Dear Dr Schubiner,
Thanks you so much for your encouragement to challenge myself to take control of my pain. I have been in pain for as long as I can remember. My pain has been from the top of my head to the bottom of my toes and I often felt like I had run 20 miles without any training. It made even getting out of bed difficult many mornings. I am so thankful that I was able to take your course in the comfort of my own surroundings and to spend some time mending “me” instead of everyone else for a change. I was quite challenged by some of the homework, as it made me face some very strong emotions in regards to my childhood and the abuse I had suffered. I would have told you prior to going through the workshop that I had already dealt with much of my pain. However it was not until I started the TMS Workshop that I discovered that I had been carrying so much pain and grief all these years, and that I was totally unaware of this great burden. I was told I had fibromyalgia, sciatic pain that ran down my right leg and depression where every thing seemed quite hopeless. I remember complaining of pain in my back when I was just 5 years old. I lived with incredible stress all my life because of the abuse. In my 20’s, I decided I needed medical help so I sought out a primary care provider, a Physical Medicine doctor and a Rehabilitation Physician. I was prescribed many muscle relaxants and pain meds including Valium, Vicodin, Flexeril, Demerol, Soma, Ultram, Halcion, Robaxin, Ketoprofen and Darvocet with very little improvement. The only thing I received from the medications was a bleeding ulcer. I also received physical therapy which included ultrasound heat, massage and stretching. When this was unsuccessful, I moved on to hydro-therapy and myo-fascial release which again did very little for the pain. My pain was so severe some days that I would lie in bed curled up just hoping that I would feel better tomorrow. I went to the emergency room several times but I was unable to even describe how severe my pain felt. On most days, I refrained from any kind of strenuous activity because I was afraid that I might get a “flare up”. When I was referred to you I must say I had doubts that my mind had anything to do with my pain, but I had exhausted all of the other traditional methods and wanted to feel like the healthy person I knew was inside. The TMS Workshop as been my far the best treatment I have ever done. It has reduced my pain and given me a sense of a long-term solution! It was not easy to keep going some days because it was difficult to see my issues in a way that I was not used to. But I was determined to work hard as I was ready for some real relief. Within the first week, I noticed some improvement in my pain. By the second week, my pain had gone from a daily pain level that hung around a “7 ” on a 1-10 pain scale to about a “4.” I am now feeling 95% better and the sciatica pain is gone! I have started to become more active and have had no “flare up” pain. I would have never dreamed that I could have this kind of success in a very non-traditional kind of treatment, but it works! My mornings are more energetic and I feel less stressed in my daily activities. I feel like I have improved substantially with huge pain reduction! Thank you so much for believing I could get better and for the compassion that you expressed to me!
Laurie J.