Day 1 TMS candidate

Hello,

I am 30 years old and in the last 6 months, I have witnessed the following symptoms:

1. Neck pain
2. Shoulder pain
3. Back pain. Accompanied by L5S1 disc herniation (sciatic nerve), L1L2 disc herniation L3L4 disc bulge & L4L5 disc bulge
4. Left leg weakness. No leg pain!
5. Groin pain
6. Buttock pain
7. Tailbone pain
8. Sacroiliac joint pain

I suffer from severe anxiety (diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder since 18 years of old). Through reading the TMS Recovery Program I have come to realize that long have I repressed my emotions and my inner self. I am in what I perceive, as a constant Fight or Flight mode since January.

The last months have been very stressful for me, coronavirus took a toll on my pshycological health combined with increased pressure from work.

My L5S1 disc herniation is an old injury since I was younger (19 years old) but it always got better on its own. Not this time around.

I took some time off work in the end of April for my back to "heal".

I have tried to everything in my power to make my back better to no avail. After 2 months, my back is even worse. After reading "Healing Back Pain" & "The Divided Mind" I identify with the perfectionist/goodist traits, along with a long history of repressing my emotions. I have decided to hold of surgery for now (percutaneous microdiscectomy) and follow Dr Sarno's approach and see how that goes.

Reason for this is that the pain always moves around the aforementioned spots. I have also noticed that my pain level (score) and time pattern does not make any logical sense.

Edit:

I have not been able to sit for more than 5 minutes on a chair for the last 2 months. Now, I noticed that when writing this post and going through day 1 in the SEP program, I have sat on my chair for like 30 minutes with minimal back pain & tailbone pain.

 

That's great evidence that you are in the right place! Good luck with the program and please reach out on the forum with questions, concerns, etc. as you go through the days. I think Covid-19 is causing havoc with many of us. It's hard for that much stress not to materialize into some pain or discomfort. It's great that see the link already!