Day 4

The same PT that recommended me to read Dr. Sarno also told me that he thought my back pain was caused by TMS, but said my leg weakness might be permanent because my nerve is being compressed. Since he was the one who introduced me to TMS, it is discouraging that he would say that to me. I however don't agree with him.

 

Sounds awfully contradictory to me. Sounds like TMS but only you can make that decision. As long as there was nothing seriously wrong with you from the outset, I'd suspect TMS.

 

If a motor nerve if compressed with enough force and for a long enough period of time it can be permanently damaged and will no longer innervate the portion of the muscle it serves which will result in weakness. That being said there are many cases of muscle weakness being caused by TMS. Read Steve Ozanich's The Great Pain Deception where he writes of that very thing happening to him. The guy was dragging one leg around behind him. If you want a definate answer get a referral to a good neurologist (they can sometimes be hard to find) and have an EMG and nerve conduction test done. That would give you your answer. If your test comes out fine you know it's TMS. If it reflects nerve damage that correlates with your weakness that also yields an answer. Just not the one you had hoped for. Hopefully the weakness is not so profound as to affect your function regardless of it's cause. And yes, if you have back pain that's ongoing for a long time your no doubt looking at TMS.

 

Hi, Mquest. Your PT should not have given you such a negative prognosis about your leg weakness. Like the other replies to you, I think it is also a TMS symptom. Keep believing that and be positive.

 

Thanks. I try my best to stay in that mind frame. It's difficult at times, but I'm trying my best to stay focused and concentrate on the psychological. It's really hard to not let doubts creep into my mind. I try to fight them off as best I can.

 

MQuest; one of the really tough things is that there's no lab test or imaging study for TMS. And when you see these very salient images of a disc herniation compressing a nerve root it's so hard not buy into it. Because part of it is true. Compressed nerves will affect function. But they won't cause pain for long if at all. Ever fall asleep on your upper arm and you wake up and your arm is like this dead thing attached to your body? It just flops around and feels kind of disembodied. It's actually kind of funny because you know it'll go away. But why does it happen? Because you were sleeping with your head on your upper arm and your melon was crushing the radial nerve against your upper arm bone. Did it hurt? No! This occurred to me one night reading "The Mind Body Prescription" propped on my elbows in bed. In doing so I was compressing my ulnar nerve, aka the funny bone nerve, in the groove on the other end of my upper arm bone. And my 4th and 5th fingers fell asleep which is what you would expect in terms or sensory nerve distribution. But didn't hurt! That was a real lightbulb moment for me.

Try to treat the doctors scratching their heads and not knowing what's happening as your lightbulb moment. These docs don't have an answer because TMS isn't in their sphere of understanding or acceptance. But you have two docs who consider all the potential pathologies the first group of docs do but these guys are familiar with TMS. And they give you their opinion which is that it's TMS.

 

I have had back pain, sciatica, spasms, twitching and leg weakness as well for five years. The nerve conduction came back normal even though my weakness has caused me to have to use a cane to keep from falling down. I have fallen several times. The MRI I’ve had has shown moderate DDD, bilateral stenosis and bone spurs.
I suspect TMS as I fit all the characteristics, and I know I need to just start moving and exercising and doing the things I want to do, but the fear of falling down is holding me back. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to proceed?

 

I wanted to give you some encouragement about the weakness in your legs. I am almost 52, but when I was 12 I had some emotional trauma. My legs started giving out on me causing me to fall. I never told anyone, as I already knew my family was a mess themselves. My leg problems got better as other tms symptoms popped up. Tms is sneaky

 

Thanks everyone. I need to see a neurologist, apparently, to confirm my diagnosis. I had so hoped it was TMS, but sounds like may not be.

 

What is an EMG? Is that same as discogram? I did have a nerve conduction study done, and it came back normal. Workers comp. denied the discogram.

 

An Emg is an electromyogram....it measures the electrical activity of the muscles at rest and when contracting... often done at the same time as nerve conduction studies.

 

You say you need to see a neurologist, agreed, find out for sure. I read your thread and think tms. You read it and think damage. Take heart, it is more likely tms than nerve damage. You'll feel better when you know.

 

Thanks Lizzy. I’m in a bad place right now, very depressed. I need to find out what’s going on...