TMS, PMS and now a curveball!

ahri11

ahri11

Peer Supporter
Hiya all,

First off I want to once again say thank you to all the thoughtful and insightful support on here. I'm not so much one for communicating online, as much as I would like to be engaged...I am much more an in-person kinda person ;) but it is nice to know you are all out there.

Discovering The Way Out and this wiki in January, working the SEP, and reading Sarno and Schubiner has been a game changer for me in relating to symptoms and this bodymind overall. Addressing fear and preoccupation and minimizing both, as well as getting all the stuck rage out has been...well you guys know!

So, for the last 5 months up to this time last week all these progressively crazy symptoms I've had for over 10 years have been TMS to me. I've been attending to perimenopause challenges for the last few months as well...I actually think it's become another one of the latest TMS fads, as Sarno put it.
This week, after receiving results of a brain MRI I decided to go ahead(no pun intended:joyful:) with, those symptoms have apparently become MS. My brain's been overwhelmed with all the hormonal mix up, now add multiple sclerosis to the mix and that overwhelm is intensifying. I am finding it difficult atm because the bottom has dropped out and I don't actually know what's what. What TMS tools that I have been using still apply, and for which symptoms?!

I am attempting to discern what's TMS, PMS and now MS! So darn glad about the sequence of events; first learning about and working through the lens of TMS and then discovering I have MS.
Whatever name we call the thing (TMS, PMS, MS...), it's still a brain using what it has ever learned(for better or worse!!) to predict and then respond to information/stimuli; internal and external. How I'm sitting with it this moment...it's all still very fresh...is that MS is simply information and activity from my immune system that my brain has been interpreting in a certain way. Or maybe my brain's response to information/stimuli influences the activity of my immune system? Either way (or a way I haven't realized yet), it leads to physical signs we can point to and say "Multiple Sclerosis"! Oh right, I guess I'm playing with the idea of "TMS equivalent". Once you go TMS/MBS you never go back ;)
Personally I think it's an appropriate to see everything through the body-mind lens; it's just that now, with this new information I feel a little back to the beginning and thrown for a loop!

Anyways, if you are still reading, thank you for following along with my rambling attempts to find my way through these thoughts. I haven't shared the news with anyone but my partner yet, but I wanted to share here because there's a unique understanding and perspective here. It has taken me all week to get a post written...challenging to try and communicate these thoughts even somewhat effectively! Hopefully I've managed well enough.

Is there anyone else here that has MS, or another autoimmunity issue as well? I would appreciate to hear your perspective/experience. Glad to hear from anyone else as well, of course!
 
I have two thyroid diseases.
Now I will say that I have never seen my thyroid disease as TMS because it has never been a worry or obsession of mine. I take a pill, daily and blood tests regularly. In the last few years, I think my symptoms have changed but I don't worry or focus on them. My PT does think it has something to do with dysautonomia deciding to be a symptom - however that in itself has been so bizarre I have always figured those symptoms were TMS (and I laugh at them now because they are ridiculous).
What does it all mean?
Taking a TMS approach in that I don't focus, worry or stress out on the symptoms themselves is very helpful. I don't get many of these - however, TMS can be sneaky so if the intended symptom doesn't freak you out, it can try and create something that will .... unless you keep employing the techniques that help you calm your mind and remind yourself that you may have symptoms but are other wise fine and safe in the moment. The more you can regulate your nervous system and put your emotions in perspective and process the things that create stress, the better you will be in the long run.
Follow medical advice - when you have an actual "structural" illness of any kind, your doctor is your friend, they'll help you with symptoms medication is intended. If these visits become triggering, simply work on the emotions and thoughts that create these triggers.
There are a few newish movies that might help you. On Amazon there is one called Health and it is supposed to focus some on autoimmune disease and the mind/body experience (I haven't watched it yet, but will) and another called Fear which can be purchased to watch via TMS Roundtable on June 3oth

Lastly, Claire Weekes is the ultimate source for dealing with any kind of anxiety and might be very helpful for you.

Advocate for yourself, your TMS skills should come in very handy for this - you'll be able to employ the skills you have learned to get the information you need and take your time to digest it and deal with it all.

Wishing you the best,
 
Hi @ahri11,

I'm sorry to hear this, and - I can relate to this setback, 100%. I've written quite often about my sudden-onset (and late-in-life) RA diagnosis in 2020, including my strong belief that it was caused by unrelenting outside stressors and mindlessness combined with the start of the pandemic. When I was interviewed recently by Nicole Sachs (!!) I had suggested that concentrating on my RA story might be the most interesting topic, and that's what we did, because of my belief (and Nicole's) in the emotional basis for the auto-immune conditions. You might find it interesting, although, spoiler alert, our ultimate conclusion is what @Cactusflower has already said, which is to follow medical recommendations while working on the emotional component - while "wearing it lightly" as Nicole likes to say. S3, Ep 90, it aired on her podcast on June 7
 
Hi Jan,

Thank you for sharing. It's a bit of a blow hey? I find myself floundering and so, becoming overwhelmed by this excruciating nerve pain that comes at night when I lay down and increasingly will last the whole night. Seeing it as TMS(it looks, walks and sounds like a duck damn it!) after all these years was a game changer but with this new information I am unable to keep convincing(and calming) my brain there's nothing actually wrong. I have lost my powers of persuasion ;)
But yes, I agree with you and Cactusflower, seek medical support and continue on with the emotional component...and upping the self care even more!
That's so great Nicole had you on her podcast. Lucky her!
 
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