Long travel

I am typing this sitting at an overseas airport right now. The pain in my back and legs is almost impossible to endure. Sitting, standing and walking are so painful! I had been making steady improvement over the last month and honestly thought the worst was over, I started to feel great, but no: a week before my trip the pain started coming back very strongly. I had a crazy busy week and had already previously postphoned my travel because of back pain but now I really had to go because of work. I am almost at my wits end, feel like I have nowhere to go. Surgery is not solving this so what in the world can I do. I am trying to journal like I have done and reading up on TMS again, but its so tough to do when you're in pain!

I feel like I have nowhere to turn for relief! Why am I the only person I know who has this much pain when lots of people have stress in their lives? I know his community is filled with people going through the same, but I feel like I am the only one right now, with all these healthy people running around the airport...

 

Hi Sky,

I travel overseas often for work and I know quite well the difficulty of travelling while in pain. However, in the course of working on my TMS, the last few times I have travelled have been pain free. It was like a miracle. So I just want to give you some encouragement that if you stick to working on your TMS, recovery and pain-free travel is possible.

And welcome to the Forum! Keep us posted on how you're doing and feel free to ask questions at any time. We are all here to support one another.

 

Hi Sky, When I travel, it is always to visit family so I assumed that the reason my pain came back was due to family emotions. This past week I visited a friend and then later, my kids. The pain was terrible. When I got back, my first day back is usually bad but it was much worse this time. And I thought I was at 99% cured before the trip! Yesterday I was so out of control! You're not alone. Perhaps more frequent trips would be beneficial, pushing through.

 

Okay so this can happen to me. Thanks Ellen!

 

A couple of years ago I had to cancel a business trip because my back pain was so bad. I actually got all the way to the airport and had to call my boss and head home. My nervous system was in overdrive and I'm already not a fan of flying so that made it worse. In addition leaving town can make me feel like I am losing some kind of control in my life which further exacerbates the overactive nervous system. Anything you can do to soothe and calm your nerves could be helpful to you. It's tough going overseas because you may feel like you have less control and something could happen with your back or health and you may feel overwhelmed by that in an unfamiliar culture/city/surroundings.

One thought about comparing yourself to other healthy people at the airport. You would have never known I was in the level of pain that I was when I was at the airport, calling my boss nearly in tears out of embarrassment. Others are likely experiencing similar things either physically or emotionally that we can't see so don't be so hard on yourself.