Nerve pain could come and go ?

[ariel233]

Hey
23 male here
So I had shingles on March 2020, and it led me to develop nerve pain (which call post herpetic neuralegia on the medical community and they say it pains that could last for months, years and lifetime due to a nerve damage from the shingles) I have the pains since August 2020, so it means I suffer fot more than 8 months now.
My symptoms are basically burning sensations and itching where I had the shingles rash and headaches with shoulder and neck pain (I had the shingles also on my neck), however it almost gone completely so only the burning sensations and the itching are my problem now.

Along all that period I do collect some hints to it be TMS and I will list them here :

• I do have some TMS personality traits (anxious, hypochonder and perfectionist person).

• according the books, the key risk factors to develop PHN is being old, immunecomperised or with severe case of shingles (I had mild one which resoleved in 2 weeks).

• as I wrote above my pain began almost 5 months after the shingles and it's not typical at all (if the nerve was truly damaged how didn't I felt it before ?)

• after about 6 weeks (mid September) my pain went away completely and I was fine for like 3 weeks and then I started to get headaches on a daily basis, at the first week I ignored it, but then I remember reading on internet about it and thinking I may have cervicogenic headaches, then I became a little bit anxious and day after the itching and burning came back !

• I had few times that my pain go away or decreased significantly for a week or two but than it came back (often worse).

• I have the nerve pain in few areas (where my shingles rash were) and when the pain is really bad in one place, the other places hurt less.

• and the strongest evidence so far - one month ago I was on vacation and suffered really bad from the nerve pain, and during those vacation I got injured in my foot and my foot got infected with severe pain (I even hospatilizied for few days).
and from a really bad nerve pain I had in the vacation, within 2 days after the injury the nerve pain decreased by 80-90% !


I'm sure that all of you pretty sure now what I have it's TMS.

But the problem with nerve pain (according to doctors) is that all I have is typical and normal, they say that PHN could begin even years after resultion of shingles, and nerve pai could come and go, so they basically ruin my evidence list by saying it's all normal.
Another thing is that even between march and august 2020 I had some problems like few episodes of weird headaches or strong few seconds pain at back of my scalp (had there shingles) with crunch sound when I tried to jump in a rope so it makes me think maybe it's stractual (althoght I don't have those issues any more)

So it make me really doubt about it TMS related or not, any tips ?

 

[Andy Bayliss]

Hi ariel233,

I think what you're diagnosed with is postherpetic neuralgia: lasting pain after shingles...

It is often known to be a TMS type condition. I know this from speaking to Dr. Howard Schubiner, a well-known TMS physician.

You have about five other good observations about it, supporting a TMS diagnosis.

It can't hurt, and may very well help to treat it as TMS. We have the Structured Education Program, free at the Wiki.

Importantly, your self-treatment should be questioning the diagnosis by your physician, as you're doing with the evidence you have. Primary among the items you list is the reduction in "nerve pain" when you had the foot injury. Classic TMS response.

Know that although your case fits the physician diagnosis, this is often true in TMS. Spinal MRI's show deterioration, therefore "that's why you're in pain." And the list goes on and on.

If you reverse this thinking, for yourself, you'll see that for most physicians there is pain in their patient, so then there is a need to explain it, to themselves and to the patient. Since most physicians have no real appreciation for the amount of pain our mindbodies produce, they will always find a mechanical or injury-caused reason. It is the only conclusion they can come to, based on what they are taught.

If you apply this understanding to your own case, this is very helpful. Ask yourself if all these physicians have been making up stories about the kind of pain I have, and they've been repeating these stories down through the years, how can they possibly know the reality of the cause of my pain? It is essentially hearsay. Why should I believe a thing they say?

So there is a tip for you! Put aside the things they have told you, and treat this the way a smart TMS practitioner will: ask yourself about stress, life events, personality and "think psychologically" every time your mind goes to the pain. And read success stories every day, and read into the story the type of pain you have. It is all the same.

And be patient and confident in the process.

Andy

 

[Andy Bayliss]

• I had few times that my pain go away or decreased significantly for a week or two but than it came back (often worse).

You might begin to observe when this happens. What other factors are there (were there also) like emotional stress or life changes.