My TMS success story

Herbie I would have loved to have met Dr Sarno in a sauna in his birthday suit, but sadly no. Mr Sauna man was just another human being who I would love to meet again, as he’s now wandering the world not knowing he’s made an enormous difference to my life!

 

I have done tons of EFT already, Colly. And it's not that I don't forgive my parents. I know they have done the best they could with what they had at the time. I have loved them and appreciate them, but, yes, it is the self-forgiveness that is taking a while. I grew up in a strict Catholic environment and like I said, I am judging myself too harshly for the feelings I have had about them. A part of me knows that feelings simply are feelings...they are neither good nor bad...they are what make us human. Then another part says how could a good daughter/person/sister have feelings like this about her family? And then I hear in my mind something I heard frequently as a child, "You should be ashamed of yourself."

 

Honeybear, ease up on yourself! We all have shame. Having shame is good, because it increases our self-awareness and helps us to learn from our mistakes. Don’t dwell on and judge your thoughts, just observe them, and be aware of why you had them. What matters is where you’re at NOW with your parents, not the past. If you need to build bridges with them, then get out there and start building. Take the initiative; it’s never too late.

 

Thanks for your responses, Colly.

I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hijack your thread. I had no intention of making this all about me. I sent you a private message, if that's okay.

Thanks again for inspiring me with your healing!

 

Hi Colly,
I loved your story. I was also diagnosed with fibromyalgia when I only had back pain, but soon all the other symptoms appeared. The power of the mind and the environment kicked in.
The healing process is different for all of us. I noticed that you quickly found out how to heal and where to look for your emotional short comings. Confronting your Dad was crucial and I am so glad that you could reconcile with your father. Some of us could never do that, but we can work on it from within us and make peace with our inner child.
I am still healing and hanging in there.
Saludos,
Leonor

 

Hi Leonor
I’m pleased you’re healing. Gosh if only we could get the doctors who diagnosed our Fibro together we could bash their heads together! You hold one while I push the other haha!

Y’know, this time last year I was back in Dublin to see my mother after (a thankfully successful) colon cancer surgery. After a twenty four hour flight, rather than me feeling excited to see my mother and family, I was dreading it, knowing I’d be walking on eggshells around my Dad’s angry outbursts (responding to my mother getting all the attention, which, in fact is what happened). I was overcome with anger and deep resentment, predicting this. At that time I had just started my TMS healing, but eight months later landing in Dublin again on a holiday, I was a different person, as I had done much soul-searching during this period, and realised it was now or never time to open my heart to him.

So I know only too well how difficult it is to make peace with a difficult parent - having avoided it my whole life - but we shouldn’t wait for our parents to do all the fixing - just because they are our guardians - but that the responsibility lies with us as children to make that happen. and gratitude will come flooding back.

Colly

 

No problem Honeybear, I've responded to your message

 

Hello Golly, I'm shocked about your story, in a good way!
I'm only 22 springs old, and encountered years of anxiety, constant irritable bowel, the latter subsided when dealing with some of the anxieties slightly untentionally, so I definitely know the power of soma and mind.
Latest have I during the past 6 years suffered from pain in shoulders/neck/arms, bad tingling all over them, numbness and general fatigue, however no medical expert have found anything defect.
In Oct I had obsessed greatly of the probability of getting tinnitus as I worked with a lot of music, 1 week after a music gig, 1 day after having vermin traps put up in my room (wauw was that stressful since I've had rats decaying beneath my bed before....), I was stressed, and developed tinnitus.
I can't tell music haven't been a contributing pitfall, ipod too, however prior history enforces the tms probability, and your story helps the confirmation and the belief of a successful outcome. It means so much.
I'll bookmark and keep rereading your history!

thanks

 

Colly, thanks for sharing your meeting with your father with everyone. The mutual forgiveness brought
you both peace. I had my first real talk with my father when I was a college freshman and we had a new
mutual understanding that gave me great peace. He died a few months later and I am so glad we had our
understanding talk before that.

 

Thank you Walt, and lovely to hear you too had reconnected with your Dad prior to his passing. It felt like a weight had lifted from my shoulders - one I had been dragging around all my life. I was very nervous reaching out to him, but so glad I did.

