Day 17 Ready to give up

I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis so I wrote in to ask a therapist and they said it's not a result of TMS. I thought I had it because my personality matches so perfectly. I guess I have to just live with pain forever. Good luck to everyone but I feel there's no hope for me anymore.

 

There is always hope.
Maybe this article by Louise Hay may inspire you.
www.healyourlife.com/your-body-is-asking-for-help

 

Dear Debra

I hope you don't give up. I used to think that because osteoarthritis was a real physical condition this automatically explained why people who have it feel pain of varying degrees. I was talked out of this belief by a doctor on another forum who basically said the pain is optional. Osteoarthritis runs rampant among the females in my family. We are all told from a young age that we'll get it and suffer as a result. I'm not buying that anymore. Recently my mother was ill with a stomach complaint. For years she's sat and complained of neck pain but for once when this stomach issue was going on she remarked 'Hey, you know what? I haven't had any pain in my neck since this thing started.' If the pain really was a direct result of her arthritis (and not her belief that the arthritis would cause pain) it wouldn't just disappear while something else was going on. She was so focused and fearful of her stomach problem that it distracted her away from dwelling on her neck pain. This was pretty good evidence for me to show how the TMS mechanism works. Sometimes you have to stop listening to others, no matter how well-meaning or qualified, and trust your own instincts.

 

Try reading joe dispenza's book You are the Placebo. He hurt his back in accident and multiple highly recognized specialists told him he would never live a normal life. They said he would have to have back surgery to live some what normal. He proved everyone wrong without surgery, book is really cool. Goodluck and never give up.

Ryan

 

Thanks everyone. The therapist who wrote the comment said I should see a TMS doctor but there isn't one anywhere near me. I really feel so alone and desperate. Ive lost whatever was left of my self confidence and Im not sure I can keep going.

 

I have e-mailed Dr. Marc Sopher a question, and he did respond, he can't give medical advice over an e-mail, but maybe you can ask him a question or two. Just put his name in the search engine on this forum and he should come up.

 

Thanks I sent him a general question, I'll see if he answers.

 

No doctor should tell anyone they have osteoathritis and it is not TMS.
You've been given a strong dose of disbelief. You can't give up.

A friend recommends Flexacil, a natural supplement for joint pain healing.
It contains MSM (Methysulfonylmethane), glucosamine, chondrotion, and other substances
that many people say helps them with their joint pain. I'm not a doctor, so I can't recommend you take it,
but you sound desperate.

Do a Google search for Flexacil Ultra and read the reviews.

You still need to forget that doctor and believe in TMS.

An old Cherokee Indian saying says "If you don't believe in something, it won't help you."

 

Hi Walt
I know that I have arthritis from having a bone scan done as I told you before, I think. When I read dr Sarno's book, he said that if you have pain, see a dr first to eliminate any serious disease. So I did that. So I have arthritis for sure. But in dr Sarno's video lecture, there was a women who said she had been diagnosed with arthritis of the spine and dr sarno said it shouldn't be a cause of pain. So I thought I could "cure" myself and my brain was giving me the pain. Now I don't know what to believe any more. The TMS therapist on this website said basically that arthritis is not TMS so it looks like I have no chance of recovery.

 

Go to the Success subforum and read an entry saturday from someone who has healed 100 percent through TMS belief:

http://tmswiki.org/forum/threads/100-healed.7496/

 

Hi Walt
I do believe or at least I was sure before. That story was very good and she was so brave. But she had nothing physically wrong with her even though her symptoms were horrific. Some physical things you just can't cure, right? Like broken bones or cancer or arthritis?

 

Walt, her medical results were all negative. If mine were too this would be so much easier to believe in. But I've seen the reports of the scan. So that's where my brain is.
Thank you for trying to help me. You are so sweet.

