Severe Cramps, Edema, and Stiffness After Trauma and Bee Sting

Hi everyone,

I’ve been reading here for a while but this is my first post. I’m hoping to connect with anyone who might have experienced something similar or can offer perspective.

At the end of 2024, after uncovering a childhood sexual abuse trauma, I had what felt like a total system breakdown. A week later, I was stung at the beach (likely a bee sting), and everything in my body began to unravel.

Before this, I already had a long history of chronic illness (many mindbody) — Breast Implant Illness (implants removed), Severe Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), Dysautonomia/POTS, benign breast tumor, cysts on several organs, CIRS (Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome), autoimmune Hashimoto’s, and vitiligo, chronic infections (Lyme rabbithole etc), Intercranial Hyoertension and many more… over 200 + symptoms over more than a decade.

Despite all that, I’d reached a stable place — working from home casually, walking daily, managing most daily activities with holistic and some mindbody work.

Then, after the trauma and sting, I began experiencing multiple delayed anaphylactic-type reactions over several weeks. Each episode brought new symptoms: intense flushing, swelling, racing heart, and deep lactic-acid pain in major muscles. Soon after, my muscles weakened, I collapsed, and massive generalized edema set in.

My bloodwork went haywire — inflammatory and metabolic chaos — but nothing doctors could label. Over time, the pattern deepened into numbness across my body, nerve pain, and extreme stiffness. My skin and tissue thickened — almost scleroderma-like — and I developed constant, painful cramping and spasms (especially in my legs, abdomen, diaphragm, hands, and jaw).

I’ve now been mostly bedbound for the past year. My body feels as if the fascia has locked up — I can’t bend over, dress myself, or move freely. I’ve lost most of my ability to walk, and my hands have lost feeling in many areas, sometimes locking or spasming. I now rely on disability tools for almost everything just to get through the day.

I’ve been diligent in ruling out structural causes and have undergone extensive specialist testing — neurology, immunology, and rheumatology — but no clear explanation has emerged.

• Neurology shows no disease or nerve damage, just edema and tissue thickening.
• Immunology suspects autoimmune or mast-cell dysfunction but can’t confirm.
• Rheumatology is considering connective-tissue involvement, though inconclusive.

I’ve personally been working from a mindbody perspective, because so much of my history fits that framework — and this major collapse began right after trauma resurfaced. Still, my doctors keep pointing to the visible structural changes — the swelling, thickened tissue, and loss of mobility — and struggle to reconcile that with a functional or psychosomatic process.

They’ve also been reluctant to prescribe medication for the cramps or nerve pain, fearing it might mask or complicate the picture.

Meanwhile, I’ve tried nearly everything — magnesium, quinine, electrolytes, antihistamines, red light, functional neurology, massage, and countless holistic or mindbody methods — yet nothing has brought relief.

I’m doing The Mindful Gardener program, which focuses on allowing, embodiment, and nervous-system regulation (similar to TMS and somatic approaches). But it’s been very hard to stay consistent when I’m not sleeping or resting properly. According to Sam Miller’s classification, I’m considered Stage 4 — meaning my system is well beyond basic mindbody interventions and needs deep regulation before standard approaches can even take hold.

It feels like my body is stuck in a loop between protection and release — wanting to let go but still trapped in survival responses. And I just need some sleep/rest instead of cramping 24/7!

If anyone here has experienced something like this — body-wide stiffness, skin thickening, full body edema, or severe cramping that eventually shifted through mindbody or trauma work — I would love to hear your story. Even small insights or parallels would mean a lot.

Thank you for reading and for all the stories shared here. They’ve given me hope that even the most complex and confusing cases can find a path forward.

 

Hello @Georgie_downunder
I have had many of the symptoms you are facing (along with many more - the ones you mention were not even the major symptoms) and I was bed bound. I now function relatively normally but still have symptoms that either re-visit briefly (generally know hours or days, not chronic), or are still sort of unravelling.
I took a very different approach to what Sam suggests, although I relate to the idea of mindset allowing. I did use a very different approach to the psychological work than she used but that doesn’t matter.. whatever gets the job done.
Where I think things matter is the idea of “illness” - I never considered myself ill nor would I use labels despite having clusters of symptoms that fell under a label. It was like taking a giant eraser to those parts of my mind, were TMS can be stick and get you stuck in little loops of mind games. I want to root it out like one hunts gophers here.. I want to immediately see things for what they are but instead of react in a freak-out, respond with genuine compassion and understanding. I’m a little tougher on the gopher than Sam is, but I couldn’t be at first -until anxiety suffering and depression eased a bit.
I found Claire Weekes help and Hope for your Nerves so helpful with mindset and overcoming the anxiety. She is actionable in every situation but without challenging or triggering the nervous system response.
It takes time but you will recover. Not only recover from this episode but overcome your past symptoms.

 

Hi,
I have what you describe. Mine came on after I had Covid for the first time, but it was brewing for a while as my nervous system was breaking down from stress. I haven’t been bed bound, but I use a walker. I’ve been on this forum for 19 months. It took me almost a year to actually believe I have TMS because my symptoms seem so bizarre to me. But the longer I’ve been on here, I’ve read of so many cases like this. It can happen. And people get better. That’s what keeps me going.

I also like the Mindful Gardener. He emphasizes that it can take a while to get better. I agree with @Cactusflower, Hope and Help for Your Nerves by Claire Weekes, explains a lot. It has been huge for me. Also this book:
The Secret Language of the Body, Regulate Your Nervous System, Heal Your Body, Free Your Mind, by Jennifer Mann and Raben Karden

Also check out: Defying the Verdict, by Tamara Gurin. She overcame something somewhat similar. I love her story. She’s here on the forum as @TG957 .

 

I second that you need to read Defying the Verdict by Tamara Gurin!