19 years old. Got the book 3 days ago. Pain is moving.

Hey guys. This will be my first post on the forums. This post might be a little long, but please read all of it.
If you're in a rush, I included a tl;dr at the bottom of the post.

A little background: I started feeling very slight back pain around february-march 2016. At first, I thought it had something to do with injury I gave myself at the gym a few months before by doing dead-lifts.
Anyways, I would feel some slight tingling around my lower back, nothing serious.
Around April-May, it began to get stronger. It got to the point where I couldn't sit down for more than 40 minutes without feeling a good amount of ache. Thankfully, it wasn't something that was blindingly painful. But it was uncomfortable.

I began feeling this ache, not just sitting in chairs at my home, but also in the car while driving and just about any chair for a long duration. I would also feel some pain around the groin area (has anyone else experience this)
I was concerned enough to go to my family doctor to get the situation checked out. I told the Doc my symptoms, and he took my bloodwork/urine. I came back to him a few days later and he told me that everything was fine (in terms of blood/urine). Honestly, I thought I caught some kind of STD since I was also feeling pain in my groins aswell, but fortunately those results were negative as well.
He said that the pain was probably from over working out in the gym, and he gave me some stretch excercises to do before a workout.

I ended up asking to get an Xray, and he referred me to a Place to take an MRI. I went over there, had my lower back scan and was told that the results will be sent to my doctor within a few days.
Fast forward a few weeks, and I've all but forgotten about the MRI. The pain hasn't gone away, per se, but the blunt of it only came while sitting down. I wasn't really worried about the situation since my doc says it was fine, so I just carried on living life.

Then I get a phone call from a nurse who works for my doctor. She informed me that the MRI came back, and that I had, I quote, "Mild Arthritis". .....

It was the first time my mouth dropped in shock. I was stunned, and for the rest of the day, I just couldn't think of anything else. I couldn't sleep that that night because I felt too much anxiety. I think I actually had a borderline panic attack, but my kitten calmed me down a bit.

So the next morning, I'm restless. I drive to the Doctor, expecting the worse. He tells me that I have "Minimum Disc Compression". I ask him is it bad, and he reassures me that it's nothing to worry about.

Long story short, I end up worrying about it. and the following few days, my pain actually got worse. I felt so much pain, and the more aware I was of it, the worse I felt. anxiety, fear. Maybe even depression was all felt during those few days.
I thought my livelihood was gone, and that I had to be careful for the rest of my life. the implications I was coming up with was terrifying to me, being only 19. my life has just began!

Some how, I stumbled upon Dr. Sarno's work, such as the Healing Back Pain Book, about 4 days ago. I got the book 3 days ago, and am half way through. The pain that was mainly on my Lower Back and Butt extended to my upper Thigh on my left leg. The feeling is like a pinching Nerve Pain.

I still feel something on my lower back region. it's not painful Per se, but very uncomfortable. Like a weird pressure feeling. Like tension that Im hypersensitive about can anyone relate?

Anyways, I just want to be reassured that everything is ok. Even now, I still wonder why I have to deal with all this at such a young age since the majority of people here are a bit older. I wonder if maybe it's more serious BECAUSE I'm younger. Or that what I'm experiencing isn't TMS at all. Anyways I'm going to continue reading the book.
Just to clarify, The doctor says that I was otherwise fine, other than the "minimum disc compression"(and even then, he didn't seem concerned and reassured its not bad as long as I dont over do myself at the gym). When the nurse called and told me I had "mild arthritis", It stung me the most, emotionally speaking. I'm not sure if thats related to the disc compression or what, but the doctor never once mentioned anything related to arthritis. only the nurse.

If anyone has any insight, or if anyone been through and got out of a similar situation please feel free to share. Also, if you need me to clarify anything, dont hesitate to ask.


