Hello!

I signed up for this course about a week or so ago, and have just now decided to post my introduction....

My name is Luciana Morais, I'm a 32 year old Web Analyst for the department of Health and Human Services.  I sit down quite a lot!

About 2 months ago (give or take) I woke up with a sore back. I remember that the night before was particularly emotionally stressful. I had what I call a "minor breakdown" and the next morning I felt sore across my entire lower back.  I then sat down at the kitchen table and reached for my laptop - I felt my lower right back snap and agonizing pain followed. By the next morning I couldn't walk.

After two weeks I started to feel better and returned to work. However work was stressfull - I was under threat of being let go because of my absenses, and people in the office were sabotaging my employment (petty office crap). By the end of those two relatively painless week I was back where I started and bed ridden again.

I knew then that it was all stress related.  Being bed ridden had its perks  - for one I was forced to re-think my life and how I got there. In the process I realized that I haven't been well for 3 years! I traced all the health issues I have been dealing with that seemed to crop up at the age of 29 and snow ball when I turned 30. I realized I never felt good about turning 30.

In about 2 days I was feeling better, still in a lot of pain but able to walk, drive and sit for short periods of time. I quit my job and therefore got rid of that stress. Luckily I was able to get another one right away. I asked my recruiter for a month to recover and explained my situation - it was approved.

In the meantime I have been taking my mental health seriously. A lot of unresolved stress over so many years popped up.  In the process I came across Dr. Sarno's book and then this site. I have also been attending psychotherapy sessions, and have been reading Louise Hay's affirmations daily (a great help). My goal is to become a more positive person.

In the meantime I am here!

Wish everyone a FAST recovery!

Luciana

Dear Dr Schubiner and all of those people who suffer from MBS/TMS,

My name is Matthew and I'm a 24 yr old Radiographer who has suffered chronic lower back pain for more than 4 years.

As I'm sure you all know what a radiographer does. I'm the person that does all your x-rays and CT scans (and MRI).

I believe my job description has been a major hindrance on my back pain for many years. I would see countless people with chronic pain in their necks, shoulders, thoracic spine and lumbar spine (lower back) and see all the pathology involved that conventional medicine considers the sole source of the pain in the patients.

After many years of much pain I somehow stumbled across Dr Sarno's books online and having nothing to lose I began reading them. I couldn't believe how much of a difference they are starting to make. I still have chronic back pain as its a very slow process for me (I have grown up in a family dedicated to the health professions so in a way I have been very 'hardwired' into conventional medicine practices) so I'm still finding difficulty to accept that the 3 bulging discs in my back are completely harmless and are not the reason for my pain.

It is with reading these books and starting programs like this that I am slowly becoming relatively pain free.

I just thought I would share something that I have noticed in my job and certainly does amuse me as it reinforces the ideas put forth about it being a Mind Body Syndrome. As I work very closely with our Radiologists (Doctors who specialise in reading and interpreting medical images) I have noticed a couple of things.

Two examples include:

- After we have finished a facet joint injection (steroids and a long acting anaesthetic) under CT guidance our Doctor will go on to explain that a lot of the time that even though we injected the steroid into the most 'worse' looking facet joint in your lower back it is not necessarily the one that is causing pain. Pretty much what he is implying is that degeneration of a joint almost has no correlation to the pain of the joint (At least in the facet joints??). Some just hurt more than others regardless of the degree of degeneration. I believe this certainly reinforces MBS.

-  Another point, I was reading over the Radiologists reports of the CT scans I had done the previous day and in particular I remember this middle aged women experiencing LEFT sided 'sciatica' and shooting pains down the LEFT leg. The report went on to find a bulged disc at L5/S1 only affecting the RIGHT side with a small degree of stenosis (narrowing). The Radiologist could not determine the source of her pain as the disc bulge was only affecting her Right side and not her Left. (She was asymptomatic on her Right side).

 

 

In summary I hope this had helped some people believe more in the Mind Body Syndrome. I still find it hard to believe myself being so hardwired to conventional practises due to growing up in a medical family but as I continue to work in Radiography I see more and more cases which backs up my belief in the true power of the mind.

I feel like each time I X-ray somone with chronic back pain that I'm holding onto some powerful secret that they not know of.

 

Kind regards

Matthew.

Dear Dr. Schubiner, I received my copy of Unlearn Your Pain about a week ago. It is phenomenal! I am amazed at its clarity, brilliant presentation, and most of all - your compassionate, understanding voice throughout. Many, many thanks for writing this book; it is an enormous service to the millions who suffer from MBS. May they all be guided to find it and use it! This morning, I opened it at random and found myself at the exact page I needed at that moment. One can't do this work deeply enough or often enough. With gratitude, Sheila

I am Shoshannah Sarah, a certified mindbody psychotherapist who has been successfully educating and facilitating people who have TMS syndrome back to health in person and over the phone/Skype. I am listed on Dr. Dave Schechter's site in the TMS doctors section at mindbodymedicine.com. You may view successful client testimonials in the blog section of my website at www.myspace.com/therapythatheals. My email is therapythatheals@yahoo.com. Feel free to contact me for any reason. Whatever I can do to help. I used to have TMS Syndrome and was cured by Dr. Sarno in 1992. Blessings of a pain-free life!