Huxley

Here is my story from my day 1 post.

Day 1 is happening a year after hearing about TMS. A friend shared the book the same week an Osteopath told me I had Fibromyalgia and that I needed some scary unmentionables ruled out by a Neurologist! I felt like the Osteopath had crossed a line and diagnosed things he shouldn't have... but it made me receptive to other causes. After reading half of Dr. Sarno's book I felt a bit better. I put it down and carried on. Life got more interesting, the symptoms worsened, new ones joined them.

I thought I was a strong, never ill type but now that I'm reflecting properly, and with the knowledge that you have all shared, I can see I've had TMS for years. I've had the stubborn tendinitis, the jaw problems, the period where I had loads of Headaches, that time my Stomach killed and I knew that was stress, the rock solid Neck and shoulders that cost a fortune in physiotherapy and massages. These separate incidents lasted between 6 months and two years. They were only ever seen in isolation and once over completely forgotten... until now.

My TMS is currently manifesting itself in the following ways:

1. Lower back pain - restrictive, tight, sometimes sharp spasms, sometimes struggle to stand up straight. (Started Jan 2015)
2. Shooting pain down leg
3. upper arm ache and heaviness
4. Tingling, pins and needles, sometimes burning sensation in arms and hands (this is when it got scary and I went to the Osteopath last summer)
5. Tingling legs and feet
6. Waking up with numb hands/arms
7. Tingling, burning sensation in lips (First time in April 2016)
8. Tingling, burning sensation in tongue (first time July 2016- really scared and went to GP and was referred to a Neurologist)
9. Twitching legs

I think the biggest cause of my worsening TMS symptoms is the worry about my health. The irony! I'm hoping that will soon be over. I've seen the Neurologist and he was positive. I'll have the MRI in a couple of weeks and that will hopefully prove him (and TMS) right. Blood tests are also coming back normal. I've been playing with the idea of TMS for ages but I always seem to get pulled back into the fear of being seriously ill by the scary symptoms/pain I've been experiencing. Instead of doing the structured education programme I would just use the forum for a bit of crisis management. I'd pop in to see if someone else here had had the same symptoms and it be TMS. I, of course, found examples here for all of them. This site has given me great comfort and reduced my anxiety, for a period of time. Now I need to do this properly and get better. So here I am, day 1! Wish me luck. I'm scared and tired and worried... but also trying to be hopeful. I can't wait to be better. Thank you in advance for your support. You've already been a great help.