Is this still TMS ? or is it mutating ?

Z

zaxaone

Newcomer
Hi

Thanks for accepting me in this forum.

(Ill try to make it short.)
1 year ago i started having pain in both hand and left forearm. Working as programmer i freaked out after googling that it could be rheumatoid arthritis. Doctors found a mild inflammation and i took painkillers for 3 months without real success. Then thanks to a blog post i found and then this forum i became aware of TMS and gradually recover, it took me about 6 month to accept that it could really be TMS .
2 month ago i spoke with my wife and told her that i think i m 100% cured thanks to the TMS approach. I spent 2 weeks without pain.
Then suddenly during a work meeting i started to have fasciculations in my left forearm, after googling again i freaked out again in the same way about ALS and i m still thinking about it several hours per day.

I m testing once again the TMS approach (speaking to my brain; accepting it as a distraction and trying to cope with a never ending family related rage that always pop up by itselfs). However this time it seems different. i can't control the fasciculations as easily as with the first episode.

Furthermore since then i have a numb thumb; pain in the forearm and some kind of weird (weakness) sensation when typing on the keyboard , handling a fork, ... . All those only in the left atm/forearm
It seems that the TMS approach don't work and even somehow worsen as new symtoms keep appearing and i can't get rid of the ALS idea.

There are too much details to explain why (mainly undealed rage), but i m still deeply convinced that this is TMS related.
Is it a common scenario for people suffering from this to somehow cure then fail again ?
Is it normal that new symptoms keep appearing and only in one part of the body ?
Does anybody have good advices for this, i have some kind of psychotic unrational fear about ALS that come and go and working in a country without good doctor i can't make a diagnosis until September ?

Thanks for those that read up to here :)
Best Regards and
 
Yes, zaxaone, it's common for TMS to be a cyclic phenomenon. The subC is crafty, and often tries to alter the manifestation of the pain. On the plus side, you know that the program works, since you banished the pain once before!
Focus on what worked before, and keep putting one foot in front of the other.
 
zaxaone said:
Hi

Thanks for accepting me in this forum.

(Ill try to make it short.)
Does anybody have good advices for this, i have some kind of psychotic unrational fear about ALS that come and go and working in a country without good doctor i can't make a diagnosis until September ?

Thanks for those that read up to here :)
Best Regards and
Click to expand...

Zaxaone, my advice is to fight your fear. I started with similar symptoms to yours and, courtesy of my catastrophizing over ALS, MS, and another rare illness that had a misfortune to witness for 15 years in a close relative, I ended up with a complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), a terrible and stubborn neurological disorder with low recovery rate. Roger Gietzen (on the TMS doctor list) gave me a consultation over Skype after I sent him my medical records. I have a long path to recovery, but his TMS diagnosis gave me hope and willingness to work towards recovery. Also, I read number of stories of people who overcame a confirmed diagnosis of MS.

Be brave and persistent!
 
Zaxaone. I am also a programmer and have been suffering from on and off hand/wrist pain since August 2015. I graduated college in June of 2015 and had always typed and used the computer without issues my entire life before it. I'm doing much better MOST of the time nowadays after reading Sarno's books and enough time passing. I can give you more of a backstory if you're interested. However, I too am going through what probably is my third relapse in 8 months or so (I'm typing this right now, so my pain isn't nearly as bad as it was back in October). I've been so close to writing a success story on the forum, only to have a relapse every other month of so. The only success I've had with getting rid of the pain in the past is not worrying about it and following the TMS program with whatever seems to help the most. This is how I know its psychosomatic pain.

I believe my current relapse has been caused by my increased guitar play lately. I bought this game called Rocksmith which is used as an interactive tool to improve guitar skills. Thinking I was out of the woods for TMS pain, I thought I could buy this and everything would be fine. It was for a day or so, but then I started thinking that I've been typing too much and playing too much guitar and the pain would return! I also was playing a bunch of my playstation 4. I never had pain during these activities for this period of time, but started to get pain in the days following. I have pain right now!

