Bilateral arm tingling & buzzing — could this be TMS?

[alextrp67]

Hello! I’m new to this page but not new to TMS work. In the past I dealt with IC, which has improved a lot. Recently though, I’ve developed a new symptom: tingling, buzzing, aching, and easily fatigued arm muscles, along with a fine motor shaking feeling in my hands. It affects both arms.

Last August I started a very demanding graduate school program. During the first few months I didn’t have a desk set up and was doing a lot of schoolwork on my laptop on the couch. In November, after spending about four hours working on my laptop at a coffee shop, I suddenly developed very intense tingling, heaviness, and pain in both arms that lasted about four days. Since then it has settled into persistent tingling, buzzing, and aching mostly in my forearms and hands, but sometimes throughout my entire arms.

I tried physical therapy in January focusing on posture, neck mobility, and upper body exercises, but didn’t notice much improvement. The PT mentioned it reminded him somewhat of thoracic outlet–type symptoms. I also saw my GP, who wasn’t overly concerned but did order a nerve conduction study (scheduled for April). I do not have any arm weakness although sometimes I find my arms get fatigued quickly. In the meantime I saw a chiropractor once who took X-rays and said I have some neck and back misalignment, & tight scalene (neck) muscles. He also mentioned some aspects of the importance of nervous system regulation.

There have been brief times where the symptoms seemed a little better, particularly after I saw my GP and she reassured me she didn’t feel this was anything life-threatening. However, recently they feel more noticeable again—especially tingling, tremor-like sensations, and electrical feelings in my arms, often when I’m at rest or after excessive computer work.

Part of me wonders if this could be TMS. I’m in a very demanding program, still working part time, preparing to quit my job soon, and we’re also moving states for school. There has been a lot of stress and life change lately.

At the same time, the symptoms started after that long laptop session and poor ergonomic setup during the first few months (which I have since changed), so it makes me question the posture angle. I also haven’t had any MRI or CT imaging done, and part of me worries about missing something structural—even though I know imaging can sometimes find incidental things that aren’t actually the cause of symptoms.

I’ve read books by Nicole Sachs, Alan Gordon, and John Sarno, and I still see a pain reprocessing therapist from my previous TMS issue.

I’m curious if anyone else here has experienced similar bilateral arm symptoms (tingling, buzzing, tremor feelings), and whether this ended up being TMS for you.

I know this is the human condition, but it truly feels hard to be excited about all of the upcoming life changes in my life right now. Really just needing any encouragement or thoughts about all of this. Thank you for allowing me to be a new member here!

 

[Cactusflower]

"it truly feels hard to be excited about all of the upcoming life changes in my life right now"

You certainly have a lot on your plate!
Welcome!
A few suggestions that might help you out - make a list of your stressors but do it in two columns - writing things out sometimes begins to put things in perspective and also can help your mind get a better picture of the larger stressors (sometimes the small stuff can all point in one direction): is it fear of the unknown, inability to control outcomes? In the 2nd column write your emotional feelings/emotional thought feelings about the stressor: how is this really effecting your mental/emotional state. You mention it's hard to feel excited - what else? Worry, fears, insecurities?

Our human brains tend to bias to the negative: yours is avoiding feeling "excitement" (an aside, anxiety and excitement tend to effect the nervous system the same way because they are processed in the same place in the brain) - it's also a LOT to feel excited about. Can you break things down and find tiny bits to look forward to: I will have a space of my own to create a sanctuary I feel safe in, or quitting my job might be a financial pinch but will give me more time when I feel so many demands on my time.

When can you grab a bit of time for yourself? Can you find 10 minutes in the morning and evening to mediate or even just sit to process your day?

What can you add to your day that isn't more "work" or "demand" but will help you keep the focus off worrying about erognomics, tests etc? Can you simply gaze out a window every 1/2 hour for a few seconds to re-group? Can you do a stretch or two - not to "fix" anything physical but to alleviate your mind from the worry of sitting the "wrong" way?

Experiment! See what might work and what doesn't work or resonate with you. I also think you might really benefit from "writing sh*t down" a few times a week to offload the stress. Recently I've been watching a TMS doc who asks his patients to do this and adopt it to their own needs: some folks write three words, some a short list of annoyances/fears etc, others are the type that write pages...he says it does not matter. Do what you have time for, and again play around with it. Maybe once a week you can write a few pages and other days only three words.

Best wishes for all the things you have going on.

 

[alextrp67]

"it truly feels hard to be excited about all of the upcoming life changes in my life right now"

You certainly have a lot on your plate!
Welcome!
A few suggestions that might help you out - make a list of your stressors but do it in two columns - writing things out sometimes begins to put things in perspective and also can help your mind get a better picture of the larger stressors (sometimes the small stuff can all point in one direction): is it fear of the unknown, inability to control outcomes? In the 2nd column write your emotional feelings/emotional thought feelings about the stressor: how is this really effecting your mental/emotional state. You mention it's hard to feel excited - what else? Worry, fears, insecurities?

Our human brains tend to bias to the negative: yours is avoiding feeling "excitement" (an aside, anxiety and excitement tend to effect the nervous system the same way because they are processed in the same place in the brain) - it's also a LOT to feel excited about. Can you break things down and find tiny bits to look forward to: I will have a space of my own to create a sanctuary I feel safe in, or quitting my job might be a financial pinch but will give me more time when I feel so many demands on my time.

