Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection

I have found the cause and cure for my horrible hip & leg pain that I suffered for more than 10 years!!! IT CHANGED MY LIFE!! What a great relief! I actually read Dr. Sarno’s book 10 years ago and had experienced very good results. The book was recommended by my...

this is a weird book. it's not really all that impressive, in and of itself -- a couple hundred pages of loosely sketched out theoretical ideas, and a general sort of critique of common chiropractic diagnoses. some of it makes a lot of sense, some of it seems a little far-fetched – objectively speaking, i can absolutely understand why some people dismiss dr. sarno and this (and his other similar) books as fluff/quackery. that being said – it works. or can, depending on who you are and what kind of pain you’re experiencing. i was suffering from horrible, near-disabling levels of lower back and neck pain when i first read this book, and as many others report, simply reading the book and thinking about what it had to say, made 95% of my discomfort simply vanish overnight, like magic. it was frankly shocking to me how effective it was, and i am a person who absolutely, 100% realizes how ridiculous that sounds. but that was my experience. i do still have back pain, but it is now 10 years later – just reading this book one night literally produced something like eight or nine years of very significant relief. whether the back pain i’m experiencing now is something different or just a recurrence/regression of the TMS described in this book is something i’m currently trying to figure out. the general argument put forward here is that changing the way you think about back (and certain related types of) pain can dramatically alter your experience with it, because the way we’ve been taught to evaluate this type of condition to ourselves is largely based on false medical myths that have an (unfortunately) strong influence on the way our psychology interacts with our body. sounds a little out there, perhaps, but it is – to my honest surprise – quite true. what the book offers is not a placebo effect. what's weird is that the pain a lot of people are experiencing is in itself a kind of (negative) placebo effect already – what this book can do, is sort of quickly train you to reverse the psychological processes that create that scenario. it's not that the pain you’re experiencing isn't real, or that it’s just imagined – it is very, physically real, as any sufferer knows – but in many people/cases, it's being produced and greatly exacerbated by a kind of trick of the brain that can be unlearned with surprising ease. a lot of people in the last couple of generations have, for various reasons the book gets into, unconsciously programmed themselves to be susceptible to certain types of back pain that don't have any real physical cause. most chiropractors and even physical therapists will x-ray you and explain you have a herniated disc, something out of alignment, scoliosis, etc. -- but while true, this is in most cases a very natural part of aging, and it only produces ongoing pain/discomfort in certain people. generally, they won't know exactly why – they'll theorize you have a "pinched nerve" or something along those lines, but this book explains how, in dr. sarno's opinion, that's just unethical guesswork and makes no diagnostic sense. he proposes that the pain is more akin to a negative placebo effect based on the anxiety natural to certain personality types, and nurtured by cultural conditioning. this anxiety and conditioning train the brain to deny oxygen to certain muscle groups and body areas, which produces spasms/constrictions/tension in those areas. while harmless in and of themselves, they can be very uncomfortable, and many in the medical community erroneously link this discomfort to what is actually pretty normal wear-and-tear along the spine. in turn, we (the sufferer) begin to overthink the fragility of our spine/back, and expect it to give us problems, which fuels the negative link the brain has already made to those areas. this begins to allow all kinds of personal anxieties and emotions to start registering in a very physically real way as body pain, usually in certain parts of the back or neck where we most anticipate pain to occur, and it becomes a self-fulfilling cycle that can just grow worse and worse over time. the book explains this all better and in more detail. not everything put forward in the book is 100% convincing, but dr. sarno has definitely tapped into a legitimate phenomenon – and i say that simply because the book just plain worked for me. after years of very depressing and increasingly excruciating levels of discomfort and pain that i attributed to a slipped disc, i read this book, and poof ... it was just literally gone. i couldn’t quite believe it and many people i relate the story to do not take it seriously. but my brain wised up to the trick it was playing on my body and the relief was literally an overnight phenomenon. and not only did it work – the results lasted many years. many people will blow off this book and sarno’s others as pseudo-scientific fluff – i get that. but, listen – i spent $2 on this book at the time i first read it, and got years of shockingly significant relief from it. it’s not like it’s a big expensive gamble, if you think it might help you. i also get that it won’t work for everyone – obviously there are legitimate injuries and conditions that can occur and cause pain that are unrelated to what the book describes (and which the book is very clear about). however, a lot of conditions that people think are legitimate physical problems are covered by this book, and have a far shakier medical basis than you’d think. psychology and the way your psychology programs your body and its expectations has a lot to do with a lot of the pain people suffer from. if you think there’s even a chance this book could help you, spend a couple bucks on a used copy and give it a shot. it takes a couple hours to read, and it could save you thousands in medical bills. worst case scenario, you learn a little about an alternative theory re: body pain. even if you’re skeptical, it’s sort of a no-brainer if you’re really suffering discomfort.

