Barbara
I monitor the TMIC for my daughter who has TM. I do not have TM
myself. Your
description of the jolt sensations are similar to sensations I
occasionally
get in my leg from an old motorcycle accident injury that damaged
the muscles
and nerves. My explanation is purely speculative, but I thought I'd
post it
for your consideration. As I understand it, Myelin is the
protective sheath
around the nerves. Similar to an insulator around an electrical
wire. When
TM attacks the Myelin it disrupts its insulating properties. This
in turn
disrupts the electrical nerve signals allowing them "short out",
jump around
to other nerves sending the wrong signals to the wrong places or cut
off the
signals all together. I believe our feelings of pain, numbness,
pressure,
tingling, electrical sensations and so on are the brain's
interpretation of
these nerve signals. In the case of my leg, the feelings are fairly
localized, because that is where the damage is, and is in a remote
part of the
"circuitry". The sensations being variously: sudden sharp pain,
electrical
tingling, numbness, twitching or muscle spasms and unusual hot/cold
sensations. In the case of a TM damaged area of the spinal cord,
there are
more "circuits", representing various parts of the body, for the
nerve signals
jump between causing erroneous messages to be received by the
brain. The same
logic (?) would apply to the "control signals" sent out by the brain
to
control muscle functions like walking, bladder and bowel control.
When these
"control signals" are disrupted by the TM damaged area, the
controlled
functions are disrupted.
In line with my analogy, the jolt you felt may have been caused by
pressure on
the TM affected area from bending over the hamper, causing the
signals to
"short out" and producing the jolt.
Also, since the body functions in accordance with its chemical
balances or
imbalances, the food additive suggestion may have some merit when
mixed in
with all the other variables.
Again, this is pure speculation on my part, and obviously a very
simplistic
view of a complicated situation. But it is just my way of seeing
things.
Take it for what it's worth.
Warm Regards
Leo
Very well done.... sometimes it's the little things that make sense. My
wife has TM and sometimes the spasms in her leg is caused by bending at
the waist or reaching out to far (she is a incomplete quad, wheelchair
bound).
Thanks,
Ed