Not back pain

S

Stracksstory

Peer Supporter
So many times in my journey for recovery, I come across a really motivating and helpful tool or perspective only to find that it is applied to the topic of chronic pain. That makes a lot of sense, but since pain is not involved in any of my symptoms, it always makes me doubt whether I have TMS. It seems like most of the recovery stories revolve around chronic pain too. I understand that that is really debilitating, but it’s discouraging. I keep hoping I will find some exact replica of my own symptoms. I know that’s probably not realistic.

My symptoms have become an inner tremor in my hands and overall upper body. It doesn’t hurt, it’s just constantly makes me wonder what is going on.
 
Inner tremor like feelings was one of my symptoms (as was back pain). I had probably 35-40 non-pain symptoms. They are gone.
The brain drums up some wild stuff but that is only the physical manifestation of our internal mental, emotional and mindset suffering.
The way out is to shift away from the physical to the emotional, to shift our mindset.
I think you are questioning how this is done without pain symptoms.
TMS symptoms that are not pain include: anxiety, depression, ocd like obsessional thinking in most people. Then there are things with names that cause symptoms but do not cause pain: eg my therapist said a group of my symptoms was called dysautonomia which includes POTS - like symptoms and others. I did have most looked at by a medical professional: my Dr. and a neurologist he suggested. They cleared me of physical causes.
Now, neither suggested it was mind-body, neither told me how to “cure” it but there was no other solution.
I did not 100% believe it was all mind/body however my shifts came to recognizing my thoughts were only: perhaps it is not mind/body - I decided to consider perhaps it WAS. There were no answers or fixes offered if it wasn’t but there was possible end to my mental/emotional, obsessive, reactive suffering if I did consider TMS.
That decision changed me from being a victim of my circumstance to being in power of it.
You don’t need 100% faith to heal; evidence sheets help here. If you do feel you need a TMS doc to rule things out, do it but your medical team can also do this for you. It is your choice. There is no wrong answer, it is purely what you feel you need. Meeting your needs is a win.
 
Stracksstory said:
So many times in my journey for recovery, I come across a really motivating and helpful tool or perspective only to find that it is applied to the topic of chronic pain.
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Most mind-body/TMS techniques are what I'd call 'transferrable' because you're not 'treating' the symptom(s), you're dealing with calming down a fearful brain that's causing the symptom(s). Journaling and meditating aren't pain specific, for instance.
Stracksstory said:
My symptoms have become an inner tremor in my hands and overall upper body. It doesn’t hurt, it’s just constantly makes me wonder what is going on.
Click to expand...
When the brain perceives danger and is fearful, the body shifts into fight-or-flight physiology: adrenaline increases, muscles tighten, the nervous system becomes hypersensitive, and that can produce very real shaking or tremor symptoms. Some people notice:
  • hand tremors
  • internal buzzing/vibrating
  • leg shaking
  • pelvic floor trembling/spasms
  • eyelid twitching
  • full-body shaking during anxiety or emotional release
Therefore, in mind-body/TMS these are manifestations of a sensitised nervous system rather than a structural condition/damage.

That said, tremors can also have neurological, metabolic or medication-related causes, so it’s sensible not to assume automatically that every tremor is TMS without appropriate medical evaluation — especially if it’s new, progressive, severe, or accompanied by other neurological symptoms. The advice with these forums is that we get checked out medically before assuming that our symptoms, whatever they be, are mind-body/TMS.
Stracksstory said:
I keep hoping I will find some exact replica of my own symptoms. I know that’s probably not realistic.
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Over the years of being a member of these forums what I've seen over and over again is people searching for that particular 'holy grail' of finding an exact match... and when they do find a similar match that's usually not good enough. For many, it can act like a 'road block' on their mind-body/TMS recovery 'journey'.

As @Cactusflower says, you don't need 100% faith to be able to improve and then recover. You can choose to 'suspend your disbelief' and commit to doing 'the work'... journaling, self-soothing, meditating. I proffer that all of these kinds of practises are good for anyone anyway, not just those suffering mind-body symptoms, so nothing to lose by partaking in them... so maybe adopting that kind of attitude would be helpful to you.
 