I have tried this book and it did not work for me. I do believe I had a placebo effect and it worked for 3 days or so. I even went to see a therapist for my "stress." I gave it 4 stars because I think it can help others out there. I would rather have this book work than have to take any meds or supplements. I have come across ANATABLOC. It is a supplement, not FDA approved. You can only get it at GNC. I can not believe how amazing I feel. Here is my review I wrote on GNC.com. Please try this book first! No back surgery for me since I have found this product. I am a 35 year old female and have had chronic back pain for a year and a half. I have tried physical therapy, Pilates, massage, books on back pain (it says it's stress related, I agree in some cases), a change in diet, and epidural/cortisone shots. The physical therapy, Pilates and massages have helped a bit but only for a temporary time. When I started taking this I had no back pain and could not believe it. I have not been able to have a normal life since my pain began. I am so amazed that it is working. Insomnia has been a side effect for me when I was taking the full dosage. So I started taking 3/day in the morning for the first week. I am slowly working up my dosage. If you take the doses too close together or too many at once it will cause dizziness. I would rather not have to take this since it is not FDA approved. I plan on trying decompression for my back. If it works then I won't be taking the supplement anymore. My friend who takes this says it increases her anxiety. But she has had anxiety problems for 10 years. So she doesn't take it all the time. She has Hashimoto's disease and when she first started it she could not believe how great she felt. I found a link online that says what symptoms it helps with: [...]

I am not exagerating when I say this book literally saved my life and gave me real future to look forward to. Back in 2011, when I was 23 years old, I started having debiliating back pain just out of the blue and it took over my life. The pain felt like severe sciatica and it limited every aspect of my life every single day - up until my husband found me this book back in 2019. I suffered everyday with just about everything, from the moment I woke up until the time I went to bed, and then throughout the night lying awake with insomnia mostly from the pain and also being depressed about how I even got this pain in the first place and if I would have to suffer with it for the rest of my life. I really couldn't do much of anything. It didn't matter whether I was sitting, standing, lying down, or walking, it was always present and aside from the extreme discomfort, it limited me physically and was frustrating when I was around others due to the inconvenience. I went to several doctors and specialists, had scans done, went to physical therapy, took pain killers, went to the chiropracter, and saw an acupuncturist. Some of them helped subside the pain, but it was only temporary - nothing long term, and eventually it would return full force again. No one could figure out why a 23 year old was experiencing this at all. We all just kept thinking I must have torn a tenden or weakened my back muscles, or it really was severe sciatica. At first I was skeptical about the book helping at all. But after I read it, I learned about TCM and how the subconscious mind could have such a powerful influence over the body. Then after hearing the case studies of others who experienced the same if not similar situations, I decided to give it a try and implement what the book taught to do. Well low and behold ... it worked. For the first time in 8 years... the pain actually stopped and I felt like I started living my life again. It seems hard to believe that a book could heal me, but I figure I really had NOTHING left to lose. I was in so much pain I didn't feel like I was really living... it felt like I was a prisoner in my own body. The worst that could happen was things would stay the same and that I would just continue to live with this pain for the rest of my life... and this was the case anyways whether or not I decided to do something. And wow am I glad I decided to listen and try it. It didn't happen instantaneously, but after trying one thing and seeing some truth to it (when the pain didn't follow it's usual course of action), I decided to keep practicing it and retrained myself with what the book taught. And eventually after 2 weeks the pain really started to fade away and gradually completely disappear after 6 months or so. It was NOT easy and I had to keep reminding myself about what Dr. Sarno taught in the book, but after being in constant pain for about 8 years, this was nothing compared to what i dealt with. And the result - I was finally able to live my life pain free again. So if you're like me and you've seen doctors, gone to physical therapy, taken medication, and NOTHING actually seems to work - just give this book a read. The worst that can happen is everything stays the same as it did before. But completely worth it if you ask me. It's now the end of 2023... and, knock-on-wood, still living pain free.

