Leg swelling one side only

Three days ago I noticed that an area of my left leg was considerably bigger/thicker than my right leg. It seemed odd to me, so I looked at the rest of my leg and noticed that generally it is bigger now in a way that it wasn't before throughout my thigh, in my hip area and below my knee. I'm panicking that it is lymphedema.

I have a history of various manifestations of TMS. I have been going through about two months of intense stress at work. I work from home for a CPA firm in the outsourced accounting department. We have been onboarding a new non-profit client whose books are an utter mess and I have been under a LOT of pressure to clean it up fast, while the client has been extremely frustrating to deal with. That - combined with other highly stressful issues - has had me in a state of frustration, anger, and fear steadily for at least two months. I thought my TMS was finding its expression through dermatographia. That kicked in about a month ago. I also itch a lot, but as soon as I scratch it, welts appear. It has been maddening, but I figured it would resolve once the inciting situations improve.

Now the swelling... I have been sitting at my desk for about 60 hours a week for a couple of months and am wondering if that triggered lymphedema. I'm trying to decide whether or not to go to the doctor (more money out the door). I dread the possibility of lymphedema.

Has anyone had edema or swelling across a wide area, not just a specific joint, like this where is it most of my leg all the way up to my hip? It would help to know if TMS manifested itself to anyone else like this and if it got better.

 

I have read stories of this happening to people on this forum. I guess you could try applying TMS healing techniques and see what happens.

 

This sounds like it could cause TMS for sure.

 

Thank you so much for replying, Diana-M. Do you have any idea where some of those stories might be?

 

On this wiki. I’ve read them from time to time. You could try searching. Use the magnifying glass in the top right corner.

 

Okay. Thank you. I'll see what I can find.

 

I'm sorry that I can't refer you to anyone's story who had the exact same symptoms as yours... however, the brain can cause all manner of symptoms to include swelling; @TG957 and @miffybunny stories demonstrate that... They were both considered to have CRPS (complex regional pain syndrome) and their symptoms included swelling (without there being any prior injury) and they both recovered by doing mind/body work.

See the video on this thread for @TG957's story https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/foot-discoloration-swelling-neuroma-after-fracture.23269/ (Foot discoloration, swelling, neuroma after fracture) - the whole video's good, but her particular story is at around 30 mins 23 secs in, and shows a photo of her swollen hand.

@miffybunny had swollen feet (she has said that the only footwear she could get on her feet were large, pink Crocs); I'm afraid I don't know if her legs were swollen too.

 

Swelling very well can be TMS. This is how my worst TMS episode began. Itching can be caused by swelling itself. I would still go to the doctor to rule out other purely physiological conditions, but I would be careful about accepting any long neurological diagnosis - that would be a clear sign of TMS. In my case it was carpal tunnel syndrome which was a complete stretch of my doctor's imagination.

 

@Diana-M @BloodMoon @TG957 , I went to the doctor yesterday. It looks like the leg swelling is most likely varicose veins in that leg and that the prolonged sitting has been contributing to the problem. So that one is physiological. I don't doubt the all-over body itching and dermtographia are TMS. The work stress has made it's way into anger, fear, and a sense of being trapped (hating my job and literally having no other options for various reasons), and I think that is what led to this manifestation. Thank you for commenting. I panicked at a new symptom, as the itching and pain already has me on my last nerve.

 

I saw the dermatologist for my regular check-up (history of basal cell carcinoma so I get annual check-ups). I brought up the dermatographia symptoms. He confirmed it and also acknowledged a possible emotional component. I already figured that, but it's nice when the medical community can acknowledge the mindbody now and then. I'm really not sure how to make any progress when I know it's the emotions and anger surrounding my job doing this, and I can't leave and the work situation shows no signs of getting better.

 

Just a s few suggestions for you to consider doing:

1) Journal to help express your emotions and to perhaps explore possible ways to better deal with the things about your job that anger you.

2) Meditate - this doesn't have to take up a lot of time, e.g. whilst you go about your day you could take regular moments to focus on your breath and breathe slowly.

3) Increase your self-soothing. Dr Sarno suggested to self-soothe, about which he wrote in The Mindbody Prescription, as follows:

"Suppose, however, there is another element in the equation; that it is not simply the quantity of rage that brings on symptoms, but the presence or absence of counterbalancing soothing factors … the occurrence of symptoms reflects too much rage and not enough counteracting soothing elements in one’s life."

