Starting my journey, but have a sincere question...

[TkH12]

So I’ve been through the majority of Dr. Sorno’s “healing Back Pain” and am currently watching the 2+ hour lecture on YouTube given by him in 1999.

I’m willing to accept that I am a candidate for TMS but I have one sincere question. Before I get to that, here is my brief background.

I’m a very active 47 year old male, 6 feet tall 175 lbs. I do all my own yard work; actively snow ski in the winter and love the outdoors.

Summer of 2018 diagnosed with L5S1 herniation 6mm (i think) left side as I was experiencing ever increasing siadic pain, etc. MRI, at least to my Ortho doc, was clear that I needed physical therapy and not anything more drastic.

A week later I was experiencing level 9 pain throughout the day for 3 days straight. As a grown man I can say I’ve never experienced so many episodes of fist pounding, crying out loud pain. Ortho sent me to a Spine Institute where I received an ESI (epidural steroidal injection). It worked! 2 days later I was at a 0 pain and for 9 months, nothing. Full range of motion; full activity. Nothing slowed me down. 10 days ago, Saturday, I was lifting 40 lb case of Kirkland water bottles into my car trunk and it felt odd. Hours passed and I started to feel extreme tightness only in the center of my back. Day by day I would have increasing symptoms to where I am today, all siadic pain down left side, pain in glut and some hamstring. I occasionally jump to a 9 but it revolves around a 4 to 6; comes in waves. I only take OTC (Acetomephin and Ibuprofen combo). I’m now debating getting the ESI again as it worked the first time—rather wonderfully.

So I really want to move down the TMS route as I know there is something wrong and I really believe what I’m being taught.

My question is lets say it is 100% TMS; I do have a herniation but that isn’t the cause of my pain. If indeed that is true, why would the ESI work so quickly and soundly for 9 months till I did something again?

Keep in mind my ESI didn’t work like a snap of your fingers. Painless going home (that was the local they also add). Once it wore off, I went to a 9 for 1.5 days but then at about day 2 I was steadily going towards a 0 and then stayed there till my incident just 10 days ago.

Sorry for the long explanation/and lots of details but I am having a hard time reconciling that if I have TMS, why would a ESI remove pain to a nerve that isn’t being impacted by a bulge? Does that question make sense?

I look forward to anyone’s sincere help and understanding!

TKH

 

[Baseball65]

I had 9.. (Not a typo NINE) Epidural procedures. That's 3 rounds of Three. Other doctors looked askance at my MD's continued use of them

I forget exactly which book (maybe mindbody prescription) but Sarno mentions that for some reason he could not explain, Localized steroidal injections could temporarily banish pain....and postulated that it must have done something to decrease the localized oxygen (ischemia) debt

Your symptom abatement would seem to be the placebo effect. We expect the resolution of our pain and it comes.. the only problem being that it is always temporary or replaced by New symptoms somewhere else. The fact that your symptoms stayed away for so long means you either A. Had a strong belief in the shot or B. That something else replaced it as a distraction or C. some irritant or life problem was vacated. or D. some combination or A,B and C.

 

[Ellen]

Steroids appear to diminish pain for awhile. I was once given an oral steroid for severe allergies, and all my fibromyalgia and migraine symptoms vanished for about a week. I thought I had found the answer. But then I crashed and had such severe fatigue that I stopped the steroid. All my TMS came back and it took me several weeks to get over the fatigue. I never tried that again.

But TMS treatment did work and I am symptom free now.