Welcome to the Support Subforum

Thank you for getting back to me so quickly. So even though this Dr Z is a psychiatrist, it looks like there is an MD in the practice who could tell me if I have any nerve compression? I was doing better last week but now I am really worried about all the pain and numbness which gets worse when I exercise. I am going to go to my fitness center and try to get my mind off of it. I am so glad I found this site! Thank you again.

 

To clarify, a psychiatrist is a medical doctor, a physician first, with additional training on emotional disorders. Dr. Zafirides trained personally with Dr. Sarno at NYU Rusk so I would think he would be eminently qualified to dx you. You are very fortunate to have him and SteveO in your state--If I were closer, I would be at their door as soon as I could get an appointment. SteveO holds Dr. Z in high regard!

g'luck!
tt

 

Dr. Zafrides is a real sweetheart. To second @Tennis Tom, I'd make a beeline for Dr. Z if he were my side of the pond.

You are blessed @Timbercat

 

Again, all I can say is thank you. I will give a call and see what I can find out. Hopefully insurance will cover something as I haven't worked for over a year. If not, I will have to dig deep.

 

So glad I literally stumbled upon this site last week. I appreciate the rapid and positive feedback. Many thanks.

 

Don't fret about the money too much for now, real docs treat the patient first and not their wallets--it's those gate-keepers called receptionists that make you fill out the reams of paperwork that are guarding the till.

And, it's an unfortunate fact of TMS, that by the time sufferers find out about it, their lives and wallets have been creamed by the medical/industrial/walgreens/as seen on TV/voo-doo/ A to Z complex. Seeing a TMS physician for an objective DX work-up, is usually a one time visit. I paid $600 out of pocket in a high priced neighborhood once. If you get "it's TMS dx" that should ease your fears and return your life to you and get you back on the road to normal functioning. Most docs will give you an easy payment sliding scale plan--on Maui they pay with pineapples. Tell 'em the TMS Wiki sent you--Forest will help him with his taxes.

g'luck!
tt

 

I did call Dr Z's office today. It must be a busy practice because you have no choice but to leave a message. They ask that u not leave multiple messages as they get a lot of requests for first time appointments. Their final instruction was they would call back as soon as they can. So, it' s about being patient for now. I do hope this works out for me. It would only be about a 2.5 hr drive to Columbus. In the meantime, the pain and numbness consumes me at times. I just keep reading Sarno and try to learn more about this network
.

 

hello - I am new to the forum, and hope this is the right way to post.
I read all four of Dr. Sarno's books last fall, after developing pain in knees, thigh and a bit in my shoulder. My husband used Dr. Sarno's techniques several years ago and strongly recommended the practice. However, after reading, journaling, etc. nothing got better. I got several different diagnoses from practitioners, and finally one from the second rheumatologist: polymyalgia rheumatica. I was put on prednisone; now trying to get off that; using other anti-inflammatories and painkillers. Is this disease/problem familiar to you all? Any success in healing it with the TMS strategies? Thanks.

 

Hi, I am new and have joined because of 4-6 continuous months of abdominal pain (stomach and bowel) only attributed to IBS and all other tests normal. Pain (sensations) were popping up everywhere and I felt that everything was becoming magnified and I was watchful for the next onset of where the pain was going to be. TMS makes perfect sense to me as I was lucky enough to listen to a broadcast this week about TMS and how it was as if a light bulb went on. Finally, the app Curable pointed me in the right direction and I am reading Unlearn Your Pain. I am on the start of a journey that finally gives me hope.

 

Welcome! Fascinated to know about Curable app. So happy you found us!

 

Hi All. Just joined. Have found John Sarno's work at last and the answer to years of chronic pain. My profile reads like a case study from the childhood experiences, the perfectionist/being good profile, the types and locations of pain and the full range of other life experiences. Have had every sort of bodywork one can image, painkillers by the handful, months of downtime due to pain etc etc etc. Feeling a huge sense of relief that something finally makes sense!! Thought I was condemned to a life of chronic pain. Now feeling really positive! ... Wondering about any meetup groups or the like of TMS folks particularly in Melbourne Australia. Great to be here!

 

I just found the Curable app too and have just started using it.

 

I just saw this... and feel sorry no one answered. We are not doctors, and my impression of the polymyalgia diagnosis is that it’s another fancy name for TMS in a world where half the doctors in the world would be out of business if we truly embraced TMS and practiced using our minds as natures pharmacy, our thinking being the medicine.
I hope you got some relief!