 

In the book Feelings Buried Alive Never Die, the emotional reasons behind arthritis are:

-severely criticizing self or others
-holding onto feelings of hostility
-holding onto own opinion & beliefs
-long term tension or anger in life
-feelings of anxiety and or
-depression endured over long periods of time
-belief that it's wrong to get angry which creates:
-repressed anger that eats you up
-need to be right
-rigid in thinking & feelings
-uncompromising attitude
-inflexibility

 

Thank you Peggy. Do you think it would help me to read this book? Is there much about arthritis in it?
Thanks
Debra

 

Those words are very interesting. Some of those describe me but not all. For sure self criticizing, long term off and on tension and depression, and anxiety. Do you think I can "cure " my arthritis pain.
I really value what each of you TMS Gurus have to say to me. I thank you so much for any help
Debra

 

Hey Debra:

First, the book. This book Feelings Buried Alive, is a lot like the Louise Hay book, with ailments and their emotional counterpart. Most of the book is about retraining from negative words to positive words for self-talk. I like this book better than Louise Hay in that it is more descriptive. I also like it because if I get anything sore, like right now I have a sore throat, I can look up what it is, in case I am not conscious enough to figure it out on my own. And yes, maybe half the descriptions are accurate at any given time. I think TMS knowledge is the best thing to retrain your mind, but like I said, I do like the book as a reference.

I am flattered. I just noticed today that I am a TMS guru, yea! I don't even know when it happened.

I am sure your arthritis is like my current problem of a sore throat. My throat is sore, pain is mostly a lack of oxygen, I feel I have a pinched nerve (a numb area) in my throat causing the throat not to heal so fast. Pinched nerve, hmm, not so special, people are recovering from pinched nerves all the time here on the forum. Strange things like sucking on a candy is hard to do. Silly really, such a simple easy activity. I try and talk myself through these symptoms daily and stay as calm and grounded as possible so I don't freak myself out. There aren't that many people here on the forum with this throat problem, so I have to piece it all together.

I am guessing your arthritis is the same. Lack of oxygen causes pain. Arthritis has emotional causes, as listed above. John Sarno refers to OA in The Mindbody Prescription, page 90 saying OA is common in the neck as one got older, very often resulting in no pain. So the fact that you have pain, and not everybody gets pain with OA, makes me think it could be TMS.

But my question to you is, what harm is there to believe in TMS? It sounds like you have your running shoes on and are ready to leave, but what would you do that is better? I don't know much about arthritis, but I think you can put the pieces together. I think you were putting the pieces together and you got scared for some reason. You made it to day 17, great! But what is really making you feel like running now? Is it just opening up? Maybe you just need to learn to sooth yourself.

If it's what the therapist said, I am sure they didn't want to tell you something that would cause you to want to throw in the towel. You still have to use your own discernment, and move on. Put together your own evidence sheet.

On that note, I hope to see you here tomorrow and the next day, and the next, etc.

 

Hi Peggy yes your words are indeed those of a guru.
When I posed my question to the TMS therapist, this is the response I got:
Osteoarthritis is not a result of TMS. Though it's possible that the osteoarthritis is just an incidental finding and not responsible for the symptoms. It would be important to consult with a tms physician to know for sure.
Unfortunately I don't have access to a TMS physician.
What you said absolutely makes sense. There is no harm in believing in TMS. There is nothing I can do that is better. All I can do is take dangerous pills to relieve the pain and I hate doing that. I was making great progress so far. Even though the pain didn't go away at all, I was ready to work hard and long in the program because dr sarno says it can take months. I had convinced myself I could do it. Yes then I got scared when I got the message that arthritis is not a result of TMS. I felt devastated and told myself I don't have TMS and this is not curable because it's purely physical, in my joints. I'm not sure where my brain is now except to say that your words are very helpful. I'm going to buy that book from amazon; it's sounds really good. I'll keep going. I'm very scared, but I'll be here again tomorrow.
And Thanks, I couldn't go a step further without all this help and guidance.

 

You might like to know about a woman about 60 who works at a check-out station at a supermarket I shop at.
She overweight and works standing up with a walker! I told her how courageous I think that is,
and she said she does it so she can feed and keep her dog.

We're all courageous... you and me and that woman everyone with TMS.
We just have to keep believing in TMS healing and go on each day, like the Duracell battery.

 

Hi Walt
This is a major setback for me. But I don't want to disappoint you, and Peggy, and the other kind TMS gurus who are taking their time to encourage and support me. And I don't want to disappoint myself either.
So I will keep going, reading and journaling, and get past this obstacle somehow. I'm on day 20 so I'm not even halfway yet. Yes that lady is very courageous; thanks and hugs.

 

Hi DebraW, I just looked it up in Mind over back pain, Dr Sarno says osteoarthritis is not the cause of back pain I am not at home where my other books are, but I bet they are more detailed. Check out whatever Sarno books you can get ahold of. much hope, Lizzy