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Summary: Feeling Great!
Review: I had terrible back and leg pain for 7 years. I thought it was due to my house building days and an injury I thought I had received from pulling a boat from the water. An Orthapedic surgeon said he could remove the so-called pinched disc. I chose instead to regularly visit a Chiropractor. Between Chiropractor visits I would consume numerous anti-flammitory pills. I also did Acupunture.Then I read "The Mindbody Prescription" by Dr. Sarno. During the course of reading this book, I could feel the pain easing up as I could relate alot of what he wrote to my situation. After reading it twice, I was virtually pain free. That was two years ago and I have been pain free since. An excellent choice of books if you suffer body pain
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Summary: Pain free
Review: This is a great book for illuminating how our perception of stressful events (worrying, trauma, negativity, anger) manifests itself in chronic, acute pain in the body. Another earlier book that supports the information in this book is Norman Cousin's "Anatomy of an Illness".
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Summary: It Works!
Review: Years ago, I read Dr. Sarno's first book and my back problems resolved "like magic". But I still had eczema, fibromyalgia, a nighttime anxiety disorder and chronic constipation. Not a fun life, let me tell you. So I literally fell on Sarno's new book The Mindbody Prescription. At first, my conscious mind rebelled at the notion that this was, in essence, a problem of attitude. But I had my success with my back to encourage me so I set about doing the easy mental excercises and was really shocked to find all my symptoms started to vanish. I have had one short spell of fibromyalgia (which I talked my way out of, as outlined in the book), no constipation and far less night anxiety (I never was anxious during the day). The eczema took longer and I still have to remind a few spots of it that "I know what you're doing so don't bother!" but it is 90 per cent cleared. Truly, this book is a miracle. I know Dr. Sarno's book won't cure cancer or heart disease but I am entirely convinced that it will help the symptoms and perhaps even make recovery more likely. What a relief! I feel much more in control of my life. I even used the method to get through the recent terrorist attack on New York.
PLEASE read this book, let the message sink in, and KNOW that you have far more control over your own mind and body reactions than you ever thought. I wish Dr. Sarno all the best. Lots of mainstream medical people are going to hate his method because it will revolutionize the medical world. Sharon Jones
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Summary: Update
Review: On October 30, 1998, I wrote a review praising Dr. Sarno's Mindbody Prescription - after only 3 weeks without pain. Well, I am happy to say that the pain did not come back, not to say there weren't twinges occasionally. These were my warning that something was not right in my life, and I needed to deal with it now. The first thing I would do was to start breathing, and the twinge disappeared...I mean that's all I had to do. But I still recognized my feelings and handled what I could and let go of the rest. Now I am dealing with a much larger challenge than leg pain...urinary tract cancer. Dr. Sarno does address this issue, and states that it has not been precisely determined what role psychological factors play regarding cancer. I am 99% sure that what Dr. Sarno suggests about cancer is right on. I've never smoked, drank diet sodas, or been exposed to hazardous materials, as questioned by my doctor. But I have had considerable emotional turmoil in my life. So NOW I am taking better care of myself both emotionally and physically to create a healthier mind and immune system. I firmly believe there is a mindbody connection, and I am re-reading and re-reading this book. I was diagnosed 1-1/2 years ago, and I am still around to write this review!
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Summary: Do yourself a HUGE favor
Review: Last year, as a result of incredible stress brought on by a failed relationship and career woes I gradually developed a debilitating pain syndrome. Even though I am very skeptical of the medical apparatus in this country I began to look to it for relief. Luckily a saint of a person on Ebay of all places alerted me to Dr. Sarno's work and after several months the pain began to recede. It is not easy and you MUST accept the diagnosis. But it is the real deal. Good Luck!
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Summary: I am cured of FMS!!!
Review: I suffered horribly for over 2 years with a VERY aggressive case of FMS/MPS/CFS. I was on disability for awhile, had to use a wheelchair when we went out and had a disability parking plackard. Most days my husband would have to bathe me and get me dressed, life for me and my family was hell; living was a great effort and my only escape were the sleeping pills I took at night so I could get at least 2 hours of continual sleep. One of the major causes of FMS is prolonged severe stress and I had that. I had heard of Dr Sarno and saw an article on MSNBC. I thought there are too many famous people cured for this not to be real. I bought the book and it was amazing. After 6 weeks I feel wonderful. No more guaifenesin and now no more marshmallow root. Life is once again great and I look forward to going to the gym. THANK YOU DR SARNO!! Remember "Stress kills!".