BTW I just saw your website, my gosh, talk about prolific! So impressive! I must get hold of the TMS book you and Eric wrote. The only thing is I'm not religious, but my mother is my God, so if there's a reference to God I can substitute I guess)

 

Hi Caynisa and sorry for the delayed response. A few things you say jump out and hit me:

1. Have had "years of anxiety";
2. Anxiety related illness which subsided when anxieties addressed;
3. Understand TMS and accept the concept;
4. 6 years of upper body pain with no structural cause;
5. "Obsessed greatly" about the probability of getting tinnitus;
6. You get tinnitus.

Caynisa, the doctors have cleared the way for healing, since they could not find anything. This is good news! You have TMS!

No pain should last six years. I badly broke my humerus bone from a nasty bike fall last year and it was excruciating, yet it healed in six weeks, and I was back to normal after about twelve. I badly sprained my ankle whilst on holiday last year, and after two days of complete rest, I was back to normal, hiking up and down the Italian countryside.

You must read and re-read Dr Sarno and Steve Ozanich's book also. Another one I'd highly recommend is Claire Weekes "Hope and help for your nerves". Read them in that order. Sarno will lay the foundation. Steve will build on that foundation, and Claire adds that extra insight. Once you've read these books, then you need to do the homework.

You've already discovered that by lowering your anxiety levels you improved. So you know that you've healed before - more good news!

When anxious our body reacts with a flooding of adrenaline and cortisol, to prepare for a flight or fight response. In short bursts this is good, as it gives us the ability to deal with a perceived dangerous or challenging situation in hand. However, our anxiety levels held in this heightened stated for prolonged periods leads to TMS pain. Claire Weeks refers to this in her book, saying that constant "anxious brooding" about any difficult life situation will lead to pain. As long as our bodies are in this state no healing can take place.

Obsessing is another way to inflame an anxious state. When you find yourself going down that path, try to catch yourself by being mindful, and talk to yourself, with soothing words and affirmations, like " I forgive myself, I love and accept myself, and it's safe to let it go". This helps to reduce obsessing, and calms the nervous system down. You need to do this daily until you stop obsessing.

I recommend you read "the steps to healing" from Ace1 on the other TMS help forum. I'm not sure if he's on this forum, but read his post, print it off and keep it with you at all times. I can't recommend his post highly enough.

You will need to ask yourself what are the real issues troubling you, and start to tackle these, either by changing them, or if you can't, then work on changing your reaction to them.

Regarding your tinnitus, it's not due to working in music. I used to go to loud concerts, and the ringing I got from this only lasts a day at most. When I go to concerts now I use ear plugs, only because I know what remaining hearing I have I want to preserve. I used to sing in a symphonic chorus and always stood behind the timpani, so during a mad crash-bang symphony, my ears got a royal pounding ( I once had real cannons go off in my ear during Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, and even the audience were given ear plugs)! I remember I asked the timpani section of the orchestra if they'd ever had tinnitus problems, and they said no, because they could prepare their minds for the onslaught in the few bars leading up to a big crash-bang section!

I get episodes of tinnitus, but since TMS healing I don't get anxious about them. I had one as recent as last week. It went in about ten minutes, once I explored what happened in that day that might have sparked it. I speak to and soothe my mind. In Steve Ozanich's "Great Pain deception" he says on this subject:

Long protracted periods without healing can indicate a fear of lifting the mask to reveal what's underneath. This inner stubbornness is often accompanied by tinnitus".

One final word on rats: I once had rats in my roof above my bed as my neighbours had grape vines that stretched into the eaves of my roof. The used to sound like they were having a party in my roof. They probably were - on the neighbours grapes! Think of them as cute hamsters with long tails. They're not scary; they just come looking for food. Remove their access to your house and they'll go somewhere else.

