panicdad
18-04-22, 17:16
Hi all,
First - to the moderator - I didn't quite see a sub form for this particular set of symptoms so if I missed it please feel free to move it appropriately.
Bit of a backstory as this is my first post. I live in the US and have been silently following this forum for (unfortunately) around 7 years. Nothing else comes close so I peruse here despite being on another continent. I'm in my mid thirties and live a fairly sedentary lifestyle which I recently began trying to change by taking on walking. Slightly overweight but nothing crazy. I've been through many of the "classic" symptoms many of you experienced, palpitations, tunnel vision, heart concerns, feeling unbalanced, IBS, so on and so forth.
There's something new and frustrating that's been creeping up and as always, I never know if it's anxiety or a real thing. Generally these things always turn out to be nothing, but as you all know, "in the moment" they're still distressing. For lack of better description, the "current" symptom [few days now] is "ants in my pants". To elaborate, I feel like I can't sit or stand still. This stems from a few physical triggers which I feel might be related to my back.
Sitting
I was always a bit antsy sitting, not comfortable sitting still for too long, but never like this. I'm currently on a limit of something like 15 minutes - any more than that and I feel like I must adjust, fidget, stand up, etc. Particularly in chairs (versus a car or couch).
Standing
As with sitting - I never liked standing still for too long - but lately here again, anything more than a few minutes and I feel like I need to move - take a step back or walk around a little. Or randomly stretch my arms (yes I sound like a lunatic).
In both sitting and standing if I don't move it seems like I get "unbalanced" or something along those lines. It seems like tunnel vision/unbalancedness makes me feel the need to move which "resolves" the issue.
Walking
Now thankfully, walking is generally fine - in fact as recently as yesterday I walked about an hour and was fine as long as I'm moving.
This seems to come along with a quite sore lower back (in this case on the right side).
Now as to why this seemingly trivial experience is what finally pushed me to join the forum versus some of the other scarier symptoms I've head, it's for 3 reasons:
1) This is more vague and therefore hard to find any sort of reassurance on
2) The constant fidgeting and positional changes makes it hard to function in real life (meeting, waiting at supermarkets, etc), and causes me to sit in weird positions which is for sure causing muscular imbalances (i.e. sitting cross legged).
3) The fidgeting extends mentally as well where I feel I can't think calmly when I'm in this "fidgety" state
Now with other random life symptoms, I sort of know the drill - get an EKG for palps, do some blood work for infection/internal worries, get some imagining or palpation for organ worries, etc. In this instance, I don't even know where to begin. If I go to my doctor and tell him "I feel funny when I sit" I feel like he will walk right out.
The reason I feel this at least partially anxiety based is that if I do the same action but in a different environment, my back may still start to hurt, but not like in the other situations. For example if I am standing outside on my own just trying to relax - it's ok. If I am standing in a group and trying to maintain a conversation - I feel the fidgety feelings. Same physical posture (seemingly).
I suppose what I'm looking for are similar experiences and/or suggestions for what to do as I believe this may be related to something pinched/pulled in the front or back muscles - I may try to find a chiropractor. Any links/input would be greatly appreciated.
First - to the moderator - I didn't quite see a sub form for this particular set of symptoms so if I missed it please feel free to move it appropriately.
Bit of a backstory as this is my first post. I live in the US and have been silently following this forum for (unfortunately) around 7 years. Nothing else comes close so I peruse here despite being on another continent. I'm in my mid thirties and live a fairly sedentary lifestyle which I recently began trying to change by taking on walking. Slightly overweight but nothing crazy. I've been through many of the "classic" symptoms many of you experienced, palpitations, tunnel vision, heart concerns, feeling unbalanced, IBS, so on and so forth.
There's something new and frustrating that's been creeping up and as always, I never know if it's anxiety or a real thing. Generally these things always turn out to be nothing, but as you all know, "in the moment" they're still distressing. For lack of better description, the "current" symptom [few days now] is "ants in my pants". To elaborate, I feel like I can't sit or stand still. This stems from a few physical triggers which I feel might be related to my back.
Sitting
I was always a bit antsy sitting, not comfortable sitting still for too long, but never like this. I'm currently on a limit of something like 15 minutes - any more than that and I feel like I must adjust, fidget, stand up, etc. Particularly in chairs (versus a car or couch).
Standing
As with sitting - I never liked standing still for too long - but lately here again, anything more than a few minutes and I feel like I need to move - take a step back or walk around a little. Or randomly stretch my arms (yes I sound like a lunatic).
In both sitting and standing if I don't move it seems like I get "unbalanced" or something along those lines. It seems like tunnel vision/unbalancedness makes me feel the need to move which "resolves" the issue.
Walking
Now thankfully, walking is generally fine - in fact as recently as yesterday I walked about an hour and was fine as long as I'm moving.
This seems to come along with a quite sore lower back (in this case on the right side).
Now as to why this seemingly trivial experience is what finally pushed me to join the forum versus some of the other scarier symptoms I've head, it's for 3 reasons:
1) This is more vague and therefore hard to find any sort of reassurance on
2) The constant fidgeting and positional changes makes it hard to function in real life (meeting, waiting at supermarkets, etc), and causes me to sit in weird positions which is for sure causing muscular imbalances (i.e. sitting cross legged).
3) The fidgeting extends mentally as well where I feel I can't think calmly when I'm in this "fidgety" state
Now with other random life symptoms, I sort of know the drill - get an EKG for palps, do some blood work for infection/internal worries, get some imagining or palpation for organ worries, etc. In this instance, I don't even know where to begin. If I go to my doctor and tell him "I feel funny when I sit" I feel like he will walk right out.
The reason I feel this at least partially anxiety based is that if I do the same action but in a different environment, my back may still start to hurt, but not like in the other situations. For example if I am standing outside on my own just trying to relax - it's ok. If I am standing in a group and trying to maintain a conversation - I feel the fidgety feelings. Same physical posture (seemingly).
I suppose what I'm looking for are similar experiences and/or suggestions for what to do as I believe this may be related to something pinched/pulled in the front or back muscles - I may try to find a chiropractor. Any links/input would be greatly appreciated.