Could this be TMS? I thought I beat TMS

Bicepmuffins

Bicepmuffins

Peer Supporter
In the past I have had carpel tunnel, tennis elbow and lower back TMS pain. I have beaten all of those by returning to activities I was avoiding for the most part.

Right now, I am experiencing intermittent pain and twitching on the left side of my neck and ear. It feels like a vein in there is exploding every now and again. I have theories medically as to why its happening but none of them are sound theories.

I have tried ignoring the pain and not caring that it exists. I did a quick journal entry too. Idk how to treat this if its TMS. Its not in my wheelhouse and its a very disturbing sensation. I would say its most related to trigeminal neuralgia but there's no triggers for it.
 
When you saying "no triggers" do you mean that you were not able to identify any triggers?
 
TG957 said:
When you saying "no triggers" do you mean that you were not able to identify any triggers?
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Yeah. No discernible pain based on diet or movement of body. It appears to be lesser in the morning than the evening but otherwise, it appears to come and go at random which to me seems less of a structural issue and more of either something chemical or psychological. I mean perhaps ignoring the pain is not the way to "accept" the pain but for me without being able to exacerbate it, its hard to lean into it by doing the things I have been avoiding bc it hasn't caused me to avoid anything really.
 
For better or worse, TMS is often a life-long adventure. At least for many of us that's true. Just when we think we got it licked, years later, something new pops it's pretty head up and we get to start all over.
 
Cap'n Spanky said:
For better or worse, TMS is often a life-long adventure. At least for many of us that's true. Just when we think we got it licked, years later, something new pops it's pretty head up and we get to start all over.
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I wanna get in there and scrub out whatever is causing this. Its frustrating that new random pains are popping up and each time is so detrimental to my life
 
It might help to see a doctor and get it diagnosed. It might give you a level of comfort that nothing serious is goin on. Even if they come up with a "structural explanation", I've often found that over time those don't hold up very well and eventually gives me more confidence that its' really TMS.
 
Cap'n Spanky said:
It might help to see a doctor and get it diagnosed. It might give you a level of comfort that nothing serious is goin on. Even if they come up with a "structural explanation", I've often found that over time those don't hold up very well and eventually gives me more confidence that its' really TMS.
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Yeah, that's the plan since I was convinced it was more than TMS until the past day or so. This morning I had matching pain on opposite side and last night, I got a little stoned and stopped caring about it and it basically stopped happening so I am now leaning towards TMS. I appreciate the reply, it helps to feel less crazy about having persistent random bodily issues like this. Fingers crossed its just TMS really.
 
I'd bet it's TMs since it's moving randomly. Structural stuff just doesn't act that way. I have found that when I open the conversation about stress and symptoms, then providers jump right in. They know that stress is a huge contributing factor in pain. They just know not to bring it up with people. When I open the door with a practitioner, they are relieved and I get better answers. If it is TMS, and you want help...come on back :)
 
It's almost always TMS. If you are a TMS type, then it is almost always (like 99.996)

There are some people who might GET a case of TMS but aren't 'TMSers' ...meaning they go through some real trying time in their life and then they get back pain or carpal tunnel. These people get a good placebo, or even learn about Sarno and co. and never have much trouble.

OThers of US get little attempted incursions pretty regularly (every few months)... the secret is to fend them off before they get any purchase on your attention, and to also immediately when you get ANY weird symptom to go "Huh... I wonder whats bugging me that I don't know about" .

I have been disregarding pretty 'serious' stuff for 23 years now with no ill effects. I have seen you on here for a few years now so I imagine your a 'lifer' too. it's not really a bad deal, it just means we don't have as much slack as the other people.
Cap'n Spanky said:
TMS is often a life-long adventure
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It's not a curse, it's a blessing, though I know that is infuriating while your suffering...

but yeah... That neck thing? TMS
 
Ann Miller said:
I'd bet it's TMs since it's moving randomly. Structural stuff just doesn't act that way. I have found that when I open the conversation about stress and symptoms, then providers jump right in. They know that stress is a huge contributing factor in pain. They just know not to bring it up with people. When I open the door with a practitioner, they are relieved and I get better answers. If it is TMS, and you want help...come on back :)
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I have yet to see a TMS practitioner but that would definitely help diffuse the tension. Once I get some scans and there's no tumor in my neck then I'll be a lot more resolved. This neck thing is much more a severe pain than my back or arms and it's less ignorable. It went away for a hand full of days but came back today. I know my strssors im just not sure how to approach this particular pain since the others responded to using that body part which I was avoiding.
 
Baseball65 said:
It's almost always TMS. If you are a TMS type, then it is almost always (like 99.996)

There are some people who might GET a case of TMS but aren't 'TMSers' ...meaning they go through some real trying time in their life and then they get back pain or carpal tunnel. These people get a good placebo, or even learn about Sarno and co. and never have much trouble.

OThers of US get little attempted incursions pretty regularly (every few months)... the secret is to fend them off before they get any purchase on your attention, and to also immediately when you get ANY weird symptom to go "Huh... I wonder whats bugging me that I don't know about" .

I have been disregarding pretty 'serious' stuff for 23 years now with no ill effects. I have seen you on here for a few years now so I imagine your a 'lifer' too. it's not really a bad deal, it just means we don't have as much slack as the other people.


