Has anyone ever quit a job because of pain, but then got better and returned to that line of work?

A few years ago, I had bad wrist and shoulder pain which I thought was RSI. I tried all the usual stuff i.e. doctors, painkillers etc. Nothing helped. As soon as I used a keyboard and mouse and work - boom bad pain straight away, sometimes for days.

This was before I knew about TMS pain. Eventually I quit my office job, as the pain was getting worse and I was worried about causing permanent damage. I then got a retail job, but then quit because of foot/leg pain from standing. Looking back it's just classic TMS, I would get pains in the body parts which I used the most and needed in those jobs. Eventually I stumbled across Dr Sarno's book and all my random aches and pains got a lot better. Not 100% better, but now I don't focus on the pains and I'm not afraid anymore of the pain, I just accept it, and it normally goes away pretty quick. Also outcome independence is a massive help!

I now have a low paid, low skilled job (which hardly involves computers or lots of standing) which I can do with minimal pain. There is even a quote from the the Mindbody Prescription "because you feel inadequate you accept low-level jobs below your capacity", which kind of sums up my current situation.

I am now thinking about maybe trying to get back into work which involves computers and or lots of standing. But I'm apprehensive thinking what if the pain comes back? I know I should be thinking it's fine if I do get unexplained pain it's just TMS, and I can get through it. But I'm very hesitant as I don't want to quit more jobs because of pain.

I'm wondering has anyone else left a career they were good at and they liked due to TMS pain, then got better (i.e. fully accepted it's TMS), then managed rejoin that career and things work out i.e. they can do a job without any TMS pain which used to cause it?

Thanks!

 

Yes. In 2000 I was off work for a year and a month with aches n pains all over body. Classic tensionalgia TMS etc. I did not know about it at the time. All investigations were normal. After a year went back on phased return then once I slowly worked back into my schedule I loved it again. Looking back it was classic burnout in a high stress job and I never relaxed. My body gave in and I had too. You can do it. There was no magic cure but without the stress I gradually got better. I now know it was TMS.

 

I quit my Job in the film industry as a scenic artist (glamorized painter/hump/bitch). I actually got out of pain BEFORE I left it, but doing the self-investigation that recovery often entails, I realized that I was one of the bad guys, working for the bad team doing bad things to people. (Making crappy, mind numbingly stupid,society weakening CRAP)

I only had the job because it was the best money I could make to support my family. I still work in the trades , and do carpentry and labor BUT I do it for people's homes to make them nicer, repair them, e.g. to improve peoples experience. Zero pain, same job.

The TMS comes from us...from the unconscious conflicts. The Job is just there... when we realize that, we can do whatever we want.... BUT, some work environments tend to send us to the notepad more than others. I turn down work all the time when I sense there is some weird Xi going on in that household... Learning about myself has helped me detect weirdness better which has helped me out of a lot of TMS provoking situations.

Intent +reality+experience + outcome= intuition.

You can do whatever you want. . . But check to see if you really want to. I am sure I could do 'more' than be 'just a construction worker'... I have heard that crap my whole life. People talk to me like I am a tragedy. That's THEIR story. I Love my life. I am one of God's children having a grand old time in the public park of life. Sometimes I have a 'job' but generally I don't equate who I am by what I am doing....Unless it's a baseball game. Then I lose all sense of proportion

" If you are what you do, when you don't, you aren't"

 

This is a great question. If you don't mind me asking, what is the update on your situation? Did you end up going back to a computer-based job? I too left my office job that I loved because of TMS pain but have regained the ability to type. I am hoping to continue to progress over the course of the next few weeks, eventually to a point when I can type most of the day. Wishing you the best.

 

I never went back to a non computer job. I do think about going back to it sometimes. I just had a bad experience and don't wish to repeat it! To be honest though, I am now relatively pain free. I'm glad you replied, as I was hoping to find someone in the same situation as me!

I am going to send you a private message if that's ok....

 

Hi Logan,
I'll give you my experience for what it is worth. I used to program computers for a living. I got TMS and was fortunate to move into cyber security. Yes, there was plenty of computing work involved there too but it was not as bad as in programming. I also invested heavily into speech-recognition.
I followed Dr. Sarno's approach and have been pain free for a number of years. I am still in cyber security but have taken up programming once again. I am one of the few programmers in my team.
As for the fear of returning pain, programming is also a hobby therefore I tested writing code and once I was able to work, I became open to programming professionally.

Pranav

 

Hi Pranav,

Thanks for sharing your experience. What did you do exactly do get rid of your pain? Did you mostly just do technical stuff or journaling as well?

Take care,
Sara

 

Hi Sarah,
<snip Thanks for sharing your experience. What did you do exactly do get rid of your pain? Did you mostly just do technical stuff or journaling as well?
PL] I stopped doing anything and worrying about the pain. I think my main recovery occurred in days once I stopped worrying. I did also do some small goal setting like I will type for 20 minutes and will not think about the pain and if I can, I'll treat myself. <smile
More than anything else, I stopped worrying. My symptoms were mild as compared to what many others have experienced. I had pain in my right index finger and on my worse days, a tingling sensation in my right hand. My left palm is partly formed therefore this was a matter of concern. I cannot use that hand for any amount of significant typing. I stopped believing that something was wrong with my hands.