new and in need of support

Hi, I am new here and would appreciate some input from anyone willing to reply. I am kind of at the end of my rope. I have had a painful prickly sensation on the skin of both legs on and off for ten years. The sensation moves around, but is always on my legs. Wearing jeans aggravates it. My symptoms have gone away twice for a couple of years each time- not sure why it went away , other than once a neurologist told me I was fine and it seemed to gradually go away. I also get a surging feeling in my chest, kind of like adrenaline.

The first episode started after a bad flu and the last episode began after a two month period of unrelenting stress. It seems to have clicked on with no apparent turn off button.

I must add that I have been tested extensively (MRI's, blood work etc...) seen three neurologists and on and on. All tests have come back normal.

This is all so disturbing. Does it sound like TMS or...? Thanks for any replies.

 

Hi, tgirl. You've had tests and nothing structural has been found to explain your symptoms. They sure sound like they are caused by TMS repressed emotjons. The flu and two stressful months probably were triggers that brought on past emotional stresses. I you haven't done the Structured Educational Program yet, I recommend it. It's free in the subforum of this web site. It gives daily things to do or think about that help us discover our repressed emotions that are causing us pain.

Consider it lucky and even God-sent that you have come to the TMS community. We have all found help from each other.

It is typical in TMS that symptoms move around. It's our subconscious wanting us to discover and deal with our repressed emotions or our
perfectionist or "goodist" personality.

Dr. Sarno's 12 Daily Reminders, in his book Healing Back Pain, are good to look at each day. Another TMSer, Herbie, wrote an extended version of them that I like and think you will, too"

Herbie’s Extended Version of Dr. Sarno’s 12 DAILY REMINDERS

1. The pain is due to TMS. This is real pain or anxiety but its caused by subconscious tensions and triggers, stressors and traits to your reactions and fears and also when at boiling point your conscious tension can and does cause real pain too.
2. The main reason for the pain is mild oxygen deprivation. This means that when you get in pain or in anxiety then the the blood is restricted from going to your lower back for instance. The blood being restricted causes oxygen deprivation which causes the pain - remember, where theirs no oxygen then there is pain in the body. Also, The pain stays because of fear and focus to physical organic symptoms and repressions.
3. TMS is a harmless condition caused by my REPRESSED EMOTIONS so even though you think you can harm yourself from the years of pain you have felt and how you feel in general -- so far no reports have been heard from tms healing knowledge causing damage to anyone, it only helps.
4. The principle emotion is your repressed ANGER -- this means under your consciousness lies something that happens automatically to everyone. Tmsers have repressions that are stored because of our personality traits,traumas, stressors, fears, strain, etc... When these stored repressions build and build then eventually they cause the brain to send pain into your body to keep you from having an emotional crises. The mind-body thinks its helping you.
5. TMS exists to DISTRACT your attentions from the emotions, stressors, tensions and strains of your personality traits because if you can get distraction then you wont have to be in emotional turmoil. When you don't face and feel your emotions and they get repressed cause you didn't want to deal with something -- they are just adding up in this beaker, ready to pour over and create real pain and anxiety in your body.
6. Since my body is perfectly normal, there is nothing to fear. So in reality when I fear the pain or anxiety I just cause myself undo strain and tension adding to the beaker of pain. If I fear then I feed the pain, If I fear Its impossible to recondition. Fear keeps the pain and anxiety alive in the body through focus.
7. Therefore, physical activity is harmless.If I want to work against the pain I could but its better to lose some of the pain so when I start my life over I=t have to be in pain trying to heal cause facing the repressions and all the other activities that cause the pain and reversing my fear and focus to them then I can heal.
8. I am resuming all normal physical activity. I don't fear moving anymore. I believe in my bodies ability to heal now. I can move how I want. I will not fear moving with a bent back anymore. I will also practice going out and acting normal again, not in fear of what pain might do to me.
9. The pain is unimportant and powerless. Its only power is how its hidden -- its illusion, Its fear.
10. I will keep my attention on the emotional issues. I will think about my emotions and feel my emotions throughout the day. I will not judge, criticize or fear my emotions. I will not run from my emotional issues but face everyone of them. I will feel my emotions fully and cry if I need to. Then I will release the emotion and get my mind and thoughts back to my life and living in the present, in flow.
11. I am in control of all of this. This is how I recover.
12. I will be thinking PSYCHOLOGICALLY AT ALL TIMES. This means I will keep my thoughts on psychological issues like happiness, fear and anger -- traits and triggers, conditioning and journaling. The science behind mind-body/tms healing, etc.... This way I will not feed my thoughts to the body -- that is a trick of tms. Tms will always try to get me to focus on the body caused by the pain until I break its show and flair. When I get my attention off psychical symptoms and on emotional issues and psychological issues then I will not feed the fear of the physical issues anymore thus making the tms of no effect. This will in return, give us the cure.

