Hi everyone. I just wanted to share a bit of my experience and, honestly, also to vent. I’ve been in

Hi everyone. I just wanted to share a bit of my experience and, honestly, also to vent.
I’ve been in this forum for a little over a month, but I’ve been dealing with my symptoms for about seven months now. From the very beginning, they were neuropathic, with normal tests and very changeable, which was extremely frightening. I worried about serious illnesses, even though I never had any loss of strength. Still, the fact that everything moved and changed so much was terrifying.
I’ve seen a few people here with somewhat similar cases, though they seem to be in the minority. In my case, everything is neuropathic and widespread. It’s not localized or occasional—it’s there all the time. I have bilateral burning sensations in my calves that can be mild one day and stronger the next, sometimes with an electrical quality. In my arms, I experience moving electrical sensations, along with sensations in my fingers, constantly shifting and very uncomfortable.
Lately, a third type of symptom has appeared. Before, I would occasionally feel isolated sensations, but now I notice mild nerve-like or electrical sensations in different parts of my body—my face, head, neck, ear, back… even when walking or applying slight pressure. This didn’t happen before, and it feels like my system is much more active, which is very frustrating.
Sometimes I think about genetics. My father doesn’t have fibromyalgia or anything generalized like what I experience, but he does have an SMT-type symptom: burning in his feet when he lies down at night. He has always been a very anxious person, and I wonder if that influenced my nervous system. In my case, the burden feels much more widespread and constant.
I also feel that my arms have a particular history. The symptoms in my arms began during panic attacks. During one of those episodes, I felt a cold line behind my elbows, and from there the sensations started to settle in and spread. At that time, the symptoms could intensify within seconds during panic. Because of this, I feel my brain may have linked using my arms with danger. I haven’t had panic attacks for over two months now, but I still struggle to understand how my brain is supposed to relearn that my arms are safe.
At the beginning, there was a period when I felt somewhat better. The sensations in my legs were so mild that I could ignore them, and the sensations in my arms felt different—more tolerable. I don’t know if I had more good days or if the quality of the symptoms was simply different. Now everything changes more often, both in form and intensity.
I’ve read about neuroplasticity and understand, in theory, that the brain can unlearn these circuits. I know that staying calm and not reacting to symptoms as a threat is part of the process. But when symptoms are so constant and so changeable, it can be hard to trust that. Everyone improves at their own pace, and while some people recover quickly, others of us seem to have more complex situations.
Right now, I’m just trying to live my life as best I can, even though it isn’t easy. I’m not writing this looking for a perfect answer—just to share what I’m going through and hopefully connect with others who might understand this experience.

 

Pain is anxiety/fear. Despite all the symptoms you describe. The brain can do whatever it wants. 95% of all diseases are psycossomatic. Don't be fulled by convencional fear based medicine. Your problem is your fear/anxiety.

The brain can develope cancer, swollen limbs, nerve pain, even kill you. Fight your fears. Be the master of yourself.

Please watch these video:

https://youtube.com/shorts/gWCUfcamRa0?si=_aATemk4PYDJWcyC

 

Pain in the current moment is tied to anxiety and fear which are the “surface” feelings and emotions which are tied to deep rage and anger. Accepting and understanding emotions, layers of emotions and not being distracted by the fear and anxiety that cover and hide other emotions (which often also include joy and other “good” feelings) is the essence of wellness. Fear, anxiety and pain are all equal symptoms of TMS but not the genesis of TMS.
I think you are doing well working on your acceptance of this idea while living life. That is a great way to get some balance and teach your brain that you can live life “safely” while feeling and experiencing all its moments with confidence and self-compassion.

 

Hi @Alouqua47 - I've read a few of your posts and responded to one of them (not sure if you saw it), so this will really be a consolidated response to all I've read (in case you're confused if it seems to go off from what you said above slightly).

I get the impression (and this could be happening completely subconsciously as a defence mechanism) that you're at the stage in recovery (which pretty much everyone starts with, I was there too), where you want this to be as simple as I stop fearing my symptoms, respond better and they go away. This means you don't have to get into the dirt so to speak and the potential complexities that come with the emotional work. I don't blame you! Like I said, I felt the same way. Part of me thought why do I have to change anything about myself if I was the same person before and had no symptoms? Well I tried my best to go down this path and avoid the emotional work (and resisted for quite some time), but I got nowhere fast.

I also understand why you feel this way in the sense that this has actually worked for a previous symptom of yours (your foot I believe), so why not this one? To me, though, this is actually proof that this issue runs deeper. For some people, knowledge and understanding of TMS is enough. The sole reason why pain was being sent was a genuine belief that there was something structurally wrong. Once TMS is understood, and in turn that pain can occur in the absence of tissue damage, that fear dissolves and the pain goes away. There aren't underlying emotions causing fear and nervous system dysregulation (to a level where symptoms would surface, everyone suppresses and represses to an extent), so focusing on relationship to the pain is enough.

