Stuggling with new symptoms

Yesterday, after having dinner at a restaurant, I drove home and started to notice what felt like a vibration running down the entire length of the outside of my left leg. Most of my symptoms have always been in my right leg, some pain occasionally in the leg as well but never like this. My anxiety got the better of me and I started to wonder if this was truly anther manifestation of TMS or something else. When I started to think about it, I had just had a conversation with someone who specializes in Chinese medicine. I told her about TMS and she was skeptical about my situation being psychological. Perhaps that triggered these sensations? I calmed down and went to be and the sensations seemed to stop.

This morning upon waking, as I laid in bed, I could feel the tingling coming back accompanied by some pain. Driving to work, it really ramped up, scaring me all over again. I'm trying to stay focused and rational about this but could use some insights from others. Does this sound like TMS pushing me to focus on my symptoms, tiring it's best to divert my attention? It's so hard to keep my thoughts focused. Any encouragement and strategies would be much appreciated.

Thanks for your consideration.

 

Hi! Sounds like a classic TMS case - you said it yourself, "Most of my symptoms have always been in my right leg, some pain occasionally in the leg as well but never like this." Pain moving around for NO reason, and coming on for seemingly NO reason, it just doesn't add up. Have you done the SEP here (Structured Educational Program)? If not, I highly recommend it. I know it's scary, that is the primary goal of TMS, to keep us in fear.... I find that when I start to panic, just talking to my mind, focusing on breathing, and even do some reading on TMS, usually calms me down enough to keep going.

Good luck!

 

Bollib, I'm surprised that the Chinese medicine advocate did not think your symptoms are psychological. They sound like TMS to me and to Kevin and I am sure to others. Let's face it... driving, especially to work... is not one of the most relaxing things we can do. We have to do it, but it can help to calm the mind by deep breathing and positive mantras like "I can do this, it's a piece of cake!"

Yes, I agree with Kevin that one of the primary goals of TMS is to scare us, to keep us in fear. We have to fight that with positive thinking and relaxing images. And deep breathing. Here are some of the benefits of deep breathing:

Breathing correctly is not only important for living longer but also to have a good mood and keep performing at your best. Let us look at the benefits of deep breathing and why you should make it part of your everyday living.
1. Breathing Detoxifies and Releases Toxins
Your body is designed to release 70% of its toxins through breathing. If you are not breathing effectively, you are not properly ridding your body of its toxins i.e. other systems in your body must work overtime which could eventually lead to illness. When you exhale air from your body you release carbon dioxide that has been passed through from your bloodstream into your lungs. Carbon dioxide is a natural waste of your body's metabolism.
2. Breathing Releases Tension
Think how your body feels when you are tense, angry, scared or stressed. It constricts. Your muscles get tight and your breathing becomes shallow. When your breathing is shallow you are not getting the amount of oxygen that your body needs.
3. Breathing Relaxes the Mind/Body and Brings Clarity
Oxygenation of the brain reducing excessive anxiety levels. Paying attention to your breathing. Breathe slowly, deeply and purposefully into your body. Notice any places that are tight and breathe into them. As you relax your body, you may find that the breathing brings clarity and insights to you as well.
4. Breathing Relieves Emotional Problems
Breathing will help clear uneasy feelings out of your body.
5. Breathing Relieves Pain.
You may not realize its connection to how you think, feel and experience life. For example, what happens to your breathing when you anticipate pain? You probably hold your breath. Yet studies show that breathing into your pain helps to ease it.
6. Breathing Massages Your Organs
The movements of the diaphragm during the deep breathing exercise massages the stomach, small intestine, liver and pancreas. The upper movement of the diaphragm also massages the heart. When you inhale air your diaphragm descends and your abdomen will expand. By this action you massage vital organs and improves circulation in them. Controlled breathing also strengthens and tones your abdominal muscles.
7. Breathing Increases Muscle
Breathing is the oxygenation process to all of the cells in your body. With the supply of oxygen to the brain this increases the muscles in your body.
8. Breathing Strengthens the Immune System
Oxygen travels through your bloodstream by attaching to haemoglobin in your red blood cells. This in turn then enriches your body to metabolise nutrients and vitamins.
9. Breathing Improves Posture
Good breathing techniques over a sustained period of time will encourage good posture. Badbody posturewill result of incorrect breathing so this is such an important process by getting your posture right from early on you will see great benefits.
10. Breathing Improves Quality of the Blood
Deep breathingremoves all the carbon-dioxide and increases oxygen in the blood and thus increases blood quality.
11. Breathing Increases Digestion and
Assimilation of food
The digestive organs such as the stomach receive more oxygen, and hence operates more efficiently. The digestion is further enhanced by the fact that the food is oxygenated more.
12. Breathing Improves the Nervous System
The brain, spinal cord and nerves receive increased oxygenation and are more nourished. This improves the health of the whole body, since the nervous system communicates to all parts of the body.
13. Breathing Strengthen the Lungs
As you breathe deeply the lung become healthy and powerful, a good insurance against respiratory problems.
14. Proper Breathing makes the Heart Stronger.
Breathing exercises reduce the workload on the heart in two ways. Firstly, deep breathing leads to more efficient lungs, which means more oxygen, is brought into contact with blood sent to the lungs by the heart. So, the heart doesn't have to work as hard to deliver oxygen to the tissues. Secondly, deep breathing leads to a greater pressure differential in the lungs, which leads to an increase in the circulation, thus resting the heart a little.
15. Proper Breathing assists in Weight Control.