If/when you self-soothe I'd recommend to be sure to do so without focussing on any particular TMS symptom (otherwise your TMSing brain might take it that you're believing that there is actually something physically wrong with you and that you're not safe).

I've found the ideas in this book wonderful in helping me self-soothe; they are quick and easy to do and can also become part of one's daily routine: https://www.amazon.com/101-Ways-Fin...hqVZ9OWv5ty7GXFFva71pJ4&qid=1728834014&sr=8-1

4) View your work and life in a different light. The ideas in following passage from 'THE MINDBODY SYNDROME (TMS): A Path to Recovery & Freedom' by Dr Kevin Martillo Viner, have helped me greatly with this (regarding circumstances that I cannot change and those that are difficult to change for one reason or another):

 

Wow, @BloodMoon —
This is a great quote from Sarno. And now that I think about it, my self soothing was WAY down (almost non-existent) and danger signals WAY up, when my latest TMS struck.

 

Danger signals up with little or no self soothing to counterbalance = becoming overwhelmed. Drew Coverdale writes in his book The Pain Habit: Your Journey To Recovery. Discover the Truth About Your Pain... "Your trigger was that moment where you felt overwhelmed and carried on."

 

Wow!!! The absolute story of my life.

 

What if you have no choice but to carry on when you are overwhelmed? What if your financial situation is dire and due to non-TMS health issues, you have to work from home and after months of job-searching, you were able to get only one job where you could work from home - and that one only because you knew someone who was a partner at the firm who gave you a chance? And this is it now - in my mid-50s with chronic health problems plus TMS problems and no other options for a job, and that job is so stressful and burning me out. I don't see an opportunity to self-soothe in this. I know what you mean by it and have done it before, but here I am a month since you posted and I read your comment, and this is the first chance I've had to even think about things long enough to write this reply. And - I have to get back to my desk and get back to work right after this short break because I have deadlines for which I am so far behind that I was working until after 1:00 am last night and even after that I was too stressed out to sleep. This will not be letting up for at least the next seven weeks, if it even lets up then. There are things going on in my personal life as well and I don't have the margin to address those adequately due to my job, which I absolutely need because I need the money. Sorry for going on. I just don't see where there is any path to not being overwhelmed. And the itching and the welts continue to drive me crazy. And now the left side of my face is puffy by my cheekbone and eye for the last two weeks. No explanation. My left leg swelled up in October and I saw the doctor and he thought it was varicose veins combined with my long hours sitting. The leg swelling increases and decreases in severity, but never completely goes away. Varicoses veins won't explain the swelling on one side of my face now, though. I went to the dentist since I have a couple of vulnerable teeth on that side. She didn't see anything of concern and my x-rays didn't look any different from over 18 months ago. Out more money there. I don't want to go back to the doctor with the facial swelling because that's more money, too. Sometimes I wonder if I should embrace the weird TMS manifestations like the dermatographia. I wonder if they give my brain somewhere to put the emotions without actually killing me with a heart attack.

 

The length of time that one spends on self-soothing does not have to match, or be more than, the amount of time that one has to spend doing a stressful job.

The self-soothing techniques in the book I recommended above are 'bite sized', very simple, and each one of the 101 techniques is quick to read and very clearly explained. The techniques themselves are also easy and quick to do (the majority of them take just a few minutes, some even less than a minute) yet the effects are profound and, if done regularly, accumulatively long-lasting in calming one's brain down, reducing the anxiety and the stress felt. The book can be dipped into; there's no requirement to read it from cover to cover and all of the techniques have a descriptive heading and are numbered for easy reference.

The techniques can be performed by 'peppering' them at certain points throughout the day, for example, when you go to the bathroom, are cooking your dinner or are waiting for the microwave to ping to tell you that your 'ready meal' is done, when in the shower, washing your hands, and just before getting out of bed in the mornings and in bed just before going to sleep at night (there are quite a number that fit very well with the latter in helping one to calm and be able to go to sleep and if one awakes during the night, to help with getting back off to sleep again).

Also, there's always the breath that one can use to soothe oneself with. See this thread regarding "cyclic sighing"/ breathing (which is also in the book I recommended but under a different name; the author calls it a "physiological sigh" and it's technique number 59); the calming effect of cyclic sighing has been proven in research done by Stanford Medicine and it only takes 5 minutes a day https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/%E2%80%98cyclic-sighing%E2%80%99-can-help-breathe-away-anxiety.28995/ (‘Cyclic sighing’ can help breathe away anxiety...)