Welcome to the Support Subforum

Hi @Deborahrye
Depression can absolutely be part of TMS. It can come with anxiety but it can also be a way to deaden our emotions.
Carpel Tunnel is an RSI disorder, and they are commonly considered TMS. Hips may be TMS or structural.
Have you contacted Dr. Schubiner again? He seemed to be very willing to help you before and perhaps he could help you determine how to best help yourself to be confident that the treatment decisions are yours, not just your Doctors.
Part of our healing is having to step up and take charge of our personal power, having victory over the victim mentality.
That doesn’t mean you can’t feel every ounce of what you are going through. Cry, get angry, feel it all. Have compassion for your self (it’s different than feeling like a victim: like you have no control over your situation). Do some sort of self-care whether you can meditate, or just stop and take time to breathe.
You have already started to take some responsibility for yourself by posting to this forum, that’s a great first step!
Do you have a tms book you can read or perhaps Clair Weekes who wrote such great books for anxiety and touches on depression.
Remember that folks with TMS can have structural issues, but folks with TMS can just have tms… it is hard to suds out but I think a tms Doctor could really help you figure things out.

 

Hey Thank you!! I'm listening to the "Tell me about your pain" podcast right now, it is helping, my pain has already moved all over my body - I have the 4th edition Unlearn Your Pain - I gave away my 2nd edition to a friend. - I emailed Dr. Schubiner and he said he would talk or have a phone call but I don't want to ask him to do that until I put some work in myself. Chronic Unworthiness the relapse of pain started with the pandemic so this podcast is pretty apt because the podcast started at the same time as my relapse. There is a big transition happening in my life right now and I think that's why the symptoms are even more acute right now. My son, who was 7 months old at the beginning of the quarantine is going to be starting preschool after Labor Day and I am starting a new job too. Thank you thank you so much for being here

 

I had a carpal tunnel diagnosis confirmed by multiple doctors and EMG test. Surgery was recommended if steroids fail. ALL those doctors were wrong, while Dr. Sarno was right. I healed 100% from it without surgery or medication.
Also, you should not be posting in this thread. You need to learn how to create a new thread with the appropriate subject line. The button is in the upper right corner:

 

Thank you for helping me to figure out how to post on here!!

 

In 1998 I was in a car accident that I walked away from, but within a few weeks lower back and neck pain began nagging me. That started a nearly 15-year journey of PT across multiple cities and modes of treatment from standard sports medicine to integrated manual therapy to acupuncture and chiropractic to low current "white noise" electrotherapy and on and on. Thankfully none of my doctors ever tried to put me on painkillers. I was introduced to Dr Sarno's book by a friend in the early 2000's but after a few chapters of reading, I didn't think he was talking to me. How could I imagine or wish for such pain and disruptions to my life? I had missed weddings, stopped traveling, and couldn't tolerate sitting for more than an hour at a time. I had to have lumbar and neck supports with me for every mode of travel. I especially couldn't tolerate a chair or car set that "dipped" or cradled me as this generated an immediate headache and intolerable neck pain. So how could my subconscious mind possibly generate this level of misery? So I put the book down and eventually gave it to Goodwill.

Ten years later the same friend recommended Sarno's DVD in 2016, and I gave it a shot. At this point I was doing massage weekly with acupuncture and chiro, twice a month and was exhausted by constantly managing my pain. I found this TMS wiki and did the educational program - full commitment. It took a full year though. I repeated sessions and kept up with my journaling, mantras, meditation, and readings. Within a year I was 100% free of the back and neck pain. I was traveling taking 8 hour plane rides to Europe, sleeping in soft beds, biking, and sitting in any chair I wanted.

But starting last December I started to experience a lot of pain in my feet. I have extremely high arches. I've always had to have arch supports and there had been pain coming and going from the feet, but always due to circumstances involving a lot of walking and poor footwear. But it's been constant, and the arches no longer help. I've been to multiple doctors and PT. And now my right knee hurts. The same one that at the age of 25 first flared up with clicking and sharp pain while running or hiking and had been diagnosed as too long of a tendon over the patella - noting a compression strap would handle. But after a few years, it disappeared. Now its back, with the feet.

For some reason, I'm having a hard time recognizing these pains as TMS. I've had a great deal of stress over 5 years from a 24/7 demanding job, the stress of the pandemic and the depressing and soul-crushing culture wars of this country, and crossing the 50 year boundary with all the changes in relationships that entails I know has left me vulnerable to TMS again. So I am back on the program to tackle the pain for what it is - repression of rage and sorrow and self-critical targeting that's been happening unchecked for far too long. I don't know if there are others who've won a war with TMS only to face new battles in the future. Or others for whom, like me, unwinding their TMS was not an instantaneous event, but a process that took months. but would love to hear from you.

 

Thank you Jan. Your response is incredibly helpful and a comfort.

 

Hello to everyone! New member here,
After 6.5years of constant pain, my pain changing locations and intensities, upper back pain, shoulder pain, recently neck and a little head pain I read about TMS and I feel so much better.
Just the idea that the pain originates from my head, when I feel some pain, I think to myself, you are creating the pain and you can also make it disappear! And it works!
I have read some notes from the Sarno books and I have watched a 2.5h lecture from Sarno in youtube. The last 2-3 days I started also the SEP and the Gordon's Pain program.
What would be your suggestions? How should I proceed?
Should I do the 2 programs in parallel or finish first one of them and then proceed with the other? I am already familiar with the main ideas of Sarno. (lecture+notes) Will it bring me much to read one of his books, or would you suggest another book from another writer? Also, probably more a question for the future, is psychotherapy the next step in order to find what creates my inner rage?
Thank you all guys! I am very happy to have found you and I really appreciate your feedback!

 

Hi @dxdydz
My first suggestion is when you post to the TMS forum, you post a new thread. That way more people see it!
Welcome!
Please be aware that trying to “fix” your symptoms by working really hard puts a lot of pressure on yourself. Since TMS is stress related.. well, you get the picture!
Choose 1 program: either Alan Gordon’s or the SEP and complete it. You only need one.
If you notice the SEP asks you to read a book by Sarno before following the program. This is wise. Gordon’s program deviates from some of Sarno’s main elements by asking you to focus on fear: Sarno focuses on subconscious rage…
The SEP focuses on emotions and emotional expression plus states of mind like fear.
So choose a program but first read a book by Sarno. Many people miss his main theories so reading notes from others just adds another filter to the message. Why not go to the source.
You don’t need therapy to find your inner rage. Journaling will do that for you for free (slough some people need more help) - Nichole Sach’s Journalspeak is an elaborated explanation to Sarno’s basic directions for writing. Nichol’s website has directions.

You don’t need to do everything, go slow, see what works for you over time.

 

Thanks a lot for your answers. Then I guess that I can start with the Mindbody prescription and the Alan Gordon program and then probably move to the SEP and the journaling approach in order to dig a bit deeper.