Is the jig finally up?

Hi.

Back in summer of 2012, while engaging in sport, I experienced (completely out of the blue) extreme pain from my lower back all the way down my right leg. Over the next 2 weeks, the pain became severe in my right ankle (couldn't stand for more than 30 seconds), had numbness in my toes, terrible pins and needles all over my right foot, weakness in my right leg. I only had a couple of degrees flexion in my back. An MRI showed a 'significant' bulge at L4/L5 mainly to the right with a tiny bulge to the left also. After 3 months I also developed electric shocks down my left leg. At that point I read sarnos book but dismissed it completely as I just couldnt accept the idea that my pain could be caused by my personality.

Fastforward to february this year and the pain had 'settled down'. one morning i went to tie my shoe and bam - back spasmed out of the blue and i got the terrible pain down my right leg. I had under an inordinate workload in work at the time, I had fallen out with family members and I wanted out of my relationship with my girlfriend. I read sarnos book again and it felt like I had never read it because the second time it really started to sink in. This time a few things really got my attention:

1. During my youth I had cystic scarring acne, hayfever, asthma, frequent urination. All of which disappeared after a few years. As a young kid I was coeliac and that too disappeared by my teenage years.
2. I have OCD and anxiety for which I'm currently receive psychotherapy.
3. I am a total perfectionist. I am always so self-critical.
4. I always avoid confrontation and I don't take criticism well.
5. I always put other people first.

Anyway, yesterday I downloaded the audio book of 'healing back pain' so that I could listen to it in work.

And here is something which really grabbed my attention yesterday! While listening to it, I heard sarno say "Sciatic pain may affect any part of the leg except the upper, front thigh." I couldn't believe it. After periods of standing for a while or walking my pain is very bad in my right upper thigh yet I my MRI nearly 3 years ago showed a bad bulge at L4/L5 and no other abnormalitites.

I also watched the video of sarno lecturing patients on youtube and remember sarno saying that the lumber spinal nerves dont feed nerves for the front of the thighs.

Is this the proof I need that my pain cant be caused by my disc prolapse? My pain is never in the 2 places at any 1 time. It's either in my ankle or front of my foot or in front of my thigh or in my pelvis or my right groin etc... My pain is always so much better after sitting for long periods of time.

Is the jig finally up? I find it harder to believe now that a disc is causing my pain.

 

Hi Lighthouse,

I think that the important thing to remember is that TMS can and does cause pain in any part of the body. So hearing that, you may begin to get more confirmation that you have TMS. I am not a doctor, so I cannot recommend the next steps. I am happy that you find yourself so clearly in Dr. Sarno's writing. This is huge, and an important piece in using his cure.

I recommend you take the SEP, which is free and has helped lots of people. Also read and listen to the recordings at Alan Gordon's program. Good luck in your learning and engaging Dr. Saro's work.

Andy B.

 

Thanks andy. Over the last 3 years I had tried everything and nothing worked. The last time I saw a doctor was just over a month ago and she recommended trying meditation which I have already started. I will definitely try the SEP. I'm excited about getting started! Thanks

 

Actually, I have one other question. How do people deal with the 'expectation' of the pain. So for example, you are doing something and a thought pops into your mind "Oh, I have been standing for a few minutes now - the pain should start appearing soon...". That is what I find really really difficult to deal with during day to day activities. Thanks!

 

I talk back to my brain, and say something like "Oh, stop it brain! There is nothing physically wrong with my body, and therefore, no reason to have pain. I am strong and healthy and can do any physical activity."

I'm always surprised how well this works. Your conscious brain can override your unconscious, but it takes repetition and consistency.

Best wishes...

 

Thanks Ellen. I just watched the lorimer moseley youtube video on 'why things hurt'. very interesting!

 

yeah you fit the profile really well. Go for TMS healing; I also have had symptoms since early teens; I tried the book stuff; journaling etc and wasnt making progress; needed a TMS therapist and then began seeing results. Good luck! Check out "the disease to please" and "brain lock"; these are not TMS books but they will help with understanding what your brain is doing and the physical results esp with the people pleasing. My therapy has been incredible because I dont get sucked into other peoples energy nearly as much as I did before; though I still have quite a bit of progress to make. I always thought it was chronic fatigue; now I can feel myself getting tired around people and it is always when I am getting sucked into their mode.

 

The Moseley video is excellent.

I've tried to please people and "be there" for them, but some can eat you alive.
They can be like vampires, sucking your life out of you to get sympathy.
I've had so-called friends who just liked to be unhappy. I dropped them.
The real friends are those who make you feel good, not unhappy like they are.

 

Thank you all for the replies.

The psycho therapy is instilling an awareness in me about how I think and react in certain situations. It's helping me the consciously discern things which have shaped me since childhood - especially with my parents.

But just a questiom which I asked earlier and which ellen kindly answered. I don't feel it addressed the question directly. And whay it is is the expectation of pain. in other words when I go walking, when I reach a certain point along my walk (which I do everyday) I say to myself "this is the point the pain starts" and presto, there it is. Is this linked to the fear factor? any tips for trying to eliminate this expectation of pain in my mind?

Thanks all

 

Hi Lighthouse,

Here is a possible direct approach. Observe everything you just wrote, label it as "conditioned response," and witness the belief arising, the fear too, and don't go along with it. Observe it, name it as compulsive fearful thinking, and conditioning, and dismiss it. If the pain starts, talk to your mind-body and tell it to stop, because you've seen this silly pattern that is trying to distract and scare you, and it need not continue.

An indirect approach might be to walk a different route. And maybe be talking to a friend on the phone while you go, so that you are distracted...not estimating the distances.

You have a good start on this pattern, because you can see the mechanical nature of the pain symptoms. Like a primitive animal. Good luck.

Andy B.

 

Thanks so much for this Andy.

All of sarno's work on 'healing back pain' is really starting to blow my mind open to the possibilities.

Only 1 week ago I talked to my uncle who asked "How's the back?". He has had 2 surgeries - 1 lumbar and 1 cervical - for "disk" problems. Yet he still suffers - hence the surgeries were failures. He said to me "Ah once the disc goes, that's it".
My response was "Most of the population have herniated discs and have no pain whatsover. They are akin to having grey hair".

And here is the proof from a 2014 study Brinjikji et al(Note the word 'asymptomatic' meaning those who had no pain - A sample of 3110 people!):


The results speak for themselves.

Contemporary medicine is starting to come around to the idea that back pain isn't necessarily caused by structural issues. Sarno was right from the beginning. I hope that some day he gets the credit he deserves in that he postulated the connection between the mind and back pain.

 

Thanks so much for this study. I had not seen it before. I put a doc of your chart and the abstract on my website under "medical evidence."
Here is the link, for others interested, but I don't have access to the full report.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25430861