Day 1 Optimistic

I first learned about TMS from an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience, I just finished Dr. Sarno’s book, the mind body prescription and am hopeful it can help me. My symptoms started as a sore throat 9 months ago and I have tried everything I can think of after being told it was most likely LPR or Acid Reflux, which I do not think it is. My sore throat started when I stopped taking Paxil, an Ssri for anxiety which helped for the most part for me to be less anxious, but now that I’m off I feel the anxiety has came back and has gone to my throat and more recently neck and shoulders. It wasn’t until about 3 months ago I also started getting a very stiff neck and shoulders along with the sore throat. I am very hopeful about TMS being the cause of my stiff neck, and hope it may also be the cause of my sore throat as i feel the muscles around my throat are the problem, the sides of my neck hurt when I swallow, and I notice my throat becomes worse when I’m stressed/anxious. The only times I have felt relief has been after coming home to visit family for a few days after a rough couple of months. I felt my level of stress go down and my throat felt better, only for it to return after I returned home. Another time is after cutting gluten from my diet for 3 weeks. My symptoms were 90% gone and I felt great until it crept back worse then ever. My guess is this was the placebo effect. I look forward to doing this program and further educating myself about TMS.

 

Hello dlocke, and welcome,

The chronic nature of your symptoms and lack of medical evidence to assign them to physical causes supports a TMS diagnosis in my opinion. As you work the program, you will probably find more supporting evidence in your history and personality. Connecting the onset of the sore throat to your stopping pychoactive meds is another support for your diagnosis.

Good luck in the program. Patience, persistence, and gentleness are good guides in this.

Andy B