Sciatica Pain

Hi. New member. I need help determining if my current pain is in fact TMS or some other structural issue.

7 years ago I was miraculously cured of my ongoing hip/back/sciatica pain after reading Dr. Sarno's book. Three years ago I was immediately cured of my ongoing foot and knee pain (many X-rays, MRIs, etc) once I realized it was (OMG) TMS.

Now, a couple months ago I had a groin pain, move to my lower hip/back and then to shooting pain down my leg whenever I stand up.

I was positive it was TMS and 'treated' its as so. But I am now confused why I am continuing to have this pain given my past ability to rapidly cure - and have begun questioning if it is TMS or not.

I already know if I go to a Spine Dr, I will be diagnosed with herniated disc (I've already had that diagnosis) and I know this is BS. But is there any other physical reason I could be experiencing this pain? Could it be a hip problem? Dr. Sarno said no such thing as a pinched nerve, but? Could a PT or Chiropractor help me determine if it is structural or not?

I would like to see a medical Dr. with experience with TMS. Any suggestions.

Thanks for your help.

 

Dr. Sarno says “think psychological” but you are here asking questions only about the physical.
Perhaps it’s time to re-read Sarno and delve into the psychological work, focused on anger, your personality traits and the cycles of TMS habits you find yourself falling into.
Consider both external stressors and how they reflect upon who you think you are and internal stress you create (anxiety) and consider that things you may consciously think are going great, may actually not be, when you can honestly reflect on them with a vulnerability.
How do you feel about the stuff going on around you, and how do you really feel about you.

 

Hi @marck,

I think visuals can sometimes help and journaling/lists are helpful to me. So, here goes.

Here's a list of all the pains you described in a relatively short post (I think I got them all, and there are repeats, but there's a lot!):
hip pain
back pain
sciatica pain
foot pain
knee pain
groin pain
lower hip pain
back pain
shooting pain down the leg
...and a herniated disc diagnosis along the way

Just look at how many jumps the pain has made around your body across years.
------------

What if you put the pain and the physical symptoms aside--What has been going on the last several months?
What's underneath the symptoms that your brain could be trying to distract you from dealing with?

Also, Dr. Sarno talked about the different levels of effort needed to overcome symptoms. For those with recurring symptoms, additional work/practice could be needed. He suggested therapy was needed for some folks.

I think that our brains are crafty and when a new set of difficult/unacceptable emotions surface, or stressors/triggers, or difficult life circumstances that trigger the past, etc.. At that time, new symptoms are presented as distractions. And, who knows us better than our own brains? The goal is to convince us that this is different/this is real and not TMS anymore.

 

These suggestions are so clear! Very helpful for me.
I just bookmarked this post.
(Our messages were posted around the same time and I didn't see this before I posted. If I had seen it, I could've said Just Read This!)

 

Thank you. You are right. I know that.

I have begun therapy. I figured if this kept reoccurring (even though I cured it immediately once I realized what it was) I should try to figure out what is really going on on a deeper level.

What created my doubt was listening to Curable podcast where they were talking about a study they had done on back pain and he said they eliminated sciatica pain patients because there is a chance for it to be structural. That is when my doubt came in. I thought I should first eliminate anything structural, even though I'm 90%+ sure it's TMS.

Thanks

 

I would suggest that therapy is fine, but that you need to do this work on your own too. Turning towards others for help is fine, but expecting others to "fix" this isn't necessarily going to work, you still need to do the other TMS work including belief, fear, mindset and attitude. Those aren't things a traditional therapist can help you with unless they have experience with TMS and or mind/body work - but you can most certainly do it on your own. The free Structural Education Program (scroll down TMSwiki.org to see links to the program) can guide you through this work.

 

Hey Marck I am a PT. I would say one way to determine nerve issues is if you also have numbness, tingling, weakness, etc. You would expect that more with nerve root compressions vs just straight pain. I have also seen patients who have nerve root compressions on MRI and have no symptoms so it is okay to get things checked out. I think that is great that you are working with a therapist because in reality most people will keep getting different TMS symptoms if you do not really deal with the underlying emotional issues or stressors in your life. Doing so will also be good for your health in the long run. Good luck.