When can you grab a bit of time for yourself? Can you find 10 minutes in the morning and evening to mediate or even just sit to process your day?

What can you add to your day that isn't more "work" or "demand" but will help you keep the focus off worrying about erognomics, tests etc? Can you simply gaze out a window every 1/2 hour for a few seconds to re-group? Can you do a stretch or two - not to "fix" anything physical but to alleviate your mind from the worry of sitting the "wrong" way?

Experiment! See what might work and what doesn't work or resonate with you. I also think you might really benefit from "writing sh*t down" a few times a week to offload the stress. Recently I've been watching a TMS doc who asks his patients to do this and adopt it to their own needs: some folks write three words, some a short list of annoyances/fears etc, others are the type that write pages...he says it does not matter. Do what you have time for, and again play around with it. Maybe once a week you can write a few pages and other days only three words.

Best wishes for all the things you have going on.

Thank you for your kind reply Love all of this!

 

[Diana-M]

Hi Alex! Yes, I have what you describe—the buzzing etc in arms—and it’s TMS. Have you ever read Hope and Help for Your Nerves, by Claire Weekes? It really explains how a body just finally snaps under enough pressure. The pandemic put most people at a higher nervous vibration, so to speak. And we never came down. Then add more life onto that, like you have, and eventually your nerves just fry. It takes some time to quiet them down. That book helps explain it. It was a big help to me.

 

[alextrp67]

Hi Alex! Yes, I have what you describe—the buzzing etc in arms—and it’s TMS. Have you ever read Hope and Help for Your Nerves, by Claire Weekes? It really explains how a body just finally snaps under enough pressure. The pandemic put most people at a higher nervous vibration, so to speak. And we never came down. Then add more life onto that, like you have, and eventually your nerves just fry. It takes some time to quiet them down. That book helps explain it. It was a big help to me.

Hi, thank you for responding & recommending this book. I will buy this! I do feel like a component of this is TMS. I have really bad anxiety and have all of the TMS “personality traits” which I feel like further exacerbates the anxiety. Have you found your symptoms ease up at all? Truly, thank you!

 

[Diana-M]

That’s good you recognize that your TMS traits also feed your anxiety! You’ll want to try and calm yourself through changing a lot of how you see life. You’re in the right place to learn about that. And it sounds like you’re on your way with that. Good! Yes, the buzzing itself eventually stopped. But now and then if I get really nervous, it will come back but just a little. When the buzzing finally subsided (it took more than a year), I was totally convinced my problem was nerves. Before that, I was always secretly wondering if I had something terrible wrong with me. But Claire Weekes was right. It’s nerves. Mixed with TMS. Actually, TMS is anxiety and anxiety is TMS. It’s all a big tangled mess. But you can get through it.

 

[alextrp67]

That’s good you recognize that your TMS traits also feed your anxiety! You’ll want to try and calm yourself through changing a lot of how you see life. You’re in the right place to learn about that. And it sounds like you’re on your way with that. Good! Yes, the buzzing itself eventually stopped. But now and then if I get really nervous, it will come back but just a little. When the buzzing finally subsided (it took more than a year), I was totally convinced my problem was nerves. Before that, I was always secretly wondering if I had something terrible wrong with me. But Claire Weekes was right. It’s nerves. Mixed with TMS. Actually, TMS is anxiety and anxiety is TMS. It’s all a big tangled mess. But you can get through it.

I agree wholeheartedly that that is a possible culprit! Because I have been immersed in the TMS world for a while, I am really struggling with whether or not to pursue the nerve conduction test (EMG), or even if I should ask for scans (CT or MRI). I don’t know how worthwhile it would be this early on, and my doctor didn’t seem to think we were at that stage yet. It just stinks feeling like I could be missing something that is medically an issue. I guess that’s always the question here.

I am, however, under the belief that if you go looking for something, you may find something, and it may be completely benign and unrelated to the symptoms. The nerve sensations in the arms are just so scary, as you know. Did you ever receive any formal diagnosis or do any testing for anything, or did you just do this work and keep up with reading to figure all of this out?

Sometimes it even feels like a heartbeat in my arms, and the tremors or shaking can be a little scary. I was painting pottery with a friend about a month ago, and after about an hour my hands were cramping and shaking. I feel like I clearly have some muscle or nerve irritation, but maybe once I can recognize that it is TMS, my body will calm down. But also you said before it calmed down, you also thought it was your nerves…and now it’s so obvious to you it was nothing life threatening. I am so happy for you that you’ve found symptom reduction!

