giantsfan

January 2016
Summary: In my late teens I began to have pain in various joints which eventually developed into sacrum and low back pain in my early 20's. Intense burning pain and numbness in legs and hips with an ataxic gait later began. Lost my job, sold my home, moved back in with folks... Severe insomnia, depression and suicidal thoughts then occurred. I developed an eating disorder (obsessive healthy eating) in the midst and dropped down to 150 lbs. I was essentially bedridden for most of my days in early 2014. I was using a walker to get around the house, wheelchairs in and out of appointments, had urinary and fecal incontinence. Had various ideas of taking my life but I wanted everyone to think I had just moved away and was fine (couldn't pull that off in my disabled state). Thankfully I still cared enough about what other people thought. My nerve burning pain spread to my arms, hands and neck. Just about every joint hurt in my body burned or ached horrendously. I couldn't sleep (some nights hardly at all) mostly due to the burning pain in all of my limbs. After a year of its worst (2014) I began to put weight back on and slowly got better. Eventually I got to the point of being able to sit for an hour on a soft reclined cushion, walk around the block with a cane or walking stick and shower myself without a chair and cushions. Still a lot of progress was needed though.

Then I was introduced to TMS in early 2016 at the age of 29.

Update November 2016:

I'm now 30 years old and I feel the youngest I've been since I was 24! I can now run, sprint, hike, play basketball, rock climb, do squats/deadlifts, stand in long lines, sit for long periods on hard surfaces, etc. I hiked up a 14,040 ft. mountain a couple months ago (my first, but definitely not last 14er). I hiked up a mountain through a snow storm with 70 mph gusts of wind at the summit and I now plan on climbing higher mountains including Mexico's Pico de Orizaba at over 18,000 ft I am now applying for jobs and looking to move out of my parents home once I get the job! I also have an amazing girlfriend now who I deeply love and who can crack me up and put a smile on my face in an instant. Life has changed since I heard about Sarno, life has changed indeed

Things I tried in the past:

Conventional:
Hip orthopedic specialist, Stanford sports medicine, Mayo clinic sports medicine specialist, UCSF pain management clinic, 2 Rheumatologists, 3 Neurologists, 4 General Doctors, Podiatrist, Endocrinologist, Urologist, cardiovascular specialist, X-rays, Mri's and CT Scan of whole body minus lower legs, 6 different physical therapists (one on at the highest rated PT center in U.S.) (total of about 36 + sessions), all kinds of meds for pain and insomnia, 2 epidural injections, 6 cortisone injections etc.

Alternative:
8 sessions of Prolotherapy, 2 Acupuncturists (total of 18 sessions), 2 Osteopaths (30+ visits), Naturopathic medicine, pelvic floor therapy...(with the amount of money I spent on people sticking their fingers up my ass I could've bought a car!), 3 Chiropractors (20+ visits), Visceral manipulation (Jean Pierre- Barral), , Chi Nei Tsang, Graston technique, Active Release Technique, , tens unit, Myofascial release, foam rolling, Gokhale Method (8 sessions), Melt Method (6 mos.), Gyrotonics, inversion table, Tom Myers fascial manipulation series, 3 rolfers (25+ visits), Egoscue Method (over a year), Bowen Therapy, Alexander technique, Trigger point therapy specialists, many many massage therapists, Dr. Shirley Sahrmann PT, all kinds of orthotics, swimming, 2 yoga centers, 1 pilates teacher, meditation, cognitive behavioral therapy from Stanford and Berkeley, gaps diet, paleo diet, all kinds of vitamins and minerals (magnesium glycinate, vit d, b12 etc), sunbathing, salt baths, heat/ice, marijuana for a few weeks, sleep specialists, etc.