Is this TMS? please help! Much apprcieated

Hi there

My name is Luke and i am 21 years old.

i am wondering if i am suffering from TMS.

my story starts when moving house in the beginning of 2018, this was a very stressful time of my life. between the fighting between my girlfriend and I, the moving itself and the constant battle with the old real estate agents to release our money.

after moving i quickly realized my hearing was muffled, shocked i went to the docs and they said there was nothing wrong with my ears and they could only see a small amount of fluid, not satisfied with that answer I went to another doctor.

He said that I had glue ear. well after that i was okay and started moving on and while doing that i started to suffer from really bad jaw pain about a day later, embarrassed i didnt go to the doctor. So a couple days later i forgot about the jaw pain and it was gone and so was my muffled hearing.

surprised and happy i started to enjoy living in the new townhouse we moved into, started gaming and doing all my normal things that i usually do. so one night i was gaming on a new keyboard that i splurged out on, having a great time until my left forearm and fingers locked up, sore and stiff i stopped gaming and went to bed thinking that it was just a strained muscle.

a week later the pain was still there so i went to the doctor. He said i had tennis elbow which was very odd being my age. but he gave me a page of exercises and sent me off. that was all fine and dandy i was a bit upset i couldn't game for a long time.

so i changed my game to a one handed operation and that was great for about a week or so until my right forearm locked up and started to hurt like my left one. This stressed me out so much as i am a house painter and my career was on the verge of ending i started worrying about RSI and Tennis elbow.

I strarted researching like mad and found out about TMS and downloaded the book by DR Sarnos straight away. so i read the book and put the things into practice except writing down my stresses. Now my pain is not much just a nagging whisper in both my forearms.

i ended up going on holidays last week for 5 days, to my surprise i had no forearm pain even when doing certain activities that would usually bring it on. on my last day of my holiday both my forearms started to ache and hurt like they did before.

this has got me stumped.

thanks Luke.

 

Hi Luke, Good for you for being open to the idea of TMS at only 21. You are well on your path of self development. Without a doubt, this is TMS. Read Dr Sarno's book again and do what he says to do in his book, including writing down your stresses. What stressor was waiting for you when you got back from holiday? If you haven't figured that out, try to. It could be key. Writing like Dr Sarno suggests is very good for digging this sort of thing up.

 

Ding,ding. Moving... Being Married or in a relationship... responsibilities in work.... Knowing subconsciously you're wasting time gaming. All possible triggers. Doesn't mean you have to change a thing, but you would be well served by becoming aware of these by writing it down. I am 52 and a painter (and carpenter) and play guitar for hours and hours as much as I can and have NO pain or numbness... I did and have, but having rooted out a lot of truths about myself and stuff that irks the F out of me and becoming aware of it (and removing some) I never ever have pain or symptoms anymore.
I did have a short bout with hand numbness in my first couple years of TMS education. I was working on a Movie for the laziest crew in Hollywood,was the only one who would show up after lunch break (anger) and my co-workers were drunk when they did show up (rage). A medic told me it was RSI. Having read HBP I knew That RSI was TMS so started focusing on what was REALLY pissing me off...symptoms went away...never worked for that crew again.
Every now and again I'll get a minutes worth at the start of a long guitar playing session. It's related to feeling guilty about 'wasting' all that time. (I am studying classical for my own enjoyment, not 'writing songs' like I am supposed to be)... re-read the books, start studying yourself (like you have been) and as you raise your awareness the symptoms will go away...period.

 

My stressor waiting for me is basically work i work with my dad and it has been absolute hell lately, constant arguing at work and even days where we wont talk to each other all day. its been very stressful. although it has been getting better its still stressful

i try to explain this tms thing and why my forearms hurts and he is a very old school dude that doesn't understand

 

thankyou so much, well i have been wasting alot of time lately as i havent been able to get into a game lately so i just game for the sake of it. i felt like ive just been going through a bit of a down time so i just thought i would continue until things got better then all this pain hit. also its funny that you say that about work. work has been incredibly stressful. like work can be stressful but this has been really stressful for the last 2 months. ill continue to re read the books.

 

Hi Luke, You sound like an incredible very responsible young man. You are living with your girlfriend, paying rent, and working full time with your dad. All of those can bring on stress. Please don't feel any guilt over your gaming time. I know it's a stress reliever. My 2 sons just turned 23 and 25 and are still living at home saving money. When they aren't studying for university or working or out with friends, they are gaming online with their friends.

About that major stress, working with your dad; it will be natural that you will receive his displaced anger at jobs and clients because you are right there. That doesn't mean you need to take it though. Your options are:
- talk to your dad (the best option). You don't have to mention TMS when you talk to him, just try to discuss how you feel when he treats you like this (I know, very difficult for 2 males.)
- do nothing (the worst option)
- do some soul searching and decide if painting is what you want to do for a living.
- go apprentice with someone else.
Let us know how everything turns out.