Back after 3 years of no pain(it’s back!)

Hey guys, back here after 3 years of no pain. I had what I thought was a lifting injury 5 years ago that turned into a year of pain, agony, doctor shopping, misdiagnoses, hundreds of thousands of dollars spent and finally the most amazing doctor ever was discovered… Sarno. I didn’t have a book cure but it was fast. Took about 2 months to be pain free.

fast forward to now. I’m a firefighter, lift people, objects, and heavy shit all the time so it is my job to lift. Was in the gym Saturday and felt a twinge of pain that turned into 2 days of not being able to walk. Saw a doctor and didn’t get any sort of life threatening diagnosis but this reminds me of TMS pain, left lumbar and buttocks. I’m curious to know how it only being 3 days later if I injured myself or if this is TMS pain just because it’s been so long. Hurts to bend over and sit, and have sciatica in butt. Exactly like before. I am going through a super weird stressful time right now with a new baby and I’m getting promoted soon to paramedic so I have a lot going on. How long do you guys usually wait to see if something is injured or if it’s TMS… I didn’t fall off a roof or get hit by a car just deadlifted 225 which isn’t like a PR for me or anything.

 

Hi:
My first suggestion is to change your user name from "backpainwarrior" to something else. Giving yourself a name like that is defining yourself and who wants to live that philosophy?
Being a firefighter is a very difficult job. I can imagine it comes with a lot of stress...and here's some of it "I am going through a super weird stressful time right now with a new baby and I’m getting promoted soon to paramedic so I have a lot going on."


It's actually quite common for folks who had very fast recoveries to come and visit us again - they tend to be folks who did less of the psychological work and focused simply on getting rid of the pain. Not what caused the pain in the first place.

Now, you may have strained yourself physically. It happens and it's been 3 days of pain, siatica etc. You saw a doctor - he told you his opinion but yet here you are, asking some random people on the internet if the doctor was right. It can take a little time to feel physically better after a strain - why not give yourself some grace and time instead of feeling like you "must" recover after three days? Are you able to give yourself this kind of grace in life, or are you the kind of person who is a do-er, achiever and pushes themselves?

What do you think?

What do you need to do? I know you are very well aware of what needs to be done because a few years ago you read a book by Dr. Sarno... maybe re-read it again and try to get more deeply into the work and then carry that work with you, wherever you go in life...

 

Warrior, welcome to the forum.

I'll link a video here from The Mindful Gardener streams. I can't pinpoint where it happens but I remeber Sam Miller saying that what she's seen so far with her patients and in the TMS world is that TMS healing takes years to happen. The symptoms might subdue quicker than that, but they usually come back later.

 

I’m defining myself as someone who has previously beaten back pain and that’s okay with me. And I agree with a lot of what you’re saying I was merely asking in the pole of people have similar experiences with lifting and in their experience has it been TMS. You an I both know there aren’t many doctors out there with experience dealing with mind body disorders, so yes I’m asking people who have experience with this.

 

I’m defining myself as someone who has previously beaten back pain and that’s okay with me. And I agree with a lot of what you’re saying I was merely asking in the pole of people have similar experiences with lifting and in their experience has it been TMS. You an I both know there aren’t many doctors out there with experience dealing with mind body disorders, so yes I’m asking people who have experience with this.

 

thank you for the reply!!!

 

You got a lot of things going on, more responsibility "good responsibility" like being a new dad, a paramedic/firefighter that could help others, etc.etc. And those things would add tons of logistic and complexity in our modern life which drains more brain power and time. Dr. Sarno said these are rage generating life events too. Maybe the little kid inside you doesn't want to take all these responsibilities, doesn't want to deal with the complexities in modern life and just wants to have some time alone and pure fun? Let somebody else take care of it. Leave me alone. But the super ego would probably urge you to carry through, to be the good dad/partner/worker, to serve everybody else but you, to suck it up, to be strong, like those fictional superhuman characters, and that may also generate a lot of rage. Modern human is constantly being overwhelmed yet still has to keep a professional look for the society is probably one of the biggest rages these days.

On a practical sense, a new baby would be the constant boundary invader so get as much help as you could for you and your partner in the first 6 to 12 months. Maybe you don't have to do 100%, go above and beyond, you are present for your various roles is good enough. And I totally agree with @JanAtheCPA in the following: the TMS mechanism is a factor in 100% of physical processes and physical sensations.