John’74

4 months ago today I had back surgery;L4&L5 spinal fusion. I suffered from back pain for last 10 yrs&had been getting epidurals for last 5 yrs. After being home from hospital 6 days,my legs&feet developed extreme cramps&pains that the surgeon assured me that they were the result of the nerves being touched during surgery. He put me on Gabapentin for nerve pain 6x daily&I tapered down to my current dose of3x daily. I’m doing core strengthening exercises 2x weekly&25 mins daily walking on treadmill. I have had shoulder,arm&hand pain off&on for 10 or11 yrs in right side. 3 yrs ago I had right shoulder surgery (acl cleanup). After 1 month of rest I returned to Hairstyling&after 2 wks of work I had BOTH shoulders,arms,elbows&hand pain. I had 2MRIs over last 3 yrs&2 neurosurgeon’s opinions who said my neck was fine&if I quit hairstyling my pains would all go away in 6months to a yr because it was just muscular,all due to 25 yrs of repetitive motion. Immediately after back surgery my shoulder &arm pain was gone but came back after 2 months. I recently started reading Dr Sarno’s books& believe I have TMS but since I just had the spinal fusion I can't stop my core strengthening &walking& Neurosurgeon said not to discontinue the Gabapentin until 6 months after surgery. I want to follow Dr Sarno’s teachings but not sure how. I don’t plan on going back to work as a hairstylist. HELP ME!!