Hi all,
I do apologise for the long post.
I don’t know where to start from, so I will tell you my back problem story.
I’m currently 39 male, generally in good health, rarely go to the doctors. I was diagnosed with herniated disc level L5/S1 and Sciatica when I was 25. For the next 7 years I had 3 more acute bouts and one time that wasn’t painful, but pins and needles if I recall correctly that I managed to “cure” it without medication. All 4 times the pain was unbearable, always at the back of the leg and into the foot, with pins and needles and like burning sensation, funny enough never had back pain on those occasions. I wasn’t able to stand or walk when it was in full power and the 4th time was the worst of them, I wasn’t even able to find a comfortable position in bed, I don’t remember if the painkillers were helping at all. I need to mention that 3 time I had a second MRI that showed herniated L5/S1 and a bulging L4/L5.
If I recall correctly every time I was able to get better with Diclofenac (NSAID), after taking it, on day 3-4 I was able to start walking and everything was getting better, constantly improving, until the pain was completely gone. After the 4th painful occasion I got Gastritis, the doctors told me it was caused by the NSAID, it is a side effect. I had that for about 2-3 years and still have problems every now and then, before that never had any problems with my stomach. I don’t remember if it was straight after the Gastritis stopped bothering me, but I had knee pain for about a year. Never checked what the cause it and it went away.
After the 4th painful bout, although I had the Gastritis, knee pain and probably once a year back pain that was resolved with heat gel after 5 days, I had 6-7 years period that no discs or Sciatica bothered me, I really thought I was cured.
All was good Until end of last year I had a bit of lower back discomfort, which I ignored. All of the sudden pain started going down the front of my leg and foot and into the toes. It was different this time, pain was at the front and one day I wasn’t able to walk but on the next I wasn’t. On the forth day I got a complete foot drop, no numbness, but wasn’t able to do dorsiflexion. I had an emergency MRI showing 2 bulges at L4/5 & L5/S1, impinging L5 & S1 nerve roots, there is also foramen stenosis affecting L4 & L5 nerve roots. The spinal fellow (not a doctor) at the hospital said that I don’t need surgery, PT will have the same effect and referred me to a consultant spinal surgeon (also not a doctor), he also confirmed the same. I started improving, pain stopped and I was able to sleep a whole night again, a month and a half after the foot drop I started having like a squeeze feeling in my penis and then I had some pins and needles around the anus and very weak ones in the other leg and foot, no pain. I went to the ER and they did a second MRI, they said it was identical with the first and let me go. Funny enough, the very same night the pins and needles stopped! They have come back a day or two after that and have been on and off since then.
4 months on I still have the foot drop, it’s better than it was, I don’t limp or very slightly, but can’t still dorsiflex it if its in the air. My toes cannot go up and they feel weird, they have sensation. Pins and needles in the groin and the bum and some times the other leg and foot. This time was and it still is a mental challenge, more than anything else.
As everyone else I started searching and found Dr. John Sarn, read “Healing Back Pain”, watched a lecture by Dr. Sarno on YouTube and currently reading The Mindbody Prescription.
I refuse to accept that I am that broken or my back is that broken. I completely accept that stress, worrying, anger and so on can cause or aggravate an illness, during the past 14-15 years I have had plenty of these. However I don’t know if I will completely accept that I have TMS, although there are plenty of signs. After the first bout, I still have “extra sensitivity” (don’t know how to describe it) in the foot and it also goes cold very easy, How can it be explained?
Recently I visited a physiotherapist, he was highly recommended, he told me that my sacrum was slightly off and that has been causing the disc problems. He said he can adjust it.
Has anyone had L4/L5 & L5/S1 bulges or herniations and foot drop at the same time and completely recovered from it using the TMS method?
Thank you all.
Regards,
David
I do apologise for the long post.
I don’t know where to start from, so I will tell you my back problem story.
I’m currently 39 male, generally in good health, rarely go to the doctors. I was diagnosed with herniated disc level L5/S1 and Sciatica when I was 25. For the next 7 years I had 3 more acute bouts and one time that wasn’t painful, but pins and needles if I recall correctly that I managed to “cure” it without medication. All 4 times the pain was unbearable, always at the back of the leg and into the foot, with pins and needles and like burning sensation, funny enough never had back pain on those occasions. I wasn’t able to stand or walk when it was in full power and the 4th time was the worst of them, I wasn’t even able to find a comfortable position in bed, I don’t remember if the painkillers were helping at all. I need to mention that 3 time I had a second MRI that showed herniated L5/S1 and a bulging L4/L5.
If I recall correctly every time I was able to get better with Diclofenac (NSAID), after taking it, on day 3-4 I was able to start walking and everything was getting better, constantly improving, until the pain was completely gone. After the 4th painful occasion I got Gastritis, the doctors told me it was caused by the NSAID, it is a side effect. I had that for about 2-3 years and still have problems every now and then, before that never had any problems with my stomach. I don’t remember if it was straight after the Gastritis stopped bothering me, but I had knee pain for about a year. Never checked what the cause it and it went away.
After the 4th painful bout, although I had the Gastritis, knee pain and probably once a year back pain that was resolved with heat gel after 5 days, I had 6-7 years period that no discs or Sciatica bothered me, I really thought I was cured.
All was good Until end of last year I had a bit of lower back discomfort, which I ignored. All of the sudden pain started going down the front of my leg and foot and into the toes. It was different this time, pain was at the front and one day I wasn’t able to walk but on the next I wasn’t. On the forth day I got a complete foot drop, no numbness, but wasn’t able to do dorsiflexion. I had an emergency MRI showing 2 bulges at L4/5 & L5/S1, impinging L5 & S1 nerve roots, there is also foramen stenosis affecting L4 & L5 nerve roots. The spinal fellow (not a doctor) at the hospital said that I don’t need surgery, PT will have the same effect and referred me to a consultant spinal surgeon (also not a doctor), he also confirmed the same. I started improving, pain stopped and I was able to sleep a whole night again, a month and a half after the foot drop I started having like a squeeze feeling in my penis and then I had some pins and needles around the anus and very weak ones in the other leg and foot, no pain. I went to the ER and they did a second MRI, they said it was identical with the first and let me go. Funny enough, the very same night the pins and needles stopped! They have come back a day or two after that and have been on and off since then.
4 months on I still have the foot drop, it’s better than it was, I don’t limp or very slightly, but can’t still dorsiflex it if its in the air. My toes cannot go up and they feel weird, they have sensation. Pins and needles in the groin and the bum and some times the other leg and foot. This time was and it still is a mental challenge, more than anything else.
As everyone else I started searching and found Dr. John Sarn, read “Healing Back Pain”, watched a lecture by Dr. Sarno on YouTube and currently reading The Mindbody Prescription.
I refuse to accept that I am that broken or my back is that broken. I completely accept that stress, worrying, anger and so on can cause or aggravate an illness, during the past 14-15 years I have had plenty of these. However I don’t know if I will completely accept that I have TMS, although there are plenty of signs. After the first bout, I still have “extra sensitivity” (don’t know how to describe it) in the foot and it also goes cold very easy, How can it be explained?
Recently I visited a physiotherapist, he was highly recommended, he told me that my sacrum was slightly off and that has been causing the disc problems. He said he can adjust it.
Has anyone had L4/L5 & L5/S1 bulges or herniations and foot drop at the same time and completely recovered from it using the TMS method?
Thank you all.
Regards,
David
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