Elliot Lewis

It turns out writing a pain diary helps communicate things to medical professionals. But there were things I forgot. If you’ve not read the previous blog post: My journey with nerve pain (part 1).

Things I forgot to mention. Holding weights out in front of me (be that a stack of clean dishes or a mid weight dumbbell), the activation of my posterior chain has set me off all year. This points to back and hamstring, but alas, revelations will be revealed. Flare up’s from back pain causing constipation, upset guts and random urgency to urinate is not something I ever really considered something that would happen to me, that feels like an old man thing! I’m young!

Aug 12, 2026, I got a CT scan of my lower back and an ultrasound of my hamstring and glutes.

So what? I’m a normal guy in my 30s who has lifted weights and run a lot, this is totally normal. Nothing to see here, officer.

Aug 16, 2026, I go to the gym and have a great workouts. Not a normal workout, but my first highly modified customised routine designed to look after Central Sensitisation and spinal protection. Bird dogs, pallof press, suitcase carry, dead bugs, the lot. Some incline treadmill walking. No pain, all progress.

Aug 17, 2026, I had such a good gym session. My back is fine, the scans are clear! Time to experiment and test my limits. 5 very gentle pogo hops, knees stiff, calves flexed. 5 little bounces on my toes, up and down. I feel just fine.

• T+45 mins: my thoracic locks up and breathing becomes difficult.
• T+60 mins: my lumbar locks up and now I feel like I’m at square 1 again.
• T+75 mins: my hamstring cramps, I do some small mobility stretches and lie on the ground with my knees on a pouffe. Luckily my partner came home to give me a heat pack to lie on. It takes 20 minutes or breath work to calm my nerves and back.

Aug 18, 2026, I see a sports specialist. My GP can’t see anything, so here I am, spending more money on my healthspan. The specialist reviews the scans, finds the slight bulge and says that the reports of the scans are accurate. After some physical checks, not being able to touch chin to chest, prodding the hamstring tendon, stretching and twisting. He concludes that my hamstring is 100% okay, still just as strong as my left, no delayed activation. The specialist says that the theory of Central Sensitisation is 100% the case, but there must also be another underlying issue. So it must be a chemical thing on my nerves and potentially a twisted/contorted pelvis. The pelvis being the underlying source of inflamation, pain and chronic tightness.

As an aside, I have been shocked that there isn’t a Wikipedia page on Central Sensitisation. I, user:Platyguy, write the draft Wikipedia Page for the world to see. I’d like more physios, GPs and doctors to be aware of this. So when they all ChatGPT their clients ailments, hopefully this comes up and prompts the professional prompter.

I am started on a course of cortisone (prednisolone) for 5 days, which ironically is a stimulant. Feeling it on day 2, it’s a terrible hangover feeling. Garmin says my sleep is the worst it has ever been after one dose, my HRV is the lowest it has ever been, my resting heart rate is 10 bpm faster and my breath rate is high. My lumbar aches pretty badly. But oh well, it should be the circuit breaker of neuroplastic pain and hopefully my MRI (hip and lumbar) will reveal something.

Cortisone Day 1: Tuesday
First dose at midday, and you can see my cardiac stress leap up. I work from home, but I can’t think, I can’t concentrate, I can’t see straight. I just feel awful. The first night’s sleep is awful, my lowest sleep score I’ve ever had. My hear rate variability is low (highly stressed), my respiration is high and my sleeping heat rate is high. Everything is in the red.

Cortisone Day 2: Wednesday
After the terrible sleep, I take the second dose at 6am to try and let it get out of my system before bed time. Gobble it down with food, and you see my cardiac stress jump right back up. But I go to work, like an idiot, on the train, woozy as anything. 1pm, I’m put in an uber back home. For any Garmin data-freaks out there, you’ll see a Body Battery of 5 is brutal. I lay in bed from 2 till 7pm with maybe an hour of sleep. You can see all my vitals come back down and me begin to relax. But I’m still highly stimulated and don’t manage to sleep until midnight-1am, something like that. My sleep metrics were back in range, thankfully.

Cortisone Day 3: Thursday
Oh my, I’ve slept in. Sleeping in late, while sleep deprived means I missed my alarm and I’ve taken dose 3 late. Taking the dose at 8:30am means I’m probably going to be in trouble later. But today, I take the day off, lay in bed and manage the symptoms. It’s not so bad and I’m getting used to it.

Cortisone Day 4: Friday
Ahh, day 4, I can work from home, I feel not so bad. I take the chance to walk around the block after work. Over the walk, I can’t really look at my feet or my phone because looking down hurts my upper back. The chin to chest still hurts. But I can waltz around a park at 10 mins per km for 3.2 km.

Cortisone Day 5: Saturday
The last day, thankfully! I thought I was adapting, but it turns out that I’m still very fragile and prone to exhaustion. Hopefully now I’m at the end, Garmin can stop thinking that I’m dying all the time.

Tune in next time for the MRI results.