Help with neck pain

Hi there, I have severe neck pain and strange symptoms all over. I have tight spastic legs at times and other times they are weak with nerve pain. I dont have pain radiating down my arms. Sometimes I have burning all over, sometimes I have moments where I get random nerve pains all over. I am convinced i have a severe compression going on in my neck that is going to paralyze me and i dont have any imaging yet to see what it is. I mean I want to believe this TMS stuff but when the spinal cord gets compressed, doesn't that cause these types of symptoms?

 

Hello Meblue:
I had slightly different, but somewhat similar symptoms. It was all TMS.
However - I did get checked out by a Dr. (who sent me to a few specialists) to rule anything out. During that time, I started the TMS work and kept reading "The Divided Mind" a few times, just to reassure myself. Once given the all clear by Doctors, I never turned back!

I don't discuss many of my specific symptoms here, because this forum is about Dr. Sarno's methods, and in his books he suggests we focus on the psychological, and not the physical.

Since you've posted to many threads in the last little while here, I am assuming (correct me if I'm wrong) that you feel very anxious and are panicking.
Do you associate with being anxious? Do you feel stressed?
Have you recently read or re-read a book by Dr. Sarno?

 

To say I have been anxious is an understatement. I have thought about this ever second of the day for 5 weeks. I am nauseous, panicked all the time. I am not able to go to work right now. I was running half marathons a few days before I started getting neck pain and was literally completely riddled with body pain in a few days. I dont know how this could happen this quickly out of nowhere.

 

Meblue,
TMS shows up clear out of the blue. That’s what it does. Have you ever watched Dan Buglio on YouTube? He has a daily video. He might help you calm down snd see straight.

 

Marathons can be so stressful! You are competing against others and also maybe your best time. Lots of self pressure.

I notice you didn’t really answer all my questions. Can you do that for us?

 

I am beyond anxious and panicked and yes I have read the books. My symptoms are so severe and encompasses all of my body which doesn't make much sense to have something structurally wrong with my neck because that usually only affects the arms.

 

And I'm not thinking MS or ALS or something like that because this happened in a matter of days and those are longer term diseases so that's why i panicked that it is something structural like a huge herniated disc or bone spur poking my spine.

 

Well, you’ve still avoided the bigger questions:
Where you stressed or anxious before the symptoms? This is specifically where Dr. Sarno goes.. to the psychological.
Around here, we don’t get into if you have something “physical” going on beyond asking if you’ve been medically checked out.
We aren’t going to feed your anxiety and the freaking out because we’ve all been in the place you are at, understand it and know that freaking out makes everything much worse.
My suggestion is to try reading one book by Dr. Sarno again. Slowly. Note what he says about personality and see if you resonate with anything he’s written.
Look for the small passages where he gives direct instruction on what to do. They are very short and easy to miss if you are rushing through the book (which anxiety tends to make us do).
I was bed bound for almost a year. My symptoms were extreme. My anxiety so high, my brain spinning so fast, I was fearful , depressed and ready to end things. When I could slow down and recognize that the anxiety was making things way worse, I began to change.
Slowly I taught myself meditation, and then breathing slowly with long exhales to music. I made sure that I was checked out medically and cleared: oh they found lots of scary things on my scans and MRI but none of that caused severe, full body symptoms, ear ringing, seizures, nausea, temperature spikes, electrical shocks and postural changes. It was all TMS.
I am still working through things. I still get some fear, I still have pain and sometimes other symptoms. I still have times of anxiety and a heightened nervous system but things are way better! My life is relatively normal.
But the first stop is the knowledge of TMS.
2nd stop is the seeing yourself and what is going on with you as TMS. Noticing how your personality traits and anxiety and how you deal with stress in your life, (not just since symptoms kicked in) is playing a part in TMS.
3rd stop is getting some nervous system calming. You are in fight flight freeze mode and your nervous system stuck on high alert. It scans for any possible horrible answer for your pain, because it’s supposed to keep you safe. Chances are it was doing this well before your pain (see personality traits, anxiety and stress). No matter what, you need to begin taking time to calm the mind and nervous system.
4th stop: (can begin happening simultaneously with #3 - you begin to do the work Dr. Sarno layed out for us. Either on your own, just with his books, or with guided help from the free program on this website called the Structured Educational Program. Alternately there are private TMS coaches who can guide you through the work.

