Day 1-I'm a big YES!

I'm a big YES to me overcoming TMS. I have pain and I can tell that this pain is mental and not physical. I know this because I have medical proof.


The first time I lost my voice was when I was 28 and I had to move home with my parents. I went to the special voice doctor and had the throat scope and I did not have nodes or anything. From a medical perspective my throat was perfectly clear. My mom told me to read Sarno's book about TMS and eventually after reading the book the pain went away. HOORAY!

The second time I lost my voice was 2 years later when I lived on my own and I was singing professionally in a choir. I didn't really like being a professional soloist but I kept going back and singing with the group because it was "the right thing to do" and I didn't want to back out on a commitment. But when the commitment was up, one week later the pain was gone. My voice was back to normal. HOORAY (again). Now that I look back on this event, that was a TMS attack and I didn't realize that until now.

My pain shows up in my throat. I am a music teacher, a singer, and a yoga teacher and I use my voice for EVERYTHING. I use my voice to be successful in my JOB(s). Everyday when I wake up the first thing I think about is "do I have my voice" or "is my voice ok today". I am constantly obsessing over my voice.

Just this past month I suffered from tonsilitis, yet ANOTHER disease affecting my throat. Sure this is a bacterial infection but I could have had a bacterial infection anywhere in my body. But my body decided to affect my throat and I have NO DOUBT that TMS got the better of me again. Why did these voice problems show up again?! Well I have been digging up some emotional stuff in my personal life and and no doubt that I got sick (physical symptoms) to cover up what is mentally going on with me! My body was trying to protect itself from my thoughts.

This brings us to TODAY. My tonsilliis is GONE. I am not teaching school because it's summer break but guess what... now my left knee hurts. I know there is nothing wrong with my knee, my chiropractor tells me so. Just like Sarno says, with TMS, the pain moves around.

So here I am on DAY 1 of the structural educational program. I am here to learn more about the mental thoughts that are causing the pain in my throat and now in my left knee. I am here to bring awareness and light to my physical symptoms and dig deep and come face to face with the rage that is inside of me.

 

Hi, trichick. Your post is wonderful. You know the pains from TMS move around and your mother did you a great favor by telling you about Dr. Sarno and his book. Plus, you found this web site and community of people who had or have TMS and help each other to heal.

The SEP program helped me heal from severe back pain when I journaled about my boyhood. I learned that when my parents divorced when I was seven years old, it left me with feelings of abandonment and insecurity. They got back together a year later, but the feelings remained with me. "Once bitten" is an old saying. Many of us were "bitten" by some emotional bug in our early years and we have repressed them. The SEP journaling helps us to discover what those are. Or... and this is important... our TMS may not be caused by something from the past or present... it can be from a perfectionist and "goodist" personality. We don't have to drastically change either... just be aware of them and modify them... Balance is so important to good mental and physical health.

I'm going to post soon about nutritionists who say that most of us are magnesium mineral deficient and this causes all kinds of problems in our mental and physical health. From what I've read so far and seen in videos on YouTube about magnesium health benefits, it all ties in with TMS and how they may work together to make us healthier and happier. I'm working on that post now.

Meanwhile, congratulations on your acceptance of TMS and starting the SEP. You're going to feel great.

 

Hi trichick,

I suffered with debilitating back pain when I was in my late 20's. Long story short, Dr. Sarno's work saved me after the medical community (both conventional and alternative) failed me. I continued to get occasional flare-ups, but I could literally eliminate them within minutes or hours by focusing on the emotion rather than the pain.

Like you, I use my voice professionally. I'm a professional singer, Realtor, and youth soccer coach. About 3 years ago, I was diagnosed with spasmodic dysphonia. I have extreme tension when I speak. It makes it sound like someone is strangling me. The medical community has deemed this disease incurable, with no known cause (idiopathic), yet they vehemently deny that it's psychogenic in nature. I believe otherwise - for the most part. I also wake up and immediately begin testing my voice; will I be able to talk on the phone? Meet with clients? Talk to other agents?

The big challenge I have is completely accepting the diagnosis of TMS for this, even though I know I'm prone to it. There are so few stories about voice being a symptom imperative. I was really happy to come across your story and see you had success getting your voice back. I appreciate your post and wish you the best on your journey. You will make great progress on the SEP. For some reason, it's almost harder battling tms the second time around - maybe just frustrating to think that it's something we have to maintain, rather than something we can just fix once and for all.

Best of luck, and thanks again for your post.

 

Wow so interesting. Thank you for posting. I wish you a speedy recover.