Hey everyone,
I'm new to the forum and seeking some support as I navigate my current situation. I've had TMS / MBS in the past and navigated it successfully. My 2022 situation is a success story and leads into where I am today.
In early summer 2022, I developed pelvic pain symptoms that I thought was prostatitis or an STI. I was dating at the time, I believe came up with the idea that I could have gotten an STI, and my mind manifested it. How my body could mimic those symptoms was mind blowing. I took every STI test and they came back clean. With the pain still there, I went to the doctor who give me a prescription for Levaquin saying I had prostatitis, it's an antibiotic (that's important to this story I believe later - that class of drugs is known for causing severe tendon side effects in some people). Sure enough, the antibiotic didn't work. My next trip was to a urologist who ran every test under the sun. Everything came back clean. I was unfamiliar with TMS / MBS at the time, but I had enough information to convince me that what I had was coming from my mind. Convinced of that, I set the problem aside mentally and a few weeks later the symptoms resolved.
I am a runner and cyclist and living an active life is very important to me. In summer 2023, I got shin splints that was a bit of a traumatic event and forced me to take a couple of months off running. The recovery was long, and during the process I read more about the dangers of Levaquin to tendons and I think that started to enter into the back of my mind. Throughout my January - March 2024 marathon training season, I had shin splint symptoms that popped up on occasion. After my 20 mile long run in late March / early April, the shin splint symptoms were so severe the next day that I was determined to resolve them. It's notable that during that run I remember asking myself if this would be my last run due to the shin splints given how they kept popping up and occasionally more severe.
In my effort to solve the problem, I went to my primary ortho and asked for bilateral tibia / fibia MRIs. Verdict: no sign of shin splints or other injuries. I asked if he thought the issue could be psychosomatic: he said it was worth looking into. However, I didn't explore that further at the time.
By that point, the shin splints had calmed down but I had stopped running to be safe. However, seeking more clarity and a permanent fix to the problem (which was PT and other therapies in my mind), I went to a new doctor and asked for bilateral ankle MRIs to rule out inner ankle tendon issues. Verdict: no inner ankle tendon issues. However, the radiologist saw what the doctor described as "fraying" on one of my outer ankle tendons. He asked if I had pain along that tendon: I told him I didn't and he cleared me to run. That said, despite not running for almost two weeks prior to this appointment, I had developed metatarsalgia in my right foot. The doctor told me its no big deal, take some Aleve, and it will go away.
With the doctor clearing me to run, I went ahead and did the last group run of my training season two days later around 4/27. It went great, there was no significant pain, and it was comfortable and relaxing. Best run I had in a long time. However, the next day I woke up and it hurt to walk on my ankle. Assuming it was the metatarsalgia, I called another doctor to schedule an appointment and make sure it wasn't really a stress fracture.
The drive to the doctor that morning was rainy. Just a couple minutes from the office, I'm sitting at an intersection stopped and boom - I get rear ended. The other driver fled the scene. Since there was nothing I could do, I went ahead to my appointment. The doctor agreed to a foot MRI to check for a stress fracture and I scheduled a follow up for the next week. Later that day, I went to urgent care to have my neck / back checked due to the wreck. An x-ray was clear. I got back to the office and my ankle started feeling worse. I flexed it and in my mind I thought I heard a noise. In my head I assumed it had to be the inner ankle tendon that was described as "frayed" by the other doctor. I quickly made sure that my doctor would be able to address it with me at my MRI follow up appointment the next week.
In the week prior to the appointment, it hurt to walk and I was limping. I started doing research on that tendon that was supposedly fraying online. The literature was very clear: that tendon does not heal on its own if its torn. If it's torn, it requires surgery. An hour before I left for my appointment, I received the radiologist report on the frayed tendon that I had yet to see. It was my worst nightmare: it said I had a tear.
I get to the doctor who tells me I have no stress fracture in the spot where the metatarsalgia is. Of course, my mind had already shifted to what the radiologist viewed as a tear. He examined my foot and said I just had peroneal tendonitis and felt like it wasn't much of anything - he thought the tendon was strong. He told me to wear a brace and sent me to PT. Confused, I asked him about the MRI. He explained that tendon issues are notoriously difficult to call in that area from MRI and that they rely more on their clinical opinion. He went over the MRI, said he disagreed with the radiologist, and said he didn't see a tear. Still confused, I accepted the explanation to the extent I could and went home. While I couldn't run, he cleared me to bike.