 

This is my first post to this website. Thanks to the organizers. I have wanted to express my gratitude to Dr. Sarno for a while now. Around ten years ago, I was dealing with a difficult work situation and began to experience terrible back pain. I ended up going to an orthopedist who took any x-ray (!) and told me I might need surgery soon. Fortunately I stumbled upon a reference to Healing Back Pain in a blog on crossfit and after reading a chapter or two of the book, I went for a run, and the next day, I was lifting weights. Like others have said, it was best described as a spiritual experience. I remember telling people how grateful I was to have had back pain, so that I could appreciate the role that my emotions were playing in physical health. In the years since, every time I've had pain or felt sick, I've looked for sources of anger and repressed emotions, and its generally helped to make me feel better. Thank you Dr. Sarno! You will always be a personal hero of mine. May you rest in peace.

 

Ok, so I didn't get to write all I wanted to in that last post. It should come as no surprise that I am on this website now because I'm feeling pain. This time its knee pain. It might be TMS. After a delightful two days with my wife, away from our two small children, my in-laws came to the hotel where we were staying at the beach and we had some family time. Why would that make me angry? Its not like I resent having to care for my children and address their needs. I don't expect them to just love me unconditionally, based on my inherent qualities as a superior father. Nor would I ever feel put upon by having to speak a foreign language with my wife's family, or by the differences in opinion that we might have about what's best for my children, or any other cultural barriers to our living in the utmost harmony. And I wouldn't feel conflicted about all of the work emails going back and forth, or frustrated with the hassle of making reservations for my older daughter's birthday party, or worried about anything else going on back home. Not enough to cause pain in my knee anyway. Much more likely that I simply stood up too fast after sitting in an awkward position on the beach and now there's something physiologically wrong with my leg. Hahaha! Oh, I keep thinking about the poem in Healing Back Pain, from Emily Dickinson I think, about the heart not accepting what the mind knows. I have felt better since getting on this site though and reading other folks' stories. Wish I had my copy of the Divided Mind or Healing Back Pain here with me too but oh well. Its a process. I guess the best way to view pain like this is as an opportunity to get in touch better with my repressed emotions. Apparently there's a lot of them these days. Good luck to all of you out there in your journeys. Dr. Sarno really is a hero.

 

Hello all,

When it comes to to the amazing TMS community, I have noticed that depression/anxiety are some of the aspects of mindbody syndromes that are not as commonly explored when in comparison to their physical counterparts. That being said, I was considering writing some from of journal/blog where I can go into DEEP detail about what my daily episodes of depression/anxiety are like for me and my attempts to to remedy them via Dr Sarno's methods.

Most talks about depression/anxiety are very vague as most people are embarrassed to go into such detail, but I figure if I make myself vulnerable "AF" and lay it all out on the table that many people might notice similarities, or better yet, allow themselves to talk about the complexities of their own mental illness.

Hopefully when I share what my crazy is like, you'll realize that your crazy is not that different from my crazy and none of us will feel crazy about being crazy anymore.
Crazy, right?

I was wondering, if allowable, where the most appropriate place would be to do such a thing ? I figured it would be here in the support forum but I wanted to ask first before I took action.

Thank you

 

Hi,I joined here about a month ago and what with one thing and another I haven't been back since,I can't actually remember if I posted anything when I joined so I'm here starting again

I was diagnosed 16 years ago with Fibromyalgia and have been living with it and other things ever since, it became clear to me that my symptoms were being caused by stress and repressed emotions, I've written in more detail on my profile if you want to know the gory details

Im now trying to heal myself using mind body techniques,it's not been going well so far because despite knowing this will work for me I can't seem to get it together to do the actual work involved in getting better, the last month has been very difficult and I have now reached the point where I can't go on like this,I owe it to myself to do the work and heal my body,I suppose it's a form of self sabotage and this week after listening to a podcast I admitted to myself that Ive been stuck in victim mode, chronic pain has been my life for so long I'm not sure who I will be if it's not there,I can use it as an excuse to not do things if I need to and people will make allowance for me because of it, admitting this is shocking to me but it's the truth and I think it's been what's holding me back from doing the work,I'm hoping now that I've realised this I will be able to get on with healing myself

 

Hi Obl - might I suggest that you choose a different username? It's not too late, because I see that you've posted twice this week but no one has responded - which means there are no responses by others that reference your username in their response. Once that starts happening, we can't change the references, and it can be very confusing for people who read a thread later, so we do not change usernames at that point.

In any case, my immediate reaction to your name is that it comes across as very negative, so here's the million-dollar question: is that really how you want to see yourself as you make a commitment towards healing?

I also feel strongly that in the same way that usernames should not be negative, they should also not be distractingly positive. My advice: the shorter and more generic, the better. Or, if not short (mine certainly is not) make it easy for people to shorten it in referring to you. JanAtheCPA is too long to type, but it's pretty obvious that anyone can just call me Jan.

Feel free to PM me ("Start a Private Conversation" if you single-click my avatar) or respond here.

~Jan