Progressive numbness — TMS?

L

Lighthouse

New Member
Hi. I came across TMS some years ago (it changed my life!) and have used Sarno's theories to get rid of medically diagnosed "RSI" and a mystery knee injury that had left me unable to lift my knee to horizontal when sitting (knee is now fine). So I'm familiar with the principles, understand that I'm predisposed to TMS due to childhood trauma, perfectionist and 'goodist' tendencies, repressed rage, etc. I've successfully used the basic strategies to deal with a number of physical issues since those first ones, e.g. recently pain at the base of my thumb (which freaked me out because I'm a writer and need to be able to type, love knitting, etc.) But now I find myself stumped. The numbness started out in the outer toes of both feet, then outer fingers, then progressed to inner ankles, calves and shins, back of thighs, buttocks (which is where I notice it the most, every time I sit), and now my face. In the interests of having things "checked out", I've been to see a neurologist, who suggested B12 deficiency, but I'm no longer deficient, and there's been no change in the numbness. To clarify: I can feel touch perfectly. The numbness seems to be to pressure. I think it started about 18 months ago. And yes, I've been under stress during this time (was dumped by a long-term friend, a family member on the warpath, plus the pandemic, plus pandemic-caused disruption in another long-term friendship, etc.) I do think it's likely to be TMS, but I'm having more trouble dealing with it, maybe because it's numbness and not pain. I would LOVE to hear some dealing-with-numbness/beating-numbness success stories – or any guidance, really.
 
I used our Search box and entered numbness, limiting the results to the Success Stories subforum (Advanced search) and got these results:
https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/search/3332284/?q=Numbness&o=date&c[node]=27 (Search Results for Query: Numbness | TMS Forum (The Mindbody Syndrome))
When you go to that link, choose the second tab for results from our forum only.

I see people mention numbness all the time, so perhaps you can find the reassurance you want in some success stories. But really, and to quote the title of Dr David Clarke's book, if "They Can't Find Anything Wrong!" why not just assume TMS?

Don't forget that all symptoms, sensations, and body processes are generated by our brains, not by the body parts where we think we feel these things. The TMS repression mechanism will choose a sensation designed to keep you, personally and uniquely, in doubt and in fear. This is its job, it's what it was designed to do. The fact that it's unusual to you is not medically meaningful.

The TMS mechanism was designed to keep us alive in the primitive world, but it works for s*** in the modern world, especially the last, what, 8 years or so? I'm constantly fighting a low level of TMS symptoms these days as a result of unending world stress. It's no wonder the entire world is having an existential mental health crisis.

Anyway, go ahead and find some reassurance in some success stories, and then revisit the work. We can recommend lots of additional resources to calm down your nervous system and, as Nicole Sachs reminds us frequently, to work on having kindness and patience for yourself.
 
Hi Jan, Thanks for that. I'd done a bit of searching for numbness but hadn't limited it to the Success Stories subforum, so that's useful.

I definitely have experience of TMS choosing a symptom, or place, that generates specific anxiety for me. I think this one has worked better (from the TMS's perspective) because of being something other than pain, which I've had quite a bit of experience in dealing with. And yes, I have also thought that what's going on in the world atm is a stressor, even apart from (in addition to) the usual personal ones.

I think what I need to do is tackle it in a more focused way, as I did with the arms and the knee. I've tended to ricochet between thinking, well, it's probably TMS, and then at other times freaking out about it.

Thanks for the advice and reassurance.
 
Numbness, like many other physical symptoms, can very well be TMS. It was one of my many other physical symptoms, and the last one to disappear. I consider myself fully recovered, but I still have very minor residual numbness in my fingers. It used to be in the entire palms of both hands, but since has shrunk to the tips of the fingers. As it is very slowly receding, I don't pay much attention to it because it does not impact the quality of my life whatsoever. It may not be a perfect success story you are looking for, but hopefully it is successful enough to give you some encouragement. Looking forward to reading your success story soon!
 
Thanks for that, it is encouraging. I don't ever really expect TMS to disappear entirely. It's been years since I fixed a knee problem by treating it as TMS, and even now the knee will sometimes suddenly hurt (and I'll say to it, 'Really? You're really trying this on again?') The numbness thing has a psychological/fear hold on me atm, and that's what I'd like to break.
 
I remember seeing the symptom of numbness pop up multiple times in Steve Ozanich's book 'The Great Pain Deception' both while telling his own devastating story and when talking generally about TMS.

I definitely recommend reading that book because - more than any other - I think it drives home that variability of TMS symptoms. The brain is responsible for every physical sensation you feel, so it would stand to reason that the brain can produce any of those sensations as a form of TMS.
 
I've been known to refer to TGPD as "the encyclopedia of TMS." It's been on my list of core resources since it came out:D
 
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