Over the week to come (this was the first week of May), I did tons of internet research and I stumbled again on the tendon side effects of Levaquin. Tendon side effects with those drugs are very real, but it seems odd that I would have a major development almost two years later. Still, I was worried about it and it was hard to get off my mind. I also continued to worry about the "tear" call from the radiologist that my doctor disagreed with. I couldn't get out of the back of my mind that a tear to that tendon wouldn't heal and I feared surgery that would involve a significant recovery period. Knowing I could bike, I did that a couple of days in a row. Shortly after the second ride, I started to have whiplash symptoms. A couple of days later, I thought I would have to go to the hospital the whiplash was so bad. Those symptoms have been off and on at a lower severity over the next month. I also developed arm pain the next week, which I believe occurred after reading about arm pain and whiplash.
Over the next month, I went to PT and the right ankle pain started to dissipate a bit. Still, low level pain was there every day and I'd have bad days. On top of that, I couldn't get the tear concern out of my head knowing that a tear won't heal. Making matters worse, I started to get symptoms in my other ankle, although they were less severe. So I went back to the doctor in early June: he reaffirmed his view, said the tendon was strong, and gave the MRI another look. Still, in his opinion, he saw no tear. He encouraged me to get a second opinion but I decided against it at the time.
Over the next two weeks, I continued PT and continued to progress slowly with the outer ankle tendon issue and I was going to the chiropractor twice a week too for the whiplash. The PT encouraged me to try five 30 second running intervals, and I tried that while visiting family. The next day I got twinges of pain from the ankle area roughly every ten minutes. The pain calmed for a couple of hours after soaking it in ice, and then came back for another 24 hours before stopping immediately before I went to PT.
A couple of days later, I started to get pain in the tendon on the other side of my ankle (the inner side). It's notable that this pain started after a couple of days after reading about someone with tendonitis in both of those ankle tendons on a forum. After a few days of not getting better, I scheduled an appointment with a new doctor. Once it got to the time for my appointment, the pain was still there but it wasn't as bad. I told the doctor I probably jumped the gun on the appointment, but I wanted him to review the MRI that showed the potential tear on the outer ankle and get that second opinion. He agreed with the first doctor, saying that I didn't have a tear. He also gave a fresh diagnosis on my whole ankle complex that I didn't think made much since.
That takes me to today. I still have regular low level pain in my outer right ankle almost all the time. When walking or running (which I've started lightly), I feel some additional twinges here and there. Walking is uncomfortable still on it still. I also have the new inner ankle pain, particularly on the right ankle. It seems to move around a bit. The neck / back pain from whiplash is off and on. The arm pain and metatarsalgia are mostly gone, but they pop up every now and again. I also have an irritated nerve that runs right by the impacted tendon. If I rub it, I'll get a zap of pain that goes into my foot. The assumption is that me rubbing it or the ankle brace rubbing against it started those nerve symptoms.
When talking to my therapist last week, he casually mentioned in the conversation saying "I'm not saying this is you, but I had a patient who had psychosomatic pain and here's how they recovered." That immediately got me thinking about my pelvic pain that was clearly MBS from a couple of years prior. I've since been reading work from Sarno and Schubiner and just started doing the exercises in Unlearn Your Pain. I clearly recognize that I meet many of the personality traits and have recognized multiple examples of past MBS episodes in my life.
As I worked through it, the outer ankle pain didn't start until the radiologist report that said I have a tear. Two doctors say they disagree and that there is no tear. The inner ankle pain didn't start until I heard about someone in a forum having both inner and outer ankle tendonitis. The arm pain seemed to start after I read about it as a whiplash symptom. On top of that, I had serious health concerns due to the past Levaquin exposure I was wrestling with that had started a fear cycle. Further, being told you have a tear that won't heal (even though multiple doctors disagree) is a powerful nocebo. Oh, and not to mention the shake up from getting rear ended. Being a runner, taking away my ability to run and live an active lifestyle is a core fear TMS / MBS could impact.
In recent days, I've started to evaluate whether all of this is TMS / MBS. To say the least, I know the fear cycle is exacerbating my problem. I still struggle with the tear thing, mainly because even though I've improved a low level pain is almost always there. The pain also can worsen with movement so I guess that's another hesitation about whether its MBS. But how do I rule it out - more doctors and another MRI? I struggle with whether that's necessary or if it would just further spike a fear cycle. Finally, the irritated nerve I'm not sure is MBS - I'm not sure if it would cause that type of symptom (zap of pain when rubbed).
If you've made it to the end of this, thank you for reading. I really appreciate it. This is a complex story and I don't know how to make it short - there's just too many important details. I'm just looking to hear if everyone thinks I'm going in the right direction. Again, thank you - this is a day when I can use the support.