If you are overweight, the extra oxygen burns up the excess fat more efficiently. If you are underweight, the extra oxygen feeds the starving tissues and glands.

16. Breathing Boosts Energy levels and Improves Stamina
17. Breathing Improves Cellular Regeneration
18. Breathing Elevates Moods
Breathing increase pleasure-inducing neurochemicals in the brain to elevate moods and combat physical pain
How to Breathe properly?

In order to breathe properly you need to breathe deeply into your abdomen not just your chest. Even in the old Greek and Roman times the doctors recommended deep breathing, the voluntary holding of air in the lungs, believing that this exercise cleansed the system of impurities and gave strength. This certainly is of great value to you in your work in the world. Breathing exercises should be deep, slow, rhythmic, and through the nose, not through the mouth. The most important parts of deep breathing has to be regulating your breaths three to four seconds in, and three to four seconds out.

1.Inhale through your nose, expanding your belly, then fill your chest. Counting to 52.Hold and Count to 3. Feel all your cells filled with golden, healing, balancing Sun light energy.3.Exhale fully from slightly parted mouth and Feel all your cells releasing waste and emptying all old energy. Counting to 5.

Schedule your deep breathing exercise just as you would schedule important business appointments. Set aside a minimum of two 10 minute segments of time everyday although you can begin with two five minutes segments if you prefer.
Honouring yourself enough to schedule time with yourself is the first step in mastering stress. Tend your relationship with yourself and your relationship with life and with others will be enriched and deepened accordingly. Remember to share with your children and all your friends and loved ones so that they too can reap its untold benefits.

- See more at: http://www.onepowerfulword.com/2010...p-breathing-and-how.html#sthash.P5qezjnY.dpuf

 

Hi bollib1,

Yes, this sounds like TMS to me.

I spent a lot of money on Chinese medicine and it did me no good. But the Sarno approach "prevented" nerve surgery, which would have been useless. Chinese medicine is "physically focused," not psychologically focused, so of course there is no support from this expert. It is your "weak Chi," etc... I think the best the Chinese medicine can offer you is calming, which some forms of acupuncture are pretty effective for.

My advice is distract yourself with: interesting things, mindfulness, and self-soothing practices when the anxiety arises --all things to reduce anxiety. Walt's breath stuff is very helpful for this.

You might also inquire into what the anxiety is distracting you from, since it is considered a TMS equivalent...

I like this post about anxiety, with some links.
http://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/question-about-recurrence-of-symptoms.3694/

Andy B.