killerinstinct

Are there any other forum users who have chronic physical pain because they are looking after the kids solo and working full time and trying to enjoy life etc. I've noticed that my body is struggling to keep up with all of my duties etc but I'm unsure if it's because I've had a break from the EXA and am in recovery and can finally get my bearings right to notice the impact this has had on my health or if I'm just imagining it.

ResignedToWait

I think that's definitely something you should discuss with your doctor!

lillamy

I have an Al-Anon friend who suffers from chronic pain caused by stress, and I also notice that my physical pain acts up during periods of high stress.

I'm not a doctor, nor do I give medical advice but I'll tell you what works for me. Light exercise -- I used to be a hardcore athlete, but I'm now reduced to 30-minute walks or bike rides. Warm bath with Epsom salts. Magnesium supplements. Guided relaxations on Youtube. Sometimes, just taking a normal OTC painkiller before bedtime.

I had a doctor tell me to "limit your stress" which I thought was hilarious. I told him he might as well tell me to make my hair grow faster. (((hugs)))

FlippedRHalo

I would certainly advise you to make an appointment with your physician to rule out anything medical. I doubt you're imagining it.

Stress can really wreak havoc on your body. I went through something similar a few years back and come to find out, not only did I have a ruptured disc in my neck, but the way I walked around and slept, being constantly tense, was really doing a number on me. I would wake up with pain in my neck, shoulders, hip and down my leg kind of behind my knee and going straight down into my foot. I started getting massages a few times a month and it helped tremendously. I also did some physical therapy. My PT taught me to start recognizing when I was tensing up and how to release it with breathing and stretching techniques. Drastic changes! Before that, I was living on Ibuprofen.

The tension caused by stress and the effects of that tension can be brutal, yes. Definitely make an appointment so you can figure out what is causing it and ways to diminish or stop it.

h00ped

There is a name for stress/emotional induced chronic pain coined by Dr. Sarno - TMS (tension myositis syndrome). The gist is that the subconscious creates a host of ailments in response to stress and emotional states, which can vary from person to person, but common ones are tendinitis, RSI (carpal tunnel, etc), sciatica, acne/eczema/psoriasis, dry eyes, plantar fasciitis, "herniated disc" etc. (Often times if you go to the doctor they will tell you it's a rotator cuff or arthritis or herniated disc or whatever and then the patient goes for years to PT or even surgery but this just fuels the problem by constantly obsessing or giving attention to it).

The pain comes from mild oxygen deprivation in the tissues, and the nerves "feel" the pain and send it to your brain. It's hypothesized that this serves as a distraction from emotional pain and anger that's being repressed.

I won't go on a tangent preaching about this theory but awareness of this phenomenon has helped many people, including myself, get rid of pain (for me I'm now out of a wheelchair). Sometimes the awareness that the pain is psychologically induced and not really indicative of an injury/weakness/damage and resumption of activity is enough, other times mindfulness meditation, journalling and counselling is involved. There are programs you can do online with daily exercises (such as journalling) that can help. Part of the healing process is recognizing triggers and dealing with them consciously/mindfully so the subconscious doesn't have to do its dirty work.

There is also a TMS forum which I'm sure you can find easily in Google if you want to lurk around and hear people's stories of recovery and management and get support.