Nerve Problems - Is this TMS?

I have been having some nerve problems for the last few years and was wondering if it is TMS and if anyone has had a similar experience.

It first started in Jan. 2016 when I got up from work one day and my feet were numbness. I also started have shocks shoot down the back of my legs. I visited the doctor who had an MRI done. The MRI showed a degenerative (L5/S1) disc and a small bulge just above that. My doctor didn’t think it was a pinched nerve but said I could start therapy which I did. I think the therapy made things worse because I started having pain right where my thigh meets the pelvic area. I also, after having some traction, started having some low back pain. I didn’t like the traction so I had the therapists stop that. There were a few times in the beginning where I had some loss of sensation in my rear and during urination. I continued with the therapy and after a month or so I only had symptoms in my left foot. Most of the time it felt like my toes were crossed or that the bones were sticking out past the skin. I could feel a band through my calf and into my toes. My leg would also fall asleep easily whenever sitting.

I stopped therapy for awhile when things seemed like the plateaued. The feelings were annoying, but besides that and some loss of balance, they weren’t that problematic. I could lift things fine (I moved houses and did most of the moving myself), and I didn’t have any back pain. Just the annoying feeling in my left toes, which was better barefoot than with shoes. I had also had a nerve test that showed very mild neuropathy in my toes but no pinched nerve.

About a year later (Dec. 2016)I started therapy again when I started losing feeling during urination. A month into therapy I felt like things were getting worse. I started having a feeling like a rugburn on my lower back and a pulsing/throbbing just above my butt. The feet symptoms also spread to my right foot and started creeping up my calf. The symptoms in my feet became erratic and stated switching back and forth. I saw another doctor but they could not contribute the problem to my back. By April of 2017, both the symptoms in my feet and the back pain disappeared.

In my excitement to start being active again, I started doing some exercises and while doing the superman and my left foot had a return of the symptoms, but only worse.My leg didn’t fall asleep anymore either. This time shoes made it better. It also became uncomfortable to sit on hard surfaces. I could really feel the bones in my rear.. When standing I could feel a pull on the front of my hips. I also noticed a spot on the outside of my thigh that when lightly rubbed or brushed against, would increase the tingling in my foot. I had another MRI (more bulges) but no evidence of a pinched nerve. I also had another nerve test and it too was negative. I started therapy again but wasn’t having much luck so I stopped.

In January of 2018 I lifted something heavy and began having hip pain on the left side. I decided to start therapy again. I was having more trouble doing the exercises now and whenever I did the stretching, it seemed like the muscles were tighter the next time. I also noticed that during certain exercises (standing on one foot and either moving a leg backwards or to the side) would increase tingling.

I took a break and just tried to be more active which seemed to help. I was even able to run (I had been afraid to earlier because I didn’t want to fall and hit my head - I had 4 concussions the year before all the symptoms first started). However, the next day (July 2018), I lifted a case of water and the foot symptoms became horrible. My toes felt bent and spread to the side and symptoms also spread to my right foot. Doing nerve glides would also irritate the feet. I had another incident where I was cleaning a bathtub and leaned too far against the side. The next day I had a twinge in my middle back and lots of middle and upper back discomfort. My feet became worse and once again I lost feeling during urination and bowel movements. My legs were incredibly tight and if I moved them too far, the tingling would increase. Doctors had a new MRI and thought that though I had bulges and stenosis, that there shouldn’t be a reason for this.

A couple weeks later (end of August 2018) and back into therapy I felt better. I went to work and lifted a couple items and my feet went nuts. I went to therapy and during a balancing exercise (one foot in front of the other) I started having electric shocks in my right foot. Since then I have had all kinds of problems and extreme nerve pain in my feet. I also have had a ton of discomfort in my lower back (sometimes throbbing over the butt), butt numbness, pain in upper back around shoulder blades, and pain in hips. I had a caudal cortisone shot but that only lasted a couple days until I bent a little too far and all the symptoms returned full force. I have had another nerve test and it suggests that I have a pinched nerve. One spine Dr suggests a fusion because he says I have less room for the nerve at L5/S1 and that it is unstable. Another spine Dr says that yes there is some impingement, but that there is no reason my symptoms should be this bad. He says that the changes in my back (degenerative disc, bulges, and stenosis are normal for someone my age (40s). Another Dr, a physiatrist, says that I don’t have a pinched nerve and that my muscles are just deconditioned.

Since things became bad at the end of August, I have had so many changes in symptoms in my feet with numbness coming and going in my feet and my butt. At first I had what felt like stabbing sensations in the bottom of my feet and also electric shocks in my toes. Those symptoms have subsided. I know that TMS has symptoms move but mine just move in the specified areas. Sometimes its my outer toes and sometimes it’s my big toes. Sometimes the feelings change just walking down the hall. Also, whenever I have an irregular movement, my symptoms worsen. Sometimes it feels like I have sand in my skin or that my feet are cold. A few times I have had cold zaps shoot up my back and cold tingles in my hands. I have a ton of knots in my lower back and rubbing them will alter the sensations in my feet. My lower back is very stiff as well. I do also suffer from anxiety. Whenever I try to move regularly like Sarno says, symptoms just seem to get worse, like my toes are spread to the side or like I am walking on top of bent toes. I think I am fairly in touch with what makes me angry and express it. My symtpoms were fairly consistent (and manageable) for 2.5 years until just this summer. I was wondering if this sounded like TMS or if anyone has had similar experiences.

Thanks!

 

Been going threw the same issues for 9 years there not as bad as they where just different but mainly all over my body .
Only thing that seems to help is Klonopin I don’t take it everyday only when it’s very bad many test have been taken nothing found . I had a nerve test at a major Boston hospital and they told me I had severe carpell turnel in my left arm ...I laughed because it was the only part of my body that didn’t hurt . Besides all you mentioned been hospitalized for many panic attacks and fainting also lost my voice for three days when I was admitted when I fainted so long story short TMS. Is a tricky bad kid . Had brain scans heart scans you name it ....gallons of blood every test 3 times .
Had numerous bad events in my life from divorce to loss of business and work to death and illness ....to severe loneliness. What helped is I found a TMS dr here in Boston which assured me I am physically healthy and to continue threw my journey ...find things that relax you and a help of a tranquilizer can help.

 

Very similar symptoms as you, no nerve damage but simply an overactive nervous system brought on by stress and perpetuated by your preoccupation and obsession with the symptoms. You can heal but you must accept the symptoms and get on with your life, manage your stress and focus on relaxing