Numbness in thigh and foot, weakness, limping - is it TMS?

Hello everyone, I am new here.
I have been suffering with lower back pain and stiffness for about 9 years but always a quick visit to the chiropractor sorted things out.
About 20 months ago I got sciatica down my left leg, I struggled to sit for long, had no numbness but it was painful and uncomfortable. However I was fully functional and mobile and felt better when working and moving around. I had a steroid injection for it in April 2019 which gave me a relief for a month and then the symptoms re-appeared. So the spinal surgeon suggested another steroid injection for which I have been waiting since August 2019.
In January 2020 I had 2 weeks with no symptoms - I was amazed and was even wondering if I should cancel my planned for 21st March steroid injection!

However in early February I was crippled with lower back pain, ended up in A&E and then a chiropractor adjusted my "locked pelvis" as she called it - after which I was able to walk withing hours. I was ecstatic!

However the next day after the chiropractic adjustment I developed mild sciatica down my right leg - which was strange as for the past 20 months I had those problems on my left side! I started reading on TMS 7 months ago precisely for the issues on my left side.

The new mild sciatica in my right leg was bearable, I could drive, walk and go about my day to day chores despite being signed off work. However 2 weeks later my right sciatica all of a sudden got so bad, I could not walk, or stand to even brush my teeth in the morning. In the evening the pain eased up a little but just like that as I was standing by the bed I developed numbness in my little toes, the outside of my foot and the heel of the foot which has been going on for 2 weeks now. Went back to my GP, she told me to take ibuprofen, go for walks (I couldn't for a while!) and signed me off for further 2 weeks. She mentioned something about my S1 nerve being affected but did not go into details in the 10 minutes appointments we have! I tried to stand on my right tip-toes and my right leg collapses, I limp when I walk, my leg feels weak and my foot and little toes are numb - apparently is due to the affected S1 nerve.

In the meantime I had another MRI scan and I was amazed when the phone call from the spinal specialist came - he said "my left side has resolved and now I have a disc prolapse on the right side"!! So now he said that I am going to have the planned steroid injection (for which I waited 7 months) in my right side instead of my left one in about a month time!
The verdict from the chiropractor was: "So the numbness is very radicular - in other words it follows where one nerve root goes. So although not ideal for you, it's not the type of symptom we really worry about. It does indicate it's following the S1 nerve root with the weakness going up on your toes which fits the skin area you say you have numbness in. So the last disc is definitely pressing on the S1 nerve root. In and of itself it's very frustrating but not the sort of emergency we worry about for patients."

My question is - how can a prolapsed disc on the left "resolve" but then I get it on the opposite side with horrendous symptoms? Is this TMS despite me having numbness, unable to stand on right tiptoes, weakness and limping when trying to walk? The MRI 16 months ago showed disc prolapse on the left, the new MRI shows nothing on the left but disc prolapse on the right?!

I am worried about the affected nerve causing permanent damage - at the moment weakness, unable to walk fast, can't stand on right tiptoes, numbness and limping. Anybody had that and what's the best thing to do?

In the meantime while waiting for the steroid injection on 21st March I am using meditation and reading up on TMS when the anxiety gets too much - but could it be a physical issue?

Sorry for the long post, I am scared, worried and don't know what to do... Anybody can relate to this? Thank you in advance! <3

 

Hi Pippi, and welcome. Your story sounds very familiar, and that's my recommendation - go to our Success Stories subforum and start reading. Also, go ahead and start our free Structured Educational Program. There's absolutely no commitment, and no signup - just start with Day 1, and keep going if you find it valuable. You don't have to do a day every single day - I know I didn't. On the other hand, don't try to cram too many days in at once, because you need time to process what you are learning and to do other things, like reading Success Stories! You'll be introduced to different types of writing exercises and to other resources out there - which are growing all the time as the science of the mindbody connection makes its slow but inevitable way into mainstream medicine.

I think you're in the right place. The stories here and the SEP will teach you how to change your negative fearful brain in order to accept a new way of thinking and being.

Good luck!

~Jan

 

Thank you very much for the encouragement, Jan!

 

We get well by learning. The education portion was so important to Sarno he discontinued all other treatments except the teaching portions.

We get better studying TMS. We get better by learning about TMS in all it's manifestations. As your quandary is rote and average around here, you would be on the way to recovery all ready if you read all the text and discovered that everything you describe is par for the course.

That paragraph from your Doctor is the biggest , laugh-ablest pile of 'cover my ass because I don't know' double speak crap I have ever heard.... wait no, I heard it myself from my own surgeons, chiro's and ortho's. They make shit up on the spot. I had the same symptom-side switch and the story they told me was about as dumb as the one you've been told. Discs don't move around left and right and center or we would be very, very weak creatures and not dominating at the top of the food chain.

Dr Sarno , on the other hand, has a diagnosis that accounts for all of them SCIENTIFICALLY and oddly enough, his cure rate torched theirs. Go read the text and you will be overjoyed to find you are just one of us! Which means treating the real problem will give you the same result...complete resolution of symptoms.

When you get better, you might come back and read that quote from your doctor and realize how absurd it is

be well