Hi, A little while ago, Everett2 posted about Dr Sarno and his explanations on how the mind is the cause of many physical problems in our bodies, and so the cure lies not in medicine, but in work with the mind, repressed emotions, etc. He calls it the Mind-Body syndrome, and initially realised it explains a large percent of back pain, and then realised it also is the cause of many other body ailments. I bought the books, watched the youtube interviews, and did the practice, and after having RLS for over 30 years (as some will know who have read my previous posts), it has now gone - 99% of the time. I cant believe the result! I am a scientist up to Masters degree level, and find all the technical explanations of how the mind is causing many of our conditions (including fibromyalgia) completely acceptable. There is no "fluffy-wuffy" crap in it; it all makes sense, and I also have my own "proof of the pudding". So, a public thankyou to Everett2, and I hope that some of you will look into it - a book by Dr Marc Sopher is an easy way to start, plus the TMS Wiki - tmswiki.org (Dr Sarno initially coined the syndromes TMS).
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Hi! Are you a friend of Everett2? If so, please tell her hi for me.
I read one of Sarno’s books (don’t remember which one). What he says is interesting and makes some sense. What I don’t like about his theory, though, is that he seems to clump everyone into one category — a category that says everyone had a traumatic childhood. Maybe you can help explain that to me?
I took notes on what I read, but recently deleted them. I’ll see if I can recover the document.
I try to be as open-minded as possible, so I’m willing to discuss this.
Thanks!
It is all about repressed emotions, not necessarily a traumatic childhood.
Hi again! I got the impression that it had something to do with a difficult childhood. «Traumatic» is probably too strong of a word. I’ll see if I can recover my document.
Anyway....what were your first impressions of his theory?
Also, I have a challenge for you. I have recently started having lots of pain in my legs. From past experience, this is a definite sign that I am augmenting on the Neupro patch. What do you think Dr. Sarno would say about that? Would he say «yes, the pain is connected to the medication» or stick with «no, it’s repressed emotions».
Keep in mind that at the moment my pain is at a point where I can still walk without screaming out inside (meaning I’m okay enough to be willing to hear another side of this). Yesterday and last night would’ve been a whole other story. Later today will probably be a whole other story as well.
your best bet is to go to the TMS wiki and follow the structured education programme. .There are also several forums that you can ask questions of others who are following Dr Sarno.
Ok, thanks!
I've found that doing mental exercises (or even physical exercises) when rls symptoms are at their worst is virtually impossible. I may have a low pain tolerance - I've always seen myself as one of the people who'd stand no more than a minute or two of torture before ratting on my comrades - but with legs and possibly arms jittering away like jitterbugs, concentrating on mental exercises is just out of the question.
Which means, at least in my case, achieving a symptom-free plateau is a must before even contemplating a lengthy programme in reconfiguring the psychological nuts and bolts. And of course, at the age of nearly 72, most of them have rustet fast and may be impossible to shift anyway - unless there's some powerful WD-40 for the mind out there somewhere.
best,
Chris
OK, so I've bought Dr John e.Sarno's Healing Back Pain (Reissue Edition) at knock-off price from the Book Depository. We'll see what we get out of it. I noticed that quite a few of his books date back to 2004 and later. Wonder if he's revised his theories in response to practical experience.
Chris
I think he recently passed away.Oh, Everetts’ posts are from 6 months ago. She has since quit the forum. I found her «vagus nerve» post:
healthunlocked.com/rlsuk/po....
Let me know if the link doesn’t work.
The link worked - thanks!
I remember his earliest book - Healing Back Pain - people reported relief just from reading the book!
I read John Sarno's the Divided Mind a couple of years ago, before I had been diagnosed with RLS/PLMD and GPs were adamant there was nothing physically wrong with me and suggested Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I also read some other 'popular science' books on the subject such as Cure (Mind over Body) by Jo Marchant. I find the idea intriguing and it is refreshing that some of the medical community are starting to see that so-called psychosomatic illnesses produce very real diseases and disabilities which cannot be dismissed as being 'all in the mind' - one example I recall reading about was someone going blind because they couldn't bear to 'look' at a problem in their life.
So even though I don't think a hidden trauma in my life is causing my condition, I do think there is so much more to be discovered about the mind/brain-body connection that I might give Sarno another read now that I have a diagnosis. But keep taking the codeine...
Thanks EveW
you are very welcome
I'm very happy for you for finding relief. Well done for persevering.
I fail to understand the connection between Dr Sarno, TMS Wiki (what is it?) and Dr Marc Sopher's book (what is its title?).
Thanks!
yes. didn't happen instantly, but I continued working through the programme and gradually the RLS stopped
We learned something similar at the AGM in September. One of the workshop leaders talked about mindfulness. He was in the process of getting a study going on how mindfulness helps kidney dialysis patients, but he was also interested to know if it would help those with RLS. During Q and A, I raised my hand and told him that my attack not only continued but got worse when I tried it once. His reply was that my timing wasn't right and to practice mindfulness when I'm not having an attack. He also said that it takes lots of practice to get good at it.
The Kindle edition of Dr Soper's book is $3.82! I just bought it - pretty cheap experiment! amazon.com/Be-Not-Pain-Free...