New Member - Trying to solve the pain puzzle

[Dakk]

Hi everyone,

I'm new here and this is going to be long, sorry. I think I've spent about six years treating a nervous system problem like a structural one, and I'd really like to hear from people who've been through something similar.

Some background: I work in tech and have been at a desk for most of my 20-year career. These days I take breaks, walk a lot, and try to keep moving, and I exercise three times a week. The problem is that exercise keeps flaring me up. I know I need to get stronger for things to calm down, but every time I push, I flare, and then I can't build any strength. It's a loop I can't seem to get out of.

How I got here

Around 2018, after years of heavy lifting (deadlifts around 2x bodyweight), my low back, glutes, QL and hamstrings got tight and never really let go. That was before any disc issues showed up. In 2020 I herniated L4-L5 and had sciatica down my left leg. The leg pain went away after about a year, but the tightness stayed.

In late 2024 I started getting nerve pain in my right arm. That turned into burning across my neck, traps and shoulders, and imaging showed herniations at C5-6 and C6-7. At the worst point I was sleeping maybe 1–2 hours a night. In August 2025 I had a two-level disc replacement at C5-C7. It barely helped. I was at 8–10 out of 10 pain for three months straight. By November it had broken me down to the point of being suicidal, and I ended up in the hospital. That's where I started buprenorphine, the first thing that actually brought the pain down. It's what got me back into rehab.

What's been ruled out

Pretty much everything. I've had repeat MRIs of my whole spine with contrast, a brain MRI (MS protocol), a CT, and a bunch of X-rays including flexion-extension films. There's no compression, no instability, and the implants are fine. The only findings are mild bulges that are normal for my age. My EMG and nerve studies were normal. Strength is 5/5 with no atrophy, and the muscle twitching I get was diagnosed as benign.

Bloodwork has been extensive too: autoimmune and inflammatory markers, two myositis panels, autoimmune encephalitis and paraneoplastic panels, Lyme three different ways, viral tests, heavy metals, thyroid, A1c, and metabolic panels. All normal.

I've had nerve blocks at every level of my neck from C2 to C7, plus facet injections, epidurals, an occipital block, trigger point injections, Botox, and 20+ rounds of dry needling. Not one of them helped, not even for an hour. I've been through basically every class of medication too, up to IV morphine and Dilaudid, and nothing touched it except buprenorphine. Every doctor I've seen ends up at the same place: nothing structural to fix.

The other side of it

I've had generalized anxiety my whole life, along with OCD and perfectionism. For four years I took care of my two dogs around the clock. I barely slept and was always watching them and worrying about their health. I lost them in 2023 and 2025. During that same stretch, my mom attempted suicide several times, so I was constantly on edge about her too. Add years of desk work with bad posture, and it all just piled up. I'm working on undoing it now, but honestly I don't know yet if I can get fully pain-free.

Where I'm at now

• Chronic neck pain after surgery
• Tightness and a constant buzzing in my left trap, which is the most stubborn symptom
• Mid and upper back pain and tightness
• Low back, hips and glutes always tight; it feels like my whole body is guarding
• Tingling and burning down my legs into my calves and toes
• Mornings are the worst

The good news is my baseline is around 3–4 now, the lowest it's been since surgery, and my anxiety has come down a lot.

What I'm doing

I've been in therapy for anxiety and OCD for the past nine months. I've done over 200 PT sessions in the last two yeasr, and I'm strength training twice a week. I do a lot of daily mobility work, plus myofascial release, massage every two weeks, magnesium soaks every day, yoga nidra, box breathing, mindfulness, and a lot of walking. I've also changed a lot of my habits: less phone time, phone and laptop stands, raised monitors, better posture and ergonomics everywhere, and I'm working on my sleep. On the medication side, I finished tapering off Cymbalta last month and I'm still tapering Belbuca, down to a small dose at night. My goal is to be off everything.