I would not normally write a review but today I read some reviews of other books which helped me decide if I wanted to purchase them. After doing so I felt compelled to write a review about this book, this is the first review I have written on Amazon. I was referred this book by a friend who said that he had a miraculous recovery from back pain 3 weeks after his doctor told him he would have to have his back operated on. My friend told me he read the book, practiced the theory and after 3 weeks returned to his doctor who could not believe my friends' recovery. At the time my friend referred me this book I had terrible neck and shoulder pain which radiated down my left arm and made me continuously try to relax and massage my shoulders. The pain in my arm and neck made it hard for me to sleep in general and impossible to sleep on my left side. I am a swimmer so I attributed the pain to my swimming regimen and resigned myself to the fact (as I saw it then) that I could either quit swimming or live with the pain. I chose to live with the pain. This book will teach you that your chronic back problems stem from the suppression of your negative emotions in your mind and once you truly realize and accept that, your mind will not be able to create your back problems any more (even when you are stressed out). It does not matter where your back pain is, mine was in my upper back but the book references people cured of back pain from all over. Dr Sarno states that mankind had no chronic back problems until about 40 years ago, what we used to have were ulcers, which within the last 4 decades have been cured for a majority of us with Tums, pepcid and anti-ulcer medicine. We got the ulcers because we were mentally under some negative emotion or stress that we did not want to reveal or think about because it was too mentally taxing, too scary. Our mind attacked our stomach so we'd focus on that pain rather then on the mental and emotional pain we suppressed. Since we could now better counter the ulcers with new medicines, our mind went looking for some other way of forcing pain to the body so that the pain in the mind could remain hidden. What the mind now does is attack our body by creating chronic pain in our back by slightly lowering the amount of oxygen that the muscles in our body (where the pain is located) receives. This causes the muscles to become tense and creates debilitating pain for many of us. I started reading the book the same month my father passed away. I had incredible tension and pain in my upper back, neck and arms. I have never finished the book, there are parts where it drags a bit with other patients' testimonials and experiences, but I understood the principles and applied them and within 3 weeks all of the tension in my shoulders and neck were completely gone and the pain that radiated down my arm was less than half what it had been and eventually (within another 2 weeks) that pain was gone as well. I know this sounds unbelievable, it sounded too good to be true to me too, until I started applying the principles and telling my mind to lay off my back. I have had no pain and very little tension in my back, neck or arm in the past 11 months. If I find myself getting a bit tense in my shoulders I can quickly (within minutes) get rid of it because I know what the cause is (my mind) and how to stop it. I mentioned the passing of my father because I used that grief to help me with my back. One of the things Dr Sarno teaches you is that it is helpful to "let it out"; yell, cry etc. If you'd like to try out one of the principles that this book will teach you for healing your back, wait to be alone when you are experiencing bad back pain. Gather some emotion that you think is troubling, your marriage, job etc and have yourself a good old cry/breakdown about it and just let it out for a few minutes. Then see if your back is feeling worse, better or the same. By letting it out, those negative emotions are going to reduce the stress in your back and your body will feel better, your mind will too for allowing you to let out those mental demons. Give it a try and good luck with your back problems. This is a fantastic book.

Lots of helpful information but not focused enough on Solutions. Lots of detail about what causes back pain.

