Worsening TMS, sciatica/back

I've been dealing with TMS in the form of sciatica and back pain for the past 7 years. It's the typical TMS story, getting a diagnosis of a herniated disc after dealing with unknown pain for months, going through dozens of doctors and treatments, and finding zero relief until reading Dr. Sarno's healing back pain. After my first reading I felt so much relief and was able to resume playing sports where I really felt no pain but I still experienced daily pain from being sedentary, primarily sitting down.

Even though the pain was not as bad as it once was, over 4ish years it still gradually wore me down and I began to lose faith in TMS and started to think structurally instead of psychologically. I went back to physical therapy in hopes of getting rid of that last bit of pain and two weeks after starting it I had a bad flare up playing basketball which left my immobile for a few days. I got it checked out by my doctor who said herniated disc again and thats when I went back to TMS and in a few days I was back to playing sports like basketball and tennis for hours on end and feeling perfectly fine while doing them. Even though my pain was gone while being active, it was significantly worse on a daily basis. Sitting and laying down is horrendous and the pain shoots all the way down to my ankle now where as it previously only went from my low back to my knee.

Its been a little over a year since the flare up and the daily pain is just unbearable and I don't know what to do with it. I'm still a strong believer in TMS and am pursuing and practicing many mind body concepts but it gets extremely discouraging when I'm in extreme pain daily. It feels like I'm destined to suffer at this point and I don't know how to move past it even though I know there can't be anything structurally wrong with me based on how good I feel when I'm active. Any advice for my situation or is anyone else in a similar place?

 

The first thing I would do is go back to reading the texts Continuously until they have sunk in....and stop going to the MD to hear the same old same old...of course they make that diagnosis...it's all they know

this not only refuting the wrong diagnosis, but a journey to figure out How it came to be, why you need the pain and how you've become conditioned.
Your ability to play sports confirms the diagnosis but simply 'ignoring it' generally only works one time, if ever...causes and conditions matter..the psuchological ones ...and not the physical ones.
This is an adventure into your life.

 

I had a flareup of sciatica about 2 weeks ago after continuously improving for over a year. Gradually going down now and returning to more physical activity. Seemed like triggered it was the change from daylight to standard time and a constricted feeling that I had to get more down in a limited set of parameters. Realized I'd been getting more hyperactive and frantic as the summer ran down. Now I've returned to re-reading Sarno's classic book, the Mindbody Prescription (1999) from the beginning. A little better every day. Trying to avoid obsessive behavior seems to help and not trying to overdo it too soon. Definitely a work in progress because I'd really like to do a rear brake job on my BMW Z3 and put some rubber pads down in the loft in my garage. I get the feeling that just doing those things will contribute to my healing because they'll send my brain the message that everything's really okay anyway. Think I'll take a very short hike this afternoon too just to get out of the house and change my set/setting. Avoid overdoing anything and stay relaxed and in a positive safe mode.

 

Sorry to hear about all the pain you're going thru, like many here. Figure out what's causing it. Do you stuff your feelings inside, hold them in? You can play sports with no problem, but not sit. Were you made to feel guilty when you were younger if you didn't sports? It's all in our mind, just gotta figure out what your mind is thinking. And it's not easy, took me about 20 years to figure out my headaches.