Cervical radiculopathy and TMS - bringing on symptoms

I

Ira NYC

New Member
about 20 years ago, I had significant issues that were initially diagnosed as cervica raduculopathy - pain in neck and shoulder as well as tingling down arms and into hands.

After going through a long list doctors, PT, therapists, accupunture, etc. I found Sarno's books and was able to make a full recovery.

In the past two weeks, I have seen a resurgence of these symptoms and I'm struggling a bit to not panic and go down the traditional medical route. I am currently in my fifties.

I can't remember the first time I went through this, but this time around, I notice that I can bring on the symptoms by turning my head to the side. Is this something anyone else has experienced? Is this something common to TMS?

Appreciate your thoughts.
 
Ira NYC said:
about 20 years ago, I had significant issues that were initially diagnosed as cervica raduculopathy - pain in neck and shoulder as well as tingling down arms and into hands.

After going through a long list doctors, PT, therapists, accupunture, etc. I found Sarno's books and was able to make a full recovery.

In the past two weeks, I have seen a resurgence of these symptoms and I'm struggling a bit to not panic and go down the traditional medical route. I am currently in my fifties.

I can't remember the first time I went through this, but this time around, I notice that I can bring on the symptoms by turning my head to the side. Is this something anyone else has experienced? Is this something common to TMS?

Appreciate your thoughts.
Click to expand...

I don't have "cervical radiopathy" but I do have symptoms that I get from my neck and sometimes from turning it.
It varies, but so do many of my symptoms. They can be present in one area one hour, move around, switch sides (there's a favorite) etc.
It doesn't make sense.
That's TMS for ya!

Do you not think that it's strange that your old TMS symptom which you proved to yourself to be ONLY TMS has occurred again? Why would it be physical this time?

Why do you think there is a resurgence of these symptoms? How are you feeling? What is going on in your life? Where have your thoughts been? Anxiety level?
Have you started back doing the same type of TMS work you did when you first healed from these symptoms? If not, what is holding you back?

My suggestion is that you can rule out the physical with a Doctor if you'd like, it's your choice.
You can jump right into the TMS work again, and if the first time around you didn't work with your emotions or thoughts, it might be the time to add that into the mix.
You can blend both methods for now. If you feel you need to see a Doc, do it while you do the TMS work. There's no harm in that. You don't need to have 100% perfect belief that's it's only TMS at this point - you work towards that if that ends up being your truth.

If you are struggling not to panic, then you are probably already "TMS-ing" over this and putting your nervous system into a greater state of inbalance. Finding calming activities or practices: meditation, quiet solitary nature walks, running etc. are a great way to begin calming your nervous system while you continue to work though your current situation (and, in general great things to add to your daily lifestyle)
 
Cactusflower said:
I don't have "cervical radiopathy" but I do have symptoms that I get from my neck and sometimes from turning it.
It varies, but so do many of my symptoms. They can be present in one area one hour, move around, switch sides (there's a favorite) etc.
It doesn't make sense.
That's TMS for ya!

Do you not think that it's strange that your old TMS symptom which you proved to yourself to be ONLY TMS has occurred again? Why would it be physical this time?

Why do you think there is a resurgence of these symptoms? How are you feeling? What is going on in your life? Where have your thoughts been? Anxiety level?
Have you started back doing the same type of TMS work you did when you first healed from these symptoms? If not, what is holding you back?

My suggestion is that you can rule out the physical with a Doctor if you'd like, it's your choice.
You can jump right into the TMS work again, and if the first time around you didn't work with your emotions or thoughts, it might be the time to add that into the mix.
You can blend both methods for now. If you feel you need to see a Doc, do it while you do the TMS work. There's no harm in that. You don't need to have 100% perfect belief that's it's only TMS at this point - you work towards that if that ends up being your truth.

If you are struggling not to panic, then you are probably already "TMS-ing" over this and putting your nervous system into a greater state of inbalance. Finding calming activities or practices: meditation, quiet solitary nature walks, running etc. are a great way to begin calming your nervous system while you continue to work though your current situation (and, in general great things to add to your daily lifestyle)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. As I've grown older, I've become more anxious and a bit of a hypochondriac - so when the symptons started, my brain ran in every direction. I feel strongly that this is TMS - as you mentioned my sypmtoms move all over the place - tingling in hands that moves from side to side, on and off again shoulder pain, intermittent soreness in neck that moves around.

I also know that going the doctor route, getting an MRI and hearing the results will only start the panic merry go round. Decades ago when I had the MRI for similar symptoms, they noted cervical radiopathy and stenosis, and I wound up spending the better part of a year attempting to solve via PT, acupuncture, etc. It wasn't till I went in 100% of TMS that I got better.

