you have already discussed this; I'm relatively new here. I have been seeing a therapist to learn RSA Breathing to manage the symptoms of my IBS-D. I also suffer from lower back and sciatic pain. I asked my therapist if there were any biofeedback techniques he could teach me that would lessen the excruciating pain I've been in for the last month. I was diagnosed 7 years ago with an extruded L-5 disc, which was pressing on spinal nerves. It seemed logical: I had a high pressure, sedentary working life, I was overweight and didn't exercise. I was the poster child for lower back problems. My chiropractor told me that I had little hope of rehabbing the injury unless I was willing to lose weight.He gave me some exercises to do, and eventually I got a little relief. But I kept having recurrences of the pain, usually after doing the least little thing you would think would have any effect. 2 years ago I finally got serious about things and started the Atkins Diet, and doing aerobic and resistance training. I lost 45 pounds and seemed to have banished my pain.About a month ago my world came crashing down around me with the return of excruciating pain. I thought that I would surely have to have surgery, an idea I had vigorously resisted until now. My rehab exercises didn't seem to be having the effect they had before, and my chiropractor had moved out of the area. I was THIS close to putting my situation in the hands of the medical establishment.Then, while grimacing in front of the therapist who was teaching me a biofeedback technique for managing my IBS-D symptoms, he suggested I might want to read the books written by Dr. John Sarno. Dr. Sarno was on the staff at NYU's School of Medecine, and had some interesting ideas about low back pain, and other stress-related conditions.My local library had a copy of Sarno's "Mind Over Back Pain", and I checked it out. I was stunned to find that he believes that low back pain is not a structural problem in many cases, but (in effect) the body's reaction to repressed anxiety. His basis for this belief is that many patients who were diagnosed with degenerative disc disease had no pain, and many patients who complained of low back pain had no structural problem. Biopsies of the muscle tissue of these patients showed a buildup of cellular wastes indicative of oxygen starvation due to constriction of blood vessels--a classic anxiety reaction.He began subjecting his low back pain patients to seminars designed to educate about the harmful effects of anxiety--manifesting themselves as physical symptoms--and patients started getting better. We're talking about people who had had multiple surgeries and were still in pain. I believe that the same holds true for IBS. That is, get rid of the anxiety and the IBS symptoms will eventually disappear. I see this therapist again next month, and plan to discuss further therapy to deal with the underlying anxiety issues. Note: I finished the Sarno book 3 days ago, and after a brief period of inner turmoil, am starting to feel better--both in terms of lower back pain AND IBS. I hardly think this is coincidence. I was generally skeptical when studying Freud back in college in the 70's, but there may be somthing to this. It's worth exploring, particularly if it avoids expensive surgery that often makes things worse! Will keep you posted as things unfold.