raggamuffin
11-05-2012, 01:32 AM
Hi all,
I know anxiety can cause back pain. My therapist keeps saying the first step of CBT is to truly accept anxiety is causing these pains. She asks me why I still have worry and doubt over pains I get. We've gone through how my mindset works. The internal questions and fears I have and how I rationally try to combat these fears with reassurance and practical thinking. I suppose because it's a relatively new symtpom my minds having trouble truly accepting that it is solely caused by anxiety. But my therapist says even a small amount of worry is enough for anxiety to latch onto and continue to wreak havoc. The pain is very low down, in my pelvis (sacrum), sometimes my tailbone too.
The pain had been lingering on and off for a few weeks and I thought it might have been due to a month or so cycling 3-4 hours a week on my road bike which i'm dubious about the fitting due to various pains. But the pain came on a week or so after I stopped cycling. I went to a minor injury clinic and they said it was probably tendonitis which could take up to 6 weeks to fully heal. They gave me some stretching exercises to do and said to take ibuprofen 3 times a day. I did the stretching exercises for 2 days straight, then started forgetting and routine became irregular at best.
The pain disappeared for a week or so, but the aching pains returned shortly afterwards. The thing is, around the sacrum there are lots of muscles. Plenty of room for anxiety and worry to cause tension and pains. But, as with every other anxiety pain, it's not constant and often moves from place to place. It can last for hours, but then disappear for hours too. Yesterday I had hardly any pain there because rib pain and upper back pain was the concern of the day. Then later in the evening it returned only to later be eradicated by a bout of toothache.
My therapist says that an actual real physical condition won't simply disappear or feel better in certain situations. This, along with the fact that pain killers had no effect makes me think it is another anxiety symptom.
It's just troublesome as it hurts a lot more when i'm sat down and I work in an office. The cold also seems to make the ache a lot more profound. Hence, this is causing me unecessary agro. But the dizziness, the chest pains, arm pains etc tend to fizzle out when I practice my deep breathing and telling myself that "it's just anxiety". But the stomach aches and the back pains really don't seem to sod off when I practice the above relaxation techniques.
All i'm really left with is distraction. That's only ever really a temporary distraction at best.
Ed
I know anxiety can cause back pain. My therapist keeps saying the first step of CBT is to truly accept anxiety is causing these pains. She asks me why I still have worry and doubt over pains I get. We've gone through how my mindset works. The internal questions and fears I have and how I rationally try to combat these fears with reassurance and practical thinking. I suppose because it's a relatively new symtpom my minds having trouble truly accepting that it is solely caused by anxiety. But my therapist says even a small amount of worry is enough for anxiety to latch onto and continue to wreak havoc. The pain is very low down, in my pelvis (sacrum), sometimes my tailbone too.
The pain had been lingering on and off for a few weeks and I thought it might have been due to a month or so cycling 3-4 hours a week on my road bike which i'm dubious about the fitting due to various pains. But the pain came on a week or so after I stopped cycling. I went to a minor injury clinic and they said it was probably tendonitis which could take up to 6 weeks to fully heal. They gave me some stretching exercises to do and said to take ibuprofen 3 times a day. I did the stretching exercises for 2 days straight, then started forgetting and routine became irregular at best.
The pain disappeared for a week or so, but the aching pains returned shortly afterwards. The thing is, around the sacrum there are lots of muscles. Plenty of room for anxiety and worry to cause tension and pains. But, as with every other anxiety pain, it's not constant and often moves from place to place. It can last for hours, but then disappear for hours too. Yesterday I had hardly any pain there because rib pain and upper back pain was the concern of the day. Then later in the evening it returned only to later be eradicated by a bout of toothache.
My therapist says that an actual real physical condition won't simply disappear or feel better in certain situations. This, along with the fact that pain killers had no effect makes me think it is another anxiety symptom.
It's just troublesome as it hurts a lot more when i'm sat down and I work in an office. The cold also seems to make the ache a lot more profound. Hence, this is causing me unecessary agro. But the dizziness, the chest pains, arm pains etc tend to fizzle out when I practice my deep breathing and telling myself that "it's just anxiety". But the stomach aches and the back pains really don't seem to sod off when I practice the above relaxation techniques.
All i'm really left with is distraction. That's only ever really a temporary distraction at best.
Ed