Day 4 Disheartening Diagnosis

Today we are to write about disheartening diagnosis. I actually have two that I am almost certain were tied to TMS. The first was at the age of 5 when I lost the hearing in my right ear. I was going through the most difficult time in my life to that point as my parents had just announced a divorce. I remember talking to my grandmother on the phone, my extremely religious grandmother that never really liked me because I was born out of wedlock. Suddenly, I couldn't hear her any more. Being a health anxious child already (unknowingly to me), I hid it from everyone for about 3 years till they caught it during a hearing test at school. I figured I'd be dead by then since the only thing I knew about hearing loss was that my mom had a cancer in her ear when she was a child and could never, under any circumstances get water in her ear or, from what I remember, she would die (remember, I was only 5 years old.) Talk about PTSD right? Anyway, I went to the ear doctor only to be told that there was nothing wrong with my ear, however I was diagnosed with nerve deafness. Now I know that TMS isn't supposed to cause permanent damage but is it possible that the nerve was cut off from proper oxygen levels for so long, unchecked, that it ended up killing the nerve off completely? I'm still deaf to this day in that ear and have nearly zero balance function in it. An easy target for TMS to hit me with since one of my biggest symptoms is vertigo and balance issues.

The second diagnosis which I had no idea was tied to TMS is thoracic outlet syndrome. One day I cme home from work and my arm was swollen like I had just left an intense arm workout, which I hadn't. I went to the emergency room after a few hours and was told to see a vascular surgeon who diagnosed me with thoracic outlet syndrome which is a blockage of blood flow near the clavicle and first rib. The fix was to have my first rib removed, thus freeing up the blockage. Three days later I was in surgery at which point they damaged my long thoracic nerve while removing the rib. Long story short (I know, there's never anything short about my stories), the entire inside of my left arm is now partially numb. Not a great thing for a life long musician but I've worked through it.

Thank you for listening to what was supposed to be a very short entry...

 

Lavender here again BluesBuy63.
www.Anxiety-Centre.com (note the Canadian spelling) offers 2 separate lists of physical symptoms that could possibly stem from anxiety. One is deafness or stuffiness in one ear. (yes, me too) Also, years ago after my car was slammed from the rear at full speed while I was parked, I had intense lingering pain that was diagnosed as Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. I don’t think the doctors knew how to label it. More recently it has been thought to be a default diagnosis in many cases. Of course each case is different but as for my case, I know now that I never had that, I think it was TMS. No surgery was done and when certain stresses were resolved it faded away. I am so glad that this TMS think is coming into the light. I hope this is helpful.

 

Hi, BluesBoy, Your hearing problem looks to me like it began because of emotional stress when you learned your parents were divorcing. You were 5 and I was 7 and it gave me feelings of abandonment and insecurity. The Structured Educational Program journaling helped me to realize those repressed emotions and I healed from severe back pain.


I've had some vertigo and dizziness and my doctor prescribed Meclizine. I took one tablet and the symptoms went away. I took it in a tablet from Rugby company called "Travel Sickness." You might try it. Drug stores have it without prescription or you can order it online via amazon.com