Have faith in your body's ability to heal itself. You will heal, you've made a start by being on this forum!
Colly

 

Hi Colly,
Wow...you can be proud of yourself. Love your description of Sauna Man..with all those confessionals it must have been one hot sauna that day. Thanks so much for sharing your story. In every story that is told (I find the longer and more detailed the better) I find bits of myself to explain and convince me I have TMS. Your advice to others also helps and your great sense of humour... (well I am an aussie...but living in Europe...how funny). I think your relationship with doctors reflects what a majority of TMS sufferers experience, visiting one doctor after another hoping for a diagnosis, explanation and a cure. In my desperation I´ve seen alot of doctors and can tell alot of stories. I´ve also come to the conclusion that especially in the "new-mode" field of alternative medicine there are alot of bogus natural "healers". I certainly have seen my fair share. I think the icing on the cake was when i was home last visit and had alot of symptoms. I went to an "alternative medicine" man. He tuned in on "one leg is longer than the other" and wanted to release my tight pelvic muscles through accessing them internally (sure you can work out what this would have meant). He went into a long description of how he would do it, what "tools" he would use and that a female assistant would be in the room as well for my "safety". It would only cost me $450. Well....that was enough to scare me away...but I must admit that in my suffering state i was contemplating for a second or 2. With so many of the differing diagnoses I´ve heard I have grabbed onto every straw, every diagnosis thinking "aah...that must be it" but really only TMS makes sense. On with the battle!!!!!!!

 

Hi, Colly. I read your success story before, but just read it again and loved it.
Of course we've been exchanging emails since then.

I hope by replying to this it will keep your post alive and I urge everyone to read it.

 

Oh Walt you're a sweetheart thank you! I've just been watching a story about the Orient Express and the presenter has an infectious laugh, so I keep laughing and remembering your Laughter Yoga chapter - you funny man!

Hi Slowena, you must forgive my late reply. I've been snowed under at work of late, and not been on the wiki. Your post brought back some uncomfortable memories of doctors suggesting strange things also. However, on a more humorous note, one of my 'alternative' treatments prior to my TMS discovery was getting Alexander Technique treatment. I had to pay about $600 for a week's sessions consisting of me taking my shoes off and walking around a room in circles and then practicing sitting and standing. I was so dizzy from walking in circles that I almost missed the chair a few times. I could have done this at home for free! Mind you had I not discovered TMS and this site I might still be in despair, as I was then. We hope to help you on your TMS healing journey. The TMS family here are wonderful source of support and hope.

 

Colly:
I congratulate you on your courage and your healing.
Thanks for taking the time to share your story. It does inspire us all.
Best wishes for more joy ahead.

 

Hi, Colly. I've never been in a Laughter Yoga class but that sounds good.
I have my own laughter class and it's just me laughing,
and if there's nothing to laugh at, I pretend there is.
My head and immune system can't tell the difference.

I mentioned before how much I enjoy DOWNTON ABBEY.
I hope you can order it from Netflix, starting with season one, and
see how fast you will be hooked by it. Great characters, story,
and how the Brits lived between the two wars.

 

Thank you so much for writing your story, Colly. I'm just beginning down this road, which sometimes feels so impossible. But stories like yours give me hope and a sense of wonder, which seems so important. Much appreciation to you.

 

An amazing story, I am so glad you too found Sarno et al.... There must be so many millions of people out there suffering without knowing about - or being able to integrate the knowledge of TMS. It is so important for this forum to continue and thrive and for the books/cds etc to circulate so that more people can hopefully heal.

 

I love laughter Yoga, you just start laughing with about 10 to 15 other folks laughing with you and the next thing you know you are rolling in the floor releasing all of these feel good healing hormones throughout your body, it's awesome Colly. Awesome.

 

wow,
this is quite a recovery story and especially the bit about the medical specialists being confounded. I went to a good few but couldn't afford to go to others after being relieved of £150 by a Rheumatologist inside 15minutes. it is so frustrating that Pain specialists in the NHS seem to be unaware of alternatives. It is al about managing pain, if that didnt depress someone they would need their head examined!
In March I had my third Pain specialist appointment and was full of hope (after my prescription for Prozac was kicking in).
I regaled him of a tale of how I had got some relief with Body scanning, a mindfulness technique(after overcoming initial scepticism) and he just rolled his eyes.
I wish they had some sort of chronic pain stimulation device to use on people like this. then he told me my back would never get better and I should learn to deal with it and I would know real pain when I got married!!
talk about Nocebo.
I'm nowhere near recovered and still find it hard to believe, but I am slowly breaking my old beliefs.
when you've tried so many things desperation takes hold, and a pattern of coping becomes very difficult to overcome. I honestly can't remember a day without pain since early 2008. the thought of being pain free is to me like winning the lotto. will update on progress if significant goals are achieved.
Thanks again Colly for sharing that!