So here I am again.

I do find it challenging to do the TMS work - but that's my plan. What's old is new again.

thanks
 
Perhaps trying to adopt a change of mindset: getting older brings challenges but I wanna live to my fullest potential.. flip the script to your true desires instead of listening to thoughts which are untrue and bring those anxieties.
Advocate for yourself. I’ve learned to do this well, and better manage medical fears through this work.
Work towards being more comfortable with the idea of unpredictability. We search for safety in the external world but true peace and safety comes from within.
Knowing you struggle with the work means you need it. Resistance is a way our minds communicate this. It can be wrapped up in fear, but I found that once again, mindset can help make it much easier. What if the work was simply to get to know yourself better? As yourself why you might resist that, and how you can better show yourself more love and care.

best wishes,
You’ve got this!
 
Interesting to hear about your cervical radiculopathy! I’m in my 20s and have “tech neck” and turning my head triggers numbness and tingling in my left hand. Same with my moving my wrist. So I probably have both cervical radiculopathy and carpal tunnel syndrome. I’ve been to doctors but haven’t gotten any testing done yet (EMG, MRI, etc). However, I have a history with TMS that I’ve previously overcame but it was a different issue entirely (pelvic pain).

Your last time you had this…TMS really solved it? Even with the MRI results? My numbness and tingling feel so real and structural that I’m doubting the mindbody part, especially since I don’t have pain, just numbness.

Sorry that I don’t have an answer to your question but just wanted to drop in and say I’m struggling with the same thing too! And I don’t know which direction to go either.
 
I can say with certainty that 25 years ago, i had a great deal of tingling in my arms and lower back pain, and while PT and other approaches did not work, I improved and had no symptoms until recently.Nothing can ever be proved 100%, but it wasn't until after I applied the TMS process that I got better.

I will say that I'm struggling a bit at the moment to commit mentally to the TMS cure process.

But I also know that at age 58, an MRI on my neck will almost certainty result in showing something degenerative - as most people by this age have naturally occuring changes in their spines

Taking the TMS approach worked for me once. I'm hopeful again.
 
Cactusflower said:
We search for safety in the external world
Click to expand...
And don't forget, @Ira NYC, the external world doesn't feel very safe these days! I was a fairly quick success story 15 years ago at age 60. Now at 75 in the s***show that is 2026, my TMS symptoms are all over the place, trying to distract me and get me to stay hidden away from the existential dread that my brain interprets as a literal threat to my survival. Remember, this is Sarno 101!

Cactusflower said:
Knowing you struggle with the work means you need it. Resistance is a way our minds communicate this.
Click to expand...
100%. Resistance and I are OLD friends. Mindful attention is the way out.
 
Wanted to check in 4 months later.

4 months since my first post my symptoms - the tingling in my right arm - has not resolved. I have spent a great deal of time and effort working through the TMS approach that worked for me in the past. Yet the intermittent tingling throughout each day persists.

I'm struggling to not think this is something structural as the spine surgeon I met with back in May was highly confident this is cervical radiculopathy.

Consisten turning of my head in some specific directions will bring on the tingling in my forearm down toward my thumb.

This in turn causes me to stress about it despite my attempts to not focus on the physical symptoms.

Part of my TMS struggle is that I haven't read about any comparable experiences where anyone with cervical radiculopathy diagnosis has overcome through a TMS approach.

Appreciate any feedback from this community.
 
Hi @Ira NYC! I just had a few questions, in terms of what @Cactusflower asked, you answered about how you were when the symptoms came up and how that contributed to the panic (which is very relevant), but I'm also interested to know what was going on in your life in the lead up to the current symptoms that might explain their onset? There may be an emotional/stress based explanation for them re-appearing.

Also, are these the same symptoms (or very similar) that you overcome before? if they are, then that is strong evidence that it is TMS, as it was TMS before and this may just be a recurrence. It sounds as if you were diagnosed with cervical radiculopathy 20 years ago, so if that's the case then you're the success story you're looking for! Symptoms disappearing for 20 years isn't a coincidence, so in the absence of genuine nerve issues (if a neurological exam is clear and there isn't any sign of nerve damage), I would highly suspect this is the same deal as it was 20 years ago. I was going to suggest comparing scans now to then, and whilst that could be useful (if you know how to read them through a TMS lens, which takes the risk of reading too much into them away), there are natural changes and wear and tear as we age which has been shown not to be correlated with symptoms - so that might not tell us much (but it could help).

