Day 1 Trying to Believe

I am 46 and was diagnosed with hip arthritis about 6 months ago. I have always been an extremely healthy and active person, and now I feel completely hobbled and depressed from continuous pain. Because my spouse had success treating his chronic back problems after reading Sarno, I turned to that for my hip issues. I could compeletly relate to the TMS personality type and was initially very optimistic that i would conquer my pain like so many others have. I even began seeing a therapist. But I began to doubt after my pain not only persisted but actually got worse. Recently I began contemplating total hip replacement. My therapist reminded me that treatment for TMS requires belief in the psychogenic origin. So I am throwing myself into this Structured Program in the hopes that the stories of others and the daily exercises will help me really believe that I too can be helped.

Thanks to all the people who have made this resource available.

 

Katerina, I would check out some of the success stories in the Media section too while your working your way through the SEP. Dr. Howard Schubiner's series of talks on the psychological origins of TMS pain symptoms also provides a lot of good theoretical background information. You may want to drop in to the TMS Wiki chat forum on Saturdays for hands on help and support from other people with TMS symptoms. Good luck on your quest for healing and self-knowledge. I'm not a doctor, so, of course, I can't diagnose and/or treat your condition, but doesn't 46 sound a little too young for total hip replacement surgery? I've heard that sometimes if you x-ray both the effected hip and the hip without pain, you'll discover that there is the same amount of arthritic changes in both hips. Have you done that? I sure would! I have it on the authority of Dr Mow at SOAR (Stanford Orthopedic Athletic Rehabilitation) that once you go for total hip replacement you'll definitely never run again. Dancing with impact is also potentially dangerous.