TMS flare up or real pain?

[Needel94]

Hi everyone,

Been a long time since I’ve checked in here. A long story short: the chronic neck and back pain that plagued me for 7 years is gone. I’m so incredibly grateful for this community.

I’ve been running a lot over the past year and am planning on running a half marathon (my second ever, and first since 2022) in April. I recently increased my mileage, however, and much of my December has been consumed with foot pain.

I’m not sure if I’m experiencing physiological pain, or a TMS flare up.

Seventeen days ago, after a 7-mile run, I started to notice pain on the outside edges of both of my feet, with more in my left. Then, I started to develop left ankle pain.

I received a cortisone shot, and was prescribed an extra-strength non-steroidal inflammatory. I also iced both of my feet constantly, and bought new, very supportive running shoes.

Today was my first run back. My feet felt about 90 percent better, so thought I’d give it a go.

About 10-15 minutes in, though, I started to feel pain in my left heel, and when I got home, I felt pain in my ankle again. I’ve been feeling super dejected all night.

Does this sound like TMS to you? Or is it possible I just need to wait longer for the inflammation to come down, or something else?

I received an X-Ray on both of my feet, and the podiatrist did not mention anything alarming from the imaging.

The fact that the pain is moving around makes me think it might be TMS. Also, this started after an extremely frustrating incident at work — an incident that I have yet to let go of and am still stewing over.

What do you guys think?

 

[HealingNow]

Hi everyone,

Been a long time since I’ve checked in here. A long story short: the chronic neck and back pain that plagued me for 7 years is gone. I’m so incredibly grateful for this community.

I’ve been running a lot over the past year and am planning on running a half marathon (my second ever, and first since 2022) in April. I recently increased my mileage, however, and much of my December has been consumed with foot pain.

I’m not sure if I’m experiencing physiological pain, or a TMS flare up.

Seventeen days ago, after a 7-mile run, I started to notice pain on the outside edges of both of my feet, with more in my left. Then, I started to develop left ankle pain.

I received a cortisone shot, and was prescribed an extra-strength non-steroidal inflammatory. I also iced both of my feet constantly, and bought new, very supportive running shoes.

Today was my first run back. My feet felt about 90 percent better, so thought I’d give it a go.

About 10-15 minutes in, though, I started to feel pain in my left heel, and when I got home, I felt pain in my ankle again. I’ve been feeling super dejected all night.

Does this sound like TMS to you? Or is it possible I just need to wait longer for the inflammation to come down, or something else?

I received an X-Ray on both of my feet, and the podiatrist did not mention anything alarming from the imaging.

The fact that the pain is moving around makes me think it might be TMS. Also, this started after an extremely frustrating incident at work — an incident that I have yet to let go of and am still stewing over.

What do you guys think?

I think the fact you’re back on here, you have already answered it for yourself

sounds like you’ve done all the right things physically, now is time for psychological.

 

[Needel94]

I think the fact you’re back on here, you have already answered it for yourself

sounds like you’ve done all the right things physically, now is time for psychological.

That's a really good point! I woke up today, fully convinced that this was TMS, with no pain in my left foot, and minimal in my right. Still, I went to my scheduled podiatrist's appointment today, and he had no interest in my theory of it being psychosomatic pain. My X-Rays came back clean, and so he attributed it to plantar fasciitis. He wrapped me up with K-Tape and put support pads on my insoles.

I'm feeling a little torn. This really does feel like would be classic TMS -- the pain coincides with a moment of extreme anger from my job -- BUT there is always the possibility that there is some physically wrong. Additionally, I have not had a CT or MRI scan, so maybe there is some tissue damage? I don't know -- I don't know what to think.

 

[Ellen]

Plantar fascitis is TMS. There are many success stories here and elsewhere by people who have overcome this label using TMS recovery techniques. You are in the right place.

 

[Needel94]

Plantar fascitis is TMS. There are many success stories here and elsewhere by people who have overcome this label using TMS recovery techniques. You are in the right place.

Well I'll be damned....That's incredible. Makes sense! With my back and neck pain gone for almost a year, my TMS needed somewhere to go, and it waited for an extremely taxing moment to hit me where it hurts (emotionally) -- my feet -- at a time where I've never been more proud/excited to run. This is a pesky, smart syndrome..

 

[HealingNow]

Well I'll be damned....That's incredible. Makes sense! With my back and neck pain gone for almost a year, my TMS needed somewhere to go, and it waited for an extremely taxing moment to hit me where it hurts (emotionally) -- my feet -- at a time where I've never been more proud/excited to run. This is a pesky, smart syndrome..