I've read The Way Out and The Body Keeps the Score. Just started listening to Dr. Sarno's Healing Back Pain audio book. I get it in my head, but I don't think I've really felt it yet.

So I guess my question is: does this sound like TMS to you? And if you recovered after a long history, especially after spine surgery, what finally made it click?

Thanks for reading.

 

[BloodMoon]

Hi! Your post reminded me of a few past threads that might be worth a read purely in case you get something from the discussion, especially because some of them get into the same structural-vs-TMS dilemma you're describing.

I'd probably start with “Will Sacks successful story after a back surgery”, which you can find here.

Another one is “My Story: Structural or TMS Or Both? Can Anyone Help?” (link). There are some interesting parallels with the persistent symptoms after surgery and the difficulty of knowing what to make of them when the scans aren't really explaining the level of pain.

I also wondered if “Day 1: accepting the diagnosis” (link) might be particularly relevant to what you said about “getting it in my head” but not really feeling it yet. That's a distinction that comes up quite a lot — understanding the TMS model intellectually is one thing, but actually feeling safe enough in your body to stop interpreting every symptom as evidence that something is being damaged seems to be another step entirely. There's also a broader TMSWiki discussion on “Accepting the Diagnosis” (link) that might be worth looking at.

And this thread called “Steven Ozanich - Lying Around or Exercise = PAIN” (link) might resonate with the exercise/flare cycle you're describing.

Obviously nobody on a forum can tell you that your symptoms definitely are TMS... But, honestly, the fact that you've got your baseline down from 8–10 to around 3–4, while your anxiety has also come down, seems encouraging in the sense that something is changing. It might be interesting to watch what happens as you keep working on the fear/attention side of things rather than judging each flare as evidence that you've gone backwards.

 

[Alouqua47]

Mis síntomas coinciden bastante con los que usted experimenta. Se caracterizan por dolor nervioso bilateral en los brazos (principalmente en el izquierdo), así como sensación de ardor, hormigueo y rigidez en las pantorrillas o las piernas. También experimento dolores punzantes e intensos de forma intermitente en todo el cuerpo y espasmos musculares (fasciculaciones).
Tengo una amplia variedad de alteraciones sensoriales que fluctúan a diario. Creo que esto coincide con el síndrome de dolor miofascial (SMT) precisamente por la gran cantidad de síntomas, su naturaleza extraña y el hecho de que aparecieron después de un período significativo de estrés intenso, combinado con ciertos rasgos de personalidad. Todos mis exámenes médicos han dado resultados normales, sin poder explicar estructuralmente el nivel de dolor ni las sensaciones que experimento.
Si presenta muchos síntomas de origen extraño y naturaleza desconocida, créame, se trata de EMT (Síndrome de Tensión Muscular) que proviene de un cerebro desregulado o sensibilizado.
Actualmente, he logrado reducir significativamente mis niveles de ansiedad y miedo, lo cual ha ayudado a disminuir mi dolor. Sin embargo, las sensaciones y alteraciones en mis brazos persisten; si bien el dolor ha disminuido, aún experimento sensaciones como tensión a lo largo del nervio cubital, pesadez y, ocasionalmente, una sensación similar a una descarga de energía.

 

[Adam Coloretti (coach)]

So I guess my question is: does this sound like TMS to you?

Hi!

It does, and you've ruled out the structural very well and very diligently by the sounds of it, but now it's time to rule neuroplastic symptoms in. I would look at the FIT criteria by Dr Schubiner (if you google that, it should come up in the first couple of results). Happy to chat further here once you've had a look and assessed your situation against it

I know I need to get stronger for things to calm down, but every time I push, I flare, and then I can't build any strength. It's a loop I can't seem to get out of.

What do you mean by this? Because if it's TMS it's not a strength issue, and you've done over 200 PT sessions so I doubt that anything is weak or out of balance. I don't want to go too hard without hearing how you find the FIT criteria, but a belief like this contradicts the TMS belief and can keep you stuck.