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Thank you both for your insights. They are very helpful. The same symptoms I have right now are the ones that sent me to the emergency room the first time and then to a cardiologist. All of them came back with nothing (including the second emergency room visit, which I went to for chest pains). Those included chest scans, EKGs, blood tests, a halter monitor, and an echocardiogram. My family doctor also had me test my blood sugar levels for several weeks and that also came back with nothing.

The sense of internal buzzing or tremor, has not been consistent. It stays around for a while then it dissipates and other symptoms come up, and then sometimes it comes back like now.

So, I don’t know if it’s worth getting checked out again, but I have not gone to a neurologist. What does a neurologist do exactly? I’ve never been to one. What would they check in my case?

On one hand, I would be happy to get one more confirmation that there is nothing wrong. On the other hand, I’m afraid of being diagnosed with something. I’m also afraid of being diagnosed with something that is really just TMS but they don’t know about that. That would give me just some other weird illness for me to research online and increase my anxiety!

On another direction, if I went to a TMS doctor, how are they able to evaluate me? I don’t know of any TMS doctors in my area, so I would probably be meeting them virtually. I actually still have an appointment scheduled with Dr. Stracks with Comendi health for next week, but I am debating whether to go through with it because of the exorbitant cost. I found another guy, who is more of a coach, that used to post on this wiki that I am considering too. I really like his approach and he is less expensive.
 
Be clear.
I am not suggesting a neurologist because I am not diagnosing any medical condition in you nor anyone else. I am not a Dr. I speak only of my own personal situation and of my own specific set of symptoms that were things my own Dr. referred me to a neurologist for. If your Dr. was concerned, he would have referred you.
All of my symptoms like the “trembling” etc went away doing TMS work. It took time and patience. It took examining my anxiety which I was quite unaware of before this.
Once again, you can talk to your doctor or talk to a TMS doctor. If either has true medical concerns they will refer you to a specialist. Until that time, continuing to do TMS work including doing an evidence sheet will be helpful to you. To do the TMS work there is a link at the top of this forum to the Structured Educational Program. It helped me so much.
 
Stracksstory said:
The sense of internal buzzing or tremor has not been consistent. It stays around for a while, then dissipates and other symptoms come up, and then sometimes it comes back like now.
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Mind-body/TMS symptoms often behave that way — coming and going, shifting, and returning again — so that pattern can fit with a mind-body process. That said, none of us here is medically trained, so we can’t give a definitive opinion.

A neurologist mainly looks at the nervous system — brain, nerves, muscles, movement, tremors, sensations, etc. In your case, they’d probably ask detailed questions about the internal buzzing/tremor feeling, do a neurological exam (reflexes, coordination, strength, balance), and then decide whether anything points toward a neurological disorder.

As for TMS/mind-body practitioners to include those who are also doctors, they look at symptom inconsistency, symptom shifting, links to stress/fear, hyper-vigilance, personality traits, and nervous system sensitisation.
Stracksstory said:
I actually still have an appointment scheduled with Dr. Stracks with Comendi Health for next week, but I am debating whether to go through with it because of the exorbitant cost. I found another guy, who is more of a coach, that used to post on this wiki that I am considering too. I really like his approach and he is less expensive.
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It may help to ask yourself which option would actually move you toward feeling calmer and more grounded long term, rather than simply providing temporary reassurance. If Dr. Stracks feels financially stressful, it’s completely reasonable to consider someone whose approach resonates with you more and feels sustainable.

On the other hand, if part of the appeal of seeing Dr. Stracks is that he’s medically trained and could potentially recognise any red flags suggesting something structural — and refer you onward if appropriate — that may give you additional peace of mind.

Ultimately, it all really comes down to just that, that is, your peace of mind: feeling comfortable enough to commit to mind-body/TMS work without being distracted by often or even constantly worrying that something structural has been missed... And a sense of safety and reduced fear, and therefore peace, is exactly what mind-body/TMS work aims to build.
 
