watch the spinning nervous thoughts pass by, my pain almost completely fades away, and I feel the hope and sense of normalcy come back. I hope that this forum will help me continue this journey. Thanks again!