Daniel L. help with symptoms

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Question

My name is Nando form Melbourne Australia, I hurt my lower back 6 years ago while turning to the left to get the road map in a work car. I was in pain for few days, then the strong pain went away but I was left with a residual daily aching in my lower back that moves around from my coccyx, sacrum, gluts, lower back and has caused me a lot of other problems as well. I have seen dozens of therapists both physical and psychological and medical specialists, had many scans etc etc all that they can find is a little bit of L5 - S1 right side facet joint arthritis. I came across TMS via John Sarno 2 years ago and have been doing all I can to get improvements in my pain levels but am really struggling and don't know what I am doing wrong. The pain has caused other issues such as anxiety, depression, insomnia, relationship issues, work issues and effected all areas of my life. I am currently doing the TMS structured educational program and am up to day 28. I cannot find a TMS therapist in Melbourne and the one person I saw who was familiar with TMS I was not comfortable with. Any advice or help that you can offer would be much appreciated.

With thanks Nando

 

Answer

Hi Nando-

Thanks for writing in. I know that even just submitting a question can take courage.

First of all, it sounds like you are finally in the right place. It truly does sound like you have TMS. I’d encourage you to continue working your way through the SEP. Beyond that, it sounds like it would be beneficial for you to work with a TMS therapist. All of us therapists at the Pain Psychology Center work with clients over Skype, if that’s something you’re interested in. Working with a TMS therapist/coach is not 100% necessary for recovery for everyone, but for some it is more important than others. If the SEP isn’t producing the results you’d like, then I’d encourage you to reach out!

Secondly, I’m not sure what is your sticking point, so it’s hard for me to give you specific advice, but at the very least I’d recommend that you start being nicer to yourself. You say that you are not sure what you’re doing wrong – maybe you aren’t doing anything wrong at all! Maybe you just haven’t received the right information in the right way yet.

For example, you wouldn’t beat yourself up if you did poorly on a test on which you’d never been given the information to study, would you? No, I hope not! Perhaps right now what you’ve learned about TMS hasn’t hit you in the right way. Sometimes it takes a while for us to truly understand where our path is headed and the unique obstacles that we need to face.

So, as I said – start by telling yourself that you’re doing everything right, it just hasn’t sunk it in. Keep working and keep trying. Patience and persistence are always necessary.

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