I'm new to the forum and seeking some support as I navigate my current situation. I've had TMS / MBS in the past and navigated it successfully. My 2022 situation is a success story and leads into where I am today.
In early summer 2022, I developed pelvic pain symptoms that I thought was prostatitis or an STI. I was dating at the time, I believe came up with the idea that I could have gotten an STI, and my mind manifested it. How my body could mimic those symptoms was mind blowing. I took every STI test and they came back clean. With the pain still there, I went to the doctor who give me a prescription for Levaquin saying I had prostatitis, it's an antibiotic (that's important to this story I believe later - that class of drugs is known for causing severe tendon side effects in some people). Sure enough, the antibiotic didn't work. My next trip was to a urologist who ran every test under the sun. Everything came back clean. I was unfamiliar with TMS / MBS at the time, but I had enough information to convince me that what I had was coming from my mind. Convinced of that, I set the problem aside mentally and a few weeks later the symptoms resolved.
I am a runner and cyclist and living an active life is very important to me. In summer 2023, I got shin splints that was a bit of a traumatic event and forced me to take a couple of months off running. The recovery was long, and during the process I read more about the dangers of Levaquin to tendons and I think that started to enter into the back of my mind. Throughout my January - March 2024 marathon training season, I had shin splint symptoms that popped up on occasion. After my 20 mile long run in late March / early April, the shin splint symptoms were so severe the next day that I was determined to resolve them. It's notable that during that run I remember asking myself if this would be my last run due to the shin splints given how they kept popping up and occasionally more severe.
In my effort to solve the problem, I went to my primary ortho and asked for bilateral tibia / fibia MRIs. Verdict: no sign of shin splints or other injuries. I asked if he thought the issue could be psychosomatic: he said it was worth looking into. However, I didn't explore that further at the time.
By that point, the shin splints had calmed down but I had stopped running to be safe. However, seeking more clarity and a permanent fix to the problem (which was PT and other therapies in my mind), I went to a new doctor and asked for bilateral ankle MRIs to rule out inner ankle tendon issues. Verdict: no inner ankle tendon issues. However, the radiologist saw what the doctor described as "fraying" on one of my outer ankle tendons. He asked if I had pain along that tendon: I told him I didn't and he cleared me to run. That said, despite not running for almost two weeks prior to this appointment, I had developed metatarsalgia in my right foot. The doctor told me its no big deal, take some Aleve, and it will go away.
With the doctor clearing me to run, I went ahead and did the last group run of my training season two days later around 4/27. It went great, there was no significant pain, and it was comfortable and relaxing. Best run I had in a long time. However, the next day I woke up and it hurt to walk on my ankle. Assuming it was the metatarsalgia, I called another doctor to schedule an appointment and make sure it wasn't really a stress fracture.
The drive to the doctor that morning was rainy. Just a couple minutes from the office, I'm sitting at an intersection stopped and boom - I get rear ended. The other driver fled the scene. Since there was nothing I could do, I went ahead to my appointment. The doctor agreed to a foot MRI to check for a stress fracture and I scheduled a follow up for the next week. Later that day, I went to urgent care to have my neck / back checked due to the wreck. An x-ray was clear. I got back to the office and my ankle started feeling worse. I flexed it and in my mind I thought I heard a noise. In my head I assumed it had to be the inner ankle tendon that was described as "frayed" by the other doctor. I quickly made sure that my doctor would be able to address it with me at my MRI follow up appointment the next week.
In the week prior to the appointment, it hurt to walk and I was limping. I started doing research on that tendon that was supposedly fraying online. The literature was very clear: that tendon does not heal on its own if its torn. If it's torn, it requires surgery. An hour before I left for my appointment, I received the radiologist report on the frayed tendon that I had yet to see. It was my worst nightmare: it said I had a tear.
I get to the doctor who tells me I have no stress fracture in the spot where the metatarsalgia is. Of course, my mind had already shifted to what the radiologist viewed as a tear. He examined my foot and said I just had peroneal tendonitis and felt like it wasn't much of anything - he thought the tendon was strong. He told me to wear a brace and sent me to PT. Confused, I asked him about the MRI. He explained that tendon issues are notoriously difficult to call in that area from MRI and that they rely more on their clinical opinion. He went over the MRI, said he disagreed with the radiologist, and said he didn't see a tear. Still confused, I accepted the explanation to the extent I could and went home. While I couldn't run, he cleared me to bike.
