Day 1 Back pain and sciatica

[Pain-free]

Hi all. My back pain journey started 5 years ago, when my first child was 10 months old, at which time my back "went out" for the first time. It resolved within a week. 2 years later, I had a second baby, a new (old) house that my husband and I were working on, and my second episode of back pain. This time, it was in my lower back instead of my upper back. Since then, my back has gone from "going out" with increasing frequency to being in continuous pain. Six weeks ago, I got a cramp in my right glute, and the next day I woke up with debilitating sciatic pain. I have been in physical therapy for months, tried chiropractic, acupuncture, cupping, steroids, NSAIDS, massage, traction, craniosacral therapy, and probably other things that I've forgotten. Steroids gave me partial relief for a few days, but once I'd taken the full course the pain level crept back up.

I know you can all relate to my profound frustration and sadness at these symptoms and the feeling of increasing disability. Dealing with this while caring for 2 young kids has been especially hard, physically and emotionally.

I'm a typical TMS personality, and like so many others I recognized myself on every page of The Mindbody Prescription.

Intellectually, I believe (and indeed, have known for some time based on a few experiences where emotional stress or release either escalated or relieved my pain immediately) that the source of my pain is emotional. But I have so much fear, especially when the pain is intense, and my brain is so relentless in making me afraid. This is a hindrance to me in accepting the diagnosis.

It's only Day 1, though, so I'm trying not to bully myself about this lack of perfect acceptance. I'm just going to go with it and trust that full acceptance will come.

 

[Stella]

It takes time to accept the diagnosis. Sarno says "education is the penicillin". Keep educating yourself. Keep learning about yourself.

It was so hard for me to believe that my mind could be causing all these excruciating symptoms. Like you I saw myself on the pages of the book. I knew something was going on.

I sure didn't think I was a perfectionist. Which now I see as so funny. I am a perfectionist. I do pick and choose where I apply it.

Yes, don't beat yourself up about your lack of "perfect acceptance" (perfectionism strikes again).

Breath, relax, be kind to yourself, educate yourself, question what you read. ..you can do it.

 

[Pain-free]

It takes time to accept the diagnosis. Sarno says "education is the penicillin". Keep educating yourself. Keep learning about yourself.

It was so hard for me to believe that my mind could be causing all these excruciating symptoms. Like you I saw myself on the pages of the book. I knew something was going on.

I sure didn't think I was a perfectionist. Which now I see as so funny. I am a perfectionist. I do pick and choose where I apply it.

Yes, don't beat yourself up about your lack of "perfect acceptance" (perfectionism strikes again).

Breath, relax, be kind to yourself, educate yourself, question what you read. ..you can do it.

Thank you so much for this encouragement.

 

[Simplicity]

I suffered from severe sciatica (it got worse after beginning the mbs/tms work during the fall). I took the Unlearn Your Pain program and at first I didn't notice much difference in my pain-levels; however, after continuing focusing on healing + making changes in my life it went away completely (along with many other symptoms).

You have come to the right place and I can tell you from my own experience that it's possible to get better.

 

[KatheC]

I am only on Day 3, but have been thru many of the same therapies as you with no resolution. It's hard to imagine our suppressed feelings can create this pain. Sciatic pain doesn't seem emotional, just plain painful, but it does make sense that our hidden emotions would come out somewhere. My left leg would go completely limp and ache for no reason at odd times, but now I know it's emotional and I will push through it. I wish you the best of luck. Fingers crossed we both start healing very soon.

 

[Pain-free]

I suffered from severe sciatica (it got worse after beginning the mbs/tms work during the fall). I took the Unlearn Your Pain program and at first I didn't notice much difference in my pain-levels; however, after continuing focusing on healing + making changes in my life it went away completely (along with many other symptoms).

You have come to the right place and I can tell you from my own experience that it's possible to get better.

Thank you so much for sharing this. It is so good to hear your experience.

 

[Pain-free]

I am only on Day 3, but have been thru many of the same therapies as you with no resolution. It's hard to imagine our suppressed feelings can create this pain. Sciatic pain doesn't seem emotional, just plain painful, but it does make sense that our hidden emotions would come out somewhere. My left leg would go completely limp and ache for no reason at odd times, but now I know it's emotional and I will push through it. I wish you the best of luck. Fingers crossed we both start healing very soon.

Best of luck to you, too! I do feel like we've come to the right place.

 

[Walt Oleksy (RIP 2021)]

Hi, Pain-free. I encourage you to be very positive that the SEProgram is going to help you to become free of your pain. The following recent post should give you encouragement. Kevin followed this up a few days later saying he was 100 percent healed.

Kevin healed 95 % from SEP


Welcome to the SEP and to the path of recovery. I am on my final two days of the program and I can say with complete confidence that I am a changed man. I started after 6 months of nasty low-back/butt/leg pain, could hardly walk, stand, etc. was in physical therapy, chiropractor, acupuncture, pain medications, etc.. the usual. My MRI showed 3 disk bulges/herniations touching nerves, so that is what I believe it to be....that is until I read Dr. Sarno and found this site.

I encourage you to really get involved, follow the instructions, do the journaling, take time to read all the suggested readings, and watch the videos. I'd say I'm 95% cured. There is still some very light lingering "annoyance", but I still have some work to do. I've been walking miles with hardly any pain these last few weeks. But even more, if the pain comes on now, it just doesn't bother me like it used to, I sorta just see it, acknowledge it, and go about my business. It took working the program to get to that point, but 6 weeks compared to 6 months is nothing! I made more progress in the first week than I did from two months of PT!!! It's going to challenge you and your "beliefs" in medicine, but you have nothing to lose. We generally wind up here when all else fails.

So give it a shot, especially before considering anything invasive like surgery. If you put the work in, you will get better. Have you read Dr. Sarno yet? I assume you have since you're here, but in case you haven't, definitely readHealing Back Pain. Again, it will challenge everything you've believed about your pain, and backs in general. You'll be encouraged to resume life as normal, i.e. stop ALL "therapies" (PT, chiro, etc.), stop taking medications, and most importantly, stop thinking STRUCTURAL problems are the cause of your pain and shift to psychological as the reason.....again, this can be difficult and takes some time to sink in, so be patient and kind to yourself.

It was a process for me. A few of the bigger moves in my case were: I ripped up and threw out my MRI test results (I found myself obsessively reading over them and comparing them to other results I could find on the web and even here on the TMSwiki site...); I got back to the gym and stopped using a weight belt; and I even cancelled an appointment I had made with aTMS doctorbecause it was more than a month away and it was hindering my recovery (that is, my 100% belief in TMS was lagging because I had this pending appointment, but as soon as I cancelled it, my recovery sped up significantly). Everyone's journey is unique to their situation, but I've found that really committing to the program and brining what I learn from it into my daily life has had profound results. Also, sharing along the way here in these forums has been extremely helpful - there's something about knowing that you're not alone in your TMS recovery that really helps. I encourage you to look through my past posts for some insight into my experience with SEP. Like I said, I'm just now finishing, tomorrow is my final day, and I feel like a changed person. It's amazing. And I feel as though it is something that one carries on with, not just like a one time 6 week thing and that's that...it has helped me to get to know myself and taught me tools to "deal" with my emotions. Learning and accepting TMS is a life changer for sure.