Tlr
19 years old, who was told by the doctor that I have minimum disc compression. I suspect it's TMS. The pain extended from lowerback/Butt to left leg. Need advice/insight.

edit: Also, from the paper he gave me, the compression was located at the l5-l6 region

 

frankster,

I'm 26. Pain started at 18 for me, and in the beginning that involved some groin pain. I thought I had prostate cancer or an STD. That all went away as urine/blood/mris came back normal and the upper back preoccupation overtook it. I too have been told 'mild arthritis' and some 'disc compression.' Only some of the doctors that I've seen have mentioned these, and even then their explanations were entirely inconsistent. Being young, and with my personality, those findings were devastating. I thought my life was being cut short, or that I had done something wrong to end up deteriorating like this at 19, or that maybe this was just the curse of being tall.

I still struggle with the feeling like 'damaged goods' feeling... but really frankster, it's hogwash. Everybody has these things, even at 19. I was/am young and athletic and had suffered no serious injury. The only reason I know I have some arthritis and compression is because I'm a hypochondriac who obsesses over pain and the integrity of my body and went to the doctors over and over again until they pointed out some stuff. All of the other 19 (and 26) year olds walking around without pain have the same things going on, I'm certain. They just haven't had the imaging to make them aware of it. When doctors are shown MRIs of different people's spines in all sorts of different conditions, some from people in pain and some not, the docs have no success at all in picking out the ones they say are probably from patients experiencing pain.

Disc degeneration is particularly scary, I think. It just sounds so bad. And it jives so well with our natural, inaccurate, instincts and beliefs regarding pain. It almost makes sense, until you dig deeper. It's like a catch-all for 'you're screwed.' But it's a red herring.

Sarno says these are the 'gray hairs of the spine.' I think even that is an overstatement. After all, I don't have any gray hairs yet and I hope not to for at least a few more years. I think... these are just spines; perfectly normal, healthy, spines. Who says healthy spines are supposed to have 4 inch discs? Just because my discs don't look the way they did when I was a newborn baby doesn't mean they don't look how they're supposed to look... My skin isn't as smooth as it was when I was a baby either, but that doesn't mean I have Skin Deterioration Disorder.

- E

 

Thanks for the reassurance, eskimoeskimo.

How are you feeling now?

 

Well, truth be told... I'm still in pain. So I don't have all the answers, and I'm still crawling towards (I hope) recovery. But, I do think the sooner you can bolster your confidence that the arthritis and DDD findings are not significant, the better. I think you'll find lots of people on this forum that have a similar story, similar findings... many of them young (or young when it all began), and many that have had a lot of success. May we both join their ranks! - E

 

Love it! Yeah, we're gonna get out of this!

 

I was given the DDD diagnosis decades ago. Red herring. Today I can do 30 flip turns in a swimming pool with no pain. Gotta love Dr. Sarno!
Welcome, frankster. Sounds like you're in the right place. I strongly encourage you to work through the SEP on this wiki. It gave me my life back.
Blessings on your journey.

 

Thank you, GG. I don't know exactly what what this SEP acronym mean, but I'll figure it out.

Also, a little update.

I feel a lot of pressure on a certain spot on my lower back. It's like a localized tension feeling, like a squeezing feeling. While it's not exactly painful, it's the sensation I'm aware of the most. I was wondering if anyone else had a similar stiff/tight feeling at a certain spot on on their back. I just want to make sure that this is also TMS. It's not exactly painful, but it is uncomfortable.

 

Structured Educational Program >>> http://www.tmswiki.org/ppd/Structured_Educational_Program (Structured Educational Program)

 

Yes, I have that localized tension feeling. It used to be in my upper back, in a very particular spot. Now it's in my neck.

 

Thanks for the link!

 

Just keep reading , I know how you feel. In November I could barely walk. Yesterday I ran 3kms. Sarno.... The knowledge is the prescription..
30 day program was very helpful for me.
Speaking of your MRI just follow Sarno advice. Tumor,cancer or fracture.Done
That's what I did. Told my doc not to tell me anything else. I could see a paragragh on the screen but did not read it. She just said I'm good to go and wished she had more patients like me.
I am 51 and worked construction my whole life and raced dirt bikes 25 years.
The Knowledge calms the tension which in turn calms the body. Just my 2 cents.