 

Thank you Walt. I will read your post several times, that is for sure.

 

"I have had a painful prickly sensation on the skin of birth legs on and off for ten years. The sensation moves around, but is always on my legs"

Had the same sensations for a year of so. And yes it would around. You are very fortunate that they have not found any structural causes. I assume they have ruled out diabetes and other metabolic disorders. If they have, you can be quite certain that it is TMS .

Take care,

 

I had all sorts of blood work. I don't have diabetes etc. I have been tested beyond belief- nerve tests, blood tests, on and on. Nothing wrong. Why did you have the prickly sensation?

 

Generally it is called sciatica. I had in both legs. It moved up and down. Sometimes my feet felt like a piece of brick, other times pins and needles up and down my legs. Add knee pain, back pain, neck pain, arm pain, and hand pain to it and you have a receiee for being in pain all the time and completely disabled.

I recovered completely, so can you.

 

My pain (prickly sensation) is only in the skin - strange. I don't get it in my feet at all. It just moves around the skin on my legs. Sometimes symmetrically, sometimes not. I guess this whole thing just horrified me. Thanks for responding.

 

It is suppose to horrify, worry, and frustrate you. Watch what will happen when it no longer horrifies you. It will try to get your attention with intensifying it or a new symptom. However, if you keep moving forward with your life, it will eventually give up. Just don't give up!

 

Definitely sounds like TMS!

 

Since I've overcome my back pain I've had intermittent itches and rashes on my feet and chest, I'm sure it's symptom imperative, so I would not say you should dismiss it, it can definitely produce skin reactions.

 

Thanks Scott. My symptoms are probably more under the skin rather than on it, but I am not discounting it could be psychological. Since I have been tested to no end and everything comes back normal I am not sure what else it could be.

 

Yup, TMS, more & more. Keep reading the good books, including Fred's, a great book, one of the first I read--and then sleep on it--not the book, the TMS KNOWLEDGE PENICILLIN-- although you could put the book under your pillow, it's not too terribly long.

G'luck!
tt/lsmft

 

Thanks Tom. I am not sure what Fred's book is. What is the name of the book?

 

He refers to Rapid Recovery by Fred Amir.

 

Got it. Thanks!

 

He's the guy about 5 posts up/down from yours: FRED AMIR, the guy with the beard and Hawaiian shirt. He wrote a good TMS book, one of the first I read after the Good Doctor's. He's holding free phone seminars you might want to look into.

 

Hi there,
Just wanted to chime in on this topic since I have been affected by prickling sensations as well. Have you had an MRI brain scan done? Our biggest fear was MS- once the scan came back normal the prickling/tingling slowly faded away. The neurologist who I had visited couldn't explain it either- she thought maybe I had contracted some kind of virus from my South America trip. In hindsight, I know it was TMS flaring up as I was about to move across the continent (knowing not a soul!) to start my Master's. Wouldn't you know it, the only time the symptoms returned was when I was on the plane to my new city. Of course, at the time I didn't know about TMS, but since after learning about it I realized that was one of my earliest symptoms.
Schubiner talks about numbness/tingling in Unlearn Your Pain as a prime TMS manifestation.
I hope this helps,
Alexandra

 

Thanks Tom and Alexandra. Alexandra, I did have MRI's, nerve tests, the works. Three neurologists said I did not have MS. They actually found nothing wrong with me. I am looking into TMS seriously now.

 

Hi, tgirl. Those neurologists found nothing structurally wrong with you, so your symptoms are from TMS. Believe in TMS and you will heal.