26 years old and have suffered from chronic back/neck/shoulder/pelvic pain for 3.5 years. Probably saw 20ish doctors, physical therapists, accupuncturists, chiropracters, massage therapists, hypnotherapists and osteopaths over the years with nothing but temporary relief. I can't think of a better way to share my experience than sharing with you the letter I wrote to my family 4 weeks after reading this book. Forever greatful to Dr. John Sarno. "My Dear Family, There was a time when I never thought I would be able to say this, and I still can't believe it myself, but I have made a 90% recovery from the chronic muscle problems that have debilitated me for the past 3.5 years. Over the past few weeks I have gradually resumed an active life once again, and find myself driving, doing computer work, lifting weights, going on intense bike rides, and much more with virtually no pain at all. I feel like I have been re-born again, and find myself in a perpetually good mood and excited about life and the opportunities that await me once again. As you know, these years have been extremely difficult for me, both physically and emotionally. Particularly over the past year when this problem took on a whole new level of intensity and spread throughout my body. I wanted to thank you all for your support through this very difficult time for me. Without you guys, I probably would have jumped off a cliff by now. You may be curious as to what caused this sudden and immediate change in my health. Which doctor did I see? What excercise did I do? What posture did I adapt? Modern medicine has conditioned us to look for a physical explanation to our symptoms, and after countless massages, physical therapy, chiropractic, accupuncture and osteopathic treatments, with limited progress, I was depressed, desperate, and knew I was looking for an answer in the wrong place. I know what you're thinking. Stop blabbing oo, tell me what you did? What caused this miraculous change in your health. Well, the answer is so stupidly simple you are going to think I'm crazy. I read a book. Yes, that is not a typo. I read a freakin' book, stopped going to all my doctors, and within weeks I am virtually normal again. 3.5 years of awful and intense pain that my life has revolved around disappears, and all I have to do is read a book...? I'll let this 20/20 news clip and this article about in Forbes Magazine about America's most miraculous yet neglected pain Doctor explain further. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsR4wydiIBI http://www.forbes.com/sites/edwardsiedle/2012/09/26/americans-best-doctor-and-his-miracle-cures-dr-john-e-sarno/ As I reflect on why the universe chose this journey for me, I am going to do something unorthodox and be very emotially open with you all (I know I'm not known for this). This journey has without a doubt been the most difficult thing I've ever had to deal with. While I tried my best to be optimistic, there is no doubt that my life has full of pain, fear, sadness, loneliness, anger, anxiety, rage, self-pity, desperation, and depression since this all began. Living with some back pain and not being able to play sports is one thing, but eventually becoming disabled, being forced to leave my job and unable to support myself at the age of 26, with the fear of living the next 50 years of my life with this was probably the most unbearable feeling of all. I often thought what it would be like to overcome this battle and be able to be a normal kid again, but to be honest, I never truly believed it would happen. Now that I stand here with all of this finally behind me, I still can't believe it. It hasn't totally hit me yet that I have my life back. As I try to think how to wrap up this email with some sort of lesson that will inspire you and help you in your daily lives, I'm beginning to think that is all unnecessary. Instead, I'll leave you with a piece of wisdom, from an ancient Native Indian proverb that has always stood out to me and illustrates the power of the mind-body connection. An old Cherokee told his grandson: "My son, there is a battle between two wolves inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, jealousy, greed, and resentment, inferiority, lies and ego. The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy, and truth." The boy thought about it, and asked, "Grandfather, which wolf wins?" The old man quietly replied, "The one you feed." What a relief to be able to finally write this. I think it's time to go for a bike ride ;)"