 

[Alouqua47]

Hola, ¿qué tal? Bienvenidos. Soy relativamente nuevo aquí, y mi síntoma principal —porque tengo unos cuatro— son los brazos, con un dolor nervioso. Mi dolor es bastante fuerte, y cuando hay picos, es aún más intenso. Se siente como energía, como una tensión eléctrica, sobre todo en el brazo izquierdo, aunque a veces puede saltar al otro lado. Sí, el cerebro es capaz de crear cualquier síntoma, incluso síntomas inexplicables. Siempre es muy esperanzador saber que personas con síntomas similares a los nuestros han mejorado o están mejorando. En mi caso, no he sentido ninguna mejora desde que me uní a la Wiki, pero con la experiencia he notado mejoras en otras partes del cuerpo donde tengo síntomas. Por mi cuenta, he intentado reincorporarme a la vida y he perdido un poco el miedo, ya que sabiendo que mi cuerpo no estaba roto y que todo esto venía de mi mente, no tenía sentido seguir evitando ciertos movimientos. De alguna manera, creo que estaba reeducando mi sistema nervioso. Les deseo suerte. Espero que puedas encontrar la calma para calmar tu sistema nervioso y evitar que empeore, porque a veces creo que lo que lo empeora es tener más miedo y seguir buscando soluciones, cuando en realidad todo está simplemente en el cerebro, manteniéndonos alerta o con miedo, lo que alimenta el bucle del dolor.

¡Hola! Soy nuevo en esta página, pero no en el trabajo con EMT. Anteriormente, tuve CI, lo cual ha mejorado mucho. Sin embargo, recientemente, he desarrollado un nuevo síntoma: hormigueo, zumbido, dolor y fatiga muscular en los brazos, además de temblores en la motricidad fina de las manos. Afecta a ambos brazos.

El pasado agosto comencé un programa de posgrado muy exigente. Durante los primeros meses no tenía un escritorio y hacía muchos trabajos escolares en mi portátil en el sofá. En noviembre, después de pasar unas cuatro horas trabajando con el portátil en una cafetería, de repente empecé a sentir un hormigueo, pesadez y dolor muy intensos en ambos brazos que duraron unos cuatro días. Desde entonces, se ha convertido en un hormigueo, zumbido y dolor persistentes, principalmente en los antebrazos y las manos, pero a veces en todo el brazo.

En enero, intenté fisioterapia centrada en la postura, la movilidad del cuello y ejercicios para la parte superior del cuerpo, pero no noté mucha mejoría. El fisioterapeuta comentó que le recordaba un poco a los síntomas del desfiladero torácico. También fui a mi médico de cabecera, quien no se preocupó demasiado, pero me solicitó un estudio de conducción nerviosa (programado para abril). No tengo debilidad en los brazos, aunque a veces noto que se me fatigan rápidamente. Mientras tanto, una vez fui a un quiropráctico que me hizo radiografías y me dijo que tengo cierta desalineación del cuello y la espalda, y músculos escalenos (del cuello) tensos. También mencionó algunos aspectos de la importancia de la regulación del sistema nervioso.

Ha habido breves momentos en los que los síntomas parecieron mejorar un poco, sobre todo después de consultar con mi médico de cabecera, quien me aseguró que no creía que fuera algo grave. Sin embargo, últimamente se han vuelto a notar con más intensidad, sobre todo hormigueo, temblores y sensaciones eléctricas en los brazos, a menudo en reposo o después de trabajar demasiado con la computadora.

Una parte de mí se pregunta si esto podría ser SMT. Estoy en un programa muy exigente, sigo trabajando a tiempo parcial, me estoy preparando para dejar mi trabajo pronto y, además, nos mudamos de estado para estudiar. Últimamente he tenido mucho estrés y cambios en mi vida.

Al mismo tiempo, los síntomas comenzaron después de esa larga sesión con la computadora portátil y una mala ergonomía durante los primeros meses (que ya he cambiado), lo que me hace cuestionar el ángulo postural. Tampoco me he hecho ninguna resonancia magnética ni tomografía computarizada, y una parte de mí se preocupa por no haber detectado algún problema estructural, aunque sé que las imágenes a veces pueden detectar detalles incidentales que no son la causa real de los síntomas.

He leído libros de Nicole Sachs, Alan Gordon y John Sarno, y todavía veo a un terapeuta de reprocesamiento del dolor de mi problema anterior con TMS.

Tengo curiosidad por saber si alguien más aquí ha experimentado síntomas bilaterales similares en el brazo (hormigueo, zumbido, sensación de temblor) y si esto terminó siendo TMS en su caso.

Sé que es la condición humana, pero me cuesta mucho entusiasmarme con todos los cambios que se avecinan en mi vida. Necesito un poco de ánimo o ideas sobre todo esto. ¡Gracias por permitirme ser un nuevo miembro!

 

[Diana-M]

I never did the testing because I knew they might scare me unnecessarily and only make me worse. I have read of so many people here on the forum that had the same kind of nerve buzzing. I actually had the buzzing all throughout my body. Sarno emphasizes how your subconscious brain can use nerves, tendons, and/or muscles to create sensations to distract you from your emotions. It’s hard to believe that TMS can include so many weird and scary sensations — but it can.

 

[cafe_bustelo]

I had craaaazy nerve stuff for a while. I’m not symptom-free yet, I still have some tension or irritation but the nerve sensations (tingling, buzzing, hot/cold, static electricity feeling all over my body, points on my body that were sore and sensitive to palpation) have all stopped almost completely (all that remains is occasional sensitivity in a few areas but it’s not really nervy feeling anymore). I didn’t believe it would ever end but it did, it just kind of stopped happening gradually; no dramatic reduction. In some ways I got distracted by new symptoms which I realize isn’t what you want to hear, but those are on their way out too and are much easier to deal with in the meantime.

