Sudden deep thump/throbs of pain

Hiya,

I've been reading up and down on the anxiety-symptoms list and back and forth on the forum, and I'm pretty determined I've got TMS now, seeing how the universe suddenly has gotten a hell of a lot scarier, and it's the only thing that makes sense.

Pinched nerves, slipped discs, MS, Lyme Disease, I mean, I guess a normal person without TMS would at least be able to bear to read those words without getting zapped or thumped somewhere in the musceloskeletal system...

I recognize myself in many of the symptoms. They move around, they are persistent, they induce a feeling of worry that is repetitive, over and over again dwelling on the same kind of "mood" meanwhile the sensation is present...

Anyway, there's one symptom I'm worried about, and that is this kind of deep muscular thud of pain that I get often. It can happen anywhere in the body, but usually the pains I get are sharp, needly, electrical or just sore. But sometimes there is this deep "thud" of pain that is somehow very low frequency, and very frightening, and very often I get it under the soles of my feet. It lasts a millisecond, but it's like it sends shockwaves through my whole system. Sometimes I also get it in my chest.

With the muscle knots that send referred pain everywhere, I can often feel tingling, numbness and zapping kinds of pain, or soreness. But this thumping pain that comes as a blunt thick syrupy lightning bolt of thud, are they also a symptom of TMS?

I am also wondering, does anyone ever feel like the whole muscular-system is somehow tingling at a "high pitch", and sometimes it can actually be quite pleasant? It's like having butterflies in the stomach, only, it's a little bit too frightening to be completely relaxed in the sensations, but it is bordering to pleasant? And then suddenly THUMP comes a deep throb of pain from somewhere, which spurs a worry, or perhaps was pre-empted by one, and then start the muscle cramps under the feet again...

 

Hi Knut,

I think this could definitely be a symptom of TMS. I don't get mine in my feet, but I know exactly what you're talking about. I have had those 'thumps' in my chest and my arms primarily and - if I'm extremely unlucky - my calves. I've found that normally when they happen, I'm tensing without realizing it or my anxiety is repressing itself but definitely functional. I think I also know what you mean about a 'high pitch' feeling. I find mine again comes on when I'm feeling anxious. I get really hyper-aware of everything and I feel like I'm feeling the anxiety physically everywhere. It's almost pleasant... but then not.

I've been tested for pinched nerves and slipped discs and had a neurologist rule out MS - nothing on Lyme yet, but I know a few people who have that, and my symptoms are not similar. If your pain moves around or if it's relatively in the same place but intermittent then TMS is most likely. I hope this helps a little bit. Sometimes just hearing you're not alone can make a difference.

 

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah, I've seen loads of osteopath', naprapats, physiotherapists, chiropractors...they all say there's no nerves trapped, and I have a very good range of motion. Somehow this doesn't seem to calm me more than a couple of hours. Since my whole musculature starts buzzing, it's so disconcerting that it doesn't matter what they say...

I feel often I get this little pinch in my neck, and from there on is goes like a shockwave through the breastmuscles, down past the buttocks and down into the soles of the feet. This dreaded "radiating pairan" is not really how I imagine radiated pain to be like...it seems more like a trigger that sets off a cascade of small pulses of interconnected muscular fear...

 

Yes the body is a strange thing- all the weird sensations etc. I get my head into believing I have TMS but then I am so easily derailed when I hear something that doesn't quite fit my scenario. My symptoms have been around along time and nearly constant other than when I am exercising and in bed. Streamflash you mention symptoms being intermittent being a good sign. Well I am hoping there is a chance of TMS being the cause of symptoms for some of us who don't often get a reprieve from them. My symptoms have gone away before but that was quite awhile ago.

I guess my post is just an observation of how insecure I actually feel about my physical situation. I know there are others who feel like I do. When I feel this way I read from one of the mindbody books that have been written. They can be helpful.

 

Thanks! Will buy them this week!!

 

Knut - the fact that you have a good range of motion says a lot. I went to about 5 different physiotherapists for radiating pain and different injuries time and time again. I'm hyperflexible, but despite that, they were always confused because my pain never matched up with what they said it should. I had a chiropractor tell me the same thing. The only thing one of them ever found was 'joint laxity' (ie: hyperflexibility) so he warned me against sudden movements. But I've seen my mother get a legitimate pinched nerve before, and the symptoms are very different to what I experience. I completely understand that cascading wave of pain. I have very tight upper trapezius muscles and I'll often get radiating pain from there, but it doesn't follow a normal pattern. I'll get intermittent pain or a sudden wave that I can't explain. It's very unsettling, I know, but TMS will do absolutely anything to distract you from the root problem. Try and keep telling yourself that your pain is valid and caused by TMS. It's hard, but it does help.

TGirl - I completely understand that worry, too. I have intermittent pain in my hands and legs, but I have a fairly constant deep ache in my forearms and in my neck. I get mild reprieve while exercising and sometimes when I sleep or when I'm using a menthol rub. But I've been through test after test on those body parts, and I do believe it's TMS. That opinion will change every few minutes sometimes when I'm having a bad anxiety day, but I do understand. I'm sending you lots of good thoughts! Keep telling yourself it's TMS. And if you start to doubt, just remind yourself that if it was something structural, it never would have gone away, and it would be constant no matter what.

 

Thanks Streamflash, I am sending you positive thoughts as well. Best of luck to us all!