New Program Day 1: Introduction

Rachel110885 · Jan 10, 2022

Jules said: ↑

I think this is just what I need to get to hundred percent. Right now, I'm dealing with symptom imperative of nausea and anxiety, but the pain is at least 85% better.
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Jules said: ↑

I think this is just what I need to get to hundred percent. Right now, I'm dealing with symptom imperative of nausea and anxiety, but the pain is at least 85% better.
Click to expand...

Hi Jules I hope you’re doing well. I feel like our stories are very similar. I’ve overcome back pain and headaches. Now I have chronic nausea. Do you have any tips? It’s horrible feeling like you’re on the verge of vomiting all day every day. i’ve obviously had all tests done and everything comes back normal.

Hally · Jul 11, 2022

Thank you so so much

DLO2GO · Jan 23, 2023

Hello. I joined today. Do we follow along for 21 days or go at our own pace or how does this work? Thanks

Cap'n Spanky · Jan 23, 2023

DLO2GO said: ↑

Hello. I joined today. Do we follow along for 21 days or go at our own pace or how does this work? Thanks
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Hi @DLO2GO - you can absolutely go at your own pace.

I went through the whole thing one time, relatively quickly. Then I circled back, going very slowly and re-writing the concepts in my own words.

DLO2GO · Jan 24, 2023

Thanks Tim

Merv · Jun 18, 2023

I am open and hopeful.

1speechpick · Jun 24, 2023

I really hope this helps me. I'm suffering so much with awful headaches.

MB-1953 · Jul 9, 2023

I presently suffer with numbness/tingling in my left hand and right fingertips, I was examined at NYU langone and diagnosed with TMS. Do the concepts and exercises of this program apply to my symptoms as well? My conditions started 3 months ago. Do I just substitute pain with numbness? Thanks.

JanAtheCPA · Jul 11, 2023

MB-1953 said: ↑

I was examined at NYU langone and diagnosed with TMS. Do the concepts and exercises of this program apply to my symptoms as well? My conditions started 3 months ago.
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Hello @MB-1953 and welcome. If you are completely new to the concepts of TMS, the best way to learn about it is to read one of the books written by Dr. John Sarno, MD, who was a physiatrist and chief of rehab at the Rusk Institute/NYU School of Medicine.

You are presenting with something other than back pain, so I would recommend his third book The MindBody Prescription (1998) or his last book The Divided Mind (2006, with additional chapters by five other MDs and a psychologist).

Then come back to the main tmswiki.org website, start doing the free Structured Educational Program, and come back here to the forum to read Success Stories and engage with this community. It will all make a LOT more sense once you've read Dr. Sarno. He's a compelling writer, as you will see from thousands of five-star reviews.

jhc1013 · Mar 9, 2024

Alan Gordon LCSW said: ↑

Day 1: Introduction

As the director of a pain center in Los Angeles, I've worked with thousands of pain patients and collaborated with specialists throughout the country, but long before that I was a chronic pain sufferer.

During my second year of graduate school, I developed severe lower back pain. Even something as simple as sitting and watching a movie became a two-hour long nightmare.

I saw three of the leading back specialists in Southern California, and they had three different opinions about the cause of my pain: one of them said it was a disc herniation; one of them said it was disc degeneration; one of them said I was just too tall.

I couldn't make myself shorter, but tried every other treatment imaginable: physical therapy, biofeedback, medication, acupuncture, acupressure; nothing helped. After six months, I got an epidural injection. It didn't eliminate my pain, but it cut it in half. Life was once again bearable...for about eight days, when I suddenly and inexplicably got the worst headache I'd ever had.

And it stayed.

Chronic daily headache, the internet told me, had no known cause and no known cure. Terrific.

Over the next several years, I developed the following additional symptoms:

upper back pain
neck pain
shoulder pain
knee pain
hand pain
heel pain
tongue pain (who gets tongue pain?)
eye pain
tooth pain
toe pain (three different toes!)
hip pain
stomach pain
wrist pain
leg pain
heartburn
TMJ
tinnitus
itching
fatigue
fibromyalgia symptoms

In sum, I was a mess. Doctors were scared of me.

I had plenty of diagnoses to go along with these symptoms: bulging discs, partially torn rotator cuff, high cerebral spinal fluid pressure, chronic fatigue syndrome, etc.