From the Steven Ozanich book defining TMS symptoms if that’s helps

 

[Needel94]

From the Steven Ozanich book defining TMS symptoms if that’s helps

Do you think it would be prudent to just continue running, to break the pain-association loop (not sure if I’m butchering that phrase, but am referring to when you associate pain with a certain activity) even if it hurts to do so? I haven’t tried in a few days so not sure if it even would.

 

[HealingNow]

Do you think it would be prudent to just continue running, to break the pain-association loop (not sure if I’m butchering that phrase, but am referring to when you associate pain with a certain activity) even if it hurts to do so? I haven’t tried in a few days so not sure if it even would.

Have you tried brisk walking first? Then doing graded exposure, 10 secs run, 20 secs run etc etc

 

[Rabscuttle]

Do you think it would be prudent to just continue running, to break the pain-association loop (not sure if I’m butchering that phrase, but am referring to when you associate pain with a certain activity) even if it hurts to do so? I haven’t tried in a few days so not sure if it even would.

You absolutely can do this. The problem people run into is that the TMS brain may resist and push back and amp up the pain, and if you lack enough belief that what you’re dealing with is in fact TMS, then you can be thrown into a panic at the new pain. This is why baby steps work well for a lot of people, as @HealingNow alluded to. I’ll do the ‘blast through method (is there an actual name for this, lol?)’ for a lot of symptoms, ie play sports with knee or calf pain, but if the pain is severe enough I’m not going to punish myself and risk getting thrown into a panic, I’ll just modulate my activities for a few days, while retaining clarity that this is TMS. A lot of us on this forum definitely struggle with exercise obsession, so I think reflecting on our physical outlets is wise. Do we do things because we enjoy them, or do we do things because to not do them means we’re out of shape and weak and pathetic? Gotta be mindful of our mental approaches to such things and the ability for the TMS brain to panic at them.

 

[Needel94]

You absolutely can do this. The problem people run into is that the TMS brain may resist and push back and amp up the pain, and if you lack enough belief that what you’re dealing with is in fact TMS, then you can be thrown into a panic at the new pain. This is why baby steps work well for a lot of people, as @HealingNow alluded to. I’ll do the ‘blast through method (is there an actual name for this, lol?)’ for a lot of symptoms, ie play sports with knee or calf pain, but if the pain is severe enough I’m not going to punish myself and risk getting thrown into a panic, I’ll just modulate my activities for a few days, while retaining clarity that this is TMS. A lot of us on this forum definitely struggle with exercise obsession, so I think reflecting on our physical outlets is wise. Do we do things because we enjoy them, or do we do things because to not do them means we’re out of shape and weak and pathetic? Gotta be mindful of our mental approaches to such things and the ability for the TMS brain to panic at them.

That’s an interesting point. As things have gotten increasingly stressful at my job, I’ve really relied on running the last few months, though I don’t know if I’d qualify it as an “obsession.” I was running 3x per week before this most recent flare up.

I actually just did a body-weight leg workout (different varieties of squats + cardio) and started to feel some midfoot pain while running in place. Of course, it went away almost as soon as I finished. An hour or so later, I felt a little pain in my other foot, which really seems like evidence that this is TMS — the pain is moving around a lot, between both feet, and different parts of each feet.

I’ve been trying something new the last few days: whenever I notice my mind leading me to my feet, I say to myself “I’m not getting on the train” and try to think of something else, so as not good get sucked into the pain/fear loop. If I’m being honest, though, I’m really fucking anxious/scared. I’ve grown so reliant on running, and after not doing it for 2.5 years because of chronic neck/back pain, it’s been a joy to pick it back up this year. I’m scheduled to run a half marathon April 26, and I’m really scared this pain is going to prevent me from training.

God, I’m really deep in this, aren’t I?

 

[HealingNow]

Have you read Alan Gordon’s book yet? Really good for the fear part and how that keeps the neural pathways alive. I really recommend

 

[Rabscuttle]

That’s an interesting point. As things have gotten increasingly stressful at my job, I’ve really relied on running the last few months, though I don’t know if I’d qualify it as an “obsession.” I was running 3x per week before this most recent flare up.

I actually just did a body-weight leg workout (different varieties of squats + cardio) and started to feel some midfoot pain while running in place. Of course, it went away almost as soon as I finished. An hour or so later, I felt a little pain in my other foot, which really seems like evidence that this is TMS — the pain is moving around a lot, between both feet, and different parts of each feet.

I’ve been trying something new the last few days: whenever I notice my mind leading me to my feet, I say to myself “I’m not getting on the train” and try to think of something else, so as not good get sucked into the pain/fear loop. If I’m being honest, though, I’m really fucking anxious/scared. I’ve grown so reliant on running, and after not doing it for 2.5 years because of chronic neck/back pain, it’s been a joy to pick it back up this year. I’m scheduled to run a half marathon April 26, and I’m really scared this pain is going to prevent me from training.

