Day 1

Hi all,

My story (briefly): I was a marathon runner and had run 5 marathons including 2 Bostons within 5 years. I was in an unhealthy relationship and struggling with an eating disorder when I developed severe left ankle pain. This led to left calf pain, hip pain, low back pain, mid back pain, some neck pain here and there, you name it. I saw every practitioner under the sun, started meditating, stopped running, stopped doing yoga, stopped dancing, pretty much stopped all physical activity. I got out of my unhealthy relationship and got to a healthy weight and fairly healthy mindset but the pain persisted. Yes I am a perfectionist. Yes I am a high achiever..

Fastforward 6 years, finally read Dr. Sarno's book. Relief after about 1 week for my chronic left leg symptoms. I have been running consistently the past 10 days or so with minimal pain until yesterday. My mom visited and I know she is a trigger for me because she struggles with pain too. I was also fearful I had been running too much. Bam - pain is back, and this time in the other leg. Naturally I'm having a bit of a hard time quieting the fear response because it's in a new location and "shouldnt' that mean it's structural?" However, the disproof of that is my left leg (which had been chronic) is 100% FINE! for the first time in 6 years! Wild!

Any tips for dealing with setbacks and quieting the amydgala? I feel like I'm overstimulated with input (constantly reading success stories, rereading the book, using the Curable app) that I'm freaking myself out with "I have to do it right." Trying to go back to basics.

One thing I struggle with is not focusing on the physical but focusing on the psychological.. this usually leads me to focus on fear.. which makes the pain worse.. any thoughts?

Good luck to all on this journey.

S.D.P.