Over the week to come (this was the first week of May), I did tons of internet research and I stumbled again on the tendon side effects of Levaquin. Tendon side effects with those drugs are very real, but it seems odd that I would have a major development almost two years later. Still, I was worried about it and it was hard to get off my mind. I also continued to worry about the "tear" call from the radiologist that my doctor disagreed with. I couldn't get out of the back of my mind that a tear to that tendon wouldn't heal and I feared surgery that would involve a significant recovery period. Knowing I could bike, I did that a couple of days in a row. Shortly after the second ride, I started to have whiplash symptoms. A couple of days later, I thought I would have to go to the hospital the whiplash was so bad. Those symptoms have been off and on at a lower severity over the next month. I also developed arm pain the next week, which I believe occurred after reading about arm pain and whiplash.
Over the next month, I went to PT and the right ankle pain started to dissipate a bit. Still, low level pain was there every day and I'd have bad days. On top of that, I couldn't get the tear concern out of my head knowing that a tear won't heal. Making matters worse, I started to get symptoms in my other ankle, although they were less severe. So I went back to the doctor in early June: he reaffirmed his view, said the tendon was strong, and gave the MRI another look. Still, in his opinion, he saw no tear. He encouraged me to get a second opinion but I decided against it at the time.
Over the next two weeks, I continued PT and continued to progress slowly with the outer ankle tendon issue and I was going to the chiropractor twice a week too for the whiplash. The PT encouraged me to try five 30 second running intervals, and I tried that while visiting family. The next day I got twinges of pain from the ankle area roughly every ten minutes. The pain calmed for a couple of hours after soaking it in ice, and then came back for another 24 hours before stopping immediately before I went to PT.
A couple of days later, I started to get pain in the tendon on the other side of my ankle (the inner side). It's notable that this pain started after a couple of days after reading about someone with tendonitis in both of those ankle tendons on a forum. After a few days of not getting better, I scheduled an appointment with a new doctor. Once it got to the time for my appointment, the pain was still there but it wasn't as bad. I told the doctor I probably jumped the gun on the appointment, but I wanted him to review the MRI that showed the potential tear on the outer ankle and get that second opinion. He agreed with the first doctor, saying that I didn't have a tear. He also gave a fresh diagnosis on my whole ankle complex that I didn't think made much since.
That takes me to today. I still have regular low level pain in my outer right ankle almost all the time. When walking or running (which I've started lightly), I feel some additional twinges here and there. Walking is uncomfortable still on it still. I also have the new inner ankle pain, particularly on the right ankle. It seems to move around a bit. The neck / back pain from whiplash is off and on. The arm pain and metatarsalgia are mostly gone, but they pop up every now and again. I also have an irritated nerve that runs right by the impacted tendon. If I rub it, I'll get a zap of pain that goes into my foot. The assumption is that me rubbing it or the ankle brace rubbing against it started those nerve symptoms.
When talking to my therapist last week, he casually mentioned in the conversation saying "I'm not saying this is you, but I had a patient who had psychosomatic pain and here's how they recovered." That immediately got me thinking about my pelvic pain that was clearly MBS from a couple of years prior. I've since been reading work from Sarno and Schubiner and just started doing the exercises in Unlearn Your Pain. I clearly recognize that I meet many of the personality traits and have recognized multiple examples of past MBS episodes in my life.
As I worked through it, the outer ankle pain didn't start until the radiologist report that said I have a tear. Two doctors say they disagree and that there is no tear. The inner ankle pain didn't start until I heard about someone in a forum having both inner and outer ankle tendonitis. The arm pain seemed to start after I read about it as a whiplash symptom. On top of that, I had serious health concerns due to the past Levaquin exposure I was wrestling with that had started a fear cycle. Further, being told you have a tear that won't heal (even though multiple doctors disagree) is a powerful nocebo. Oh, and not to mention the shake up from getting rear ended. Being a runner, taking away my ability to run and live an active lifestyle is a core fear TMS / MBS could impact.
In recent days, I've started to evaluate whether all of this is TMS / MBS. To say the least, I know the fear cycle is exacerbating my problem. I still struggle with the tear thing, mainly because even though I've improved a low level pain is almost always there. The pain also can worsen with movement so I guess that's another hesitation about whether its MBS. But how do I rule it out - more doctors and another MRI? I struggle with whether that's necessary or if it would just further spike a fear cycle. Finally, the irritated nerve I'm not sure is MBS - I'm not sure if it would cause that type of symptom (zap of pain when rubbed).
If you've made it to the end of this, thank you for reading. I really appreciate it. This is a complex story and I don't know how to make it short - there's just too many important details. I'm just looking to hear if everyone thinks I'm going in the right direction. Again, thank you - this is a day when I can use the support.