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I just started my evidence sheet. I used the summaries that my doctors posted on the medical app. I found many helpful quotes directly from my doctors, including this one: “ it does not sound neurologic in nature. More likely to be stress.”
There were plenty of references from the cardiologist too such as: “ anxiety may contribute to symptom perception” and “ deferred cardiac medication and invasive procedures due to absence of documented a arrhythmia or structural heart disease.”

good stuff!
 
Stracksstory said:
I just started my evidence sheet. I used the summaries that my doctors posted on the medical app. I found many helpful quotes directly from my doctors, including this one: “ it does not sound neurologic in nature. More likely to be stress.”
There were plenty of references from the cardiologist too such as: “ anxiety may contribute to symptom perception” and “ deferred cardiac medication and invasive procedures due to absence of documented a arrhythmia or structural heart disease.”

good stuff!
Click to expand...

It is probably more important to add things like your mentioning that symptoms are inconsistent and at times intermittent, that they have changed over time.
Another thing to add to your evidence sheet is to look at when you have a symptom and any event that was emotionally charged in any way (even subtle, not necessarily external) and an uptick in symptoms.
You might add that you have less symptom at certain times of the day or with certain activies.
The evidence sheet is about you, it isn't really about what professionals say, or any tests etc. Those things are focusing on the external and the "medical" - and not really in the long run about TMS (which is why reading a book by Dr. Sarno is very essential, you'll get more knowledge and understanding about what TMS is vs. the old way of thinking that everything is medical, dependent on a provider of some kind, etc. In terms of adding what professionals have said you might mention if you felt some relief or perhaps an increase of symptoms when a practitioner mentioned that things may be stress related.
 
Thanks for that insight. I thought the evidence sheet was more of evidence to help one believe that your symptoms are TMS and not structural . I admit, I still struggle with that. I definitely am convinced that some of my symptoms are TMS, but the more persistent ones still worry me at times. Maybe that’s why those doctor comments were part of my evidence list.

I like the idea of observing my symptoms and seeing if they have correlation to stressors or time.
 
Stracksstory said:
thought the evidence sheet was more of evidence to help one believe that your symptoms are TMS and not structural
Click to expand...
Indeed, yes, that's correct.

This might just be a matter of interpreting your description, because I interpreted it quite differently. The impression I got is that you were only including physician comments which indicated an emotional basis rather than a structural one for your symptoms. Knowing how hard it is to get started with something as amorphous and open-ended as an evidence list, I actually thought this was a great place to start! Chronologically, it's logical, in terms of your growing awareness. (It's also exciting, because it is really starting to feel like the medical industry is starting to find its way to a different paradigm - although I know it's going to be a long slog).
 
Stracksstory said:
So many times in my journey for recovery, I come across a really motivating and helpful tool or perspective only to find that it is applied to the topic of chronic pain. That makes a lot of sense, but since pain is not involved in any of my symptoms, it always makes me doubt whether I have TMS. It seems like most of the recovery stories revolve around chronic pain too. I understand that that is really debilitating, but it’s discouraging. I keep hoping I will find some exact replica of my own symptoms. I know that’s probably not realistic.

My symptoms have become an inner tremor in my hands and overall upper body. It doesn’t hurt, it’s just constantly makes me wonder what is going on.
Click to expand...
Stracksstory said:
Thanks for that insight. I thought the evidence sheet was more of evidence to help one believe that your symptoms are TMS and not structural . I admit, I still struggle with that. I definitely am convinced that some of my symptoms are TMS, but the more persistent ones still worry me at times. Maybe that’s why those doctor comments were part of my evidence list.

I like the idea of observing my symptoms and seeing if they have correlation to stressors or time.
Click to expand...

Correct and I agree with Jan. I think Cactus was just encouraging you to broaden your evidence list, but to me all types of evidence are fantastic (and just as important). If you have comments from doctors that support the TMS diagnosis, then this is very powerful and you should leverage that :)
 
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