Day 1 Brain Fog, possible return of TMS

Background: In 2020 and 2021, I dealt with crippling burning pain in both my arms, accompanied by loss of strength, numbness and tingling. Following countless specialist visits, EMGs, MRIs, and PTs, Doctor's struggled to explain this and most attributed this issue to moderate / severe stenosis in my cervical spine. For the first time in my life I truly felt hopeless until I happened to hear about TMS and Dr. Sarno's theories and was desperate enough to give it a shot. I remember vividly how almost every page described some part of me and by the end, I literally started feeling a release in both my arms as I was able to squeeze and crush a plastic water bottle without pain / weakness for the first time in over a year. While I still have some symptoms, even being at 90% has been nothing short of miraculous for me.

Current Symptoms: Fast forward to today, I've been struggling with brain fog for at least the last 2 years. When the fog sets in, I feel a cloudy/hazy sensation and pressure in my head as its almost impossible to concentrate, read, think critically, remember things, and occasionally, even form words and speak eloquently / coherently. I don't feel like myself and feel crippled in the sense that I know I'm not as sharp and capable as I can be, which fuels additional fear and anxiety which prevents me from doing even basic things sometimes such as going out with friends, taking a meeting at work, or playing basketball. Other symptoms I've been struggling with include back pain / OCD-like twitches / movements (though these have changed and evolved ever since I was a kid)

I haven't gotten extensive medical checkups on this yet; I've consulted a PCP and gotten blood tests which didn't reveal much of anything. I thought it had something to do with my diet, exercise, internet use habits, and etc. But not only is my diet and exercise normal and if anything, better than average, I've been doing these things all my life with none of these symptoms. I also feel a lot of anxiety, stress, depression around my work, social, and romantic life in addition to health which doesn't help things.

Is it TMS?: I'm not sure how much I've accepted the TMS diagnosis for this yet. Even though I went through it once with a different affliction and know my personality fits, I don't feel as confident as I haven't had the same amount of checkups, and I feel as though I have not seen as many success stories / other cases of TMS here with conditions like my brain fog vs. something like my arm pain. I'm scared that if its not TMS this time, that it will be something far more serious and that my life going forward will be forever changed from what it could have been.

 

Anxiety, stress and depression can all cause brain fog. Are you getting any medical treatment for these conditions? They can also affect the quality of your sleep which can lead to brain fog. A long term stress response (fight, flight, freeze, fawn) can result in brain fog, as your energy reserves are depleted. TMS techniques can treat this condition, but many people may benefit from a little help from anti-depressants or other medications short term to just get you to a place where you can work on the TMS. This is a personal choice that some people don't want to do for fear of becoming dependent on them. Do you have a trusted medical or mental health professional you could discuss this with?

If you search for success stories on this Forum for Chronic Fatigue, you may find some successes that include brain fog, as this is usually a prominent symptom of chronic fatigue. Dr. Schubiner has had success treating chronic fatigue and has written about it, so I suggest checking out his writings.

 

Thanks both, I appreciate you reading through and sharing your thoughts. Looking into long term stress responses, I think I definitely resonate with most all of them, especially freeze in the face of certain stressors in my day to day. I'll commit myself to diving deeper into the root of my stress and how it may tie in to TMS by continuing the SEP. Simultaneously, will also continue checking if there are any other medical reasons that could explain as well.

 

@hippiej512 — your arm story is identical to what I’m having in my legs right now. This should help convince us of the TMS. I have also battled anxiety most of my life. Brain fog is part of it. I was able to win over it. Read my story.