Pain Syndromes - Could This Be Your Cure?

In late 1993 I developed a herniated disc in my neck which caused intense pain and lack of mobility on the left side of my neck and arm. I lived near a chiropractic college at the time and had been obtaining student treatments. I saw two students and one was a serious neck cracker. It freaked me out each time and my intuition was trying to warn me, but I wouldn't listen. So, I ended up with a herniated disc and flat on my back for about six weeks.

During that time, I went to doctors, did physical therapy, traction, cortisone injections, pain medication and muscle relaxers and god only knows what else - ANYTHING ELSE to lessen the pain. I was almost convinced to have surgery when someone recommended a book that might offer some relief. I remember them distinctly saying, "I don't know if you're ready for it, but you may as well give it a try before you have surgery."

I'd like to take this opportunity once again to thank my incredible family for all they did for me during this time. I am not a happy patient.

That book was "Healing Back Pain: The Mindbody Connection" by John E. Sarno, M.D. It took me 2 1/2 days to read the book and when I was finished, I was virtually pain-free. The same information I read in that book has been expanded on in a sequel: "The Mindbody Prescription: Healing the Body, Healing the Pain" and it's working for me again.

I'm not going to describe the treatment; that's what the book is about. But if you suffer from any of the following and have not found effective treatment, what have you got to lose: back pain - lower, middle, upper; shoulder pain, neck pain, fibromyalgia; sciatica; migraine. Basically, any chronic or intermittent body pain that won't respond to conventional treatment and diminishes your quality of life. The only other thing I want to say is that the pain is very real. It is not "all in your head" and Dr. Sarno never implies that it is so don't worry that that's the jist of the book. It's not.

I'd like to call this an AUT, an Apparently Unimportant Therapy. Most people won't give it a chance because they've been convinced by the medical community that something is seriously wrong with their bodies and they need to limit or curtail normal activities. However, if you really do want to get over your pain (this does not apply to physical injuries which of course require the proper medical treatment temporarily), I suggest you give one of Dr. Sarno's books a try. And then let me and Dr. Sarno know if it helped.

One other little factoid. Those muscle relaxers? Activated my addiction again. I was drinking within three months of coming off of them after six years of continuous sobriety.

Why Do We Drink?

We drink because we're alcoholic is a pretty obvious answer, but does it really go far enough? I think especially for those of us who are able to put together some sober time but have a problem with intermittent relapse, it's important to figure out exactly what leads us to drink. In the past 7 years there are three main reasons I have chosen to drink: physical pain, anxiety (emotional pain), and interpersonal relationships that for whatever reason don't work (again, emotional pain). It is actually these things that I've been in denial about for so long, not my alcoholism. I'm pretty convinced on that score.

Since I've been in treatment my anxiety has all but disappeared. It's easy enough for me to see how drinking only made my anxiety worse and that when not drinking much of it goes away of its own accord. However, those other two reasons I mentioned - physical pain and interpersonal relationships, can cause the anxiety to resurface. Thanks to the excellent professional help I'm receiving, I'm able to take appropriate action on the interpersonal relationships, but the physical pain is another story.

Back in June I developed a cyst on my knee from ACL surgery a year and a half ago, and since then I've been in and out of varioius levels of physical pain. I have an old injury to the hip on the same side, a slight scoliosis in my back and have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. I've been steadily seeking assistance with the pain, but unfortunately some things I've done (chiropractic) have actually made it worse and even created new pain.

Along with all the usual methods: heat/cold, massage, topical anesthetics and anti-inflammatory medication, I'm also using acupuncture, visualization and meditation to help me deal with it. But the truth is I'm in a lot of pain and it's beginning to wear me down. The main thing I've been trying to avoid is going into a lot of fear about the pain, about what "could" be wrong. It's a challenge and I think there are a couple of things going on. One is the injuries and age of my body and the other is, I believe, kundalini.

I'm amazingly fortunate to have a good team of helpers, from my counselors to my massage therapist and acupuncturist, both who are working with me financially, otherwise I wouldn't be able to afford the treatments. Also, Roberta has an infrared sauna that I've been making good use of. I believe what's happening is that as I continue to wake up (I'm not sure how else to put it), I'm letting go of many negative thought patterns, beliefs and behaviors and as these things leave the body they give it a kind of charge. Or maybe they get stuck for a few days before moving on out. The other night I had so much energy in my hips I paced the floor for two hours in the early dawn because they literally would not be still. I believe this is the lower chakras releasing, opening up and coming into the proper vibration.

What I'm realizing is that everything in our lives is an invitation to awaken. We can look at it in this VERY BIG WAY or we can stay stuck in the denseness of 3-D reality and become very unhappy indeed. I should know. I was stuck there for a long ass time.

Working on the mental aspects of my health is as important as working on the physical aspects and in my experience separating one from the other will only constitute partial healing. And I'll tell you, it's time-consuming and exhausting to delve deeply into spirit, but an inner life has opened to me that I had no idea existed. I feel intense deep feelings of love permeate me and everything around me and I know that this is really what heals. I finally understand what my friend, Claudia, was going on about all that time. This is what's supposed to happen by working the 12 steps and I can understand why people are so attached to it when it does. My senses seem hyper-alert and everything is so beautiful I can hardly stand it. And then it goes away for awhile and I begin to doubt it at all. And then it comes back. And when it goes away again I doubt it less.