Second Relapse: Sciatica

I had an 8 month episode back in 2015 that consisted of lower back pain. It started when I played video games on a bad chair for a few hours straight. Through Sarno's three audiobooks and this site's program, I recovered.

The first relapse happened in 2015 too, and it was when I set up a new monitor for my computer and started having neck pain when looking at it. I posted a thread here and everyone assured me that it's TMS: the pain promptly went away.

A few weeks ago, I played soccer for the first time since 2011. Usually, the first time I play a certain sport in a while, I usually feel soreness for a few days. The two days after soccer, I lifted weights and played squash consecutively. I also lifted 4 times a week and played squash once a week for a few weeks after that, but I don't feel like the pain should last this long.

Last Saturday, I woke up with barely any sciatic pain (it felt almost recovered), but the pain peaked when playing squash that morning. I felt it with every step with my left foot.

A main reason could very well be that I moved back home from studying abroad and, although I'm functioning well here, I still prefer being where I was abroad. Besides that, since the sciatica feels temporarily worse when I'm doing competitive activities, such as soccer and squash, it might be about my issue with competition. I've been avoiding competition the past few years since losing can feel bad. I'd rather not compete and miss out on becoming a potential winner than compete with the possibility of losing.

I'm now used to TMS showing up when new stimulus comes into play: a new chair, a new monitor, and, now, a new sport. I need to get rid of this baby ASAP!!!

 

Welcome to the forum, Pyschosoma - or welcome back. There are a ton of great discussions here about the many different ways that people have recovered - beyond accepting the basic knowledge of TMS, there's a lot of human variation to take into account - each person has to find what works for them.

A couple of suggestions disguised as questions:

1. Has thinking psychologically instead of physically become second nature to you? In other words, when you have any kind of symptom, do you immediately assume it's TMS? Or does that come later, as in "oh wait, maybe this is TMS - I kinda remember that, maybe I should get some reassurance" ?

My personal belief is that if you need reassurance, then thinking psychologically has not become natural to you.

2. Have you looked into some kind of mindfulness practice? That seems to be the one recurring technique that works, over and over, for people who find that they are too easily distracted by their symptoms - in other words, they are letting their primitive brain take control.

Good luck, and keep us posted!

 

Jan, do you have any recommendations for any particular mindfulness practices you have found particularly helpful?

 

I have been referring people to the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program based on the teachings of Jon Kabat-Zinn- this is a wonderful free online course that I did to learn meditation: http://palousemindfulness.com (Online MBSR/Mindfulness (Free)) It was immensely helpful and is modeled on the MBSR curriculum that began at Mass General Hospital and is now taught all around the US. I also recommend Jon Kabat-Zinn's books such as Full Catastrophe Living, or any books by Thich Nhat Hanh for the (non-religious) principles of mindfulness.

The practice of mindfulness meditation takes time and effort but is so worth it to calm your anxiety...I can't recommend it enough. It has been instrumental in my TMS recovery

 

I got a lot out of an audio program called Meditations to Change Your Brain. Fascinating neuroscience combined with meditations, produced by a therapist and a neuroscientist.

There's a website called Sounds True which has lots of books, CDs,and audio programs for good prices, they often have sales, and you can often find their offerings at your library.

 

All those resources sound great!