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Summary: 2 years after...another review
Review: A couple years ago I wrote a glowing report about how the techniques in Dr. Sarno's book changed my life. They have. But I want to add a note because I'm getting many e-mails from... readers asking if it's true. It was at the time. However, like some of the people who have read the book & who write to me saying "Why hasn't MY pain gone away", I don't have an answer. I truly believe everything the books says and perhaps I haven't followed it hard enough. I'm over my FMS, I don't have it anymore except under periods of extreme stress, but I do struggle with ongoing pain. The thing is this: if I spend the time thinking about what causes my pain, it does go away. So I know Dr. Sarno's theories work. And I become pain free. But it comes back, leading me to believe I'm missing that key element that would make me pain-free forever. I'm sure many readers are pain-free forever already, and that's wonderful. But to those of you who are pain-less-than-before, that's also a tribute to Dr. Sarno & this book. Just don't feel you're alone, as there are many of us in that category still, it seems... Good luck & enjoy the book. It'll get you started down the path to recovery. Just don't be surprised if you still have to continue using it's techniques for a while.
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Summary: Sarno Showed Me How to Get Off the Treadmill of Misery
Review: The past 2 years of my life could be described as nothing other than an all-expenses-paid tour of hell. Most of my waking hours were haunted by a dull headache that did not respond to medication, changes in diet, a reduction (yes, a doctor actually recommened a reduction) in exercise, physical therapy or any of the other straw-grabbing "cures" offered to me by a parade of medical practicioners. If you're picking up tones of sarcasm and anger here, good, because millions of Americans in situtations similar to mine should feel that years of their lives are being stolen by a medical community unwilling to admit that back pain, headaches, stomachaches and a myriad of other "life robbing", yet not "life threatening", conditions are caused exclusively by thoughts so unpleasant that our minds would rather perpetually distract us with an unlifting "fog" of pain than allow us to face them. So do I sound like a complete nutjob yet? If you're as desperate to have your life back as I was, my apparent insanity won't prevent you from reading this book, easily the most valuable piece of literature that I've ever consumed. Once this tremendous work arrives at your door, Dr. Sarno will have handed you the ball. It is your daily effort (yeah, I didn't have the time either, it was much more productive to feel like absolute garbage for 16 hours a day than to invest the necessary 30-45 minutes banishing my pain) that WILL allow you get your life back. In the six weeks that have passed since making the effort to bring Sarno's techniques into my life, I have gone from expecting incessant pain (I even had myself conditioned to feel discomfort upon waking to use the bathroom in the middle of the night) to feeling good about 90% of the time. Ah yes, you knew this deal had to have some warts, what about that other 10% of the time? Why isn't this "miracle cure" at work 24 hours a day? The answer is simple- I haven't fully accepted (like you, I too was a skeptic) Dr. Sarno's principles yet but I KNOW that each time I apply them to diffuse a headache that I am further building the self-confidence that will soon have me living my life, rather than thinking about pain, 100% of the time. Read this book, listen to Dr. Sarno, give him the effort that he asks for, it will save your life.
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Summary: If only my doctors knew
Review: Dr. Sarno's book was a miracle. Upon reading it and accepting his theories, I was cured of the chronic prostatitis that had been plaguing me for well over 4 years. Dr. Sarno helped me find the true nature of my ailment where 17 other doctors had failed, and all in the course of one weekend. I'm grateful to his work for it allowed me to reclaim my life.
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Summary: An exciting theory
Review: Based on 24 years of successfully treating psychogenic disorders John Sarno has concluded that Tension Myositis Syndrome (TMS) is the most common emotional induced disorder in the Western World. Tension Myositis Syndrome is a painful but harmless change in the state of muscles which manifests itself in many forms including fibromyalgia ( a muscular condition affecting most of the body) gastrointestinal maladies, heartburn, back and knee aches, hip problems and a host of other illnesses. TMS is a stratedgy used by the irrational unconscious mind to focus attention on the body through physical pain in order to prevent fearful thoughts from emerging into the rational conscious mind. Childhood rage, self-imposed pressures, and stresses and strains of everyday life are triggers for TMS. In treating patients with TMS, Sarno noticed that there were several steps to alleviating the physical pain. The most important of these is to merely acknowledge that there is no structural abnormality, and accept that the pain is psychosomatic. By doing this we change the focus of attention from the body to the psyche, rendering the pain useless and thwarting the brain strategy. In addition Sarno noted that physical rehabilitation was often counter-productive since exercises focus on the "physical", reinforcing the mind's attempt to draw attention toward the body and away from the emergence of fearful thoughts into consciousness.
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