An Introduction

I found Dr. Sarno 3 weeks ago when I finally ordered the Mindbody book. I devoured the book in a few days and finally had something to explain all that I've been going through for the past several years. I had long had a suspicion that the pain I was experiencing was more that just physical. But Dr. Sarno's book finally gave me a plausible explanation for why it was all happening. And as I learned more, I started to notice results immediately. I started to feel hopeful again after some pretty dark years.

1. The pain has come in waves and in different places over the past 5 1/2 years, but it extends further back than that I think. Though I've dealt with migraines for most of my life and had bad tension headaches for a couple of years, the current iteration of pain is in both hands, wrists, and forearms and also my neck and upper back. That pain has been around for the last 14 months or so. I've been to countless doctors, have had x-rays, and an MRI of my wrist. All have been clear. I was diagnosed with tendonitis in my forearms and hands. I did physical therapy for a couple months, but it almost made things worse.

2. At times (especially while at work), I often feel consumed by tension. A tightness in my chest and my arms that makes me feel on the verge of a panic attack half the time. I can feel it right now as I type this. It doesn't feel normal and yet, I can't switch it off. My personality is very much the one Dr. Sarno describes in his book. Perfectionist, people pleaser, consumed by thoughts of how I appear to others.

Over time, I've started to suspect that paragraphs 1 and 2 are linked. That there's some relationship between the two. But, I had no tools or resources to either prove it or even begin to repair it. That all changed 3 weeks ago with Dr. Sarno's book and also with the discovery of this forum. I'm hopeful again that real healing and change is possible.

 

You are correct. Physical and emotional are linked together. As physical symptoms start fading away, many people experience rise in anxiety and depression. Sarno calls it extinction bursts. You need to accept it as part of recovery process and not fear anxiety. After a while it goes away. Great progress so far, keep using resources of this forum. I highly recommend studying the subforum Success Stories, it helps greatly to build confidence in your own recovery. Best of luck to you!

 

Thanks for your note. I've definitely been experiencing the ups and downs of increased anxiety in the midst of my body feeling better pain-wise. Good to know that's part of the process. And thanks too for your recommendation to look at the Success Stories of others. I've already found couple with similar symptoms (programmers with pain in their wrists) and they've been tremendously helpful.

 

If you are a programmer with the pain in the wrists, I am almost certain that what you have is TMS because I was a programmer for 25 years. My initial diagnosis was carpal tunnel syndrome and I am glad I threw it into a trash can. I am pain-free and can do more push-ups now than before the diagnosis. Absolutely do not do the surgery! Also, if you want the entire story, I wrote a book about it. Let me know if you care to read.