God, I’m really deep in this, aren’t I?

I get it! It’s something I really had to work on because the symptoms I’ve dealt with have been all over the place and wild. And at the start of this road I had to give up A LOT of my outlets. And it really REALLY stung. Who am I if I can’t do X? How to I derive self worth if I’m not in shape, if I’m not good at y, can’t compete at z etc. I had to soften around a lot of these things that I thought defined me. And now almost 10 months into being TMS aware I’ve been able to reintroduce so much, but still the sensations get me down at times and I can fall back into thoughts like ‘What if I can never do x again’. These thoughts need to combatted, because they are not rooted in reality, they are predicting a doomed future, that in all likelihood is not likely to come, and just like all these storms have passed, my 1.5 month significant leg TMS shit has subsided. And the truth is prior to all this sever chronic pain stuff the way I approached sports and exercise was not okay, and not in the least bit healthy. That certainly wasn’t the only factor in my TMS but it certainly contributed to putting me in perpetual fight or flight.

but imo we really really need to be aware how we’re approaching our outlets. Remember as kids when we just did shit to do it, usually there was no longer term thinking, no huge looming competition that we were defining some of our self worth around. We did things because they were fun and brought us joy. I think it’s so important to try and approach life this way. It’s good to have goals, and to try to achieve things physically, but the TMS brain is super panicky and may perceive self imposed pressure as a threat.

and the reality is sometimes we do have to let go of things temporarily as we adjust to our current reality. I’m not saying that’s you and running. But even taking a break from something doesn’t mean it’s gone forever. We’re all different, and some people can just completely blast through the pain and others the road is a bit more complicated. But those breaks can give a greater appreciation for things we took for granted and time to actually shed ideas around them that aren’t doing anything for us. I thought I’d never bike again while I dealt with scrotal pain, I thought I could never play volleyball again while I had elbow pain, thought I’d never do yoga again while I had calf pain, swim with shoulder pain, on and on My world was full of catastrophization. Some of those hobbies I had to give up for weeks, some months but they’re all back now, and I pretty much have zero pain with them. But the real issue at the core was my inability to just sit still with my thoughts and not feel the need to constantly have access to some outlet to escape my thoughts and simultaneously feed my self worth.

what are we running from?

 

[Needel94]

I think part of the reason my anxiety is spiking is because my TMS brain is becoming activated with each step that I take — which is, I don’t know, in the hundreds or thousands everyday?

The pain I’m feeling now is quite minimal — really, it’s barely even pain, it’s just kind of a light sensation, maybe a light throbbing. And the fact that it moves around constantly (from my heel, to my toes, to my midfoot, to my ankle to the outside edge) and from foot to foot, makes me confident it is TMS. But it’s hard to think psychologically when my brain is hyper aware of every step I take. With each step, I hope that the pain will not be there, but it always is.

This sounds like TMS to folks, right? And if so, does anyone have tips on how to rewire the brain in this way? I rented Alan Gordon’s book from the library but it might be a couple days until it’s ready.

P. S. — I haven’t run in six days now, after a 17-day break before that.

 

[Needel94]

Hi everyone -- going to stop spamming this page now! I just got back from a run and I feel great.

I started with graded exposure, as @HealingNow suggested, jogging for 10 seconds and then stopping, 20 seconds and stopping, etc. After I ran for 60 seconds with minimal discomfort (which I consciously decided to not harp on) I ran continuously for 20 minutes. I felt mild discomfort at certain points, but at each moment, I said to myself "what is bothering me emotionally right now?" and just focused on the running, and the discomfort went away. I think I really just needed to get back out there and prove to myself that I could run again. I feel so incredibly relieved.

Thank you to everyone in this thread for patiently answering my questions -- or, should I say, for humoring my pesky TMS brain!

 

[HealingNow]

Hi everyone -- going to stop spamming this page now! I just got back from a run and I feel great.

I started with graded exposure, as @HealingNow suggested, jogging for 10 seconds and then stopping, 20 seconds and stopping, etc. After I ran for 60 seconds with minimal discomfort (which I consciously decided to not harp on) I ran continuously for 20 minutes. I felt mild discomfort at certain points, but at each moment, I said to myself "what is bothering me emotionally right now?" and just focused on the running, and the discomfort went away. I think I really just needed to get back out there and prove to myself that I could run again. I feel so incredibly relieved.

Thank you to everyone in this thread for patiently answering my questions -- or, should I say, for humoring my pesky TMS brain!

Well done, so proud of you! Keep going