Do you suffer from chronic pain? Have you had numerous tests, lab work, CT scans, MRIs, and doctors have said there is structurally nothing wrong with you? Does your pain consume your thoughts- when you feel a twinge of pain, do you obsess over whether or not it's going to get worse? Has it significantly impacted your quality of life to the point of disability? Then this book will absolutely change your life.

Last year, I went for a run. Things were looking up, I had just gotten my second COVID vaccine, I was starting a new job with a new schedule, I had finished grad school. That run altered the course of my life... or so I thought. I was in and out of the ER with facial and head pain that started during the run and would not subside. It took 3 weeks, 2 urgent care visits, numerous meds, and 2 ER visits to finally break the pain. I was pain free for 2 days, then it came back again and I have been dealing with it for a year. Scans showed nothing wrong- no brain lesions or tumors, no inflamed blood vessels, no swollen sinuses, no pinched nerves. Structurally, I was fine. So the ER doctors reluctantly diagnosed me with atypical intractable migraine.

I usually get terrible, terrible migraines about once or twice a year that send me to the ER, so it made sense that maybe I was now suffering from chronic migraine. I went to the neurologist and tried anti-CGRPs, triptans, and currently am on an SNRI that has boosted my mood enough to actually consider reading a book like this and be open to the possibility that it could help. I've been very pessimistic and depressed throughout this entire ordeal, as I imagine nearly anyone would if they were struggling with constant pain for a year, and meds have done very little to help.

When I tell you this book changed my life, I am not exaggerating. I read it over the course of 5 days, and my pain has consistently been at a level 1-2. I have been completely functional and barely bothered by my pain the past few days. It's hard to admit my pain is "all in my head" (which is a pun in more ways than one), and while I do believe I have migraine disease, I don't believe that every single day of my bizarre facial/head pain is migraine, I believe it is neuroplastic pain.

What is neuroplastic pain? This book will explain it better than I ever could, but basically it is pain that results from your brain sending danger signals that cause or exacerbate pain. There is not a structural cause, it is just your dumb brain doing what dumb brains do. But the best part about it? IT'S REVERSIBLE. It feels like magic. I would have scoffed and thrown this book if I didn't know better, but there is *actual science* to back it up. fMRIs have consistently shown differences in the brain before and after people go through pain reprocessing therapy. It's wild stuff. Truly.

Our brains also try to make associations in order to make sense of the pain. My brain convinced me it was the run or the COVID vaccine that caused this pain to start. After reading this book, I don't think either are true. I think I was in a period of high stress (living through a pandemic, putting pressure on my newly bigger body to exercise beyond my capacity, changing from a part-time job to a full-time job, stressing over finances and finding a librarian position now that I had a Master's... you get the picture). And as the pain continued, I started to fear it would never go away. This started me on a pain-fear cycle and reinforced to my brain that I was in danger. CONSTANTLY.

I am now meditating, doing yoga, and retraining my brain to stop obsessing over my pain and whether or not it's going to get worse. And............... it's working. I can't believe it. I am truly indebted to Alan Gordon, and I am sharing the amazing concept of pain reprocessing therapy with everyone I know who is suffering from similar chronic pain issues without a structural cause.

Give it a chance. It's a quick read, contains numerous studies and scientific information, and humor is interspersed throughout since Gordon did have a brief stint in comedy. It will keep you entertained and, best of all, HOPEFUL!

The Way Out - Likewise Book Reviews

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