The fact that you addressed one symptom through fear but another popped straight back up is pretty good evidence to me that you need to look at this from a broader lens. Your brain/mind are trying to tell you something. Every post you've made has been hyper focused on the symptoms themselves, and I empathise with this as I know they are very challenging and they take over life, but from what I've seen that isn't where the answer is going to lie (long term).

Not only does this focus miss the emotional element, but to me it actually risks sending an implicit message (you aren't doing it on purpose) to the brain that there is actually something physically wrong (whether you are conscious of it or not). I'll give you a few examples:

1. Trying to find people with the same symptoms/experience - this is completely normal and logical, but at the same time if it's TMS then it's TMS. Theoretically, you could get the same golden insights for your recovery from someone who recovered from chronic fatigue than you could from someone with your exact symptoms. I'm not as strong on this one purely because yes having people with similar symptoms can give someone a great boost of confidence (it gave me that and I did this too), but at the end of the day and at the same time you'll never find someone with the exact same presentation, intensity, triggers etc as you. We are all in the same boat, so that should be comforting in and of itself.

2. "Others of us seem to have more complex situations" - saying this in relation to the symptoms places an overemphasis on the symptoms themselves (similar to no.1). The brain will think "well if the symptoms themselves determine the level of complexity, then by that logic that must mean that the problem (and in turn solution) is in the body part itself". Similarly, attempting to distinguish how one recovers based on the symptoms does the same thing. The only way that the symptoms themselves determine that is with structural issues! (hence it's a poor message to send to a brain which is trying to build belief in the TMS diagnosis, which is important for recovery). What really determines a "complex situation" with TMS is on the emotional side of things. As Sarno said, those with deep and more complex trauma may need a psychotherapist in order to facilitate the release of repressed emotions.

You seem to have a very solid understanding of the neuroscience behind the persistence of TMS symptoms, and you discussed what fuels the pain in previous posts and how this pattern comes to be. That's correct, but I'm more interested in how the pain came to be in the first place (the pattern itself had to start for a reason). If fear of symptoms and a lack of knowledge in TMS was all that was driving your symptoms, then I don't think you would be having new symptoms.

I would be focusing on what emotions were present in life at the time the symptoms started. I'd also be journalling about how I feel in relation to life but more specifically the people in my life. We are looking for full honesty and transparency, even if there are conflicts and the emotions are uncomfortable. It is really the shame attached to certain emotions that drive TMS from this perspective, so I'd look for emotions that I resist (for a lot of people that is anger, but it can be others), and work on becoming comfortable and accepting of them. Feeling anger, for example, is completely normal and doesn't make us a bad person (but a lot of people, at least subconsciously, think that it does - especially a lot of people with TMS). I'd also be looking at the typical personality traits (assuming they apply) of people pleasing and perfectionism and addressing how these contribute to everyday stress.

Last thing I wanted to say too is that the vast majority of people who I see truly recover (excluding those people who recover really quickly once they know and understand TMS - so I'm talking about people for whom TMS was fuelled by more than just a belief that it reflected structural damage) - they say that it became about so much more than the symptoms. I am the same. The symptoms were a sign for me that I was in reality treating myself like shit, and my mind/body had basically had enough of the internal abuse. It is easy for me to say now, but the symptoms were necessary for me to reflect and in turn create a more self-compassionate me, which benefits life in unimaginable ways. If I never had the symptoms, I'd still be as miserable as I was before them, but I wouldn't know any better (my life would be way worse, despite the years I theoretically lost). You've actually done very well to find this work within seven months.

Let me know what you think and happy to discuss further The self-led program on this site is a great place to start too as it addresses the emotional component

 

I tend to understand this more from a neuroscience perspective than from the idea of “unprocessed emotions.” I don’t really see the purpose of digging deeply into the past or writing about painful experiences if it mainly makes me feel worse.
I can’t say I’m completely right, because many people have recovered using Sarno’s approach. However, when Sarno’s ideas are aligned with modern neuroscience, they actually fit very well. Sarno emphasized losing fear, using affirmations to create safety, acting normally, and even being firm or authoritative with the brain — all of which are essentially ways of sending safety signals to the nervous system, which matches current neurological understanding.
What makes the most sense to me is that my nervous system became sensitized after long periods of fear, anxiety, health scares (both mine and my child’s), chronic stress, and constant self-pressure. That prolonged state of threat trained my brain to stay hyper-alert.
Regarding journaling, many people recover without doing it at all. It may be just one tool, not a requirement. I actually like writing, but when I focus on past events, it often just makes me cry. Although, by exploring the past, I’ve noticed emotions I wasn’t fully aware of, such as anger, shame, fear, and insecurity. I believe my nervous system was trained over time to feel unsafe, not only in childhood but through many life experiences.
I don’t believe my symptoms are fully resolved yet; they tend to change or move rather than disappear, which is common in central sensitization. For me, understanding the neurobiology of fear, learning, and safety is more helpful than focusing on emotional analysis of the past.
That said, I genuinely don’t understand what I’m supposed to do in practice when people say I need to “find,” “allow,” or “process” emotions related to my past or my present. Could someone explain what that actually means in practical terms?