 

[Alouqua47]

“Hi, I’m really surprised and happy to hear that you’re improving, especially since we know that these kinds of nerve symptoms can cause fear and are sometimes the most challenging. I also think the intensity of the discomfort plays a big role. How long have you been working on this, and what exactly have you been doing?”

Tuve un problema nervioso muy fuerte durante un tiempo. Todavía no he desaparecido de los síntomas; todavía tengo algo de tensión o irritación, pero las sensaciones nerviosas (hormigueo, zumbido, calor/frío, electricidad estática por todo el cuerpo, puntos doloridos y sensibles a la palpación) han desaparecido casi por completo (solo queda una sensibilidad ocasional en algunas zonas, pero ya no son realmente nerviosismo). No creía que fuera a desaparecer nunca, pero sí, simplemente fue desapareciendo poco a poco; no hubo una reducción drástica. En cierto modo, me distrajeron los nuevos síntomas, que sé que no son lo que quieres oír, pero esos también están desapareciendo y son mucho más fáciles de manejar mientras tanto.

 

[Diana-M]

“Hi, I’m really surprised and happy to hear that you’re improving, especially since we know that these kinds of nerve symptoms can cause fear and are sometimes the most challenging. I also think the intensity of the discomfort plays a big role. How long have you been working on this, and what exactly have you been doing?”

I spent about 2 years on this forum and intensely studying TMS. The more I learned, the more I started to lose my fear, even though it’s very hard. I also had a weird thing happen. I woke up one day and my left hand was totally better. Clear out of nowhere! It lasted for 2 weeks, then went back. This totally reinforced that this is being controlled by my brain. The biggest thing I’m doing to help heal this is calming my nervous system. That’s the major thing.

 

[Adam Coloretti (coach)]

“Hi, I’m really surprised and happy to hear that you’re improving, especially since we know that these kinds of nerve symptoms can cause fear and are sometimes the most challenging. I also think the intensity of the discomfort plays a big role. How long have you been working on this, and what exactly have you been doing?”

Hi @Alouqua47, I responded to another one of your posts and I'm not trying to be annoying, but I sense a pattern. You shouldn't be surprised at his progress as it is all TMS, and when you say "since we know that these kind of nerve symptoms can cause fear" - all symptoms can cause every level of fear. Something like chronic fatigue for example, which luckily I've never had, but I can imagine how potentially terrifying it is to go outside and not know whether or not you're going to have such an energy crash they'll faint walking across the road. If there wasn't any fear then it wouldn't become chronic (assuming there was no structural issue).

I say this only to help, but putting nerve pain in a league of its own in your mind is only going to amplify the fear and it's not going to assist recovery. I appreciate the reality of the fact that it scares you more than other symptoms, but that should be met with firm clarification that it's all TMS rather than an attempt to distinguish recovery difficulty or timelines (again, this may be protecting you against getting your hopes up which I also understand).

Intensity of the discomfort can play a role but again spotlighting that isn't going to help and you're going to think "well perhaps healing is possible for those with under a 5 out of 10 pain, but mine is higher so naturally it's going to be more difficult to recover". That isn't necessarily true. Once someone genuinely knows and believes it is TMS (and acts accordingly which people miss as being a crucial part of belief, not just conceptually and intellectually believing it), then it can become redundant. I've seen those with lower levels of pain with a lot of resistance still to the idea that it is TMS take a lot longer vs someone with very high pain initially who got the belief and application spot on. Should it be easier in theory if the pain is lower? Yes, but it's not a hard and fast rule.

We talked about this in another post too, but I think that your resistance to the emotional work may also be amplifying this issue (this work links up with the idea of acting in accordance with the TMS belief, which I'll explain). If you come at this from the strictly PRT/how I relate to symptoms approach, then of course this is going to very difficult as it's harder to be indifferent in isolation to stronger pain/symptoms. You have talked about ignoring the symptoms before, which I would never advocate doing. Doing the emotional work is not only about emotional processing of repressed emotions - but it also crucially allows you to make links between your emotional triggers and your symptoms. This not only takes the attention away from the symptoms and your body (which is important - and I think you need this because you do talk about your symptoms on here a lot), but it also increases belief in TMS on its own (as it is more and more evidence that this is emotionally driven) and it empowers you to think "if I can work on these emotional triggers, then I may get some relief". This will naturally lead to more indifference but also any relief you get from that may put you in a better position to actually do somatic tracking (which can only be done when the pain is lower than a 6 or 7).

I'm keen to hear what you think and I want you to feel empowered to move forward with recovery I don't want you to have consistent high pain and be walking around trying to be indifferent as your sole recovery tactic (trying to be indifferent to consistent high pain just as a solitary effort is borderline impossible - it's also a lot of pressure all the time), which I think will just lead to frustration and burnout with all this work.

 

[alextrp67]

I had craaaazy nerve stuff for a while. I’m not symptom-free yet, I still have some tension or irritation but the nerve sensations (tingling, buzzing, hot/cold, static electricity feeling all over my body, points on my body that were sore and sensitive to palpation) have all stopped almost completely (all that remains is occasional sensitivity in a few areas but it’s not really nervy feeling anymore). I didn’t believe it would ever end but it did, it just kind of stopped happening gradually; no dramatic reduction. In some ways I got distracted by new symptoms which I realize isn’t what you want to hear, but those are on their way out too and are much easier to deal with in the meantime.