I have read every Sarno book multiple times as well as listened to the audio versions of each many times. I truly believe his TMS theory is spot on. I wanted to share my story because I believe it aligns with everything he describes. I also know that I benefit from reading other people's reviews when they share their personal experiences with chronic pain and TMS because it helps strengthen my belief in TMS when I hear others just like me. I hope this helps someone. So here is my story. It is VERY long, but nobody is making you read it! I believe the details are all very relevant to my complete chronic pain story. I am a 43 year old male with a long history of continuous health issues for the better part of the past 25 years of “adulthood”. Only recently have I realized that these might all be related and the result of a deeper stress/tension induced psychosomatic issue. I have read 100’s of similar stories of people with “TMS” or other stress induced disorders over the years, and I believe my symptoms and traits perfectly match the typical profile. Summary of my personality traits: perfectionist, overachiever, people pleaser, want to be liked, want recognition/approval/validation, chronic worrier, anxious. Probable sources of unconscious anger & fear: years of constant, relentless worrying about career and job security, afraid of failing in my education or in my jobs, fear that work is too hard and I won't be able to handle it, fear of losing my loved ones, guilt/shame, messes/disorder (neat freak), and frustration over my chronic health issues. At the end of this, I will talk about my latest issues and current battles with all of this, but first, here is a summary of my history that may put things in better context: 1974-1992: Childhood through end of high school. Perfect childhood, parents, family, and middle class life. No traumas- physically or emotionally. Driven, perfectionist, afraid to fail. Graduated 2nd in my class of 300 students in school. Put a lot of pressure on myself to be “the best” and make everyone happy and get praise and admiration from people. 1990’s: Developed Allergies. Controlled by shots & medications. (mold, pollen, dust) 1992: 18 years old and started college. Chemical Engineering student and member of rowing team. Difficult courses and studies, and very busy schedule with sports. Started to develop constant sore throats and “sinus infections”. Many months of every kind of antibiotic. Always sick. 1993: Had tonsils removed. Sore throats were better, but still always getting sick. 1993: For 6-9 months had what was diagnosed as Carpal Tunnel syndrome from one really long day scooping Italian ice non-stop for 10 hours in my summer job. 1994: Sinus surgery. Stopped getting sick as much. 1994: After feeling a “pop” and a jamming feeling in my lower back while on a rowing machine one day, I had an “injury” and Back Pain for the first time in my life. Until then, I was in great physical condition with strength training, running, and rowing almost daily. From that day, I developed chronic low back pain which lasted 2 miserable years. -Pain was in lower back. Mostly on left and right sides of spine in the small of the back in the boney parts around the Hip/SI joint areas. Sometimes pain would be bad in the center and hurt to touch the spine, but also moved side to side throughout the day. Pain never went into legs or any numbness/tingling/burning. It was a constant, dull, but torturous aching. The pain was the worst when sitting. I couldn’t sit for a minute. I spent two years of college with an ice pack on my back to get through class to numb the pain. It also hurt to stand for too long. The only relief was walking or lying on my back, but even that hurt to some extent. -The only thing that helped with the pain was ice (which just numbed it temporarily) and Ultram (tramadol) which I lived on like candy for 2 years. -I had X-Rays, MRIs, CT Scans, Nuclear Bones Scans, and went to probably 8 different co-called “best doctors” in FL and NJ. Nobody could find anything wrong on the images or exams. Best they could say was “soft tissue” inflammation or strain. -I did months of Physical Therapy with stretching, core strengthening, walking, stairs, massage, heat/ice, and TENS unit. -I tried acupuncture (at two different places) and 3 or 4 different chiropractors in NJ and FL. -Nothing ever helped and the pain was 24/7 causing so much rage and frustration, Depression, and hopelessness. I wanted to die every day. It was so hard to go to class all day, study Chemical Engineering, and my life (which was supposed to be full of possibilities) was upside down and miserable. -Cortisone injections didn’t help, nor did any other OTC NSAID or Rx medicine. -I did meditation and self-hypnosis. -Found out about Dr. Sarno and TMS, and read all of his books at the time, and was 100% convinced I had TMS! As an Engineer with a logical, rational mind, it made perfect sense to me. Unfortunately, I was just unable to undo the pain even the slightest bit. 1996: A “so-called” top in the nation spine surgeon in North Jersey (Dr. Casey Lee) said my L3/4 disc was destroyed. He said I probably broke the vertebrae above (or