TMS Manifesting as Hamstring Tendonitis

I have been searching everywhere for answers for mysterious symptoms in my legs that began early last September. I had a bad panic attack that landed me in the ER in late August, and afterwards, at the suggestion of my doctor, I started cardio/HIIT exercise for anxiety relief. It felt great to exercise but about 2 weeks in I started feeling stringing, pinching/popping feelings behind my knees (worse behind my left, but sometimes behind my right, as well). I shrugged it off at first, but it continued to get worse and the pain began radiating up into the back of my thighs and down into my calves.

I went to my doctor and she said structurally my knees seemed fine. No swelling or redness, just the sensations/pain. She diagnosed me with hamstring tendonitis and said it should improve with anti-inflammatories and time off of intense workouts. But that did not help. Sitting around typically makes the sensations/pain worse, and anti-inflammatories do nothing to change what I feel in my legs.

Over the past few months I've tried so many things...supplements, chiropractor, massage, foam-rolling, yoga, stretching. I will have good/better days (with no obvious explanation as to why) and worse days. My legs feel best when I am exercising or doing something active that I enjoy like gardening, camping, or hiking. They feel worst when I am standing still. The sensations/pain change daily...my knees feel generally weak, but the pain moves all day long between calf muscles, thigh muscles, muscles surrounding the knee. I would describe it as aching and burning.

I just finished reading *The Mindbody Prescription* and I've been perusing the forums and I think I am definitely a TMS personality. I definitely struggle with anxiety, and I have quite a bit of stress in my life currently (multiple close family members with cancer, homeschooling my three young kids with not much support, large mortgage, my husband works long hours, I work part-time from home...). I also grew up in a very emotionally-repressed religious culture. I can see pain patterns looking back at my life that I think were definitely TMS (lower back pain, shoulder pain, extreme pelvic floor tension after third child's birth). But this leg pain feels so extreme... I feel like I have not had "normal" legs in 6 months. I keep wondering if I should go demand an MRI "just to be sure".

I guess my question is...does this sound like TMS? And has anyone experienced or heard of others experiencing TMS pain centered mostly in their knees/legs and manifesting as hamstring tendonitis?

 

Strange you posted this. Yesterday, I was talking with my pain psychologist in therapy about my left hamstring problem. I always thought it was related to my post-vasectomy pain syndrome, but he wasn't so sure. The physical body doctors don't have much of an answer, either. For me, I figure there's no point in going to get an MRI and such. They would just show normal. That's the typical result for me anyway. It's an old story at this point. Went through this with my left hip. Anyway, the pain now is primarily in the hamstring. As far as TMS is concerned, Dr. Sarno says in The Divided Mind that oxygen supply can be reduced to muscles, and the hamstring is a muscle, so yea, I guess it could be TMS.

 

Yes, currently experiencing this very thing. Have always had tight hamstrings but one day it when stretching it felt like I pulled the muscle behind my knee. Skip forward a month and both legs are having the same problem, sitting for long periods makes it painful to work but if I’m up and about for a period of time I get no pain whatsoever.

Bending my legs definitely feel tight and I get the odd tingling sensation in my left floor but I’ve had it feel better some days and worse the rest.

Definitely certain it’s TMS

 

I literally have exactly this symptom. If I bend my leg for long periods the tendon that attaches behind my knee from my hamstring to my calf with be “tight” it will cause spasms in my calf and even leave bruises sometimes. Totally TMS.

 

So sorry you all are experiencing similar symptoms, but it is also comforting to not be alone. I have spent the past 6 months believing that my body is somehow broken and I need to find the perfect yoga routine or stretch to fix my legs, and thinking I was the only person on earth with legs that feel like mine. Thankfully after a couple weeks of learning about TMS my symptoms are actually improving in noticeable ways. I'm so grateful.

 

If it is real physical tendonitis and not TMS, avoid NSAIDs (you said anti-inflammatories).

https://www.peraspenberg.com/texts/how-do-tendons-and-ligaments-heal/ (How do tendons and ligaments heal? | Per Aspenberg)

 

When my pain psychologist asked me about my pain level. I mentioned that although the pain was still at a high level, FUNCTIONALLY, I could do just about anything I wanted to. She jumped on that, emphasizing that FUNCTION is the important thing to focus on. In other words, the bottoms of my feet didn't actually pull apart - although that's what it felt like - and although it wasn't pleasant, I had most of my flexibility. Just using my body the way it was designed to be used did the most good for me, while constantly reminding myself that the pain - although real - didn't mean what it felt like it meant. I was then free to move about the neighborhood and doing so slowly but steadily lowered my pain. I went from a wheelchair to running 4.5 miles within 6 months.

 

That is so incredibly encouraging! Thank you for sharing!