Acute lower back pain (twice in short time)

[eline]

Hi there,


Last week while standing still (taking a break from the dishes) all of a sudden it hit me: a very sudden and very painfull pain in my lower back, above my buttocks on the left side. I have never felt something like this before. I literally couldn't walk anymore. I went to bed in the afternoon with painkillers and even moving from my back to my side hurt like hell.

For a few days I could barely dress myself and even laying down on my back hurt, also while taking painkillers.

I decided that this would have to be TMS because A) it came all out of nothing, I wasn't even moving but standing still and B) currently I am under a lot of stress and C) I have quite the TMS history. Only after a week it started to really get better. After one and a half week I went to a fysiotherapist just to make sure and she said I was doing fine and was even allowed to go and play squash again.

And then a few days later... it hit me again. Not as bad as the first time but still, there was this sudden pain on the same place. Now again simple things like getting dressed are hard and they hurt quite a lot.

I haven't even been playing squash or doing other kinds of exercise or sudden movements, I just went out for a short walk when it hit me again.

I am 34 years old and pretty healthy and sporty: I play squash/racketball twice of three times a week and try to stay fit.

I already thought it was TMS but appartenly that didn't help because it hit me again. How to work from here?

Thanks so much!

 

[eline]

Anyone?

 

[Cactusflower]

Hi!
Welcome!
Your pain could be TMS.
Your Dr. Feels there isn’t anything wrong. What did you do to help your tms and mind/body in the past?

 

[JanAtheCPA]

Anyone?

Just wanted to briefly say, @eline, that it's very odd that apparently nobody noticed your post from Monday night, until you bumped it last night, so it's a good thing you did that! This seems like a forum glitch - gremlins, maybe?

Anyway, I agree with Cactusflower - please let us know where your TMS knowledge is at so we can effectively recommend next steps.

 

[eline]

Hi there!

Yes, bust me the gremlins Thanks for your response! Hereby there is some more background on my TMS story.

I have had quite the TMS history. The most important one was that after longboarding for a while (kind of a skate board but for long distances instead of doing tricks), I developed a lot of pain on the bottom of both of my feet. The result that, being 26 year old, after a while I walked on crutches for months and months. I went to almost all medical expert, being affraid never to walk normally again because none of the experts could find a sollution. They were all saying different stuff (plantar fasciitis, imflammation, sore muscles, etc).

The moment I was desperate I came upon "The mindbody prescription". I read it and everything fell into place. How I solved my problem is

• Talking to myself when there was pain: There is nothing wrong with you, this is TMS
  
• Simply throwing the crutches away and started walking throught the pain. The pain disappeared quite quickly.
  
• Resuming all normal activity despite the pain
• Making an evidence sheet (why TMS was normal in this period, I was having my first job ever and it was a demanding job and also the moments it flared up most didn't make any sense)
  
• Re-reading Sarno's book and reading success stories on this forum

Like this I also got rid of my hay fever, allergies, back pain, RSI, and more.

Since my history I am pretty conviced that I am a TMS person and that the back pain I refer to in this post is also TMS. I was just standing still and all of a sudden it was there, it didn't make any sense. I am 34 years old an pretty athletic. I just started my first job as a teammanager which I find quite demanding and a bit scary so it make sense to have an attack.

Knowing all this, I was sure the pain would go away. And it did. However, when it was almost gone, I had a second accute back attack (two weeks after the first), and then a lot of pain the days after. The pain is slowly becoming less again, but now I am afraid of another attack since my knowledge of TMS didn't prevent a second attack happening.

I don't really dare to play squash again for now for instance, because that still hurts.

Hope you can help, thanks in advance!

Kind regards,

Eline

 

[Cactusflower]

@eline
Many of the things you have employed in the past do work for some people.
However many others need to employ more of Dr. Sarno’s suggestions including an understanding of how your internal stress generates the symptoms: your personality traits, your learned coping mechanisms that may not only no longer serve you but create more stress by distracting you from experiencing a full array of emotions. These are often developed in childhood so many programs explore that part of your life so that you can begin to understand how various patterns, triggers etc can create internal tension. You mention your job is “scary” - I would explore the emotions around that. “Scary” is usually fear, but hunt around that fear, and look for other emotions and also how that “scary” makes you feel internally - feelings towards yourself, your perceptions vs the reality of how others truly see you. Your ability to accept imperfections, being open to learning, how you feel about employees and supervisors etc. Look for how your thoughts and perhaps the squelching of emotions can be stressful and how some of your automatic reactions may have been developed when growing up. The authority figure you now are at work vs your childhood perception of authority figures, like say a parent or role model.
The free SEP program offered here will guide you through things like writing about these types of things. There is another program, it’s similar to what you did in the past. I think the SEP will give you more insight. Links to it are at the bottom of this page: https://www.tmswiki.org/w/index.php?page=The_Tension_Myositis_Syndrome_Wiki (The Tension Myositis Syndrome Wiki)

You may also want to re-read some Of Dr. Sarno - his 12 daily reminders, his discussions of personality and pain science ( there are also great short youtube videos now on the pain science) - refreshers. Lastly, the SEP discusses self-kindness and relaxation. I think some folks mistake this for “doing” like sports or ignoring symptoms. Those are fine to do - but so is just being with whatever is present with you today. Meditation, slow breathing, somatic tracking. Any one thing that helps you regulate your nervous system.
Self-soothing is important for you right now. Know there are many options: the SEP or any program you choose (finish it even if symptoms leave). Folks here can suggest options if you want more support.

 

[eline]

Thanks Cactusflower. I will start to do some more TMS work like you suggest

Kind regards,

Eline

 

[Sharada Devi]

Hi Eline, remember TMS is linked to difficult emotions that were not fully resolved. A good question to ask yourself is 'what was going on at the time you symptoms started" If this doesn't get you anywhere start looking at the memories you have from childhood that are not pleasant. In the mean time I can off a meditation I created for a client with back pain. It doesn't help you uncover the problematic emotions but does help calm the nervous system. A nervous system out of balance is another TMS driver. Here's the link and please let me know if it's helpful.