Experience in foot pain?

Hi everyone, I'm new.
I've been reading this forum and TMS help forum a lot. I have TMS and that I am certain of it. All and every other possible disease has been ruled out and every possible treatment short of surgery has been tried. I think I've seen every possible doctor including a geneticist.
But I am also confused about some of my symptoms and was curious whether anyone has heard or experienced a similar situation. I guess I need advice and reassurance.

I've had a history of very mild discomfort in my left foot (ball of the foot) and wrist pain. But neither has ever stopped me from ANYTHING, like dancing in heels for hours etc or computer work or exercising etc. I'm only 27 so I can't even blame deterioration of my health for my symptoms.

• Dec 2011 - while training for a 10mile run I experienced bad pain in ball of the left foot. Never really goes away.
• March 2012 - while standing (!!!) in my kitchen I get a sharp severe pain in the right foot.
• I've had both of these pains since then.
• MRI shows tenosynovitis and tendonitis and edema in both feet, and partial avascular necrosis one of the small bones (a sesamoid bone) in the left foot only. I saw 5 top-rated surgeons. Surgery has very very mixed results. They said avascular necrosis is sometimes reversible especially since i'm young and healthy.They said my feet are prone to this sort of pain because of my foot anatomy and having high arches.
• September 2012 - I accept my foot issues and grow happy with my life again. I resume school and I'm doing well.
• Not even a couple of weeks later I start developing bad wrist pain, both wrists. Right wrist is blamed by my doctor on a ganglion cyst, left wrist on tendonitis.My wrist specialist surgeon is extremely supportive and he calms down all of my fear, and says he can easily help with the pain.
• Literally a day later, I develop bilateral elbow tendonitis
• After that subsides, wrist pain returns but I get steroid shots and pain is better.
• So then I get shoulder tendonitis. At which point my orthopedic surgeon told me to try to find a way to relieve stress, possibly see a psychiatrist for help.

Before I even heard about TMS but first hurt my left foot I just knew that it had something to do with emotions. That fall was the hardest time of my life: I had started dental school, moved away for the first time, had a ridiculous academic workload, and was stressed about getting shape for the 10mile run.
I fit Dr. Sarno's personality descriptions amazingly well.

I know that this is TMS because I have no systemic illness and my pain is just all over the place and stupid. Even my ex-physical therapist said that if I didn't have any foot problems growing up and was a jogger and heel-wearer and had no reconstructive surgery of my feet then why would I become prone to this pain now.

Since I've started Dr. Howard Schubiner's program I've developed a lot of new pain and many of the old symptoms have worsened (extinction burst, right?). Many of these new pains I've chased away super quickly because they're just laughable. Some of them were very severe but I just didn't buy into them.

But... I guess I'm just weirded out by the fact that I managed to develop avascular necorsis. I know my limbs are always very cold. Could TMS-induced lack of blood flow have contributed to this?
With that being said, I have no necrosis in the right foot and didn't injure it by jogging, but it's STILL not improving. So it's not like my left foot pain is lingering because of the necrosis ONLY. So that whole setup is definitely illogical.

I guess I'm just in a funk over this.

P.S. Sorry for making you read through this lengthy rendition of my health issues

 

Hi Chepolina,

Welcome. This is an amazing support resource.

I can relate. Similar issues. My TMS has spread to elbows/shoulders. You are brave to have avoided Surgery. I am slowly turning this around. Mentally I am out of The Funk zone... there's no healing there, I guarantee you.

I Reckon you have answered your own enquiry, intuitively:

"Could TMS-induced lack of blood flow have contributed to this?
With that being said, I have no necrosis in the right foot and didn't injure it by jogging, but it's STILL not improving. So it's not like my left foot pain is lingering because of the necrosis ONLY. So that whole setup is definitely illogical."

LOTS OF OPINIONS FROM PHYSICAL EXAMS + ILLOGICAL RESULTS = TMS = REVERSIBLE.


Stick with unlearning you pain....Psychologically. You will heal.

Michael.

PS. Get hold of Steve Ozanich's The Great Pain Deception. He is the benchmark in hard core healing...

