| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
ttm27
5 Posts |
 Posted - 09/22/2009 : 14:04:18
|
Hi everyone, this is my first post. I want to share my situation with you and see if I can get any input/advice from TMS veterans. I am 39 year old male, don't smoke, not overweight, overall in pretty good health. I am a regular golfer (about 2x per week), and go to the gym about 1-2 times per week. In January of this year, I purchased an indoor putting green to practice on (too cold here in January to go to the golf course!). After about an hour per day for a week of putting on this practice green, my back really started to hurt. The constant bending over (or so I thought) really put an ache in my lower back. I went to an orthopedist, he took an xray and said the pain was b/c I had some deterioration of my L5-S1 disc. He said to stretch every day and try PT and/or chiropractic. I would get temporary relief from the chiropractor, but the next morning the stiffness would return. Every day, I wake up with stiffness in my lower back. Usually after a hot shower and some stretching (and occasuionally a topical analgesic like IcyHot), it will loosen up to the point where I can function ok. A lot of times, if I stretch for 15 minutes around 9 or 10pm, I actually feel pretty good before I go to bed. But even if I feel fine at 10pm, come 7am the next morning, I'm very stiff once again. It's like the movie Groundhog Day.
I read Sarno's book (Healing Back Pain) about 6 weeks ago, and thought I fit the profile perfectly. Perfectionist, hard on myself, I manage 15 people at work, and have an 8 and 4 year old at home that I have to get ready in the mornings b/c my wife also works. I have also had other TMS like symptoms in the past, including 2 bouts with prostatitis (frequent urination), and LPR (a form of GERD). I also suffer from health anxiety. I usually always have one ailment that I sort of obsess over - thought I had a sports hernia last year, then thought I had an elbow injury, then it was LPR, then prostatitis ... and now the current back pain. Despite all this, I have only bought in to the TMS theory about 90%. Having been to the chiro and physical trainer for the past 6 months, and listen to them talk about the stiff muscles, stretching, etc., I am still clinging to that theory a bit, even though it hasn't really helped me very much.
But I don't know what I can do to avoid getting a stiff lower back while I sleep! During the day, I do my best to apply some of Sarno's principles, but you can't do that when you sleep. It's really getting annoying waking up with this every single day. Has anyone conquered this? Also, my chiro suggested I get an MRI and also a blood test (to check for rheumatoid arthritis). Should I go through with these tests? Will that help me truly believe this is TMS? Please help! Thanks. |
|
|
shamrock62081
USA
14 Posts |
Posted - 09/22/2009 : 15:14:13
|
| I'm right there with you. I do pretty good during the day, but in the middle of the night I wake myself up rolling over with pain in my lower back and have it as soon as I get up in the morning. My theory is I haven't subconsciously accepted the theory 100% and that without my consciousness constantly telling my subconscious to knock it off, the subconscious goes to town with TMS symptoms. |
 |
|
|
ttm27
5 Posts |
Posted - 09/22/2009 : 19:34:00
|
Thanks for the replies! I appreciate them and will heed your advice. The last few years, I obsess over physical ailments, which I know makes everything worse. Even if I feel better, I wonder why it doesn't feel perfect. A lot of people tell me, "just don't think about it." In my case, it's a lot easier said than done. But I need to really start trying harder to do it.
|
|
|
|
winnieboo
USA
269 Posts |
Posted - 09/22/2009 : 20:00:45
|
I had bulging cervical discs and morning stiffness for almost three years. Now it's completely gone. In hindsight, I think these things start as a real strain or injury, and then the tests and diagnoses add a second layer of fear onto us. That fear causes us to build up muscle tension, maybe at the sight of the injury, maybe all over the body (as in fibromyalgia, which I was told I had). So in hindsight, I know that initially that morning stiffness was probably due to the muscle strain/injury, but the extra 2 1/2 years of stiffness was due to overall muscle tension. What relieved it was relaxing (through prayer, meditation, exercise, psychotherapy, etc.) And, believing that I was not structurally damaged. That was key.
I wouldn't hesitate to do the blood work (it will probably come back normal), but the MRI is likely to give you the same information that the chiro gave you. In any case, before I went for an MRI, I would chat with an MD. They will have to write the script anyway. |
|
|
|
ttm27
5 Posts |
Posted - 09/22/2009 : 21:05:45
|
| Thanks for the info winnieboo. Makes a lot of sense. The chiro already wrote me a scrip for the MRI. Didn't know they could, but BlueCross confirmed to me that they can. Supposed to get it done on Friday. |
|
|
|
Plantweed
USA
109 Posts |
Posted - 09/23/2009 : 07:21:18
|
quote:
But I need to really start trying harder to do it.
Actually I feel the key is to try less, or don't try at all, just let it "float by." Don't give it thought, don't give it power, don't get "sick of it," just accept it, which deflates it.
And as for the MRI, don't fall for the inevitable nocebo. Chances are they'll find disc anomalies which they'll blame the pain on, despite the fact that most adults without back pain have them too. |
|
|
|
ttm27
5 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2009 : 19:19:50
|
| Got the results from my MRI. Slight disc bulge (between L5 and S1), arthritis, and bone marrow edema (inflammation). Comments welcome! Thanks. |
|
|
|
Plantweed
USA
109 Posts |
Posted - 10/02/2009 : 07:03:36
|
| Disc bulges don't cause pain, arthritis is a common fallback excuse for pain, and bone marrow edema is a new one to me, but seems to be a catch-all term for many physical findings. |
|
|
|
ttm27
5 Posts |
Posted - 10/03/2009 : 08:25:33
|
| Thanks for the replies! This board is great. As I mentioned in my earlier post, the pain is bad at night - rolling over in bed causes pain. Once I'm up and about, and throw a little BioFreeze on my back after I wake up, I'm not too bad. It's just getting over this nighttime TMS that seems to be the issue. |
|
|
|
HilaryN
United Kingdom
879 Posts |
Posted - 10/03/2009 : 15:13:12
|
quote:
During the day, I do my best to apply some of Sarno's principles, but you can't do that when you sleep.
You can do it just before you go to sleep as you're lying in bed. i.e. tell yourself that you're not going to get pain / stiffness, that you know the cause is psychological, not structural, etc. and you're not going to put up with it any more.
Hilary N |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
newbie needs help/advice