below?) the disc when I “injured” it that day, and the broken bone probably destroyed the disc. Nothing bulging or herniated, but rather he said the disc has small nerves in the annulus and that was causing the pain which was “referred” to the area a few inches below it in my back. He performed a discography(discogram) the confirmed his diagnosis. For the first time I had hope that someone figured it out, and I was confident this was the answer. He proceeded to perform a discectomy and interbody spinal fusion (no metal, just hip bone graft). I had to take off a semester from college and took about 4 months to recover before I went back to finished my final semester before graduation. The surgery was a success by every measure. In fact, recent MRIs this year (2017) were reviewed by a chiropractor, and he said that he and his partner have reviewed 1000’s of MRIs over the decades, and this was by far the most impressive fusion they had ever seen! 1997: I went back to college after the recovery, and slowly rebuilt my strength and was in great shape again. For the next 20 years, I was pain free (for the most part). I definitely thank Dr Lee for the surgery. It was a success both medically and for getting rid of my pain. I was pretty much able to do anything, but I was always cautious not to lift anything too heavy. I did however lift weights regularly for years with no problems. A few times over the years, I would have the occasional back spasm or muscle strain that would go away in a few days. No big deal. A couple times over the years I had pain very similar to the pain that I had prior to my fusion surgery, which made me wonder- how could that be possible? How could I have the SAME EXACT pain in the SAME EXACT location if the problem (the disc) was removed? After a week or two, I got worried, and I immediately read Dr Sarno’s books and people’s reviews on amazon all day for weeks, and I was convinced it was TMS. Eventually the pain went away. That had me 100% a believer in the TMS diagnosis now. This made me think I probably never even needed surgery. Was it just a placebo? I couldn’t change the past, so I didn’t dwell on that thought to much. 2001- 2008 – I had a lot of career changes and stressful jobs during this time. Always still trying to be perfect and successful (like I was “supposed” to be). Always fearing losing my job as the main income provider in my family (with a wife and 2 small boys). I was in the computer/tech industry which was constantly downsizing and laying off people every few months. Lot of worrying and stress daily from that. 2006/2007: After 15 years of contact lenses, I developed Dry Eye Syndrome and have never been able to wear contacts since. 2008: Fell into a severe depression with anxiety. Spent 4 months on long term disability. Tried every antidepressant, anti-psychotic, anti-anxiety medicine in every class of meds. Eventually got better and returned to work. Been on antidepressants ever since then. 2010-2012: For about two years, I had a constant strange Stomach “tension” or nervous/butterflies feeling. Nothing would relieve it. No medication or therapy. It was not painful at all. Just a strange feeling of nervousness in my stomach which was distracting and uncomfortable. It felt like nerves. Doctors said it was not a digestive issue. 2012-2014: For no reason, out of nowhere one day, I got terrible Elbow Tendonitis pain, and the stomach issue went away! I never did anything to injure the elbow. Pain was awful. Couldn’t even lift a gallon of milk. Did a few months of PT everyday with no improvement. Spent two years getting many cortisone shots in my elbows. Elbow(s)? Oh, did I forget to mention that the pain would go away after a cortisone shot and then my other elbow would hurt just as bad a couple of months later!!! So I would need a shot in that elbow! This went back and forth from elbow to elbow, shot after shot for almost two years. Sometimes they would work, and sometimes not. Then one day the pain just stopped and never again! 2015: Lots of uncertainty about my job (my company was closing locations and might be forced to move away from our families). I developed bad anxiety with shaking arms and legs when I would lay in bed in the morning. Never had a panic attack, but just chronic general anxiety. Wound up out of work again for 4 months in a treatment program on long term disability again. 2015-2016: Developed IBS (Irritable Bowel System) with diarrhea. Many docs, colonoscopy showed a perfect colon, yet now all of a sudden I had constant diarrhea for a year! Put me on medicine (Viberzi) which helped a little. 