I am back

Hello everyone, I have been away for about two years. I initially came to the site after a 7+ year bout with lower back pain that at times radiated to my legs. I successfully beat that and still do not have any pain in my back. After reading Dr. Sarno, I literally went running with my back in pain and it eventually went away. Amazing. At this time the TMS was moving around in the form of anxiety etc. This also eventually went away. Now to present day, I have had much stress in my job and it has building were I worried about things there regularly. I decided to quit my part time job (didn't really need it anyway) and I thought that would be great. Almost the next day, my knee started to hurt. I Pampered it a bit and then realized this is TMS. I crawl on it, skip stairs and ride my bike often. Guess what, knee feels better. What did come shortly after was the anxiety which causes sleep issues. I know this is also a TMS imperative, but I do not like it obviously. I beat this before, as I try to force myself to do all the things I normally would do. This stuff is tough. Anyone else have this going on?? Bless you all

 

Welcome back Joseph! I too had been gone for a while, then returned a few months ago.
Sorry to hear about your persistent anxiety. Have you tried the SEP on this wiki? I workd through it on my most recent bout with TMS, and liked the way it led me to explore various issues, as well as directing me to some great resources. You may want to give that a try.
Blessings to you.

 

Joseph, I wonder if quitting the part-time job eliminated some socializing or sense of routine that was beneficial? If so, is there a way to replace that with other activities or hobbies?

The reason I ask is that I went from working in an office with others to working at home alone, and while I enjoy my work, I felt isolated. I think that was one of my stressors. Now I try to work more in coffee shops and get together with friends for lunch. Also, my husband coincidentally got permission to work from home, so he's around more.

If I recall, Sarno discussed retirement as a big stressor. I don't have the book with me right now.

P.S. The office job I left was very stressful (lots of declines and crazy clients) so I thought my life would get so much better after that. And while it did get better in many ways, working home alone with no one else in the house made me a little depressed fter a while. So, the stress of crazy deadlines was replaced with the stress of loneliness and lack of structure to my day. But I couldn't let myself internally acknowledge that for a while, because it was MY idea to quit my job and go freelance.

Just wondering it there is something like that at play here for you?

 

I think that it contributed to it by losing a sense of schedule/purpose. I think it was the tipping point and then my body/mind was left with an empty area. And at this point I was only working and when left with the free time made me vulnerable. I needed to pay more attention to
fun and living.