I am on Day 31 of the SEP, and have been doing Dr. Schechter's "Mindbody Workbook". I initially devoured Sarno's HBP as well as Steve O's "The Great Pain Deception". With all of that, you would think I'd be moving along swimmingly on my road to recovery, but not so much. After reading Sarno, I stopped all treatments and accommodations, diving back into my regular workout routine. Initially, I felt like I was progressing well, but lately my symptoms have really reared their ugly heads. Though the most pain-free I am is either sitting (working/driving/otherwise distracted), or working out (Hmm....).
I started out 5 months ago with low back & mid back pain with some sciatica that was pretty manageable. My chief complaint was that my hip and buttocks pain flared up at night and made it difficult to sleep for more than an hour. Over the years I have been diagnosed with several herniated discs, stenosis, DDD, you name it. I've done it all, meds, ESI, PT, chiros, etc. I believe my pain is TMS after all the knowledge I have gained, but now my pain is worse and now the doubts are creeping in.
Now, I have hyperacusis in addition to my constant tinnitus. The back pain is more sharp, and at night my sciatic pain jolts me awake when I move, not letting me sleep for more than 30 minutes or so at a time. I noticed last night that for the first time my sciatic pain was throbbing. It would hit me hard for about a minute, then fade away, then a minute later it would come back, and so on. By morning that sensation had passed and I was left with my typical morning stiffness and leg pain. I'm curious if anyone has experience this waxing and waning of sciatic pain. It was intense and freaked me out at first, but the more I think about it, it doesn't make much sense. As Sarno and Steve O have said, "pinched" nerves don't cause pain, rather numbness and/or paralysis. What's more, if a nerve is really pinched like I have been told by doctors, you would think the pain would be nearly constant, not coming and going minute by minute all while lying perfectly still.
I'm really hoping that all of this is just the "TMS exorcism" that Steve O talks about, you know, the mindbody pulling out all the stops before it finally gives up. I can't give up on my TMS healing because it's my last hope. I can't imagine the future I would have if I took the surgery route, on and on you go, where they stop, no one knows. I suppose I just need some encouragement for being in pain for 5 months now with symptoms getting worse by the day all the while doing the work of TMS healing. Thanks for listening.
I started out 5 months ago with low back & mid back pain with some sciatica that was pretty manageable. My chief complaint was that my hip and buttocks pain flared up at night and made it difficult to sleep for more than an hour. Over the years I have been diagnosed with several herniated discs, stenosis, DDD, you name it. I've done it all, meds, ESI, PT, chiros, etc. I believe my pain is TMS after all the knowledge I have gained, but now my pain is worse and now the doubts are creeping in.
Now, I have hyperacusis in addition to my constant tinnitus. The back pain is more sharp, and at night my sciatic pain jolts me awake when I move, not letting me sleep for more than 30 minutes or so at a time. I noticed last night that for the first time my sciatic pain was throbbing. It would hit me hard for about a minute, then fade away, then a minute later it would come back, and so on. By morning that sensation had passed and I was left with my typical morning stiffness and leg pain. I'm curious if anyone has experience this waxing and waning of sciatic pain. It was intense and freaked me out at first, but the more I think about it, it doesn't make much sense. As Sarno and Steve O have said, "pinched" nerves don't cause pain, rather numbness and/or paralysis. What's more, if a nerve is really pinched like I have been told by doctors, you would think the pain would be nearly constant, not coming and going minute by minute all while lying perfectly still.
I'm really hoping that all of this is just the "TMS exorcism" that Steve O talks about, you know, the mindbody pulling out all the stops before it finally gives up. I can't give up on my TMS healing because it's my last hope. I can't imagine the future I would have if I took the surgery route, on and on you go, where they stop, no one knows. I suppose I just need some encouragement for being in pain for 5 months now with symptoms getting worse by the day all the while doing the work of TMS healing. Thanks for listening.