I've had similar bouts of pain in the past. In college I had a couple headaches that spanned what seemed a couple months that no doctor could explain. Turns out that long lasting headaches can be a symptom of ALS and/or MS so I know what its like to freak out about those illnesses. While I've had this wrist pain I haven't had one headache (except earlier in the year for about a week, in which I had no hand pain!). I had pain in my groin and frequent urination for what seemed like my entire first semester of my junior year of college (and also my senior year of high school). I went to the doctor for this three times with no explanation too.

Here's a couple things to ask yourself when your going through TMS pain which help me.

1.) When's the last time you've genuinely been excited about something except the relief of pain?
2.) Have you actually had a good laugh / conversation with a friend or coworker lately?
3.) Have you taken any time to plan something fun for yourself?
4.) How much is the pain actually bothering you? Is the fear of the pain progressing worse than the pain itself?

I've found that for question 4, the amount of activities I do with my hands has not correlated to the pain getting any worse. I've been lifting weights, playing guitar, typing etc almost as much as I want. It's only when I start to worry and stress that I sense a heightened pain response or the pain returns. (This can be a nasty cycle to break)

5.) Have you been limiting your time on the computer and what is your reasoning?

The reason I ask question 5 is because I used to limit time on the computer to rest my hands. This is the wrong mentality if you have TMS in my opinion. Taking breaks from the computer for the sole reason of resting your hands keeps your mind focused on the problem. When you take a break from computer work, have a different reason for it. Take a hike, ride a bike, have lunch with a friend etc. Do other things that involve your arms and hands such as swimming. I found that adding a nice balance like this really helps too.

I have faith that I'll get over this relapse and I think you will too.
Let me know if you want to know more backstory about how my pain started etc.
 
You've been given good advice by all! Sounds like TMS, as long as your stress levels are high, they will create TMS tension symptoms in your body to PROTECT you. When you fully accept that the cause of your pain is emanating from you mind and is psychosomatic, you will be able to lessen your stress level and turn down the volume on your structural pain--that's the Sarno KNOWLEDGE PENICILLIN. It's not good to google, if you notice almost all the diseases and side effects of meds ultimately result in death, even toe nail fungus. When it comes to TMS symptoms, google is NOT your friend, leave that to the docs, if they can't find anything wrong, then your free to pursue TMS psychological thinking for the "cure". READ, READ, READ the TMS books and videos and audios, until it sinks into your unconscious where the symptoms are created. Steve Ozanich's new little TMS "Ten Book" is a quick shot of TMS KNOWLEDGE PENICILLIN, that you can kindle for $2.99. The vast majority of the medical world does not yet accept or know about TMS, so googling will only get you physical answers that will create more fear and increase your stress, prolonging your bodily tension.
 
To answer your original question, yes TMS can "mutate" as you termed it, that's called the SYMPTOM IMPERATIVE. You may get a placebo cure from some other means, but as long as the psychological stresses remain, the sub-c will generate TMS tension symptoms in the body. You can lower your stress levels by dealing with the life situations that are generating them, or understanding, and accepting fully, that it's TMS, to lessen your SOOTHE/FEAR RATIO, and that the symptoms are benign.
 
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@raucus i m in this exact situation, and i can clearly find myself in your story. Personally i know that this is the solution :
but as long as the psychological stresses remain, the sub-c will generate TMS tension symptoms in the body
Click to expand...
I can't write a full post at the moment as i m at work. I wil share a little bit more this week end.

Best Regards
 
Hi, Zaxaone. I agree with the others. No matter what you fear, face it. Friedrich Nietzsche got it right when he said, "That which does not kill us makes us stronger.’”

So did Franklin Delano Roosevelt when he said, "The only thing to fear is fear itself."

More recently, Oprah Winfrey said, “The thing you fear most has no power. Your fear of it is what has the power.”

Jake Gyllenhaal, the young actor, said: “Do you know what fear stands for? False Evidence Appearing Real.”

More good advice from celebrities:

Oprah Winfrey: “Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure. Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.”

Halle Berry: “Don’t take yourself too seriously. Know when to laugh at yourself, and find a way to laugh at obstacles what inevitably present themselves.”

Milton Berle: “Laughter is an instant vacation.”
 
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