Thank you for this reply! I have had bladder symptoms before that I knew were TMS because they started to shift but now I really know they were TMS because they’ve disappeared since the new arm symptoms. I am activity applying TMS work to these symptoms as I also rule out anything dangerous! I am really hopeful that I can get them to diminish with the emotional work as it can only help. I am very grateful for your response & am so happy to hear you are improving! Can I ask what you are doing to see such improvement? My main go to is journaling and just immersing myself in TMS podcasts, and practicing safety. Love this for you

 

[Alouqua47]

Hello, how are you? Yes, it’s true that I don’t work much on the emotional side, apart from trying not to be afraid or trying to relax when I feel nervous. But in reality, I’ve seen many people who didn’t need to do emotional work in order to recover. And it’s not that I didn’t try it at the beginning, but when you’ve already looked at all the aspects of the past and tried to work through them—thinking about which emotions you didn’t experience—I don’t really know what else there is to keep analyzing.
Regarding my current emotions, I know that the pain can be triggered by emotions like fear or anxiety, because I’ve experienced it firsthand. My pain would rise within seconds when I had panic attacks. I’m referring to my arms. I’ve also had occasions when I became very nervous about something and the pain appeared within seconds as well. So I know that when I’m very nervous or very scared about something, it flares up. But not necessarily every time. Sometimes it simply fluctuates during the day. It’s worth noting that most of the time it stays at a somewhat high level.
I suppose I have focused a lot on the symptoms, but basically that’s because I feel like I’m at a point where I’m desperate. I don’t mind or feel ashamed to admit it. I know that we all suffer from pain in different parts of the body or sometimes in one specific place, but the truth is that I do believe that stronger, more intense pain—especially if it’s nerve-related—can influence the recovery process. It may make recovery slower and make it harder to have fewer moments of fear between symptoms.
And as I mentioned before, emotions do have an influence because they can trigger the pain, but that alone won’t really help you improve. In the end, what we do in this community is train our brains to become calm again, to return to normal, and to stop being in a constant alert and fight-or-flight mode.
That’s why the approach of Dr. Sarno works: people lose fear of the symptom and of movement. They begin focusing on other areas, such as the emotional side, instead of thinking they have something structural. That is literally neuroplasticity—the neural pathway weakens and stops being used. That’s why people improve.
The brain is very complex, and I know there are still many things that aren’t fully understood. But basically, what is known so far is that chronic symptoms and pain in general are maladaptive signals that developed during moments of stress and emotional danger that the brain confused with real physical danger, and it can get stuck in that pattern.

Hola @Alouqua47, respondí a otra de tus publicaciones y no intento ser molesto, pero percibo un patrón. No deberías sorprenderte de su progreso, ya que todo es TMS, y cuando dices "ya que sabemos que este tipo de síntomas nerviosos pueden causar miedo", todos los síntomas pueden causar cualquier nivel de miedo. Algo como la fatiga crónica, por ejemplo, que por suerte nunca he tenido, pero puedo imaginar lo potencialmente aterrador que es salir a la calle y no saber si vas a tener o no un bajón de energía tan grande que se desmayen al cruzar la calle. Si no hubiera miedo, no se volvería crónico (suponiendo que no hubiera un problema estructural).

Lo digo solo para ayudar, pero considerar el dolor neuropático como algo aparte solo aumentará el miedo y no favorecerá la recuperación. Entiendo que te asuste más que otros síntomas, pero es importante aclarar que se trata de EMT (Síndrome de Músculo Transcraneal) en lugar de intentar predecir la dificultad o el tiempo de recuperación (de nuevo, esto puede ser para evitar que te hagas ilusiones, lo cual también comprendo).

La intensidad del malestar puede influir, pero centrarse en ello no ayuda y se llega a pensar: «Bueno, quizás la curación sea posible para quienes tienen un dolor inferior a 5 sobre 10, pero el mío es mayor, así que, naturalmente, será más difícil recuperarme». Esto no es necesariamente cierto. Una vez que alguien realmente sabe y cree que se trata de EMT (y actúa en consecuencia, algo que la gente suele pasar por alto como parte crucial de la creencia, no solo de creerlo conceptual e intelectualmente), entonces puede volverse redundante. He visto a personas con niveles de dolor más bajos que aún se resisten a la idea de que se trate de EMT tardar mucho más en recuperarse que alguien con un dolor muy alto inicialmente que comprendió la causa y aplicó el tratamiento correctamente. ¿Debería ser más fácil en teoría si el dolor es menor? Sí, pero no es una regla estricta.

We talked about this in another post too, but I think that your resistance to the emotional work may also be amplifying this issue (this work links up with the idea of acting in accordance with the TMS belief, which I'll explain). If you come at this from the strictly PRT/how I relate to symptoms approach, then of course this is going to very difficult as it's harder to be indifferent in isolation to stronger pain/symptoms. You have talked about ignoring the symptoms before, which I would never advocate doing. Doing the emotional work is not only about emotional processing of repressed emotions - but it also crucially allows you to make links between your emotional triggers and your symptoms. This not only takes the attention away from the symptoms and your body (which is important - and I think you need this because you do talk about your symptoms on here a lot), but it also increases belief in TMS on its own (as it is more and more evidence that this is emotionally driven) and it empowers you to think "if I can work on these emotional triggers, then I may get some relief". This will naturally lead to more indifference but also any relief you get from that may put you in a better position to actually do somatic tracking (which can only be done when the pain is lower than a 6 or 7).