My last question is how did you heal last time? If it was Dr Sarno's books, did you do any deep emotional work or was it simply a case of once you were convinced you were actually ok then you recovered? Because there's a very strong correlation from what I've seen (even just on this forum - I can recall multiple cases in the last few weeks) of people who heal really quickly (often a book cure - where once they know they are ok physically, it happens fast) only for symptoms to return years later. Why? I'm pretty confident in the view that it's because the deep work hasn't been done, and it's that work which is really the purpose of the symptoms, that's what they're trying to indicate needs to be done. If symptoms are a message in this way, then naturally it will come back if the message hasn't been heeded.

Hopefully that makes sense :)
 
Thanks Adam. In terms things happening in my life - my mother passes away 2 years ago and over the course of the past two years I feel like I have been hit with endless physical situations / symptoms.

Back in 2011/12 - My primary symptoms were lower back pain on my left side. I tried everything medically except surgery - PT, accupuncture, posture classes, dry needling, cervical pillows, etc. I was at my wits end when I heard about Sarno's book and I dove in full force. So much resonated with me. I wish I had a better memory of exactly how my healing took place. I have always been a runner and gym rat and I remember at one point deciding to throw caution to the wind and re-engage in those activities. I think the fact that it had no negative effect - I grew confident and didn't look back.

This time around I've tried the same approach of digging into TMS - but I continue to feel the symptoms. These are different as it is on a different side (my right arm primarily) and it has mostly been tingling (as opposed to pain). At the same time I have had intermittent pain in my left lower back / hip area.
Perhaps it is that i'm older now (late 50's) but for whatever reason I find myself listening more to the physical doctors and surgeions than my prior go around.
 
Ira NYC said:
Thanks Adam. In terms things happening in my life - my mother passes away 2 years ago and over the course of the past two years I feel like I have been hit with endless physical situations / symptoms.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry for your loss. That makes a lot of sense in terms of endless physical situations and symptoms since then from a TMS perspective for sure.

Ira NYC said:
I have always been a runner and gym rat and I remember at one point deciding to throw caution to the wind and re-engage in those activities. I think the fact that it had no negative effect - I grew confident and didn't look back.

This time around I've tried the same approach of digging into TMS - but I continue to feel the symptoms.
Click to expand...

Correct me if I'm wrong, and I appreciate that you can't remember how it exactly took place, but it sounds like the big click moment was being able to re-engage with those activities with no negative effect. That makes complete sense, and is a key aspect of all recoveries. If, however, you don't remember doing any deeper emotional work (so the recovery was driven more from the knowledge and the belief that there was nothing wrong physically), then that might be what's required now. It may have returned for that purpose and with that message. This happens all the time, in that people heal relatively quickly through the knowledge that nothing is wrong physically, only for symptoms (either the same ones or other ones) to pop up later at a stressful time (I'm not saying this is completely unavoidable, but doing the deeper emotional work to me reduces the likelihood of somaticising (expressing it physically) future stress).

Ira NYC said:
Perhaps it is that i'm older now (late 50's) but for whatever reason I find myself listening more to the physical doctors and surgeions than my prior go around.
Click to expand...

That makes a lot of sense also. This may make it more difficult to believe that nothing is wrong physically, which is also contributing. It's usually a combination, so the key is to keep working on the belief portion and also potentially add some deeper emotional work (focused on emotional processing and self-compassion). The Structured Program here is a great place to start there :)
 
Hi @Ira NYC,
It sounds understandable that being able to bring on the symptoms by turning your head would make you worry, particularly given your previous experience. I’m not suggesting that you ignore new or worsening symptoms, but, in addition to what @Adam Coloretti (coach) advises above, it may be worth considering whether fear and symptom-monitoring are also helping to keep the symptoms going.

Other than re-engaging with activities despite the symptoms, have you tried anything else that is mind–body oriented?

For example, does your brain produce thoughts that you tend to “run with”—such as worrying about the symptoms, or becoming mentally caught up in things from the past or present, whether major or minor? By “minor”, I mean things you felt you should have been okay with but which nevertheless affected you.

Once I recognised what my brain was doing, I began acknowledging these recurring or “looping” thoughts by saying to myself, “I’m thinking about that again.” I would then lengthen one or two out-breaths and return to whatever I was doing, or place my attention elsewhere. For me, this created a “circuit break” and gave my brain a little space to recognise that I was not in immediate danger. Over time, this helped me break the habit, and my symptoms began to fade. I still make a point of practising this whenever I notice myself getting caught up in those kinds of thoughts.

It takes time for a fearful brain to calm down.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top