One day my mother presented me with a book. She said her friend's son read it and it helped him get rid of his back pain. I did what any rational chronic pain sufferer would do. I threw it across the room.

"A book isn't going to help me, mom. The pain isn't in my head. I have a bunch of diagnoses from doctors."

She shrugged and left the room. You don't argue with someone in chronic pain.

A year later I read the book. I spoke with my mom's friend's son. I educated myself about the pain center of the brain and the function of neural pathways. I found a physician who specialized in this approach, and after several years, I eliminated 22 different symptoms.

I still have bulging discs. I still have disc degeneration. I probably still have a partially torn rotator cuff and high cerebral spinal fluid pressure. But I don't have any pain.

More and more studies are showing that many forms of chronic pain are not caused by physical problems in the body, but rather learned neural pathways in the brain.

For an introduction to neural pathways, why they develop, and how they can lead to chronic pain, watch the following clip:

Just as neural pathway pain can be learned, it can be unlearned. And over the next three weeks, I'll give you specific techniques to help you break the pain cycle and overcome your symptoms. Along the way, there'll be sample audio sessions, a few video clips, and some poignant insights from Winnie the Pooh.

Plus, to help make the process as enjoyable as possible, my very talented friend Paul is going add in pictures along the way. Like this:

And this:

Now, I know that many of you have been through the hope-disappointment cycle so many times, that starting something new can be scary.

So I won't ask you to be hopeful, all I ask is that you be open. The next few weeks will cover everything I've learned in my time as a therapist, and I'm optimistic that you'll find it helpful in your recovery. Plus, I'll be answering as many questions as I can along the way.

So enjoy the rest of your day, get a good nights sleep, and I'll see you in the morning.

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What ever happened to Dr. Sarno’s research that showed pain was caused by the subconscious mind cutting off the flow of blood to certain muscles in the body.

JanAtheCPA · Mar 9, 2024

jhc1013 said: ↑

Dr. Sarno’s research
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Dr Sarno was a clinician and I'm not sure that his oxygen deprivation was anything other than that - a theory.

What do our Sarno experts say?

I personally found "oxygen deprivation" to be briefly useful when I was just getting started, but I stopped considering it pretty quickly as I accessed additional resources about neuroscience and started to understand the stress response. These days I am much more focused on the inflammatory response to stress. But that's just me!

sjhoek · Nov 7, 2024

After 25 years and 20 surgeries ....trying to keep an open mind

nnelg · Nov 8, 2024

Vzlana said: ↑

Hi, just signed up for curable and listened to your podcast. Love you guys. Thank you for all you’re doing, my pain seems to be rebelling and subsiding all at once. Since I joined curable I’ve been getting pain all over. It’s mainly in my back but I’ve gotten it on my arm, my scapula, my knee, my shoulder. I’ve been doing somatic tracking and have found every new pain almost entertaining. They have only lasted a day or 2. Thank you for your sense of humor. The “bunny” podcast made me literally LOL. YOU GUYS ARE DA BOMB!
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kimbob369 · Jan 13, 2025

Hi Everyone!
I am back(DAY 1) after over 4 years since finding the TMS wiki and doing this program by Alan Gordon.
I had had symptoms receding a great deal for a couple of months after completion of the program back in 2020, but they came back and I lost mental momentum. Since that time, I have restarted a couple of other times here but never finished.

I have new resolve and am doing this program today collectively with a small group of folks from a private group I host not associated with this site.
I have had a significant flare in the last few months and am grappling with head to toe symptoms. I know through all of the work I have done educating myself that all of it is TMS, but have many negative emotions around it all.

I have enjoyed reading through all of the posts on this thread finding much hope and community

JanAtheCPA · Jan 13, 2025

kimbob369 said: ↑

I have new resolve and am doing this program today collectively with a small group of folks from a private group I host
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That is awesome, @kimbob369! I think a lot of us would be really interested in how this goes. Just this morning I was envisioning what it might be like to have a local book group in person, to read Dr Mate's newest book... not that I will do that anytime soon, but perhaps in a different living situation in the future.

Welcome back!

JanAtheCPA · Jan 30, 2025 at 4:09 PM

We are often asked about the difference between this program (Alan's Pain Recovery Program) and the SEP (the Structured Educational Program). I finally wrote this post, comparing and contrasting:
https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/welcome-to-the-forum-for-the-structured-educational-program.555/page-10#post-154071 (Welcome to the Forum for the Structured Educational Program)

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