2016: Spent about a year of intense job searching because the end was near at my job. No luck. Very discouraging. A few months later in mid-2016, the anxiety got really debilitating, and once again, I was out for 4 months in a program on disability. I should mention that for the past 8 years since 2008, I saw a great psychiatrist and therapist for the depression/anxiety. Did a lot of CBT/DPT therapies. Meditation, deep breathing, mindfulness, etc. My doctor and therapist and I believed that the job environment was toxic (60+ hour weeks, high stress because it was in nuclear power, and the impending thought of having no job in a couple of years). The belief was that if I got a new job, the anxiety would go away. November 2016: Finally got a new job!!! Was SOOOO happy for once! I felt hope and relief. I felt like my problem was solved and I could finally relax and be happy for the first time in a long time! December 2016: Started the new job. It was great. Great people, boss, the type of work, hours, etc. Couldn’t ask for anything more. Only downside was an increase from 20 mins to 60 mins each way in commute, but I was willing to live with that for all of the positives that came with it. Not a problem. I was a few weeks into my new job and all was wonderful for once! My job is not strenuous. I just sit at a computer all day in a nice ergonomic chair. A few weeks into the job, before I could barely enjoy the relief of years of anxiety, and my low back started hurting. I didn’t think anything of it. Started a little achy. Felt like I might have just strained something from bad posture as I was leaning forward and twisting to the side a lot reading and typing a bunch of reports for a few weeks. A few weeks later and it was very sharp and “spasming” on the lower right side. I could barely bend down to tie my shoes. It hurt to even breathe. I thought I must have done something serious, but how? I did nothing to injure it!! I was able to do so many physical things prior to this with no pain. What caused this? Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention that the IBS that I had every day for the past year miraculously stopped ever since the back pain started! Another ailment/pain replaced by another once again! So I started the doctor/treatment/medication routine. A few weeks later, it developed into more of a dull, nagging ache. Moved from left to right sides throughout the day. I would describe it as having two dull knives stuck into my low back all day. Pain never goes into buttocks or Leg. No numbness/tingling. Unbearable pain to sit for any period of time. Relieved only when walking and lying on back. In the beginning, heat helped. Then it no longer helped. Then ice helped numb the pain for a few months. Now neither really help. I spent the next 2 months reading every TMS, mind body syndrome book, audiobook, website, testimonials etc. I was convinced this was TMS and nothing really wrong. Unfortunately nothing changed. I believed 100% in it but just like back in 1994, no luck. I immerse myself in the TMS readings all day and night, buy into fully, but never helps. I want it to help so bad, but I never feel any sign of relief to give me hope. Went to 4 MD’s and chiropractor in the 6 months since Dec 2016. An MRI showed L2/3 disc degeneration and a couple of “mild” disc bulges. Initially tried OTC NSAIDs, Flexeril, methylprednisolone, ice, heat, bed rest, pain ointments/creams, etc. Tried yoga/stretching. That didn’t help, and one day I bent and twisted the wrong way at Yoga, and got a really sharp jolting pain, and never went back. I have tried about 5 different lumbar support pillows/devices at work, in my car, and at home. They don’t help at all. The first Spinal Orthopedic Surgeon at a reputable, established Ortho/Pain center basically said it is probably soft tissue strain or an annual disc tear (but never even said which disc). She sent me for PT. I tried physical therapy – core strengthening, stretching, TENS, etc. No improvement. I then tried a supposedly reputable Chiropractor with decades of experience and he said I had two bulging discs that were pressing into nerves and causing the pain. He was 100% sure. So he started me on a fancy “VAX-D” Spinal Decompression table. I went every day for 30 mins each for about 4 weeks (~17 treatments) along with some PT there afterwards (core strength, massage, TENS). No relief at all, so I stopped going. This was really affecting my ability to work or be useful at home to my family or around the house. I have spent every waking moment at home on the couch or bed or floor. I went to a Physiatrist (gave me Ultram, Flexiril, Valium) and said probably soft tissue strain. After more weeks, no improvement. He sent me to a “top” Spine Pain Specialist MD. He scanned the MRIs and a quick evaluation and said it is most likely your facet joints (arthritic). Sounded 100% sure that was it. No question. He said we need to inject anesthetic into the medial branch nerves of the vertebrae (a medial branch block). If the pain was reduced significantly enough for a few solid hours, then