 

Hi Michael,
Thanks for the wise words!

I've heard so much about Steve Ozanich. May have to get his book.I'm pacing myself though and using a couple of resources at a time and trusting the process instead of being a maniac and trying to read every book out there (which is precisely what I did at the beginning and got completely overwhelmed hahhaaa..).

 

Hi Chepolina,

I've just started experiencing foot pain and it is odd. I believe I've got TMS on the run though! I'm reading Steve's book and have found it more useful than anything else I've read.

Regards, Mandi

 

Hi Chepolina, and welcome to the forum. If you haven't already, you might have a look at the Structured Educational Program on the main wiki page. Reading is so helpful, but I found that active participation like journalling was essential too. You have come to a wonderful supportive place, I'm sure you can heal.

 

Thank you both for the encouragement / suggestions.

Tarala -- thanks for the suggestion, I totally agree. I am enrolled in Dr. Schubiner's online course so I do the writing that he suggests. It's a very good practice - writing out your thoughts and feelings. I guess I never should have stopped keeping a diary / journal when I was a teenager haha

 

Prior to July last year I walked at least 4 miles every morning and often cycled 2 or 3 hours in the afternoons with 8 to 12 mile hikes on the weekends.

I woke up one morning with tendonitis in both feet (highly unusual) thought it was too much cycling so I stopped for a few days. Then in addition to heel pain it went into plantar fasciitis and I could not walk more than 20 feet and that was with pain.

Two weeks later I woke and looked for the piano that fell on me while asleep – total body pain. Then three months later inability to raise my right arm/shoulder....then carpal tunnel in both wrists....then into my hands.

Now I am so stiff I almost need help out of a chair...where 8 months before I was able to do strenuous athletics with no pain and zero stiffness.

I know of nothing else that comes on this fast in so many areas other than a nervous system aberration!

 

Hi. If you've already had everything else ruled out, how about going full force into "doing the work" like you know it is TMS? You have nothing to lose but a lot to gain!

I still occasionally get foot cramps (right foot only--always the same spot--even separates my toes like they're possessed!!) but my foot has had no trauma . it doesn't happen often, but I'm sure there's an emotional connection.

 

Hi, everyone.

Just a quick update.
I have been seen by Dr. Andrea Segal -- she's very familiar with TMS, she's an internal medicine physician and a rheumatologist. She told my bilateral foot pain is definitely TMS (among other symptoms that have largely subsided). I've had strong deep pain in balls of my feet for a year. Worse in left foot.

I am at a crossroads... She advised for me to slowly start using my feet normally. I did. Last night I put on my old sneakers and walked and even jogged a bit around the house without orthotics. The left foot is more painful today. Tendons more taut.

I am convinced that my right foot is TMS. It started so absurdly, it has to be.

But my left foot is the seed of doubt.Because I've had sensitivity there for a few years, and because the onset was more gradual, it now is much stiffer and more painful. I keep thinking maybe I have something wrong there that is not TMS? That my right foot will recover but left one is just a "bad foot?"

Dr. Segal told me I can't damage anything there, because even if I had injured that foot over a year ago there was no tear and fracture so everything should have healed by now. But I keep thinking how back when I first hurt it I didn't know about TMS, but I did keep using the foot refusing to buy into the injury. I ended up making it worse and worse, all swollen and painful. Will this happen now??

I am scared that I will ignore the pain, go jogging for example ---> the pain will get worse ...and worse... because it has so far --> I will completely lose faith in TMS being the culprit instead of pushing further.

How do I get over that hump of worsening pain and doubt?

I feel like on the verge of fully believing. But worsening symptoms terrify me. How do I shake this doubt? As long as there is doubt I cannot heal. It's like a trap.

Advice?......

 

I went to Costco yesterday and only walked around one corner then back to the car. The pain in my feet after my little adventure is so severe that I could not sleep and I can barely hobble to the bathroom. I am in severe pain and burning from my knees down to my toes.

When muscles are this tense it is easy to cause micro tears - I am working the TMS program but my body and feet pain is not one percent better....I NEED MY FEET!!