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Zephyr's avatar
5dEdited

I have such a similar story.. except instead of leaving tech and pursuing chronic pain, my chronic pain dragged me away from tech, while kicking and screaming :-D I have followed a very similar healing path as you (2 yrs of neuroscience backed brain retraining using the Gupta program, plus PRT and nervous system coaching) and I'm so glad you are writing about your experience! I'm in the same boat, feeling very passionate about what to do now.. what can I do now to help others avoid some of the pitfalls and get to a path of healing faster. Looking forward to reading more about your journey and would love to connect further too if you're interested!

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Dan Sutherland's avatar

I'm sorry to hear you had to go down this path as well.

I'll reach out!

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Shulamit Ber Levtov's avatar

Dan are you familiar with the work of Neil Pearson? He’s a Canadian practitioner who thinks along lines similar to yours: https://paincareaware.com and you might enjoy connecting with him.

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Dan Sutherland's avatar

Keen to take a look. Thanks!

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Brian Dang's avatar

I came here through word of mouth, after revealing I have left tech as well. Rock on

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Clare Carey's avatar

We need more published lived experiences in the world. I'm excited for this blog and for the people you can help :).

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Dan Sutherland's avatar

Thanks Clare 💙

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Buck's avatar

Dr. John Sarno’s Mind Body Prescription (https://amzn.to/4nz6GnD) outlines these exact themes. I took years too read it after being recommended by a friend, and it completely changed by chronic pain, so much so that I’m sometimes hesitant to recommend it, else others feel it is as far fetched as I did.

High level: Chronic mental stress can produce chronic physical pain and thoughtful exercises in Sarno’s book and others can help alleviate it.

Worst case you spend a few days reading and trying out the exercises and it doesn’t work. Better case you help breakthrough something that’s severely limiting your life!

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David T.'s avatar

I have been through a similar journey man! I too tried every physical intervention seemingly possible. X rays, medications, physio, chiropractic adjustments, yoga, everything! This entire topic fascinates me. Perhaps most helpful was the intersection of non-duality and approaches from people like Dan Buglio and Sam Miller / Helmut on YouTube. Can’t wait to see what you get up to as I also said to myself that once I’m fully recovered I’m going to commit time to helping others in this area wherever I can! Well done 💪

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Dan Sutherland's avatar

Thanks David!

I was also a big fan of Dan Buglio's daily videos during my recovery. They were simple, yet very helpful for keeping me on track and helping me become more at ease in my mind.

Feel free to reach out if you ever want to chat.

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The Unlearning Project's avatar

So keen for this!

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Gordian's avatar

The Way Out by Alan Gordon + Alon Ziv is an excellent Primer on Chronic pain, and definitely made an impact on my life. Glad to see others are also disseminating the new findings.

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David Siebo's avatar

The fact that the onset of these symptoms was immediately after moving houses suggests that there could be some environmental factor, with the two most likely being neurotoxic mold of EMF exposure.

Recommend getting professional mold testing and an EMF meter to check the levels in your house.

Other environmental factors could include paint or carpet VOC off-gassing.

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Dan Sutherland's avatar

Hey David!

So that was partially my thinking for about 9 months (after reading a provoking book called Toxicity - great read). However, after going through the recovery process for mold my pain levels were no better than before. This was the last "physical"/structural path I went down and is what led to me fully engaging the approach this blog series highlights (and which has been shown in literature + research to be highly effective for people with this category of chronic pain).

Additionally it's worth noting I had chronic pain while living in 4 different homes over the 4+ year period of symptoms - and my symptoms persisted still for over a year living in my last home (before they resolved while still living there for 4-5 more months as described in another comment on the home).

So beyond targeted environmental treatment seemingly doing nothing for my pain + living conditions varying notably over the years, I don't believe environmental factors were the cause of my chronic pain!

Dan

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Randy's avatar

Was your new home, new as in brand new, like sick building syndrome?

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Dan Sutherland's avatar

My home likely didn't contribute to my illness - at least from a mould perspective, and because I recovered 4-5 months before I left that location.

I went on a set of elimination diets and binding medications following some mould being detected in my body. However this did not lead to a change in symptoms. This was the final straw (after doing a laundry list of other root cause explores) which led me to invest in the approach this series is directed towards - and which will be walked through (in relation to other root causes) in the coming posts.

The building itself was relatively new.

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argo's avatar

OpenAI o3 says:

Below is a structured, non-exhaustive differential for a middle-aged adult who develops shifting, bilateral Achilles tendinopathy, shoulder pain, hand-forearm-elbow pain, and voice problems over four years, with no clear precipitating trauma and significant impact on function.

1. Local or regional tissue disorders

Tendinopathies: bilateral mid-portion Achilles tendinopathy, rotator-cuff tendinosis, lateral epicondylitis, De Quervain tenosynovitis

Enthesitis related to seronegative spondyloarthropathies

Myofascial pain syndromes or trigger points

Laryngeal muscle-tension dysphonia for the voice symptoms

2. Systemic inflammatory and autoimmune

Seronegative spondyloarthritis (e.g., psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis)

Rheumatoid arthritis (seropositive or seronegative)

Polymyalgia rheumatica (if age >50 and proximal girdle involvement)

Systemic lupus erythematosus or mixed connective-tissue disease

Vasculitides such as polyarteritis nodosa or giant-cell arteritis (age dependent)

3. Endocrine-metabolic

Hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism causing diffuse myalgias and tendinous pain

Hyperparathyroidism or osteomalacia with bone pain mimicking tendon pain

Diabetes with early diabetic cheiroarthropathy or neuropathy presenting as limb pain

4. Infectious or post-infectious

Lyme disease with migratory arthralgias and tendinopathy

Viral arthritides (parvovirus B19, hepatitis B/C, Chikungunya)

Post-streptococcal reactive arthritis

5. Neuropathic and central pain amplification

Small-fiber neuropathy producing burning distal limb pain

Cervical or lumbar radiculopathy with referred limb pain

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS type I or II)

Central sensitisation syndromes including fibromyalgia spectrum disorders

6. Mechanical or structural

Haglund deformity with retro-Achilles bursitis

Degenerative rotator-cuff tear, acromial impingement

Median or ulnar entrapment neuropathies at the elbow or wrist

7. Hematologic or malignant

Monoclonal gammopathy or multiple myeloma with bone pain

Leukemia or lymphoma with musculoskeletal infiltration

8. Drug- or toxin-induced

Fluoroquinolone-associated tendinopathy

Statin-induced myalgia or tendinopathy

Aromatase inhibitors causing diffuse joint pain in breast cancer survivors

9. Psychologic and functional

Somatic symptom disorder

Pain disorder associated with anxiety, depression, PTSD, or high stress

Centralised pain from chronic pain neural circuitry changes (mind-body model)

Red-flag features that warrant urgent evaluation

Night pain that does not improve with position changes

Unintentional weight loss, fevers, drenching sweats

Neurologic deficits, progressive weakness, or bladder/bowel dysfunction

Rapidly escalating pain out of proportion to exam findings

Important: This list is for educational purposes only and not a substitute for a clinician’s evaluation. A thorough history, physical examination, and targeted investigations are needed to narrow the differential and guide management.

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Dan Sutherland's avatar

Very neat, this is pretty much everything I explored. At one point I even spent a ton of time and money on mould toxicity testing and reduction as IIRC some strains have been linked to pain/fatigue.

I'll be diving into this thoroughly in 2-3 weeks time.

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