While you are doing those things reading Help And Hope For Your Nerves by Claire Weekes will help you with anxiety.

Lastly, reading success stories or watching people like Dan Buglio of Pain Free You interview recovered people will help immensely.
Personally, I like Tanner Murtaugh’s channel on YouTube and his Mind Body Couple podcasts.
There are many more resources if those don’t jive with you.

 

Was I anxious before these symptoms, not really. Was I stressed? I woke up at 4:30 every morning to swim, worked 2 jobs, got home sometimes at 10:00 and the other days I came home and worked in the house until bed. I only would get 3 hours of sleep because my arms always fell asleep and I couldn't sleep.

 

It sounds like you are operating beyond human capacity. What are the compelling reasons to do all the stuff with so little sleep? Focus on the emotional work rather than the detailed physical symptoms. Just my personal opinion, I am not sure if going down the rabbit hole to rule out this or that by the complex healthcare systems will get you much anywhere. But of course it is up to you to make that decision.

 

It's my personality to do everything for everyone - I've been like this my whole life.

 

I just want to reassure you, which may help with the panic a bit, your story sounds almost identical to mine and I am about 98% better now after being here and doing the structured education for ~6 weeks. Do the Structured Education Program. It really, really works.

My onset was sudden as well. It happened when my brother died and I was convinced that I had a huge bone spur AND MS AND a compressed disc. My doctor did an X-Ray and saw nothing. She did blood tests. Nothing. She sent me to PT where he did a little test on my neck by pressing my head sideways and said that if I had a herniated disc, my arms would have gone numb. They didn't.

I was absolutely sick with panic and fear. I couldn't think about anything else and this had been going on for 8 months. I know exactly how you feel. I thought I would never make pottery (my profession) again, or ride my bike, or do yoga. I'm doing all of them happily and without any pain now.

Get Alan Gordon's The Way Out and listen to his podcast Tell Me About Your Pain. Dr. Sarno is the OG, but it sounds like you've been caring for everyone but yourself, so you might need someone to give you permission to take care of yourself. He's amazing at that and he'll tell you why everything feels like it does. It's very research-based.

Also, try a couple of these >10 minute guided meditations from Dr. Bob Evans: https://painrehabsource.com/podcasts/ (Pain Rehab Podcasts – PainRehabSource)

You have nothing to lose right now. Start with #1: Noticing the Body and Breath

I'll do one with you right now. I know this feels so bad and you're so scared, and my heart aches for you. Listen to @Cactusflower. She's an OG and got me through my most fearful moments, along with a bunch of other folks here.

 

Thank you for your response. Were you legs getting weak? That is what is completely freaking me out. I can deal with pain in my neck but if that is paralyzing my legs, that is what is keeping me at 100% fear mode for going on 6 weeks now. Every day seems weaker. I appreciate your concern.

 

Have you seen a doctor?

 

Not yet.

 

TMS can totally cause leg weakness.

 

@Meblue, Girl, I didn't realize that you hadn't seen a doctor yet!

Listen, what you're doing is a form of avoidance. You're afraid that a doctor will say there is or isn't something wrong with you. Both will require change and change is scary.

You need to see a doctor ASAP. Not necessarily because anything is physically wrong with you (there may or may not be) but because if you don't have the reassurance from a medical professional and it IS TMS, you will always have doubts and that will slow down your progress.

Plus, Dr. Sarno's FIRST instruction is to get checked out by a medical professional, because it COULD be something organic or not. Both are important to find out.

Stop avoiding and get an appointment scheduled with your PCP today.

No more excuses (and I say this with love, because I avoided the doctor for months before I went to find out that nothing was wrong and it only served to intensify my pain).