Day 1

This is the first time I've ever contributed to any Internet forum, let alone on one dealing with health issues.
Except for the removal of a benign brain tumor when I was 28 years old, I had been in relatively good health, even running a marathon at age 40 after losing 30 pounds.
My health began to change about 3 years ago at age 49, when I started getting a whole host of symptoms including painful muscle spams in my neck and stomach pains. Most of those eventually went away (the latter aided by being diagnosed as lactose intolerant and mostly removing dairy from my diet). However, I then started getting pains in my upper back whenever pressure was applied (e.g., sitting), making my daily commute difficult. I went to a chiropractor, who meant well, but after a number of sessions, tried something called cold laser therapy on my brain tumor scar. Later that day, I passed out and started convulsing. While a neurologist ruled out a seizure, I almost immediately began to have a burning sensation throughout much of my upper back and arms. That has lasted to this day.
While Lyrica has helped mitigate much of the burning, the upper back pain is still there and has spread to my buttocks.
I've seen a number of specialists since and received a number of diagnoses included poor posture, sitting in front of a computer all day (work-related), herniated disks (thoracic spine) and one leg being shorter than the other.
I was told to stop running, which I really enjoyed but gave up four months ago.
Physical therapy has helped a bit, but that ends this week (insurance wont cover it any more).
A friend gave me Dr. Sarno's Healing Back Pain book and I'm about halfway through. I stumbled across this forum and have decided to start following your Structured Educational Program.
Day 1's assignment is to answer the question "so, what would a life without TMS mean to me?"
While my situation is not as bad as others' I've read about, I would love to wake up each day without anticipating when my pain will start and go to bed each night without having to review how bad the day was. I think I could be a better husband and father and concentrate more on my loved ones and less on my pain. I also hope to be a bit more productive at work, not taking as many breaks during the day and leaving to see health specialists.
Thanks so much for letting me spew. Even if nobody reads this or replies, I feel better about taking things into my hands by keeping this journal and starting this journey.

 

Welcome, It's me. I just can't get over how a chiro who was asked to help you overcome upper back pain ended up treating your scar which presumably you had managed to live with, work with, run a marathon with and do countless other things for nearly two decades. I'm no expert but it seems to me that this person in treating your scar inadvertently tapped into some trauma held in your body, thus your extreme reaction.

Keep us posted on your progress. There will surely people who will read your posts and feel free to comment on other people's threads. It really does help to connect with people.

 

Thanks for your post. It's good to know someone else is out there.

In terms of the chiro - he has done wonders with many other people who rave about him. I really believe he was trying to help, though I stopped seeing him immediately after the event.

 

Hi, It's me. You've come to the right place. The SEP is a great way to learn why you have pain, because of repressed emotions
that probably go back to your boyhood, and the stresses of your life today. The SEP led me to journaling about my boyhood
and I discovered anxieties that caused anger at my parents and older brother. I began to understand them better, especially
realizing they must have had TMS of their own. That led me to forgiving and then the pain went away.

You will learn more about yourself and where the pain comes from as you continue the SEP. Keep us posted about your progress.
You will heal. I did, and thousands of others did, too. Dr. Sarno's "TMS penicillin" is a psychological wonder drug!

 

Walt:

Thanks for reaching out. I'm so glad I found this forum. I'm usually not the type of person to share my emotions/feeling outside of my family and I know I have been dumping all my "pain issues" on my wife. It's great to have another outlet.