iasmin
New Member
Hello everyone,
I’m a 32-year-old woman currently struggling with what I believe are TMS symptoms. I’ve been diagnosed with depression and generalized anxiety disorder for over 10 years. Back in 2012, I experienced gastrointestinal symptoms that, looking back, were clearly TMS-related. I couldn’t eat anything, and even water would make me vomit. My stomach always felt full and painful. I also had shortness of breath, insomnia, diarrhea, and lost around 10 kg during that period. I spent about three months going through that nightmare, isolated in my dark bedroom, until I finally had an endoscopy. After the procedure, the doctor looked at me and said, “Go take care of your mind. There is absolutely nothing wrong with your stomach.” Hearing that changed everything. Once I understood that my symptoms weren’t caused by a physical illness, they gradually faded over the following weeks. I eventually made a full recovery. Then, at the end of last year, I developed severe tension headaches. It had been a difficult year emotionally, and once again I found myself withdrawing from life and struggling to find joy in the things I normally love. I saw a neurologist who prescribed Nortriptyline, and the headaches finally went away. However, in January, the pain started returning whenever I trained my upper body. The muscles in my neck would tighten up, and the terrible headaches would come back. At the time, I was putting enormous pressure on myself to find a good job while also dealing with anxiety attacks. I couldn’t keep up with my usual exercise routine, which only increased the pressure I was putting on myself. I felt like I had to be perfect in every area of my life. In February, I woke up with severe pain in the right side of my lower back, along with allodynia. I assumed it was related to something I had done at the gym. The pain gradually improved over the following weeks. Then in March, my neck pain became so bad that I decided to see a rheumatologist. That’s when everything escalated. Only the right side of my head hurt. My neck was locked up on the right side, and my scalp became extremely sensitive. One day, I took a hot shower hoping to relax, and suddenly felt a tingling sensation travel from the right side of my head all the way down to my right foot. Immediately afterward, my entire body began aching as if I had been hit by a truck. Over time, I started experiencing nerve pain in my arm, sharp stabbing pains in my thighs, and even tingling sensations in my nose. After searching online, I became convinced that I might have fibromyalgia. The possibility terrified me, and I began having insomnia because of it. I don’t remember exactly how I discovered TMS, but the first time I read about it, I felt hope again. Interestingly, some of my temperature sensitivity improved almost immediately. Since then, my symptoms have constantly fluctuated. My sleep also changes all the time. Mentally, I feel better now than I did when all of this first started. But I still have good days and bad days. Yesterday, I had a major emotional breakdown after seeing a scientist online claim that the whole mind-body concept is nonsense and that people can’t actually recover from these kinds of symptoms. This morning, I woke up with fatigued arms and legs. That’s something I’ve noticed repeatedly: whenever I go through a strong emotional episode, I wake up the next day feeling physically exhausted and fatigued.
Also, I feel little muscle twitches throughout my thighs and glutes. Has anyone else experienced this?
I haven’t stopped living my life. Earlier this month, I traveled to another state and hiked several mountains despite being in pain. But that’s where I struggle the most: whenever I try to be very active, my muscles start hurting or I experience those nerve-like symptoms. It’s discouraging because I’ve always been an active person.
I should also mention that my symptoms move around and change frequently. For example, I had pain when stretching my left arm that completely disappeared after three days. The symptoms that have remained the most consistent are pain in my left wrist and lower back, although even those vary in intensity throughout the day. Most of the time, I can go about my day without suffering too much from the pain, and when I’m focused on something engaging, I often forget about it entirely.
Right now, my biggest fear is the random muscle fatigue that appears on certain days. My rheumatologist ruled out fibromyalgia and told me that I had likely been under significant emotional stress. I’ve had MRIs, X-rays, and other imaging tests, and everything came back normal.
What I’m struggling with most is the fear of these symptoms and the impatience that comes with wanting to recover as quickly as possible.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to read my story. And please forgive any awkward wording… English is not my first language.
I’m a 32-year-old woman currently struggling with what I believe are TMS symptoms. I’ve been diagnosed with depression and generalized anxiety disorder for over 10 years. Back in 2012, I experienced gastrointestinal symptoms that, looking back, were clearly TMS-related. I couldn’t eat anything, and even water would make me vomit. My stomach always felt full and painful. I also had shortness of breath, insomnia, diarrhea, and lost around 10 kg during that period. I spent about three months going through that nightmare, isolated in my dark bedroom, until I finally had an endoscopy. After the procedure, the doctor looked at me and said, “Go take care of your mind. There is absolutely nothing wrong with your stomach.” Hearing that changed everything. Once I understood that my symptoms weren’t caused by a physical illness, they gradually faded over the following weeks. I eventually made a full recovery. Then, at the end of last year, I developed severe tension headaches. It had been a difficult year emotionally, and once again I found myself withdrawing from life and struggling to find joy in the things I normally love. I saw a neurologist who prescribed Nortriptyline, and the headaches finally went away. However, in January, the pain started returning whenever I trained my upper body. The muscles in my neck would tighten up, and the terrible headaches would come back. At the time, I was putting enormous pressure on myself to find a good job while also dealing with anxiety attacks. I couldn’t keep up with my usual exercise routine, which only increased the pressure I was putting on myself. I felt like I had to be perfect in every area of my life. In February, I woke up with severe pain in the right side of my lower back, along with allodynia. I assumed it was related to something I had done at the gym. The pain gradually improved over the following weeks. Then in March, my neck pain became so bad that I decided to see a rheumatologist. That’s when everything escalated. Only the right side of my head hurt. My neck was locked up on the right side, and my scalp became extremely sensitive. One day, I took a hot shower hoping to relax, and suddenly felt a tingling sensation travel from the right side of my head all the way down to my right foot. Immediately afterward, my entire body began aching as if I had been hit by a truck. Over time, I started experiencing nerve pain in my arm, sharp stabbing pains in my thighs, and even tingling sensations in my nose. After searching online, I became convinced that I might have fibromyalgia. The possibility terrified me, and I began having insomnia because of it. I don’t remember exactly how I discovered TMS, but the first time I read about it, I felt hope again. Interestingly, some of my temperature sensitivity improved almost immediately. Since then, my symptoms have constantly fluctuated. My sleep also changes all the time. Mentally, I feel better now than I did when all of this first started. But I still have good days and bad days. Yesterday, I had a major emotional breakdown after seeing a scientist online claim that the whole mind-body concept is nonsense and that people can’t actually recover from these kinds of symptoms. This morning, I woke up with fatigued arms and legs. That’s something I’ve noticed repeatedly: whenever I go through a strong emotional episode, I wake up the next day feeling physically exhausted and fatigued.
Also, I feel little muscle twitches throughout my thighs and glutes. Has anyone else experienced this?
I haven’t stopped living my life. Earlier this month, I traveled to another state and hiked several mountains despite being in pain. But that’s where I struggle the most: whenever I try to be very active, my muscles start hurting or I experience those nerve-like symptoms. It’s discouraging because I’ve always been an active person.
I should also mention that my symptoms move around and change frequently. For example, I had pain when stretching my left arm that completely disappeared after three days. The symptoms that have remained the most consistent are pain in my left wrist and lower back, although even those vary in intensity throughout the day. Most of the time, I can go about my day without suffering too much from the pain, and when I’m focused on something engaging, I often forget about it entirely.
Right now, my biggest fear is the random muscle fatigue that appears on certain days. My rheumatologist ruled out fibromyalgia and told me that I had likely been under significant emotional stress. I’ve had MRIs, X-rays, and other imaging tests, and everything came back normal.
What I’m struggling with most is the fear of these symptoms and the impatience that comes with wanting to recover as quickly as possible.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to read my story. And please forgive any awkward wording… English is not my first language.