it would confirm that the pain is indeed from the facet joints and the next step would be radiofrequency ablation (RFA) where they would burn those medial branch nerves to provide 3-18 months of relief until they grown back. He did the lower 3 lumbar/sacral vertebrae one week and then the upper 3 lumbar vertebrae another week. The first procedure seemed to provide some relief for a few hours, but second procedure didn’t help at all. That brings me to this past week at my follow-up again. He said they need to repeat the first procedure again!!! This was needed to confirm it works (that the relief I experienced wasn’t a fluke) before proceeding with the nerve ablation. This seemed to be his practice of ensuring success but also apparently required by my insurance (BCBS) before they will cover the ablation procedure. He said if it is confirmed, then an ablation would be recommended. If not, however, then he said it is probably the L2/3 degenerative disc causing a “referred” pain to the area a few inches down lower in the back where I feel it. That would require more consults with a separate surgeon, a discography (discogram) diagnosis procedure, and then potentially a surgery (fusion or artificial disc replacement). I do NOT want any of that! So here I am today in May 2017. 6 months of the SAME EXACT pain as 23 years ago! Just like back then, only ice, laying down, and Ultram provide any relief. Lately the Ultram (50 or 100 mg, 1-3 times per day), or the ice, or lying down don’t really help anymore. I try not to take the Ultram because I don’t want to go down the opioid addiction/narcotic path. I may be take 1 to 4, 50mg pills a week. I am 3 weeks away from that 3rd nerve block procedure. I am frustrated on how this has dragged on for 6 months now with NO IMPROVEMENT. I can’t believe I am still in pain. How could this be? The pain consumes me every waking moment (and even disturbs my sleep at times lately). Every once in while I have a better hour or day, and think I am turning the table, but then the next hour or day, I am back in the normal state of pain and misery. I really think if I didn’t have a family, I would not be alive at this point because it seems so hopeless and the thought of living the rest of my life with this constant pain is unthinkable. Because I love my family, I decided to be positive and beat this. I have to. I started a strict self-PT program this week. Every day walking 20-30 mins, and 10 mins of core strength and stretching. I go back and forth lately between thinking something must be really physically wrong to cause this kind of 24/7 horrible pain vs. the TMS psychosomatic pain theory. I don’t know what to believe. I am currently re-reading everything by Dr. John Sarno, “The Great Pain Deception” by Steve Ozanich, and now “Crooked” by Cathryn Jakobson Ramin, Dr. David Schechter’s work, etc. They are all AWESOME books and I believe they describe me on every page. I just don’t know how to undo this? Are my neural pathways so strong now that I cannot reverse this after 6 months? So here’s why I think I have TMS… 25 years of constant pains or sicknesses. Always something getting my constant attention on my body- instead of letting my unconscious fear and anger surface which would be emotionally painful to face. There has never NOT been something wrong with me since I became an “adult”. It all started in college when life got stressful. One ailment moves to the next, and the next.... Pains move from Arm to Arm, side to side in lower back. How can a real physically induced problem do that? Either something is hurt or it isn’t. It is frustrating seeing 5 different medical professionals/doctors and getting 5 different diagnoses! It seems like they just guess and try things until something works. I feel like a guinea pig while they just try to make money and push meds and procedures on me. I am sure they are well-intended, but it doesn’t feel right. Each time I had confidence in their diagnoses, but each time they failed to result in any improvement. I find it hard to believe that my discs are the problem. I have seen WAY WORSE spines on MRIs! The two discs are barely bulging (probably how everyone’s discs look over 20 years old), and one degenerative disc which wasn’t even that bad from what I have also seen. Even the first two docs or radiology report said NOTHING about the discs! So I’m really wondering now where to go from here. I am reading all these books and believe so much in TMS and feel like that has to be it. However, I just don’t know how to change it? I would love a TMS expert or Mind-Body Doc to read my story and let me know what they think. How do you ignore the pain and tell yourself nothing is wrong when it hurts you 24/7? How do you unlearn that and reverse that? Would love to hear from you all. Thanks for your time. james.e.kerr (at) comcast.net