drjay71
Newcomer
Hello everyone. Just wanted to introduce myself. I am a 47 year old guy and otherwise very healthy. I try to eat right and work out regularly. I work as a physician who specializes in radiology.
I began my journey with an episode of acute back pain about 17 years ago. Initially I attributed it to an injury while working out. Over the next 10 years or so, I tried many types of therapies including massage therapy, chiropractic adjustments, and medications. The pain wasn’t really that bad with flare ups every few months or so and the treatments helped somewhat and only temporarily. Never saw a doctor about it and pretty much self diagnosed myself with a bulging disk which I did have at L4-5
About 10 years ago however, I had a severe spasm episode while on vacation which prevented me from even getting out of bed for about two days. The frequency of pain after this incident increased to every month or so. Over the last 5 years, I started noticing back pain or stiffness in the lumbar area almost every day.
Luckily, I stumbled upon Dr. Sarno‘s book about seven years ago and it helped me tremendously after reading it just once. When looking back at my initial episode of low back pain, I think the injury really wasn’t the cause but instead I think it was several new events in my life including having our first child and starting my new practice. Looking back at the spasm episode, I sure it was stress related to work which then broke through while on vacation. I know Dr. Sarno mentions this in his book.
Fast forward to today. My back pain started coming back about 3 years ago and it had been a few years since I had read Dr. Sarno’s book. I also luckily stumbled upon the Curable app. Reading the book and using the app has really helped but what I’ve noticed more recently over the past 6 months is not so much low back pain but a new type of pain. Severe tightness and discomfort in my neck and shoulders especially my right shoulder. The tightness and discomfort is most severe at night while I am asleep and when I wake up in the morning. As you can imagine, it prevents me from getting a good nights sleep. I know it’s not structural as my imaging studies have been normal and there are some nights where I have no pain or tightness at all. Tried new mattresses, pillows, sleeping positions and even meditating before going to sleep with little to no improvement.
I am still convinced that everything I have gone through and I am currently experiencing is related to TMS. I am trying my best to correlate my emotions and anxiety levels to my pain and there is certainly a correlation between my emotions/stress and my pain and stiffness.
My question is this. Have any of you had similar primarily night time episodes of tightness in this region?
I generally feel tight and stiff most mornings and the location seems to alternate between the lower back and the neck/shoulder area. Sometimes both. During the day, I usually feel fine and using some Dr. Sarno's advice and exercises from Curable have certainly helped. For some reason, however, I cannot shake the night time and early morning pain and stiffness which is now almost a daily thing for me. I now even get the onset of pain an hour or so before I know it's time to go to bed which I find weird.
I tend to be a generally stiff person and often enjoy massages which help temporarily. I also know that when pain migrates, it can be a good sign.
Just wanted to see if there were any suggestions out there from other TMS sufferers, especially for this deep night/early morning stiffness.
Thanks!!
Jay
I began my journey with an episode of acute back pain about 17 years ago. Initially I attributed it to an injury while working out. Over the next 10 years or so, I tried many types of therapies including massage therapy, chiropractic adjustments, and medications. The pain wasn’t really that bad with flare ups every few months or so and the treatments helped somewhat and only temporarily. Never saw a doctor about it and pretty much self diagnosed myself with a bulging disk which I did have at L4-5
About 10 years ago however, I had a severe spasm episode while on vacation which prevented me from even getting out of bed for about two days. The frequency of pain after this incident increased to every month or so. Over the last 5 years, I started noticing back pain or stiffness in the lumbar area almost every day.
Luckily, I stumbled upon Dr. Sarno‘s book about seven years ago and it helped me tremendously after reading it just once. When looking back at my initial episode of low back pain, I think the injury really wasn’t the cause but instead I think it was several new events in my life including having our first child and starting my new practice. Looking back at the spasm episode, I sure it was stress related to work which then broke through while on vacation. I know Dr. Sarno mentions this in his book.
Fast forward to today. My back pain started coming back about 3 years ago and it had been a few years since I had read Dr. Sarno’s book. I also luckily stumbled upon the Curable app. Reading the book and using the app has really helped but what I’ve noticed more recently over the past 6 months is not so much low back pain but a new type of pain. Severe tightness and discomfort in my neck and shoulders especially my right shoulder. The tightness and discomfort is most severe at night while I am asleep and when I wake up in the morning. As you can imagine, it prevents me from getting a good nights sleep. I know it’s not structural as my imaging studies have been normal and there are some nights where I have no pain or tightness at all. Tried new mattresses, pillows, sleeping positions and even meditating before going to sleep with little to no improvement.
I am still convinced that everything I have gone through and I am currently experiencing is related to TMS. I am trying my best to correlate my emotions and anxiety levels to my pain and there is certainly a correlation between my emotions/stress and my pain and stiffness.
My question is this. Have any of you had similar primarily night time episodes of tightness in this region?
I generally feel tight and stiff most mornings and the location seems to alternate between the lower back and the neck/shoulder area. Sometimes both. During the day, I usually feel fine and using some Dr. Sarno's advice and exercises from Curable have certainly helped. For some reason, however, I cannot shake the night time and early morning pain and stiffness which is now almost a daily thing for me. I now even get the onset of pain an hour or so before I know it's time to go to bed which I find weird.
I tend to be a generally stiff person and often enjoy massages which help temporarily. I also know that when pain migrates, it can be a good sign.
Just wanted to see if there were any suggestions out there from other TMS sufferers, especially for this deep night/early morning stiffness.
Thanks!!
Jay
Last edited:
