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My pain

Alouqua47

Alouqua47

Peer Supporter
My main symptom is nerve pain in my arms; it cannot be felt on the skin, but rather feels as if my brain is amplifying the normal signal of the nerve that runs through the entire arm. I can move my arms, but the specific spot where the pain does feel like it could be mechanical is in the elbow, mostly. This problem originally started in both elbows (ground zero). I view both arms as a single, continuous symptom where the brain chooses one side to turn up the volume of the pain. It mostly chooses the left side of my body to amplify it, but there have been a few exceptional and very strange occasions where the severe pain jumped to the right arm. Additionally, the pain in my shoulders and thoracic outlet appears independently. My big issue is the left side: when I walk, the simple act of normal swinging acts as a repeated stimulus that multiplies the pain and even physically inflames my hand if the intensity gets too high. Interestingly, on those rare exceptions when the pain migrated to the right side, that same swinging motion did not exacerbate it. I know that immobilizing the arm is bad, but I am deeply confused about how to solve this.
Do symptoms really decrease solely through the mental process of removing fear, letting go of worry, and just living life? Or is it strictly necessary to go through mechanical stimulation, forcing the movement, and doing rehabilitation exercises? I wonder if anyone has had pain this severe and managed to get rid of it over time purely through a mental approach, without the need to deliberately worsen the pain by moving the arm to defy it. What would you do in my place?
 
Yes returning to normal activity is important. At a certain point you are going to have to challenge the symptoms and respond well when they inevitably escalate. Overcoming fear and having belief in the TMS diagnosis is very important. If you’re avoiding normal movements then you are sending a message that you either doubt the diagnosis or still have a lot of fear or both. Doesn’t mean you need to instantly start flapping your arms like a bird trying to take flight but you should have a plan to start challenging the symptoms and the fear at some point.
 
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Rabscuttle said:
Yes returning to normal activity is important. At a certain point you are going to have to challenge the symptoms and respond well when they inevitably escalate. Overcoming fear and having belief in the TMS diagnosis is very important. If you’re avoiding normal movements then you are sending a message that you either doubt the diagnosis or still have a lot of fear or both. Doesn’t mean you need to instantly start flapping your arms like a bird trying to take flight but you should have a plan to start challenging the symptoms and the fear at some point.
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Perfectly said :)

Alouqua47 said:
It mostly chooses the left side of my body to amplify it, but there have been a few exceptional and very strange occasions where the severe pain jumped to the right arm.
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I would challenge this also - because if you think you have a structural/mechanical issue in your left arm then yes, this is very strange, but if you acknowledge it's TMS, then it isn't strange at all (and it actually makes a lot of sense). This could be a subtle thing that is undercutting your belief, in that you're telling your brain that you believe in TMS, but then you're telling yourself that it's strange and weird for it to be in the right arm on occasion too. If it's TMS, it's completely normal (and it's great TMS evidence - because if it was structural then it very likely wouldn't be on both sides, even rarely it wouldn't be on the right side -i.e. if it were structural on the left side, it would make no biological sense for it (even once) to be replicated on the right side - the only explanation is TMS - in the absence of a serious disease which would have been picked up).
 
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Adam Coloretti (coach) said:
This could be a subtle thing that is undercutting your belief, in that you're telling your brain that you believe in TMS, but then you're telling yourself that it's strange and weird for it to be in the right arm on occasion to.
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This is well pointed out by Adam, @Alouqua47. Noticing that your symptoms go to the other side of your body on occasion is telling you that it's TMS, and imo it's the only 'good' thing about you having been closely observing your symptoms.
 
@Alouqua47
I’ve had somewhat debilitating pain, cramping, stiffness, numbness, and tingling sensations in my hands, arms and legs for almost 3 years. I explored so many ways to heal, but nothing really worked for me. They probably were getting me closer to healing, though.

Then: For the past 6 weeks I’ve been using Pain Reprocessing Therapy (the Curable app and Haven) to calm my nervous system and to explore my emotions and allow them (not banish them). I’ve practiced acceptance and kindness toward myself and just yesterday my hands loosened! My legs have been slowly loosening and numbness is leaving. I meditate about an hour a day: 30 minutes of EFT tapping and 30 minutes meditation with a vagus nerve stimulator called Sensate. I do about 6 Vegas nerve stimulating and/or soothing things, including havening, every day. Havening is used for trauma victims to calm their nervous systems. You basically gently rub your upper arms.

For me, I’ve discovered that my hypersensitive nervous system has been strongly at play in my symptoms. I also use internal family systems (a form of therapy) to address the unspoken needs of my inner children. I allow them to express their feelings through my body; the body has its own language. TMSers are very out of touch with their body because all their lives, they run from emotion and stuff it. You have to learn to release it. And also to calm yourself. It takes time, but you can heal. I think I’m finally on the right path for me. Maybe some of this will work for you. But it takes consistency. I still have a ways to go. But I’m breaking through. Good luck! Hope you feel better soon.

Check out some of the things I mentioned. I’ll put links below for you:

The Pain Reprocessing Therapy Workbook: Using the Brain's Neuroplasticity to Break the Cycle of Chronic Pain by Vanessa M. Blackstone MSW, Olivia S. Sinaiko LPC, Alan Gordon LCSW
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CTQLMDHS?ref_=quick_view_ref_tag

Curable app https://www.curablehealth.com/ (Curable: A Different Approach to Chronic Pain)

Haven healing community https://yourgratefulguide.com/haven-rewire/info

Internal Family Systems. The Internal Family Systems Workbook: A Guide to Discover Your Self and Heal Your Parts (Sounds True Inner Workbooks) by Richard C. Schwartz
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D12S7RSD?ref_=quick_view_ref_tag

(Vagus nerve stimulator) Sensate https://a.co/d/0hE92Xq0

EFT tapping https://www.thetappingsolution.com/ (The Tapping Solution | Your Nervous System Has a Reset Button)

Havening https://www.havening.org/16-blog/101-havening-new-approaches
 
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