I'm keen to hear what you think and I want you to feel empowered to move forward with recovery I don't want you to have consistent high pain and be walking around trying to be indifferent as your sole recovery tactic (trying to be indifferent to consistent high pain just as a solitary effort is borderline impossible - it's also a lot of pressure all the time), which I think will just lead to frustration and burnout with all this work.

 

[Adam Coloretti (coach)]

And as I mentioned before, emotions do have an influence because they can trigger the pain, but that alone won’t really help you improve. In the end, what we do in this community is train our brains to become calm again, to return to normal, and to stop being in a constant alert and fight-or-flight mode.

Hi! Good thanks and I hope you are well too

I agree with most of this - and I won't nitpick argue for the sake of it if I don't think it will help you. I wanted to reply to this bit specifically with a few questions. Firstly, what does "return to normal" mean to you? Secondly, why do you think the symptoms started for you in the first place?

The reason I ask this is because I think you risk ignoring the purpose of the symptoms. They didn't just come out of the blue and it wasn't random that they started (that isn't to say it's your fault nor is it anyone's fault, mine included for my own symptoms, that they came about). You're right about being in a state of constant alert and fight-or-flight mode, but for many people (this doesn't start with an injury for most people - although even for those where it does like myself - it often comes about in an overall environment of tension and stress) the state of constant alert began well before the symptoms and is the reason for the symptoms in the first place (you talk about returning to normal as if that isn't a constant state of fight-or-flight, but for most with TMS that state was their "normal" even before symptoms, the symptoms reflect the tipping point - they often don't appreciate this fact until the symptoms force reflection).

It seems like from what you've shared that you've been playing whack-a-mole with your symptoms. You've managed to overcome a few and then one pops up that is way more intense and way scarier. That indicates to me (and I have absolutely seen this before) that your brain is still trying to get your attention/protect you from something larger (however you wish to look at it).

Working on emotions isn't solely restricted to the past (given that I get the feeling you think it is largely redundant due to its past focus). As you referred to, it's also about addressing certain patterns and traits (people pleasing, perfectionism etc.) that are contributing to a state of constant alert and fight-or-flight today. I appreciate that what heavily contributes to this state is fear of the symptoms themselves after they begin (and that 100% needs to be addressed, I do that too when I coach people), but to suggest that this is all that is contributing to it doesn't really make sense from a TMS perspective, unless you believe that the only reason you're in pain is because you think you're structurally damaged (there are cases like that, but often it is a relatively quick fix - often people get one symptom and once their eyes are open to it being TMS/what TMS is they don't get any more - or if they do then they can essentially laugh the next ones off - I'm not picking on you nor would I raise the emotional work if I didn't think it was relevant in your case). It's way too big of a coincidence that, I would say, 99% of people I've talked to with TMS are either a people-pleaser, a perfectionist, or both (and even if they don't self-label, a conversation with them would be enough to confirm it). The ones that aren't are often incredibly easy to resolve (I would say most book cures are these types).

Symptoms are more often than not a protection/distraction from stressors/emotions that we are avoiding in the present. The pre-occupation with the pain is protection in and of itself. Given that your brain has shown a propensity to latch onto a symptom and panic on more than one occasion (despite already knowing about TMS at least for the more recent ones), that suggests to me that it's more than just individual fear towards each symptom. It's great that you're aware of your symptom-heavy focus too and that's nothing to be ashamed of whatsoever (I understand it given how painful it is, as you've shared).

The good thing is that what I'm suggesting is beneficial to you regardless. If you address what is contributing to you being in a state of constant alert and fight-or-flight beyond the symptoms themselves (I know this may be hard to conceptualise, if you really can't think of it then think of what caused stress to you before the symptoms and see if they are still active stressors), then even if I'm wrong and it has no impact then it's still a positive for your life (and you'll reap benefits from that work for the rest of your life, long after the pain is gone). If I'm right, however, this may be the missing piece and not only will it help you overcome your current symptoms, it will heavily reduce your chances of having a chronic symptom ever again (emphasis on chronic, acute pain is part of life). I don't want this to get lost in a theory debate either, because even based on what you said it could be beneficial to you. At worst, this work (which as I said is beneficial to you regardless if we look at larger life) can work to shift your attention away from your symptoms and the structural

PS: To me, emotional work only looks into the past to help you in the now and going forward. We emotionally process because it helps us to move on and to make positive change in the present (it also helps us to understand our traits more as we trace their origin). None of us are perfect emotionally, so there's no one on the planet who can't benefit from this work (whether they have TMS or not). Working on your stressors and traits that are contributing to stress doesn't need to be complicated too nor involve deep emotional excavation (even Alan Gordon, who focuses more on the theory that you resonate most with, recommends this and it covers multiple chapters in The Way Out).

