Catherine 1's Recovery Journey

How it all started

Looking back at all the episodes of pain and chronic symptoms I suffered over the years, I can now recognise that they were all part of the mind body syndrome. But at the time, I thought I was ill, different and partly ‘broken’. During my childhood, I experienced chronic conditions which included eczema, hayfever and crippling stomach aches and was diagnosed with scoliosis when I first experienced back pain around the age of 15.

However, my longest period of chronic pain began with hip pain and dizziness 5 years ago. This developed into plantar fasciitis, neck pain, shoulder pain and then settled into pain in my coccyx on sitting and lower back pain, which was the most painful of all. I was diagnosed with: arthritis (hip, neck and back), scoliosis, a 9mm pelvic tilt, osteoarthrosis, disc degeneration and stenosis in my neck and back, trapped nerves (neck and back), a bone spur in my neck, tendonitis of the supraspinatus muscle, sciatica, loss of lordosis in my back (flat back syndrome) and inflammation around the vertebrae.

How did her pain affect her life?

I was told to stop running and that running had probably contributed to my diagnoses. I felt that I was broken, and that it was all my fault. I went to physiotherapists, osteopaths, podiatrists and a chiropractor. I bought a new mattress and pillow, wore orthotics in my running shoes, changed my running shoes and changed my running style and cadence…..that’s how much I wanted to be able to carry on running! I was forced to take regular breaks from running and advised to rest. At its worse, I couldn’t sit for long without deep discomfort and couldn’t stand up straight getting out of bed in the morning or if I attempted any gardening. None of the expensive treatments I tried did anything to help the pain, and I felt desperate.

Side note: Strangely, I ran a 50km ultra run between the hip pain and back pain and was absolutely fine!

A little more about Catherine

Catherine is married with two teenagers and lives a relatively quiet life in the South of France. She is a former Personal Trainer and English teacher who loves to spend time with her family, travel and run! She has entered over 30 half marathons, 4 marathons and a 50k trail run in 2019. Due to her own experience of chronic pain she is now a qualified Holistic Life Coach and Mind Body Practitioner, specialising in chronic pain and anxiety. She wants to help others to become pain free and anxiety free, through self-awareness and education on the mind body connection. She is passionate about a holistic approach to health, looking at mind, body, spirit and emotions and likes to talk about this to anyone who will listen!

Catherine kindly did a live Q&A on the SIRPA Facebook page sharing her journey and answering people’s questions. You can watch the replay of that by clicking below.

In this video Catherine talks about her experiences of numerous mindbody symptoms throughout her childhood into adulthood and beyond, believing herself to be broken and how her life is so different now.

Catherine 1

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