It's not a curse, it's a blessing, though I know that is infuriating while your suffering...

but yeah... That neck thing? TMS
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Thank you for the reply. I'm pretty convinced it's TMS but its like not going away very easily. I honestly don't have a template for how to handle TMS in this form. I should find a program or something. This is the worst TMS yet severity wise
 
Bicepmuffins said:
Thank you for the reply. I'm pretty convinced it's TMS but its like not going away very easily. I honestly don't have a template for how to handle TMS in this form. I should find a program or something. This is the worst TMS yet severity wise
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What you are experiencing looks like uncontrollable spasmatic activity. I had uncontrollable muscle movements, too. There are three things to remember:

1. the more bizarre your symptoms are the more likely it is TMS
2. If it is TMS, it really does not matter where and how it manifests itself. The root cause is always the same: your brain generates those signals because it cannot handle your anxiety and fear. You should continue doing what you were doing before because it worked for other symptoms.
3. Extinction bursts as Dr. Sarno called them, are very typical, and they often are different from the original symptoms. Don't ask me why - I am not a neuroscientist - but this is a known fact.

Here is what I wrote about one of my many extinction bursts:

Extinction bursts masquerade themselves in various forms and shapes and can puzzle and scare even a very experienced TMS-er. Nearly two years into recovery, I was leaving a grocery store with a heavy bag in my left hand, when suddenly my left thumb tensed up, turned into a straight unbending stick, and started pulling toward the rest of my fingers, eventually resting on top of my index finger in a bizarrely unnatural twist. It surely looked broken or dislocated. The force of my tendons and ligaments was such that I could barely pull it back with my other hand. My forearm felt the tension almost all the way to the elbow.

By then, I knew well not to worry. Moreover, the less I worry, the sooner I can get over the burst. I sat down in the car, closed my eyes, and started meditating. It was not easy to concentrate on meditation in the noisy parking lot. Adding to the difficulty was that for a couple days prior, my anxiety levels were higher than normal (another sign of extinction burst!), but after about five minutes of meditation, my thumb slowly relaxed and travelled back into its place. I drove safely home and soon forgot about this little incident. Had it happened to me earlier, in my less TMS-educated times, I would have been scared and fed on my fear for days after the incident.​

So, my advice to you is simple: do not feed on your fear, it is just an extinction burst, but you should not ignore it, rather acknowledge it for what it is, and move on.
 
I agree with the above completely. I've had random symptoms fire up and recognize them for messengers. I always, always have layers of emotion and when I get these messengers it means that there is some hidden layer that I haven't given light to.
 
TG957 said:
What you are experiencing looks like uncontrollable spasmatic activity. I had uncontrollable muscle movements, too. There are three things to remember:

1. the more bizarre your symptoms are the more likely it is TMS
2. If it is TMS, it really does not matter where and how it manifests itself. The root cause is always the same: your brain generates those signals because it cannot handle your anxiety and fear. You should continue doing what you were doing before because it worked for other symptoms.
3. Extinction bursts as Dr. Sarno called them, are very typical, and they often are different from the original symptoms. Don't ask me why - I am not a neuroscientist - but this is a known fact.

Here is what I wrote about one of my many extinction bursts:

Extinction bursts masquerade themselves in various forms and shapes and can puzzle and scare even a very experienced TMS-er. Nearly two years into recovery, I was leaving a grocery store with a heavy bag in my left hand, when suddenly my left thumb tensed up, turned into a straight unbending stick, and started pulling toward the rest of my fingers, eventually resting on top of my index finger in a bizarrely unnatural twist. It surely looked broken or dislocated. The force of my tendons and ligaments was such that I could barely pull it back with my other hand. My forearm felt the tension almost all the way to the elbow.

By then, I knew well not to worry. Moreover, the less I worry, the sooner I can get over the burst. I sat down in the car, closed my eyes, and started meditating. It was not easy to concentrate on meditation in the noisy parking lot. Adding to the difficulty was that for a couple days prior, my anxiety levels were higher than normal (another sign of extinction burst!), but after about five minutes of meditation, my thumb slowly relaxed and travelled back into its place. I drove safely home and soon forgot about this little incident. Had it happened to me earlier, in my less TMS-educated times, I would have been scared and fed on my fear for days after the incident.​

So, my advice to you is simple: do not feed on your fear, it is just an extinction burst, but you should not ignore it, rather acknowledge it for what it is, and move on.
Click to expand...


Wow, thanks for that piece of terminology. It definitely fits as I have been under a variety of stressors recently. New job, new noisey neighbors, other health conditions, extreme anger at some video games I have been using to tune out the world. It actually started shortly after a PTSD like dream I had so that adds up. I never fully believed the chronic nature of this illness but I can't ignore it anymore. I should probably have a regular therapist.

The thing about the first 3 conditions is that what worked was doing activity that I was avoiding (mostly running and using computer) but this isn't triggered by movement and is in my neck. I am not avoiding much behavior. I probably have to get better at journaling. I reached out to some TMS therapists and hope to hear back as well.

Thanks for the input :)
 
Bicepmuffins said:
The thing about the first 3 conditions is that what worked was doing activity that I was avoiding (mostly running and using computer) but this isn't triggered by movement and is in my neck. I am not avoiding much behavior.
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Then get on with your life and stop worrying about it. Journaling is always a good way to get TMS out of your head :=).
 
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