 

[Alouqua47]

Hi. Uh, I know it could be beneficial, but I don’t know if it helps me in my recovery. Right now, in my current life, there’s nothing stressful except my own symptoms. My life is very calm because I don’t work. I’m just at home trying to manage and do what I can. I have a young daughter, four years old, and an older son. My husband also supports me as much as he can, but honestly, I feel like the symptom is basically what could bring me stress… because, being in my arms, it makes it very difficult to do household tasks. I do them and I’m not afraid it will hurt more, because it already hurts a lot. Almost every day I have constant pain, and sometimes it tends to increase, but thank God, not for long. But it also moves and has a very strange origin. The brain can create strange sensations. Usually, people feel tingling and numbness, but not me. Mine feels totally different. It’s weird.
And besides that, it often moves within the same arm, sometimes reaching the shoulder on the left arm, and so on. Ah, I can’t even get used to one sensation. Apart from my other symptoms, which are also random but more manageable because they come and go, really… I don’t know… I know I could, I can ignore them because they are in the background. I think part of the reason I can’t… is that I’ve seen in other people’s recoveries, they resume their life and try to find pleasures, things that make them feel, I guess, safe and happy. And so, I guess the nervous system starts to relax or something like that. Also, they get distracted from the symptoms.
I don’t feel like I can do that yet because the most I can do is read and watch success stories, since sometimes I’m emotionally exhausted. I have to live life with constant pain. It’s really hard to find things that bring me joy with this, and especially because of where it’s located. I won’t deny that it frustrates me a lot. And although I know part of recovery is acceptance, I don’t know if just accepting it and living “switched off” from life will make my nervous system find calm and return to normal with positive stimuli. There are very few times that I experience those stimuli, just for moments.
I’m amazed when I see stories of other people with deep pain in their arms. I admire them a lot. Maybe I just need to be more patient and not expect to recover. Basically, they say the symptom disappears when you really don’t care or forget about it. Honestly, I don’t know how you get to that point. I think the location of the symptom makes it more disabling for me.
Thanks anyway.




[CITA="Adam Coloretti (entrenador), publicación: 170302, miembro: 24237"]¡Hola! Bien, gracias y espero que tú también estés bien.

Estoy de acuerdo con la mayor parte de esto, y no voy a discutir por discutir si no creo que te sirva de ayuda. Quería responder específicamente a esta parte con algunas preguntas. Primero, ¿qué significa para ti "volver a la normalidad"? Segundo, ¿por qué crees que empezaron tus síntomas?

La razón por la que pregunto esto es porque creo que corres el riesgo de ignorar el propósito de los síntomas. No surgieron de la nada ni fueron aleatorios (esto no quiere decir que sea tu culpa ni la de nadie, incluida la mía, por mis propios síntomas). Tienes razón en que estás en un estado de alerta constante y en modo de lucha o huida, pero para muchas personas (esto no comienza con una lesión para la mayoría de las personas, aunque incluso para aquellos en quienes sí, como yo, a menudo surge en un entorno general de tensión y estrés) el estado de alerta constante comenzó mucho antes de los síntomas y es la razón de los síntomas en primer lugar (hablas de volver a la normalidad como si eso no fuera un estado constante de lucha o huida, pero para la mayoría de las personas con EMT ese estado era su "normalidad" incluso antes de los síntomas; los síntomas reflejan el punto de inflexión; a menudo no aprecian este hecho hasta que los síntomas los obligan a reflexionar).

Por lo que has compartido, parece que has estado lidiando con tus síntomas de forma intermitente. Has logrado superar algunos, pero luego aparece uno mucho más intenso y aterrador. Esto me indica (y ya lo he visto antes) que tu cerebro aún intenta llamar tu atención o protegerte de algo más grave (como prefieras verlo).

Working on emotions isn't solely restricted to the past (given that I get the feeling you think it is largely redundant due to its past focus). As you referred to, it's also about addressing certain patterns and traits (people pleasing, perfectionism etc.) that are contributing to a state of constant alert and fight-or-flight today. I appreciate that what heavily contributes to this state is fear of the symptoms themselves after they begin (and that 100% needs to be addressed, I do that too when I coach people), but to suggest that this is all that is contributing to it doesn't really make sense from a TMS perspective, unless you believe that the only reason you're in pain is because you think you're structurally damaged (there are cases like that, but often it is a relatively quick fix - often people get one symptom and once their eyes are open to it being TMS/what TMS is they don't get any more - or if they do then they can essentially laugh the next ones off - I'm not picking on you nor would I raise the emotional work if I didn't think it was relevant in your case). It's way too big of a coincidence that, I would say, 99% of people I've talked to with TMS are either a people-pleaser, a perfectionist, or both (and even if they don't self-label, a conversation with them would be enough to confirm it). The ones that aren't are often incredibly easy to resolve (I would say most book cures are these types).

Symptoms are more often than not a protection/distraction from stressors/emotions that we are avoiding in the present. The pre-occupation with the pain is protection in and of itself. Given that your brain has shown a propensity to latch onto a symptom and panic on more than one occasion (despite already knowing about TMS at least for the more recent ones), that suggests to me that it's more than just individual fear towards each symptom. It's great that you're aware of your symptom-heavy focus too and that's nothing to be ashamed of whatsoever (I understand it given how painful it is, as you've shared).

Lo bueno es que lo que sugiero te beneficiará de todos modos. Si abordas lo que contribuye a que estés en un estado de alerta constante y de lucha o huida, más allá de los síntomas en sí (sé que esto puede ser difícil de conceptualizar; si realmente no puedes pensar en ello, piensa en lo que te causaba estrés antes de los síntomas y observa si siguen siendo factores estresantes activos), entonces, incluso si me equivoco y no tiene ningún impacto, seguirá siendo positivo para tu vida (y cosecharás los beneficios de ese trabajo durante el resto de tu vida, mucho después de que el dolor haya desaparecido). Sin embargo, si estoy en lo cierto, esta podría ser la pieza que falta y no solo te ayudará a superar tus síntomas actuales, sino que reducirá considerablemente tus posibilidades de volver a tener un síntoma crónico (hago hincapié en crónico, el dolor agudo es parte de la vida). Tampoco quiero que esto se pierda en un debate teórico, porque incluso basándome en lo que has dicho, podría ser beneficioso para ti. En el peor de los casos, este trabajo (que, como ya dije, te beneficia independientemente de si consideramos la vida en general) puede desviar tu atención de tus síntomas y de la estructura

PD: Para mí, el trabajo emocional solo se centra en el pasado para ayudarte en el presente y en el futuro. Procesamos las emociones porque nos ayuda a seguir adelante y a realizar cambios positivos en el presente (también nos ayuda a comprender mejor nuestros rasgos al rastrear su origen). Nadie es perfecto emocionalmente, así que no hay nadie en el planeta que no pueda beneficiarse de este trabajo (tenga o no TMS). Trabajar en tus factores estresantes y rasgos que contribuyen al estrés no tiene por qué ser complicado ni implicar una profunda exploración emocional (incluso Alan Gordon, que se centra más en la teoría con la que más resuenas, lo recomienda y abarca varios capítulos de su libro The Way Out).

 

[ficus]

I had craaaazy nerve stuff for a while. I’m not symptom-free yet, I still have some tension or irritation but the nerve sensations (tingling, buzzing, hot/cold, static electricity feeling all over my body, points on my body that were sore and sensitive to palpation) have all stopped almost completely (all that remains is occasional sensitivity in a few areas but it’s not really nervy feeling anymore). I didn’t believe it would ever end but it did, it just kind of stopped happening gradually; no dramatic reduction. In some ways I got distracted by new symptoms which I realize isn’t what you want to hear, but those are on their way out too and are much easier to deal with in the meantime.

Wow that is so comfroting to hear - also have the buzzing in both arms - feels like ive fallen asleep on it. came on a few weeks ago but prior to this ive had loads of nerve pains in body and feet. is there something you did ? was it journalling or jsut ignoring ?

 

[cafe_bustelo]

I wish I could give you clear A leads to B advice to get it to go away but it’s just the usual unfortunately. I did the SEP, read some Sarno books, Steve Ozanich, Nicole Sachs, journaled, got back to physical activity, maybe most importantly stopped believing there was anything wrong with me, and second most importantly started to change the way I treated myself. The other big shift for me was making a conscious effort to orient my life more around enjoyable and meaningful activities and to stop thinking the future is going to be terrible. Sounds cliched as hell.

For what it’s worth the tingly nervy stuff was the first to go for me. And I didn’t notice it leaving because I was distracted by other symptoms. But I hesitate saying any of this because I don’t want you to think you’re failing if your symptoms take longer to go away. I often worried about this.

 

[Alouqua47]

Hello, Coffee. I’m very glad to hear that people are improving, especially from these kinds of symptoms. In my case, I’ve been like this for quite some time, and I’m at a very critical point. The truth is that I’ve been having very dark thoughts lately. I’m really glad that you’ve improved and that you say those were the first symptoms to go in your case.
I wish I could notice some improvement in myself, even if it’s not in the main symptom that affects me the most. Just seeing that other areas are getting better would help—although, to be honest, maybe that is happening and I’m not realizing it, since the one that distresses me the most overshadows everything else.
Thank you for sharing what you’ve done. I suppose those symptoms went away first because they weren’t the ones that bothered you the most, right? Or am I mistaken? Were they not as intense?
You know, in those moments when I feel like giving up, finding a comment like yours gives me the strength to keep going for one more day despite this.
I wish you could give me more details about the nervous symptoms you mentioned—what exactly they were like and where they were located. Sometimes it’s hard for me to believe that these things can simply go away or be reversed with that kind of work. I say that because I’ve felt it so intensely and in such a strange way that, if I hadn’t found someone saying they overcame it, I wouldn’t be able to believe it.
I’m exhausted, so tired.

Ojalá pudiera darte consejos claros de A a B para que desaparezca, pero lamentablemente es lo de siempre. Hice el SEP, leí algunos libros de Sarno, Steve Ozanich, Nicole Sachs, escribí un diario, volví a la actividad física, quizás lo más importante dejé de creer que había algo malo en mí, y segundo, lo más importante, empecé a cambiar la forma en que me trataba. El otro gran cambio para mí fue hacer un esfuerzo consciente para orientar mi vida más hacia actividades agradables y significativas y dejar de pensar que el futuro va a ser terrible. Suena a cliché.

Por si sirve de algo, el hormigueo y la sensación de nerviosismo fueron lo primero que desapareció para mí. Y no me di cuenta de que se iba porque estaba distraída por otros síntomas. Pero dudo en decir todo esto porque no quiero que pienses que estás fracasando si tus síntomas tardan más en desaparecer. A menudo me preocupaba esto.